The King Is Dead. Long Live the King.

It hasn’t been a good week or so for Palace. Saturday saw an underwhelming start to the season and this has been followed by the ex-club captain Mile Jedinak and Yannick Bolasie leaving for pastures new. In a week bereft of any real good news, this has not sat well with the fans.

Yannick Bolasie was an exciting player to watch at times, nobody can dispute that, but was I disappointed when the rumour mill churned out details of his move to Everton? Quite frankly – no. The issue with him always was the ‘at times’ part of my earlier statement, because while on his day he was mesmerising he had more ‘off’ days than ‘on’. Certainly at the price Everton paid, roughly £25 million if reports are to be believed, I don’t think many people will feel too disappointed by his departure especially given the supposed importance to him of his pay rise upon joining Everton. Wisely invested, £25 million could bring in two or three quality players to add much needed depth to a squad crying out for some and with a ready-made replacement in Andros Townsend this deal looks to make sense for all involved.

Mile Jedinak’s depature is the one that’s really rankled though, but I’m not so much angry as I am sad. It’s not the prevailing opinion but looking at this deal objectively, arguably selling him makes sense. I think it’s important that people remember the last two years without rose tinted glasses on with respect to Mile - I myself suggested in the build up to the January window that he may well leave the club and that was not an outlandish thought back then. He’s now 32 and won’t have too many more years left in the tank given the way he plays with so much of his game based on his physicality. To receive £4 million for a player who, if the rest of the midfield remains fit, would probably have played a bit part role throughout the season to a point makes sense, especially if there is a replacement lined up.

While his departure in general may have made sense on some level the manner and timing of it certainly did not – he deserved better. Arguably the reason he played so many games last season was as a result of injuries to the other trio of midfielders, Cabaye, Ledley & McArthur. No replacement or backup has been brought in in that area and though Hiram Boateng is an option with the greatest respect to Hiram I know who I’d rather have to call on when times get tough and that’s the man that’s been there and done it, the man that’s hit the trenches and dug Palace out before.

The manner in which this has all been handled has been another monumental cock-up. Being stripped of the captaincy in itself was a strange decision and while I don’t begrudge Dann the job you have to question Pardew’s motives. Was Mile’s influence ‘too big’ in the dressing room? Who knows. The truth is few players as loyal as Mile Jedinak have been stripped of a captaincy and shipped out in the space of a month and that has to beg the question: why? After his service to the club he deserved better and he didn’t get it, I think that’s what rankles the most with me, that my club has not only possibly shot themselves in the foot but also disrespected a man who has treated our football club and its fans with nothing but the utmost decorum and respect.

The fact of the matter is that Alan Pardew is hanging himself a metaphorical noose when it comes to his popularity. Last season’s disappointments remain fresh in the memory and Saturday’s performance did little to fill anyone with any encouragement while transfers in the past week have dampened the mood further. Like I said above, Bolasie’s departure made sense for all parties – Yannick clearly wanted out and we received a sizeable fee for a player who really was the definition of inconsistent.

Mile Jedinak was different though. Mile was the man who carried this side through periods during our promotion season and our first year back in the Premier League in particular. He was the one-man colossus that fought off attacks, he was the man mountain that led by example and stood tall while others around him crumbled. In a footballing world that is driven by money, Mile was part of a spine of players at Palace who seemed above all that – players like Damien Delaney, players like Julian Speroni, players that will be remembered by fans for decades while the mercenaries pale into the background.

He may not have been the best technical player there has been at Palace, hell he wasn’t even close, but Mile Jedinak epitomised what it meant to be Palace – he really and truly cared and this was never apparent more than by his reaction to the defeat at Wembley. He hurt as much as the crowd that day and his reaction was one of the most moving moments in football I have ever been a privilege to be part of.

I think what I’m trying to say is that it is not so much Jedinak’s departure that is so disappointing, but more the manner in which it happened. As a player alone Mile Jedinak can be replaced and probably even improved upon, whether we can replace his influence as a leader remains to be seen. What we can’t do however, is take back the way we’ve treated a man who has been nothing but a consummate professional and a true gentleman at our club, a man who helped restore Premier League status to our club and set the foundations for the wonderful last few years we’ve seen. There’s nothing really left to say apart from this: on behalf of Palace fans across the world Mile Jedinak, we thank you.