Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish regrets appointing Frank de Boer and insisted it would have been 'negligent' not to have sacked him

  • Crystal Palace chief Steve Parish has spoken on why he sacked Frank de Boer
  • Palace have been met with severe criticism following De Boer's early sacking
  • The Dutchman was sacked from Palace after just four Premier League matches 
  • Parish defended his decision and said not sacking him would've been 'negligent' 

Crystal Palace supremo Steve Parish has insisted he would have been 'negligent' if he had not sacked Frank de Boer after just four Premier League games in charge.

The Eagles took their time appointing a new boss in the summer following Sam Allardyce's shock departure in May and missed out on their prime targets Marco Silva, who is now with Watford and former Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri. 

Instead, they had to settle for De Boer and the Palace co-owner confessed to 'muddled thinking' in the Dutchman's appointment.

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish admitted he regrets ever appointing Frank de Boer

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish admitted he regrets ever appointing Frank de Boer

Palace dawdled in appointing a new boss and missed out on key targets before hiring De Boer

Palace dawdled in appointing a new boss and missed out on key targets before hiring De Boer

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The former Ajax coach lasted just 77 days at Selhurst Park after Palace became the first team to lose their first four top-flight matches without scoring a goal since Preston in the 1924-25 season.


Palace acted swiftly after giving De Boer the boot and replaced him with former England boss Roy Hodgson last week.

Parish, initially, avoided the subject of De Boer and made no reference to the Dutchman's quick-fire sacking in his programme notes on Saturday before the 1-0 defeat by Southampton, which handed them another unwanted accolade - the worst start to a top-flight season in English football history.

But Parish has now told Holmesdale Radio: 'Obviously results weren't good, and I can understand people saying that four games wasn't enough.

'But Frank was here from July 1 and in the end, I didn't think it was going to work. We could have gone on longer, but if that then produced the outcomes I thought it was going to, that just kind of makes me negligent really.

'You know what you open yourself up for when you make that change, but I can't sit there thinking: "People will say it is not long enough" or people will say: "Didn't you think it through in the summer?" I can't let that make the decision.

De Boer lasted 77 days at Selhurst Park after making worst league start since 1924-25 season

De Boer lasted 77 days at Selhurst Park after making worst league start since 1924-25 season

'The decision has to be: "What is the bigger picture and is this going to improve" and based on two-and-a-half months really, not just four games, I didn't think it would work and I regret that.

'I regret the fact that it didn't work for Frank as much as it didn't work for the football club but it didn't, I felt I had to make that change.'

Alan Shearer was one of many who have slammed the Palace board for their lack of homework on De Boer before bringing him into the club and ranted on Match of The Day about the messy situation Palace have found themselves in.

But Parish fired back at his critics, saying: 'Actually, it was the one we had the most time for and possibly almost agonised over it too much and it kind of became almost muddled thinking.

'Because we took too long we lost some options as well and it is difficult for me to talk too much about what went on in that period and the thinking and what we did do but Frank impressed me when I met him and we talked a lot about what we were and at the time I felt it was time to change.

Palace acted swiftly to replace De Boer with former England boss Roy Hodgson last week

Palace acted swiftly to replace De Boer with former England boss Roy Hodgson last week

But their fortunes didn't change as Steven Davis scored the only goal on Saturday which now means Palace have made worst start to a top-flight season in English football history

But their fortunes didn't change as Steven Davis scored the only goal on Saturday which now means Palace have made worst start to a top-flight season in English football history

'And maybe there was a bit of a disconnect about what could be achieved in the time possible. That's not about spending money. It is just about that the leagues are being very different and maybe what Frank thought he could achieve in a shorter space of time wasn't going to happen.

'If you look back to the second half of Ipswich when we went back to 4-3-3 and Burnley when we went to 4-3-3, with the people we had, clearly that was the best way for us to play.

'And Frank was perfectly capable of coaching a team to play that way. We did ok against Burnley but at that time we were in a bit of a cycle and I felt we needed to make a change.'