Crystal Palace co-owner Josh Harris says the club have their sights set on returning to the top half of the Premier League under new manager Patrick Vieira. Speaking about those ins and outs at the Leaders Week sport conference in London on Wednesday,
Josh Harris said: “The player and manager decisions that you make are very critical and important. You have to make them very carefully and be very thoughtful about it, but, for sure, you can still innovate. Obviously, we are scrappy and on the move, [currently] mid-table and moving hopefully towards the top 10. For us, it’s fun. It’s enjoyable. We like that underdog (spirit) but being on the rise.”
Harris also gave his thoughts on the attempted formation of the Super League back in April.
Josh Harris said “It would have garnered a lot of media dollars and a lot of eyeballs. We felt that would have the effect of disenfranchising some of the national leagues, like the Premier League. We felt like it wasn’t fair, so we spoke up, and a lot of other people agreed with us particularly. Most importantly, from the fans point of view – they’re the people that ultimately create all this (football) – they didn’t like and that’s really where it fell apart.”
The American billionaire, who also owns the NBA franchise Philadelphia 76ers and NHL side New Jersey Devils, is one of four principal investors at Palace along with David Blitzer, John Textor and Steve Parish. The quartet are responsible for all the major goings-on at the club, and had a busy summer replacing not only previous manager Roy Hodgson but also several ageing players that had been released. The club’s hierarchy eventually settled on World Cup winner Vieira as Hodgson’s replacement and backed him with more than £60million in the transfer window to reinvigorate the side with new talent.
