Josh Harris commits to long Crystal Palace reign and backs ‘amazing’ Roy Hodgson

EXCLUSIVE
Courtside seats: (from left) Josh Harris, Wilfried Zaha and Steve Parish watch last night’s NBA game at the O2 Arena
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James Benge12 January 2018

Crystal Palace part-owner Josh Harris insists he is committed to the Premier League club for the long-haul following speculation in the summer that the Eagles could be taken over.

Though Harris and fellow American billionaire David Blitzer took 18 per cent stakes in Palace in December 2015, it was claimed in the summer that the Eagles could be bought out for £200million by a Chinese consortium, while a group fronted by Tony Adams was also linked with a takeover bid.

However, Harris, who is in London with the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team he owns, insists that he is not looking to cash in on his investment.

“I enjoy being part of the Crystal Palace ownership group and fan base,” he told Standard Sport.

“The Premier League and the NBA are the two most popular leagues in the world and I hope to be part of those leagues for a long, long time.”

Harris’ two years at Selhurst Park have been a challenging time for Crystal Palace who, despite reaching the FA Cup final in 2016, have battled against relegation and lost three managers.

Chairman Steve Parish and the rest of the ownership group looked to revolutionise Palace’s style of play in the summer but new manager Frank de Boer was sacked only five matches and 77 days into a three-year contract having lost the support of the Palace players.

“The Premier League, as you know, every season is a big test,” Harris admitted. “It’s not like the NBA where if it doesn’t go well you get to draft in a good place. With Frank we tried to innovate a bit, to change the style of play.

“The team didn’t take to it. We had to make a quick decision and move on. Roy [Hodgson] has done an amazing job, it’s a pleasure working with him.

“In the Premier League you have to make decisions that are expedient around winning if things aren’t going well. The competition is incredibly competitive and the relegation part of it introduces a situation where you have to be focused on the short-term and getting wins.

“When you have a team that has a cultural style of play, a defined set of characteristics, you have to be very, very careful and slow in terms of changing that. That is what we’ve learned.”

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