Johnson is in hot water againplaceholder image
Johnson is in hot water again | Getty Images
Crystal Palace’s controversial owner has been making waves again in the US.
Crystal Palace’s new owner has been criticised for setting a dysfunctional tone within the New York Jets after comments that grabbed the attention of the NFL media. Johnson, who took control of Palace after purchasing John Textor’s shares, accumulating 43% of the club in all, also owns the New York Jets, who are the only NFL franchise without a win so far this season.
Johnson has long been criticised for his management of the franchise, notably making the news last year after it was claimed the Jets did not trade for a star player due to Johnson’s son pointing out the player’s rating on the video game Madden. Those claims were denied, but criticism over his management of the franchise has not gone away.
The latest round of criticism comes after Johnson directly criticised the Jets’ starting quarterback - Justin Fields - which, for non American football fans, is the most important position on the team. Johnson told reporters: “It looks like [Aaron Glenn, head coach] is turning around part of it.
"It’s hard when you have a quarterback with the rating that we’ve got. He has the ability, but something is not jiving. If you look at any head coach with a quarterback like that, you are going to see similar results across the league. You have to play consistently at that position and that’s what we’re going to try to do for the remainder of the season."
Fields said in response that the comments don’t bother him, but Johnson has still been slammed by the media in the US. Prominent pundit Mike Florio wrote on ProFootballTalk: “What business owner publicly criticizes key employees? What business owner publicly criticizes any employee? A week after the story of the moment arose from Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (Miami Dolphins quarterback) venting frustrations at unnamed teammates in the heat of the moment, Johnson delivered a cold-blooded takedown of one specific player.
“Even Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys owner) has never done that. Is it really a surprise? Bad teams stay bad due to dysfunction within the organization. And it all starts at the top. If the owner doesn’t know what he, or she, is doing, how can anyone expect the rest of the organization to operate effectively?”
As far as Palace are concerned, this doesn’t impact them directly, but it does show what kind of owner they have at the helm of their club and the importance in those running the club keeping Johnson firmly away from day-to-day operations.
Continue Reading