Palace Chairman Simon Jordan checks his pockets for Alan Lee's wages.
Crystal Palace may have to become ’Glass Palace’ soon as they are skint, empty and as poor as a poor pauper’s pockets. It looks as if all those vacations that tanned owner Simon Jordan has been on over the years might be coming back to bite him on the bum as he struggles to keep his club above water.
Jordan’s players won 3-0 on Saturday only to be told afterwards that they were not getting paid for 10 days. It’s not the first time this season that Jordan has struggled with the bills but there is no immediate sign that he will be offloading Palace anytime soon. Not that there will be a line to purchase a debt ridden Colaship club with an average attendance of 14,000.
Just last year Jordan lambasted the FA and Tottenham for allowing his youngster, Jon Bostock, to be pinched for a nominal fee after Palace had done all the ground work, spotting and rearing the lad, only for Spurs employees to turn up at the Palace training ground to scout. At the time Jordan shared his disillusion with the sport and told whoever would listen that he wanted out, yet he still sits on the throne at Selhurst Park.
Earlier this year Palace were embargoed from making any transfers by the FA after they racked up large bills for previous signings. Jordan has never been one to keep his thoughts to himself, yet he is surprisingly quiet today as the news of the players empty pockets came from the mouth of his manager.
“The chairman said he’s got a cash flow problem for about 10 days. I probably should have the biggest worry because footballers are always protected by the Professional Footballers Association. But it’s not like that – Simon’s doing his best. Obviously the cash flow is a problem. But we’ve got another home game next Saturday, and you’ve got to accept in the modern day that these things happen.”Palace manager Neil Warnock.
Palace are currently occupying their usual mid table position, but just 2 points from the top 6 in an incredibly close 09/10 Colaship year.
Ned, for an uneducated American like myself, who supports Palace? I kind of understand the EPL fanbases (i.e. Arsenal=prawn sandwiches), but I’m clueless on London-area Colaship clubs. From what I can tell, Palace seems nondescript besides Jordan.