December 23 2010

Steve Parish

Crystal Palace chief Steve Parish has rubbished rumours that George Burley will be sacked.

The Daily Mail suggested manager Burley faces the axe after overseeing an awful start to the season which sees Palace stuck in the relegation zone.

Bur Eagles co-chairman Parish told the Croydon Advertiser: "I honestly don’t know where they get these stories from. We have never discussed replacing George.

"All we are focussed on is getting new faces in during the transfer window. Of course we aren’t happy with results, but we are happy with the direction the club is going in.

"It’s difficult because whatever I say can be twisted around and who knows what the future holds.

"But George will definitely be in charge for the game on Boxing Day and we certainly haven’t even discussed changing the manager. I speak to George every day and we are working hard on strengthening the squad."

Meanwhile, Burley has dismissed a story revealing on-loan Ipswich striker Pablo Counago is cutting short his stay in SE25.

Burley told the SLP: "Pablo is with us until the end of the season - full stop. There's no possibility of Pablo going back to Ipswich. They might want him back, I don't know, but he's not going back."