Ian Wright should keep his mouth shut (From Croydon Guardian)

Ian Wright should keep his mouth shut

1:28pm Friday 12th November 2010 in Your Say By Nick Gentry

Ian Wright just won’t stop damaging his legacy as a Crystal Palace legend.

In his latest outburst Wright claims the Eagles would be far better off if they were to sack manager George Burley and replace the Scotsman with former Palace team-mate Alan Pardew.

Results haven’t been the best of late but even so there isn’t and doesn’t seem likely that there will be a vacancy at Selhurst Park.

So how are these comments relevant, current or in any way helpful for Crystal Palace?

Now I don’t want to call into question his motives but I just don’t see why he felt the need to undermine Burley in this fashion for the sake of putting his friend's name forward for a return to management.

At its best his comments are hugely disrespectful but at their worst it is a very deliberate attempt pressure a man out of his job.

Wright told The Sun: "I know there are not many managers out there but I couldn't see the logic in someone like Burley coming in.

"I would rather have seen Pardew there than Burley and that's with no disrespect to George."

At this point you could probably believe that no offence was meant and it was merely a slip of the tongue.

However, it then became apparent that, in Wright’s eyes, Burley not only has no ability but is also a manager that has never given youth a chance.

He said: “I always want Palace to do well but I just can't see how it's going to happen unless they bring someone in from the youth team who takes the game by storm.”

Personally, I’ve been quite pleased with Wilfried Zaha this season and he made another fantastic impact on Tuesday night, changing the game from the bench.

And I think Burley and the club agree seeing as he’s been heavily involved in the first-team, getting many plaudits and a new four-and-a-half-year contract along the way.

Unfortunately, Wright wouldn’t have seen any of that because I’m sure Arsenal have had a very interesting season.

As I have said before it is perfectly understandable that he loves Arsenal and I always like to hear him talk about his time at Palace but that is where it should stop.

Every time he casts his expert opinion over Palace, he ends up offending the fans by showing himself to be deeply unknowledgable when it comes to the club today.

I wouldn’t mind either if it was incisive punditry because Burley is still under pressure despite the Watford victory.

But it is not, it is simple case of someone using their position in the national media to pressure a mate of his into a job, which is just wrong.

It’s a shame because he is arguably the clubs greatest ever player, but isn’t really the true legend he should be and sadly nor does he seem to want to be.

Step forward Jim Cannon.

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