I know I should be just enjoying the win last night, as well as some signings that came in. But, does anyone else feel that our transfer policy just added a lot of weight to the argument of those who said we were moving away from the values of our club? It is an argument I had been trying to deny as I did not want to believe it.
I feel on the pitch we are just a generic Premier League time without any real unique identity. I personally feel like our squad is now just full of mercenaries on huge sums and that we have taken a soulless Football Manager PC game approach to the whole thing. We seemed to just want to sign up a ridiculously deep squad of journeymen players in almost any position going, based on the evidence of those we were linked to.
[To be fair we largely eventually signed some of the key positions we needed in the end - it seem by chance to some extent given who else we were linked with].
I think many of our fans value being a Palace fan for much more than just winning. We didn't just hang on to this love of bringing through youth or having battlers because we had no other choice. Winning felt more emotionally satisfying when it was with the likes of Mile, Damo and a squad which were largely not even fancied to do well in the Championship. Their story seemed to align to ours as a club.
Sure, I enjoyed the win last night, but a part of me just looks at other teams in the bottom half of the table and thinks we should be winning many of these games anyway, hence why Pardew was sacked. We have various players on huge wages who are big money signings. We even have £100k wage players on the bench. So we should be winning matches. We have a squad with the likes of Mandanda, Sakho, Dann, Tomkins, Van A, Schlupp, Cabaye, Townsend, Zaha, Benteke, Remy... All £10m+ players minimum.
This squad depth also makes it hard to see how a youth player will ever be given a chance too, especially based on the evidence of recent weeks and the Man City game for example. This is potentially another debate in itself too.
I know to some extent this is an inevitable feeling of 'success'. I know it could not last forever. But I feel like many Palace fans valued far more than just winning. We felt we had an identity on the pitch and off it, and the former is certainly being eroded if not the latter too - another issue with is arguably another debate in itself.
For me it feels a bit like when I used to play Football Manager as a teenager. I wouldn't just take over a big team and spend as I got no joy out of that. I got more joy out of taking over a un-fancied team from the second tier or below and picking out hidden talent and bringing through youth. I'd always get bored after a few seasons in the top flight even with a minnow like Bromley. I'm sure I'm not the only Palace fan who got the same joy out of this approach and who likened that feeling to why we are even Palace fans in the first place.
Surely, we should be winning games. We had a squad underperforming, hence the manager was dismissed. We have appointed an experienced manager who has a reputation of being able to coach players effectively, especially defensively. Yet I see players being signed left right and centre and people being ready to discard players who have 2-3 years Premier League experience behind them (e.g. Ward) for a Jenkinson. One thing that you have to give credit for is that Pulis was able to coach what he already had at the club and get the most out of them. I worry Sam is just signing players instead of truly coaching what we have - and I am pro BFS as an appointment! I also feel that if we stay up he will want to sign more and more and tell the press he needs to do so as to ensure we will not be relegation fodder again. When the reality is that he's inherited a good squad with a mere few areas where he needed to sign, the rest of which he just needed to coach back to form. The squad were capable of a 8-12th position before all these signings, let alone after.
A part of me is of course glad we are in the Premier League and that we can build some form of security, a legacy (if we do the ground up + training ground + YOUTH set-up) which should preserve our status long term in the upper leagues. I am a fan who enjoys winning and this is not meant as a moan, but a genuine discussion for those who are are willing to genuinely reflect on the journey. I'm not even saying the solution is relegation as of course the Championship had many difficulties and is not the same beast now. You could not build a team in the league as you would lose your players, plus big spending occurs at that level too...
I think I need to go and also watch my local non league side(s) a bit in upcoming months to get a fix on some of the football qualities I value.
I feel on the pitch we are just a generic Premier League time without any real unique identity. I personally feel like our squad is now just full of mercenaries on huge sums and that we have taken a soulless Football Manager PC game approach to the whole thing. We seemed to just want to sign up a ridiculously deep squad of journeymen players in almost any position going, based on the evidence of those we were linked to.
[To be fair we largely eventually signed some of the key positions we needed in the end - it seem by chance to some extent given who else we were linked with].
I think many of our fans value being a Palace fan for much more than just winning. We didn't just hang on to this love of bringing through youth or having battlers because we had no other choice. Winning felt more emotionally satisfying when it was with the likes of Mile, Damo and a squad which were largely not even fancied to do well in the Championship. Their story seemed to align to ours as a club.
Sure, I enjoyed the win last night, but a part of me just looks at other teams in the bottom half of the table and thinks we should be winning many of these games anyway, hence why Pardew was sacked. We have various players on huge wages who are big money signings. We even have £100k wage players on the bench. So we should be winning matches. We have a squad with the likes of Mandanda, Sakho, Dann, Tomkins, Van A, Schlupp, Cabaye, Townsend, Zaha, Benteke, Remy... All £10m+ players minimum.
This squad depth also makes it hard to see how a youth player will ever be given a chance too, especially based on the evidence of recent weeks and the Man City game for example. This is potentially another debate in itself too.
I know to some extent this is an inevitable feeling of 'success'. I know it could not last forever. But I feel like many Palace fans valued far more than just winning. We felt we had an identity on the pitch and off it, and the former is certainly being eroded if not the latter too - another issue with is arguably another debate in itself.
For me it feels a bit like when I used to play Football Manager as a teenager. I wouldn't just take over a big team and spend as I got no joy out of that. I got more joy out of taking over a un-fancied team from the second tier or below and picking out hidden talent and bringing through youth. I'd always get bored after a few seasons in the top flight even with a minnow like Bromley. I'm sure I'm not the only Palace fan who got the same joy out of this approach and who likened that feeling to why we are even Palace fans in the first place.
Surely, we should be winning games. We had a squad underperforming, hence the manager was dismissed. We have appointed an experienced manager who has a reputation of being able to coach players effectively, especially defensively. Yet I see players being signed left right and centre and people being ready to discard players who have 2-3 years Premier League experience behind them (e.g. Ward) for a Jenkinson. One thing that you have to give credit for is that Pulis was able to coach what he already had at the club and get the most out of them. I worry Sam is just signing players instead of truly coaching what we have - and I am pro BFS as an appointment! I also feel that if we stay up he will want to sign more and more and tell the press he needs to do so as to ensure we will not be relegation fodder again. When the reality is that he's inherited a good squad with a mere few areas where he needed to sign, the rest of which he just needed to coach back to form. The squad were capable of a 8-12th position before all these signings, let alone after.
A part of me is of course glad we are in the Premier League and that we can build some form of security, a legacy (if we do the ground up + training ground + YOUTH set-up) which should preserve our status long term in the upper leagues. I am a fan who enjoys winning and this is not meant as a moan, but a genuine discussion for those who are are willing to genuinely reflect on the journey. I'm not even saying the solution is relegation as of course the Championship had many difficulties and is not the same beast now. You could not build a team in the league as you would lose your players, plus big spending occurs at that level too...
I think I need to go and also watch my local non league side(s) a bit in upcoming months to get a fix on some of the football qualities I value.
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