Though Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan has most frequently been compared to Mark Cuban in this space, his run of 7 managers in 7 seasons is simply Steinbrenneresque. In the form of new appointee Neil Warnock, he might well have found his Larry Brown. From the Guardian’s Sachin Nakrani :
Simon Jordan (above) defended his record as Crystal Palace chairman yesterday on the arrival of Neil Warnock as the club’s latest manager after the sacking of Peter Taylor on Monday.
Taylor had 16 months in charge at Selhurst Park and that, according to Jordan, was long enough, with Palace 19th in the Championship after 10 matches. Jordan believes that in Warnock, a long-standing friend, the club have a manager with the pedigree to be a long-term success.
“I’ve been a big admirer of Neil for some time,” he said. “He represents everything I want in a manager – he is a winner and has a desire to be successful. We are a dream ticket for this club. We were not going in the right direction [under Taylor] and the team was not performing the way I want it to perform. Continuity is important but you can’t build a building on foundations which are unstable.”
Warnock has been out of work since leaving Sheffield United at the end of last season. He has signed a contract to 2010 and his first game will be at Blackpool a week tomorrow. A return to Bramall Lane awaits on December 29.
Warnock said that Palace would be his last job as a manager. “I had five or six decent offers but I didn’t feel it was right to jump straight into the first job. But this is my last job, without a shadow of a doubt. We need to have a little bit of fun and make people smile. The players have to enjoy the experience, as do the fans. I like to have a rapport with the fans.”