Back page There were a few eyebrows raised last week when current French international Yohan Cabaye was announced as a Crystal Palace player, joining the club from Paris Saint Germain.
The 29-year-old didn’t come cheap, with the club forking out a record fee of £12.5 million to secure his services, but a signing of such magnitude should make Crystal Palace tickets even harder to come by. Fans will not have to look far, however, with platforms such as Ticketbis allowing for tickets to be bought and sold easily.
There can be no doubting Cabaye’s quality and he certainly didn’t look out of place in a PSG side that claimed the Ligue 1 title and reached the quarter finals of the Champions League.
Palace Chairman Steve Parish hailed Pardew’s role in getting the Cabaye deal over the line and bringing a player of international quality to Selhurst Park.
“Obviously Yohan has had a very successful period working with Alan and I think you will find that Alan is a coach that players trust,” he told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast on TalkSport.
“We must not underestimate his influence over this particular transfer because he has known the player a long time.
“I think it is safe to say that Yohan has bought into everything that we are doing at the club and he has come to join Crystal Palace but I think it would not have happened if we did not have Alan running the football club.”
While the signing of Cabaye is great news for most at Palace, Mile Jedinak may find his days numbered having been on the outer at the end of last season.
The Australian international is the first team captain but having been on Asian Cup duty with the Socceroos in January, he fell somewhat out of favour and was an unused substitute in two of the final four Premier League games.
Jedinak, a dead ball specialist, has been linked with a move to West Bromwich Albion whose manager Tony Pulis was in charge of Palace for the bulk of the 2013/14 campaign.
Pardew has previously praised the Australian and dismissed speculation surrounding the player’s future, but that was before the Cabaye signing and, as he approaches his 31st birthday, Jedinak may feel it’s time for a change.
Having flirted with the relegation zone early on last year, Palace were rejuvenated under Pardew and finished in tenth spot, a feat you wouldn’t put past them this coming season.
Dead ball specialist. LMAO. He put one in the top corner against Liverpool last season. Everything else has ended up in the Sainsburys car park or top tier of the Holmsdale.
I don’t see the connection here. Cabaye plays a totally different role to Jedinak so why would his arrival make a difference to Mile’s position at the club? He also was the architect of his omission from the first team as, on his return from international duty, he rather stupidly got himself suspended for four matches, three of which Palace won, and so he was not seen as quite the essential member of the first team that he had seemed before he went. He may leave at some point but for rather different reasons than those posted here
Typical backstreet sensationalist journalism. They play completely different roles within a team. Jedinak is still a very important member of the team, as probably the best defensive midfielder in the Prem. As for dead ball specialist, well, 1 25yd top corner screamer does not make you a Roberto Carlos. As per usual, just more pre season bs.
Oh dear Paul, almost as much bs as the journo. He’s certainly no Dead ball specialist, in fact he’s probably better on the receiving end with his headed goals from free kicks & corners, but upper Holmesdale & Sainsburys car park, stop talking shite son.