Jordan: Johnson owes us loyalty

14 April 2012

Simon Jordan has told striker Andrew Johnson that he needs to give Crystal Palace "a little bit more". The England international will undoubtedly be on the summer shopping list of several big clubs after scoring 21 Premiership goals this season but the chairman has tried to turn the tables by insisting that Johnson should show loyalty to the relegated club.

Jordan has come out fighting in the aftermath of Sunday's dramatic draw at Charlton, which ended the club's brief stay in the top flight.

He said Johnson was irreplaceable and insisted that offers, even if they reached £10million, will be rejected because of the new contract the 24-year-old signed last October.

The chairman also believes that Palace's other main asset, manager Iain Dowie, is another who still owes something to the club he has served so impressively and will stay.

Jordan said: "Johnson is an outstanding player, and an outstanding young man.

"People may have other agendas and Andrew himself may want to play in the Premiership. He deserves to, but he has been well looked after by me and this club. He has contributedan enormous amount and now he needs to contribute a little bit more. I am not going to sell my goalscorer, one of my best players, for a sum of money that I cannot use to replace him.

"He is going to get the goals which will get us back into the Premier League."

Johnson has four more years on his contract at Palace but wants to go to the World Cup finals with England next year and needs to play in the Premiership to have a chance.

He only agreed the deal when he knew Dowie was also ready to commit and the manager will be a big influence again when the striker considers his future.

The talented former Northern Ireland international was thought to be ready to leave Selhurst Park, but today there are no obvious vacancies for him to fill.

If a tempting offer is not forthcoming, a sensible transfer budget and improvements to Palace's training ground will be required to convince Dowie he should commit to a longterm future with the club.

Greek winger Vassilis Lakis has reportedly left to sign for his former club, AEK Athens, and the manager will want to replace him and a host of others if he is to mount another promotion bid.

But Jordan is confident he will stay for the rebuilding job. "He will be hurt by this like me," the chairman said on Sky Sports News.

"It is the first time he will have tasted a little bit of failure, but he will come back strong.

"He has signed a four-year contract. I have been loyal to him in a number of areas, given him a lot of support and he has done a great job for me.

"I expect Iain to be loyal to the club and the individual, being me, who he works for. I expect to see him for preseason training."

Jordan also tried desperately to justify why they had failed to sign the players that might have kept them in the Premiership.

In a series of excuses, he said: "We believed we had a deal for Igor Biscan but he was then named in Liverpool's Champions League team.

"We agreed a fee for Neil Clement but he used our offer as leverage to get a long-term deal at West Brom. We also wanted Bobby Zamora but the player received death threats. I went for these signings in earnest."

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