Ron Noades reckons going into administration will be a blessing in disguise for Crystal Palace.

The Eagles were placed under the control of Brendan Guilfoyle, Chris White and John Russell of the P&A Partnership last night.

It comes amid mounting debts and the club’s failure to pay player wages on time for the last two months.

An automatic 10-point penalty means Palace now face a relegation dogfight for the rest of the season rather than the play-off push they had been set to make.

But former chairman Noades said: “For Palace’s future it is probably the best thing that could have happened to them.

“It gives them a chance for a new start without the liability of having debts hanging over the club’s head.

“It was most difficult for somebody to go in there and buy Palace, settle the debts and still have money to invest in the club.

“The next problem is that whoever goes in there would have to secure the freehold to the stadium before they can buy the club.”

Palace spent two years in administration before Simon Jordan took over in 2000 and Noades has warned supporters to be patient and see what unfolds in the next week.

“You can’t jump the gun quite yet because you don’t know what is going to happen in the next few days,” he said.

“It could be a pre-pack agreement and they come back out of administration on Monday – that is what Ken Bates did at Leeds.”

Under Noades’s theory, that would see the administrators make an offer to creditors that are owed money – which they will be forced to accept.

Jordan and the previous directors of the club would then set up a new company and purchase the assets off Crystal Palace FC (2000) Ltd, the company with which Jordan bought the club.