If he was serious about returning to England and managing I have no doubt he'd have done his homework and would have been aware of some if not all of the players suggested to him.
Freedman no doubt tracked them and began setting up deals. There is no way on this earth those deals would have gone through without the approval of PV, therefore, he may not have set these deals up but they are 100% PVs signings. Dont think for a second that Freedman wont have put a number of players on PVs desk and many of them PV would have said a flat NO.

Sorry I completely disagree with you. PV would not have known if his next managerial job would be in England. And even if he was sure it would be he would not have known where.

The way signing players works now is the team. And it is a team decide on a profile of player they need in the team/squad. This profile would generally be the position and type of player they require. So for an example `We would like a tall strong target man who can hold the ball up to bring others into play but is prolific in the air too. We'd like him to be below the age of 30 and costing no more than 20 million`. The profile is then given to the scouting team and they either check the database of players, use their network of contacts or even use external agencies to find fits for this profile.

Those potential players who fit the profile are but to the recruitment team. The recruitment team (Dougie) would then sign off say 6 of the identified players that they think are the best options. Those players may be scouted further and maybe Dougie beginning to sound agents out about their availability.

Once that is done the 6 potential targets may be whittled down a bit more to say 4. Maybe at this point the manager may be bought in to have a say as the scouting, recruitment and coaching team have another meeting to see which of those they will then prioritise to sign. If they get him great, if not then they go to the next one on the list.

So given that process do you really believe PV knew the profile of player he would need for a club he didn't know he was going to?

Reality is we would like to believe these are PV signings but that just is not the way its done anymore. The scouting of the players we are signing will have been done during last season. The considerations are the position, type and age of the player, but the overiding consideration is the finances of the deal (not just the transfer fee but the wage calculation over the course of his contract, his predicted future values, signing on fees and agent fees).

Its not a single person signing but a team signing, with to be honest Dougie having the most influential role

Perhaps a more conciliatory phrase would be "necessarily agreeing to PV's suggestions". I can't believe that any new manager cones in and immediately makes "demands".

Palace since 19 August 1972. Palace 1 (Tony Taylor) Liverpool 1 (Emlyn Hughes)

In our case. Low key manager, not highly desirable and a big risk manager, of course it’s going to be the club making player decisions. PV would have a say to an extent but not a lot I imagine. Now if someone big came in, like klopp or Jose Or someone high in demand like nuno. You can bet your money on the fact they would be choosing players and all the sporting directors and scouts would be suggesting players and they literally pick and choose who they want. Where as PV would be virtually pressured to a point to except the choices and try and make of them.

Hopefully not too many more. Reckon we need 2-3 more max. Otherwise too much disruption and it'll be like watching a completely unfamiliar team. I'll have to fall in love all over again. As long as the backbone of Guiata, Tomkins, Luka, Schluppy and Benteke remain, I suppose it'll be okay.

Totally. Basically the goal is always two quality players for each position, right? And I don't think we're miles away from that even now. Possibly only the wing back positions and out wide. And perhaps a different type of striker to Benteke. So 3 more in would be great.