Palace get big injection of American cash

Crystal Palace have agreed in principle a deal with American investors to take a 36 per cent stake in the club. The lead investor is Josh Harris, owner of the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia 76ers. Talks have been taking place for some time, but stalled earlier in the year: Palace investment

The funds will be used to replace the contraption that passes for a main stand at Selhurst Park and also used to improve the Arthur Wait stand. Palace are confident that the investment will allow them to permanently consolidate their position as the leading South London club.

It has to be admitted that the fans who took Palace out of administration five years ago have done a good job in contrast to recent owners at Charlton.

Talking of Palace, here is an essay on the departure of Iain Dowie: Dowie departure

Palace takeover imminent

It looks as if the takeover of Crystal Palace by American billionaires could be happening in the next week or two: Palace Takeover

With many Charlton fans evidently not going to renew their season tickets (see Blackheath Addick), Palace are in a strong position to secure themselves as the leading team in South London in the long run (whereas Millwall look as if they are heading for League One).

Incidentally, Blackheath Addick still owes me a bottle of red wine. I hope he is bringing one back from France with him.

Who will be next Palace manager?

There are no clear favourites: Steve Coppell is out in front, but that would be very much a retread appointment. Lennie Lawrence is in with a chance at 8-1, but that will depend on what happens over the next match or two. At least Alan Curbishley is not in the frame. Should Mick McCarthy take the job, which is unlikely, he would only need to add Charlton to complete the trio of South London clubs: Palace

Bolton in for Freedman

Radio 5 is reporting that Bolton have made an official approach to Crystal Palace to secure the services of their manager Dougie Freedman.

Some 'print' media are reporting that Palace have already refused Bolton permission to speak to Freedman, but others say that they are still weighing it up: Freedman . This may be a case of the Sub-Standard getting it wrong again, but there is some useful background in the article.

Richard 'Creepy' Crawley of Pravda has confirmed that Palace have refused permission, but does not think this is the end of the matter as it could depend on how much compensation Bolton are prepared to offer. However, he seems to be getting some abuse both externally and even in the office for this if one is to believe Twitter.

In fact Crawley was right, however much he upset some Palace fans, as the club has announced on its website that they have given Freedman permission to speak to Bolton.

Palace have exceeded the expectations of most pundits this season, but Freedman has just six months left on his contract and has not yet been offered another one.

Palace preview

Hopefully the low point on Friday will be when I encounter the massed hordes of Nigels at London Bridge and from then it will only get better. This is a match that could go one of three ways as is reflected in the odds: evens a home win, draw 23/10. Glaziers 11/4.

We have won our last three league matches against Palace at The Valley: 2-1 in 1999/2000, 2-0 in 2007/8 and 1-0 in 2008/9.

The pundits were not too optimistic about Palace's prospects at the beginning of the season. Four Four Two had them finishing 20th. The Football League Paper had them in 23rd with only Millwall below them. The Times had them in 20th 'with only the most optimistic supporters predicting anything but struggle.'

However, there has been something of a sea change in attitudes since the win over Sheffield Wednesday. In part, however, this reflects the media tendency to salivate over gritty northern teams, perhaps to show that they do not have a metropolitan bias. In the earlier part of last season it was draw specialists Huddersfield before they were dealt with at The Valley. Since then the Massives have been overrated so too much is being read into the Palace victory over them. Suddenly, Palace are seen as contenders for a play off place.

Keeper Speroni is one of Palace's better players and he made a couple of excellent saves to keep Wednesday out in the first half. In defence, Darcy Blake offered a solid performance on his home debut. Ex-Ipswich man Damien Delaney made a solid debut and settled in seamlessly. Peter Ramage offered an assured display at the heart of the Palace defence. However, Jonathan Parr was given a torrid time by Antonio and was skinned a number of times.

Owen Garvan offered a great delivery and was neat and tidy in possession. Jedinak was fierce in the tackle and protected his defence well. Moritz looks like a real find for Palace. He shows real talent on the ball and was a menace going forward against the Massives. Zaha has been seen as a transfer target for a Premiership club for some time.

Bolasie was always a threat in possession and Glenn Murray held the ball up well and scored two good goals.

Palace are no pushover and the most likely result in my view is a draw. However, I take personal heart from the fact that Leamington beat deadly rivals Stourbridge 2-1 last night in a FA Cup replay away from home. I would be more than satisfied with a last minute goal delivering victory on Friday.

Palace players up for win

Palace players see an analogy between their massive victory over Sheffield Wednesday and their hopes of a win at Charlton. Both teams, they think, are used to winning until they come up against the mighty Palace: Palace

It seems an age now since the match with Hull, but I am already getting excited about the Palace fixture. Meanwhile, I went to watch a game of real tennis yesterday, Leamington having one of just 25 courts in the country, this one being built in 1846 before lawn tennis was (allegedly) invented at the Manor Hotel in the town. There are actually 50 real tennis professionals in the UK.

Palace to leave Selhurst

Pravda has revealed that Crystal Palace are to announce a plan to leave Selhust Park and to move to their historic home at the Crystal Palace National Sports Stadium: Palace

The new owners have apparently decided that refurbishing Selhurst Park is a lost cause. The move would also restore the link between the name and the site of their stadium.

Unconfirmed reports state that Sir Lennie Lawrence is to leave Hereford and join Palace as assistant manager.

Charlton Athletic have refused to comment on reports of a possible return to Catford Southend.

Glaziers may leave Sainsbury's

The new owners at Crystal Palace have more money between them than the Orange One and probably more sense about how to best spend it. They are contemplating leaving Sainsbury's for a new stadium.

They want to find a new site close to Selhurst Park in order to build a covered stadium that 'would create a better experience for fans'. It would be difficult to have a worse one. Whether the fare on the pitch would improve is another question. Average attendances dropped from 19,457 in 2005/6 to 14,470 in 2009/10.

Front man Steve Parish was offered an interesting choice at age seven: did he want to be a Spanner or a Glazier? (Presumably this was at a time when we were in exile). He chose the team of the eighties because he preferred the colour of their strip.

To be fair, Parish seems to be very sensible and to have a clear vision for developing Croydon's finest. More here: Palace

Palace on the brink

Crystal Palace administrator Brendan Guilfoyle sounded a worried man when he was interviewed on Radio 5 a short time ago and well he might: Abyss

A thousand Palace fans protested at the ground yesterday and called on David Cameron to intervene, but the Coalition Government has indicated that they regard the matter as one for the club.

Guilfoyle said that he would have to start selling players after 3 p.m. today. The CPFC 2010 consortium might then walk away and the club would have to be liquidated as there is no alternative buyer.

The possibility of a groundshare at The Valley has been mooted, but no one has yet used the 'M' word that was uttered in the 1980s. Opposition to that is something that would unite the fans of both clubs.

I hope that a solution can be found as I want to beat Palace on the pitch not in the bankruptcy courts.

Palace on the brink

As Millwall prepare for the Wembley final they hope will take them to the Championship, it's all going pear shaped at Crystal Palace: Palace

Could they yet ground share? Has anyone got a spare Portakabin?

Glaziers deny Valley groundshare plan

Crystal Palace have denied press reports which have also circulated widely locally that they are contemplating a groundshare at The Valley or the Toolbox: Palace

Nevertheless, property developers and Sainsbury's have expressed an interest in buying the ground. CPFC 2010, the consortium trying to take the club out of administration, are prepared to pay £3m to acquire it, but it is valued at £6m, posing a dilemma for Lloyds Bank: Selhurst

Following their 1-1 draw at home against West Brom last night Palace will be relegated if they are beaten by Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough on Sunday. A last minute attempt by Darren Ambrose which would have given them victory was cleared off the line.

Roles reversed?

Crystal Palace may be looking for a groundshare: Palace

Noades offers to return to Palace

It could be Noadistan again at Crystal Palace as the former supremo offers to return to help the troubled club. Noades manages to get in a swipe at Charlton as a smaller club: Noades

If attendances are one criterion of 'bigness', we have been doing better at The Valley.

Cayman Islands company put boot in at Palace

Apparently it was a Cayman Islands company from whom the Orange One had borrowed £5m who pull the rug from under Palace: Palace . A fire sale of players is now predicted, but they will have to get a move on.

Apparently Palace players were told the news by Twitter: Tweet

If this happened at Millwall, would carrier pidgeons be used? Perhaps Charlton would dispatch a fleet of blokes on push bikes.

Glaziers in administration

Crystal Palace had gone into administration.

The resultant ten point penalty will derail their promotion bid but will not place them actually in the relegation zone, although 20th is not far off - but presumably a recoverable position with Dazza.

The administrators are seeking purchasers for the club described as 'Bespoke football club with ground with scope for improvement in anonymous urban area of South London. Orange wallpaper throughout. Shopping facilities available on site.'

BTW, anyone sees me at Charing Cross station tomorrow night in a coffee bar, I will be speaking to an important Kentish man. Normally I would like to greet fellow Addicks, but not this once.

Glaziers owe Charlton £100,000

The South London Press (available at a newsagent near you) has learned that Charlton officials are "furious" that they have not yet received £100,000 owed to them as part of the transfer that saw Paddy McCarthy swap The Valley for Selhurst Park in 2008.

The instalment was due in December but cash-strapped Palace have not yet handed over the money, leaving Charlton - themselves needing readies - short of cash. Charlton reported Palace to the Football League earlier this month and this week lodged a complaint as the matter has still not been resolved.

Beckford on his way

It seems increasingly likely that Jermaine Beckford will leave Leeds for Newcastle, provided a fee can be agreed for the player who is out of contract in the summer. Leeds will then lose a player of near Premiership quality, so they may falter a little in the second half of the season, but not enough for us to catch them.

I was amused to hear Leeds fans describing Beckford on 606 as 'not a Leeds player'. Given that they got him for £45,000 and his goals-to-games ratio, this seems to be rather surprising. Their complaint was that 'he did not track back', but I would be quite happy to have a striker of his calibre even if he didn't help out in defence (anyway it means you have an outlet when breaking).

Even more amusing was to hear Manchester United fans demanding that Fergie be sacked, while the shell shocked supremo was complaining that the five minutes of time added on did not meet the requirements of 'Fergie time' (which has been shown to be a statistical reality).

Over at Palace, the manager and players haven't been paid again, but Warnock is not blaming the Orange One. However, a fire sale of players seems likely:
Broke

Rivalries

As we look forward to Saturday's match against the Spanners (weather permitting), this is a good time to reflect on local rivalries. It's a long time since we've met Millwall on the pitch. Many fans have good memories of the victory in the snow at the New Den when the announcer stated that 'Shooters Hill Station' was now closed. I remember a 1-1 draw at home when a timid referee denied us a sure fire penalty.

For a long time Millwall has dropped below the radar, although those of us who travel to The Valley by train were always reminded of the brooding presence of the rust bucket next door to the generating station recycling rubbish into power. However, in recent years our attention has focused on the Nigels and Nigellas of Crystal Palace where there is a real sense of grievance, although they feel we should be grateful to them. Given recent events under the Orange One could almost feel sorry for them (well just a little bit) although at least Noades has confirmed that he will not return.

In the 1950s there were quite a few fans who alternated between The Den and The Valley each Saturday. Somewhat oddly, given that he would have regarded himself as Charlton, my uncle called his house in Belvedere The Den, but I do not think this had any connection with Bermondesey. An even larger group of supporters went to see the Gooners when they were at home, but our rivalry with the 'Woolwich Rejects' has never been that intense. Attempts to stoke up a rivalry with Gillingham over the 'Kent Derby' have a synthetic quality. I probably have a greater dislike for Queen's Park Rangers.

Hopefully we will have enough in our toolbox to defeat the Spanners on Saturday and there will not be too much trouble inside or outside the ground.