The players were baffled ... and called him a weirdo
INSIDE STORY OF DE BOER’S CALAMITOUS 77-DAY REIGN
INTROVERTED is one way to describe Frank de Boer. Those who have worked with the Dutchman over the past 77 days might offer up far less complimentary descriptions.
‘Difficult to get along with,’ said one Crystal Palace source. ‘A bit of a weirdo,’ said another.
A tad harsh, perhaps. How well can you get to know someone in 77 days? Nevertheless, his personality — or, by all accounts, his lack of it — is said to have played a role in his sacking.
According to insiders, communication was not De Boer’s strong point. This set of players are used to Tony Pulis, Alan Pardew and Sam Allardyce who are assertive and authoritative.
De Boer’s distinguished playing career should have commanded instant respect. Sadly, it didn’t work out that way and it could be argued that the players never gave him a chance.
The decision to play Luka Milivojevic as a centre back in pre-season bewildered the Serb and his team-mates.
Signed by Allardyce in January, Milivojevic played a crucial role in Palace’s midfield as they avoided the drop last season, so moving him into a back three did not make sense to anyone.
Similarly, De Boer is understood to have had a difficult relationship with defender Damien Delaney.
The Irish centre back has made close to 200 appearances for the club and despite an increasingly peripheral role, remains a hugely popular and influential member of the Palace squad.
Maybe De Boer mis-read the dressingroom politics, but his relationship with his players was hardly harmonious and it is inevitable that concerns would find their way to chairman Steve Parish.
The players simply weren’t convinced by De Boer’s methods and the difficulties he encountered in communicating with his squad left them confused about what was required on match-days and in training sessions.
De Boer arrived vowing that his team would dominate the ball. Pass, pass, pass — just like Ajax.
It sounds credible in theory but putting the plan into practice in the Premier League was easier said than done with the squad he had at his disposal at Palace. De Boer did not have the personnel to play three at the back. The players knew it wouldn’t work but it seems no one told De Boer.
Certain players would argue that De Boer would not have listened anyway. Allardyce had the team playing percentage football. It wasn’t attractive but it worked, so no wonder the Palace hierarchy tried to lure Big Sam back to Selhurst Park last week.
Eventually, the decision to sack De Boer was made as the team flew back to London after losing to Burnley on Sunday. It is not as though De Boer wasn’t warned because some of the Dutchman’s allies predicted this ending and told him as much in the summer.
He should have listened. De Boer arrived in south London intent on rebuilding his reputation after being fired after only 83 days in charge at Inter Milan. That reputation is now in tatters and Roy Hodgson will be confirmed as the new manager within 24 hours.
De Boer’s departure has been coming ever since Palace lost at home to Swansea before the international break.
The only surprise is that he was given Sunday’s game against Burnley to try to turn things around. From the boardroom to the dressing-room; everyone knew De Boer was on borrowed time and finally he’s been put out of his misery. The dressing-room upheaval played its part but by no means was it the only factor. Manager and club certainly did not see eye-to-eye regarding transfer policy.
Ask those close to De Boer and they will tell you Palace did not make enough effort to sign the players he had identified. They will say the club did not trust the manager’s judgment.
However, others at Selhurst Park might suggest the players who De Boer wanted had ‘costly mistake’ written all over them.
Who is telling the truth? The reality is probably somewhere in the middle but what is for sure is that manager and club weren’t singing from the same hymn sheet.
De Boer certainly didn’t have much money to play with following Palace’s heavy expenditure in the transfer market over the past two seasons. But, by the same token, you can forgive the club for not throwing millions of pounds at unproven talent from the Dutch Eredivisie.
Ultimately, though, the key to De Boer’s sacking had to be the results. Four games, four defeats, no goals. There is no escaping those numbers and the numbers certainly didn’t stack up for Crystal Palace.