7:30am Saturday 26th June 2010
By Nick Gentry
The appointment of George Burley will prove to be a massive coup for CPFC 2010 and this football club.
It’s not often that a managerial appointment is greeted by such universal approval from Palace fans and rival supporters alike and you only have to look at Burley’s record to see why.
The miracles he performed at Ipswich are well documented but, for me, his more recent work gives even more reason to be excited about the season ahead.
At both Derby and Southampton Burley came in, stabilised clubs in disarray and steered them to the play-offs.
Then Hearts fans will tell you that Burley had every chance of breaking the Celtic-Rangers monopoly before he left the club sitting atop of the Scottish Premier League.
This will stand him in good stead for what is going to be a difficult job.
He will be working on a shoestring, just as he did at Derby when he took them to the play-offs and there will need to be an emphasis on youth as there was during his successful spell at Southampton.
On the other hand, the manner of Burley's departures from Hearts, Derby and to a certain extent the Scotland job, should tell the consortium he is a manager that requires the full support of those he works for in order to succeed.
This shouldn’t be an issue here with Steve Parish going as far as admitting to his surprise at being able to attract such a big name to the club, leaving no doubt that he is, and always was, their first choice.
As important as this appointment may be in the short-term, Parish also revealed the consortium’s long-term ambitions for the football club - centre of which was their intention to move out of Selhurst Park and into a purpose built stadium.
This has caused consternation from some fans and while we all have fond memories of Selhurst Park, for the good of the club, we have to make the move eventually.
As Parish has pointed out since, during discussions with fans, the club needs to have a ground that has the scope to create revenue on non-match days similar to what has been achieved at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena.
This will strike fear into many, for whom, the thought of the owners building one of the generic bowl stadiums is akin to treason or Capello leaving out Joe Cole or something equally horrific.
The thing is though that a new era has begun, a new era of looking forward and building a sound financial base for the long term security of the club.
If a new ground could provide this then it needs to be approached with an open mind.
In reality, exhaustive searches have taken place over the years that have born no fruit, the latest of which will be no easier, perhaps leaving the development of Selhurst Park the only option.
If that’s the case then great, but if not and a suitable site can be found then fans should support the owners 100 per cent and not lose sight of the fact that some unpopular decisions may have to be made in the coming years.
At least we’re not arguing whether AFC Palace are to play at Croydon Athletic or Bromley’s ground.
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