The Chairman
Crystal Palace Football Club
Selhurst Park Stadium
London SE25 6PU.
Selhurst Park Stadium
London SE25 6PU.
6th June 2006
JOHNSON / DOWIE / BRUCE & AGENTS
Dear Mr. Jordan,
Following recent events at the CPFC I felt compelled to write to you, & take this opportunity to congratulate you on the way you have dealt with circumstances of late at our Club, yours as the Chairman & mine as a football supporter.
As a die-hard Palace fan I have always had a high regard for the enterprising way you have publicly represented Crystal Palace Football Club, and in particular the dynamic way in which you have stood your moral high ground on a number of issues. This has expressly come to light in view of recent affairs, not to mention several others during your tenure.
In addition, your dealings with regard to the Andrew Johnson transfer were indeed a terrific example of your business acumen. AJ was a wonderful player, a terrific pro & a credit to CPFC.
You successfully secured his services with a substantial contract offer last summer & he stayed with us far longer than many fans thought he might. The temptation for Andrew to join a Premiership club must have been tremendous following our infamous last day relegation defeat at Charlton.
You negotiated a substantial, yet totally justifiable fee for a proven goalscorer & an England International.
He may even have seen out his contract at Palace, had we won promotion this year, so it was inevitable he would want to further his career with a Premiership club, but not ‘any old’ Premiership club as it turned out (in the cases of Wigan & Bolton). That in itself added an interesting dimension to the eventual outcome!
I felt some of the offers for him were derisory & insulting to say the least, to you, to the Club & indeed the player himself.
You were spot on when you dismissed a previous attempt by Everton to secure AJ’s services, when you were quoted as saying that their offer of £6million was, ‘Not enough to buy his trainers.’ And so it proved.
I wish Andrew the best of luck at Everton FC & I hope some of the money from his transfer can be used to strengthen the team & backroom staff this summer, in pursuit of promotion next season.
All in all as disappointed, as I was to see him depart it was a terrific bit of business for a player that cost £750,000 back in 2002!
Moving on, what is Mr. Iain Dowie trying to do except embarrass the Club by moving to The Valley in such a fashion. I myself wrongly assumed that when Billy Davies was linked & interviewed for the vacancy at Charlton, that Dowie would then be given an opportunity to impress those at Deepdale & convince them he was the man to succeed Davies at Preston.
If appointed Dowie would have therefore successfully achieved his ‘apparent desire’ to return to the North-West, by enabling him to both work & live in close proximity to his family. Bingo!
As it tuned out Davies was so unimpressed with Murray & the Charlton set up that he turned down their offer and went to Derby County, which says it all! So what was it that attracted Dowie to the Charlton post?
I am still at a loss. Surely it wasn’t the resplendent trophy cabinet, or did Murray pull out all the stops & offer him a sparkling new caravan & a pitch on Woolwich Common.
Serving him a writ on the day of his unveiling at the press conference was a masterstroke. Not in terms of a publicity stunt, but in showing the footballing nation of this country that it should be possible to reach an amicable settlement providing both parties are honest in their intentions.
Dowie obviously reneged on your agreement.
I agree with you, I don’t care if it had been Charlton, Millwall or Brighton he went to. It’s the principle & he has disrespected the fans of the club as well as yourself.
I have spoken to some close friends who are Palace supporters & they are fully behind you.
Dowie failed to get us promoted. That was his primary job & it proved futile.
Our fate was ultimately sealed in forty-five second-half minutes of madness at Selhurst Park in the play-off semi-final first leg, as we witnessed the Club lose out on a financial windfall at the expense of a talented, but pretty ordinary ‘London’ club. A club we had beaten twice in the regular season.
As fans we all felt the team played pretty ‘mediocre’ football for much of the season & were tactically inept, particularly in games when we were up against it. I personally hope the new manager, whoever it may be is more tactically astute.
When Steve Bruce decided he ‘fancied’ a change, not long after being installed as Palace boss in 2001 you played another trump card & subsequently put him on ‘gardening leave.’
If only more Chairmen would not be intimidated by ‘bully boy’ managers & make them honour their lucrative contracts, or pay the price.
Mr Dowie could have found himself in a not too dissimilar position if he had not misled all and sundry regarding his intentions.
I look forward to greeting Mr. Bruce with jeers of derision both at Selhurst & St. Andrews this season.
I have to whole heartily agree with you on your stance regarding the behaviour of Players’s Agents.
They are simply ‘advisors’ & advise they indeed do, but in many cases pretty badly. They prey on naive young professionals, extorting outrageous sums of money, they describe as ‘fees’ for doing quite often very little, in an effort to further line their already opulent pockets.
Surely parents, fellow professionals, managers & chairman alike can see this!
Greed is their food of love. It’s a set menu.
In a previous life they were probably all failed insurance salesman, who drove bottom of the range company 4 door saloons, with their fibre mix jackets hanging up in the back whilst listening to dolphin music.
Their idea of an evening out was meeting up in a once fashionable now re-furbished wine bar & drinking non-vintage champagne straight from the neck of the bottle.
I digress, & bad taste is not an excuse to abuse, just one to avoid. However this does not change the fact that morally they are evil self centred individuals, whatever their taste!
Hindsight is a marvellous thing & I could say to you that the Tim Cahill transfer fiasco may have cost us dearly on the field in terms of midfield creativity & goals, but off of it somebody needs to make a stand & these parasites must be shown the error of their ways.
How do they sleep at night……..probably on their own!
Mr Jordan, may I say as a loyal fan, that as a Chairman you are a credit to Crystal Palace Football Club, & a breath of fresh air to the football fraternity.
Good luck for the forthcoming season.
Yours sincerely,
Mark L.A Ross.
Dear Mr. Jordan,
Following recent events at the CPFC I felt compelled to write to you, & take this opportunity to congratulate you on the way you have dealt with circumstances of late at our Club, yours as the Chairman & mine as a football supporter.
As a die-hard Palace fan I have always had a high regard for the enterprising way you have publicly represented Crystal Palace Football Club, and in particular the dynamic way in which you have stood your moral high ground on a number of issues. This has expressly come to light in view of recent affairs, not to mention several others during your tenure.
In addition, your dealings with regard to the Andrew Johnson transfer were indeed a terrific example of your business acumen. AJ was a wonderful player, a terrific pro & a credit to CPFC.
You successfully secured his services with a substantial contract offer last summer & he stayed with us far longer than many fans thought he might. The temptation for Andrew to join a Premiership club must have been tremendous following our infamous last day relegation defeat at Charlton.
You negotiated a substantial, yet totally justifiable fee for a proven goalscorer & an England International.
He may even have seen out his contract at Palace, had we won promotion this year, so it was inevitable he would want to further his career with a Premiership club, but not ‘any old’ Premiership club as it turned out (in the cases of Wigan & Bolton). That in itself added an interesting dimension to the eventual outcome!
I felt some of the offers for him were derisory & insulting to say the least, to you, to the Club & indeed the player himself.
You were spot on when you dismissed a previous attempt by Everton to secure AJ’s services, when you were quoted as saying that their offer of £6million was, ‘Not enough to buy his trainers.’ And so it proved.
I wish Andrew the best of luck at Everton FC & I hope some of the money from his transfer can be used to strengthen the team & backroom staff this summer, in pursuit of promotion next season.
All in all as disappointed, as I was to see him depart it was a terrific bit of business for a player that cost £750,000 back in 2002!
Moving on, what is Mr. Iain Dowie trying to do except embarrass the Club by moving to The Valley in such a fashion. I myself wrongly assumed that when Billy Davies was linked & interviewed for the vacancy at Charlton, that Dowie would then be given an opportunity to impress those at Deepdale & convince them he was the man to succeed Davies at Preston.
If appointed Dowie would have therefore successfully achieved his ‘apparent desire’ to return to the North-West, by enabling him to both work & live in close proximity to his family. Bingo!
As it tuned out Davies was so unimpressed with Murray & the Charlton set up that he turned down their offer and went to Derby County, which says it all! So what was it that attracted Dowie to the Charlton post?
I am still at a loss. Surely it wasn’t the resplendent trophy cabinet, or did Murray pull out all the stops & offer him a sparkling new caravan & a pitch on Woolwich Common.
Serving him a writ on the day of his unveiling at the press conference was a masterstroke. Not in terms of a publicity stunt, but in showing the footballing nation of this country that it should be possible to reach an amicable settlement providing both parties are honest in their intentions.
Dowie obviously reneged on your agreement.
I agree with you, I don’t care if it had been Charlton, Millwall or Brighton he went to. It’s the principle & he has disrespected the fans of the club as well as yourself.
I have spoken to some close friends who are Palace supporters & they are fully behind you.
Dowie failed to get us promoted. That was his primary job & it proved futile.
Our fate was ultimately sealed in forty-five second-half minutes of madness at Selhurst Park in the play-off semi-final first leg, as we witnessed the Club lose out on a financial windfall at the expense of a talented, but pretty ordinary ‘London’ club. A club we had beaten twice in the regular season.
As fans we all felt the team played pretty ‘mediocre’ football for much of the season & were tactically inept, particularly in games when we were up against it. I personally hope the new manager, whoever it may be is more tactically astute.
When Steve Bruce decided he ‘fancied’ a change, not long after being installed as Palace boss in 2001 you played another trump card & subsequently put him on ‘gardening leave.’
If only more Chairmen would not be intimidated by ‘bully boy’ managers & make them honour their lucrative contracts, or pay the price.
Mr Dowie could have found himself in a not too dissimilar position if he had not misled all and sundry regarding his intentions.
I look forward to greeting Mr. Bruce with jeers of derision both at Selhurst & St. Andrews this season.
I have to whole heartily agree with you on your stance regarding the behaviour of Players’s Agents.
They are simply ‘advisors’ & advise they indeed do, but in many cases pretty badly. They prey on naive young professionals, extorting outrageous sums of money, they describe as ‘fees’ for doing quite often very little, in an effort to further line their already opulent pockets.
Surely parents, fellow professionals, managers & chairman alike can see this!
Greed is their food of love. It’s a set menu.
In a previous life they were probably all failed insurance salesman, who drove bottom of the range company 4 door saloons, with their fibre mix jackets hanging up in the back whilst listening to dolphin music.
Their idea of an evening out was meeting up in a once fashionable now re-furbished wine bar & drinking non-vintage champagne straight from the neck of the bottle.
I digress, & bad taste is not an excuse to abuse, just one to avoid. However this does not change the fact that morally they are evil self centred individuals, whatever their taste!
Hindsight is a marvellous thing & I could say to you that the Tim Cahill transfer fiasco may have cost us dearly on the field in terms of midfield creativity & goals, but off of it somebody needs to make a stand & these parasites must be shown the error of their ways.
How do they sleep at night……..probably on their own!
Mr Jordan, may I say as a loyal fan, that as a Chairman you are a credit to Crystal Palace Football Club, & a breath of fresh air to the football fraternity.
Good luck for the forthcoming season.
Yours sincerely,
Mark L.A Ross.
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