‘He was no Shaun Derry’

Looking back, it sounds strange that my primary concern as a Crystal Palace fan in the summer of 2010 was how we were going to replace Shaun Derry.

In many ways, it was a relief to be able to fret about such a trivial on-field matter. A few months previously, my club had appeared to be on the verge of both relegation and extinction.

A dramatic 2-2 draw with Sheffield Wednesday on the final day of the 2009-10 Championship campaign was sufficient to stave off the former threat, thank goodness, before a consortium led by Steve Parish eventually completed their takeover to prevent the start of the liquidation process a few weeks later. Relief doesn’t come much bigger.

Hope of a bright new future increased when George Burley’s side beat Leicester City in the following season’s curtain-raiser at Selhurst Park, with a teenage debutant named Wilfried Zaha opening the scoring early on.

It was a strange game: Palace stormed into a three-goal lead inside 41 minutes before proceeding to not so much take their foot off the gas as pull the key out of the ignition and have a nap on the bonnet.

In the end, we clung on for a narrow 3-2 victory. There were signs of promise, especially from the magical feet of the thrilling Zaha, but it was obvious that the back of midfield needed tightening up.

Derry had been an integral part of the team in 2009-10, playing 4070 of a possible 4140 league minutes as Palace overcame a 10-point deduction to keep their heads above water in the second tier.

While his technical skills were always a little underrated – at least at Championship level – his standout attributes were his tackling, positioning, character and leadership.

It wasn’t at all unexpected when he left the uncertainty of Selhurst Park for the chance of a promotion push at Queens Park Rangers, but his departure left a gaping hole in the heart of the side that desperately needed filling.

Enter Davids

Who else to take on the role but a former Ajax, Barcelona and Juventus superstar who had won the Champions League and six league titles during his near two decades in the game?

I remember exactly where I was when the Edgar Davids links began to surface: a barbeque. Naturally, I dismissed them out of hand and continued to enjoy my time visiting family in the Midlands while tentatively checking my phone for general transfer updates every now and then.

I avoided all the excited chatter about a certain dreadlocked Dutchman on the forums, though. What was the point, I…