Jordan - methinks he doth protest too much

Fresh on the back of his outburst following the Football Tribunal decision that Spurs should pay him a meagre £700,000 for 16-year old talent John Bostock, Simon Jordan has said that he will quit the club this year having found a responsible replacement.

At face value, this could be bad news for Crystal Palace FC. If he is serious, then the season ahead could be very difficult with a Chairman who is looking to get out and all the uncertainty that would go with it. Presumably he would be looking to get something in return for his stake and would be unlikely to be pumping any more money into the club than is absolutely necessary in the meantime. Responsible investors don't grow on trees and the current economic climate and outlook don't look particularly favourable for taking over a football club.

Two of Palace's more senior pros, and certainly their better players, striker Clinton Morrison and midfielder Ben Watson, want away and, coming on the back of the Mark Hudson saga, you have to wonder if all is well in Mr Warnock's camp. An exiting Chairman would not help matters and our Neil might find his wings clipped in terms of any transfer budget.

However, I suspect this talk of quitting is hyperbole and that privately he has no intentions of moving on. His behaviour between now and the end of the season will give a strong indicator of how serious his intentions are, but I can forsee the story in the New Year of how he'll be soldiering on as there has been no serious interest or any "responsible" buyers. Yes, there really is no-one else who cares more about Crystal Palace or who can support the club as well as he already does. Let's face it, he's no longer on Dragons Den and without the media oxygen from his football club all he is left with is legal action to keep his face in the papers. What he really needs is to find a celebrity wife so he could become part of a celebrity couple. Then he could flog Palace and move on to better things without the risk of losing so much of his celebrity status.