I’d happily put Palace owner in the stocks and throw rotten tomatoes... but rabid fans must smell the coffee

IAM the last person to defend Steve Parish and the ownership of Crystal Palace.

I’d happily put him in the stocks and throw rotten tomatoes at him — and I have very good reason to — but I find myself almost having to defend the situation he finds himself in with a segment of the clubs’ fanbase becoming increasingly vocal in their criticism of him.

The idea Parish hasn’t presided over a period of significant success for Palace by staying in the Premier League is ridiculous and something that shouldn’t be lost in the moment.

I wanted to keep them in the Premier League for as long as possible but couldn’t. Ron Noades was the same but for Palace to be in the top league competing with far bigger clubs, with bigger budgets and bigger stadiums and staying there, most of the time with a relative degree of comfort, is something that cannot be forgotten. But it’s all about the here and now for football fans.

Teams go out of the division. Comparable clubs in size such as West Brom — albeit with a greater history — and Norwich have been up and down. Two-time European Cup winners Nottingham Forest were out of the Premier League for 23 years. Leeds, a huge club in stature and reputation, came up, did OK, got it wrong and boom, are back in the Championship. Another big club in Sheffield Wednesday look to be heading back to League One.

They have all been unable to compete in the Premier League on a regular basis and yet Palace are in there every year. That has to count for something.

But this is football now. It would appear a section of fans are rabid about the style of play and accuse the club of not moving forward and not having any expectations. I understand that because without ambition, aspiration and a feeling of optimism then what have you got?

Football clubs are supposed to be all of those things but the other side of the argument is: be careful what you wish for.

I don’t deny it was uninspiring — and perhaps a mistake — to keep Roy Hodgson on for another year after he kept them up last season. I understand entirely why they went back to him to get out of some of the problems Patrick Vieira had created but to stick with him for another season looks as if it lacks any forward thinking or dynamism, hence the discord among the fans.

I’m not keen on the idea of ‘optics’ but by re- engaging Hodgson for another year it looks like there’s no plan for the future. But if you appointed a manager for the future, those same fans would still want the here and now. You can’t really win.

The problem for Palace’s owners is there is a perception among fans that there’s no future but there’s also no here and now. It’s a double whammy.

That’s not me diminishing Roy, but he’s not my kind of manager. He was a lovely fella when I met him but he doesn’t seem all that lovely when he speaks to the media these days. He’s an irascible, difficult individual who seems to forget that without the media hype and promotion of football you’re not getting the dough you’re on.

LIKEmany fans, I think his style of play is dull, a bit like his England team. They were reactive and Palace are the same. I did find Roy’s observations after Saturday’s 4-1 defeat at Brighton to be uninformed and insulting. He talked about the mess Parish inherited when he took over but that’s just not true.

Roy wasn’t there and doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Parish picked up a wonderful club that I’d built for nothing because, being the poor bugger that I was, I had run out of cash.

But this isn’t a crisis, it’s a storm in a teacup. So I find myself in the camp of understanding fans’ ire but thinking what is the point of this? They’re not in a financial mess, I don’t think they’ll go down and they should be able to limp to the end of the season.

Having said that, if they believe Steve Cooper is the future, what are they waiting for? If you really believe in him, what are you doing preserving Roy’s dignity? He’s a big boy, he can take it. Nobody owes anybody anything.

It would be unfair to accuse Parish of wavering over the decision, though. He’s not afraid to correct a mistake, as we saw when Frank de Boer was booted out after four Premier League games.

Whatever the club does, some fans will still moan that there’s no plan but sometimes you need to smell the coffee and be realistic — and there doesn’t seem to be much of that at Palace right now.