Crystal Palace v Brighton: Owner row causing storm clouds over Selhurst Park
Amid the antipathy there may be the odd trace of envy among Crystal Palace fans when Brighton and Hove Albion visit in the Premier League on Saturday.
Palace traditionally have the upper hand in one of English football’s least conventional rivalries but this season there is no denying that Brighton are firmly on top.
Riding high in sixth place and out-scoring all but three other teams in the division, despite losing manager Graham Potter and a host of other staff to Chelsea, the Seagulls have never had it so good.
After years of buying duds suddenly they can do no wrong in the transfer market, with Moises Caicedo and Kaoru Mitoma their latest finds.
They are being called one of the Premier League’s best-run teams, with gung-ho new coach Roberto de Zerbi adding flair to Potter’s high-functioning schema.
At Crystal Palace, meanwhile, there is a sense of waning momentum mid-way through Patrick Vieira’s second season in charge.
On the face of it their results have not deteriorated, with the club on the same number of points and just one place lower – 12th – than after the same number of games last year.
But in relative terms the picture is less healthy. They are currently just six points off the relegation zone; this time last term they had an 11-point cushion.
It has left some Palace supporters grudgingly admitting their admiration for the team at the other end of the M23.
“It pains me to say it but they look good. I fully expect them to beat us,” said one Selhurst Park regular, who conceded to some jealousy: “Last year it was us who people liked watching.”
Confirmation that Vieira’s honeymoon period is over arrived after the 3-0 home loss to Fulham on Boxing Day, when an audible minority of fans called for his sacking.
That was near the start of a sequence of six defeats in the last nine games which has some worrying that Vieira is repeating the second-season slump that cost him his job at Nice.
In his defence, Palace’s last six games have included Manchester United (twice), Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United, but the schedule is not about to get much easier.
After Brighton comes a trip to Brentford and games against Liverpool, Aston Villa, Manchester CIty and Arsenal. By then they could be in a relegation fight.
Off-field matters are also causing anxiety among the Palace faithful, with concerns about the commitment of some of the club’s American shareholders.
Josh Harris and David Blitzer were ready to offload their stake in order to buy Chelsea, while more recent investor John Textor is now feeling the wrath of the fans.
Textor is reportedly keen to merge his Eagle Football Holdings, which includes 40 per cent of Palace as well as majority stakes in Lyon and Botafogo, with other investors and float on the US stock market.
The news prompted supporters to display a banner declaring “Multi-club ownership. Stock market gambling. Textor we don’t trust you” during last month’s visit from Manchester United.
Little more than a decade after the club was almost liquidated, supporters remain understandably sensitive about owners’ intentions.
“People don’t like him [Textor] or know what the other two [Harris and Blitzer] are doing,” said a fan. “Having some guy come in, not knowing what has happened to us in the past, then trying to list the club without telling anyone – people don’t trust him.”