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Simon Jordan, former owner of Crystal Palace still regrets his decision to buy Ade Akinbiyi, who he claims was 'useless' as he could have used the money to buy a boat instead.
In 2000, Simon Jordan became the youngest chaiman of a football league club when he bought his boyhood club Crystal Palace at the age of 32.
His time as owner of Crystal Palace was successful as he oversaw Palace getting promoted to the Premier League before leaving in 2010.
Even though he was linked to other clubs after his tenure at Crystal Palace, he remain firm in decision never to take club ownership again. The reason, a former Nigerian striker who he regrets signing.
During an interview on Talksport, he did not hold back when asked about his worst signing during his time as the chairman at Palace.
"Ade Akin (bad buy) He was just useless. He was a waste of my time and money and he wasted his own time and that was the reality of it" he said.
He went on: “The reality is how weak one can be when one says ‘I don’t want to do this’ and is worn down by the processes of the manager, eventually knowing something is wrong but you continually do it and then you’re surprised by the outcome.”
Akinbiyi was purchased from Leicester City for a reported £2.2million and the London-born Nigerian striker only managed three goals in 24 games.
When asked who was at fault for the signing, Simon spread out the blame evenly. “It was on the player, it was on the manager, and it was on me, I should’ve said no, but the problem is when you’re the owner of a football club you have to back him or sack him. I’m in a situation where this is my champion and he says he wants him. This guy looks bleeding useless to me and is going to cost me a fortune.”
Jordan expressed his remorse by recalling at time when he was in the south of France: “I remember standing on the side of a pier in the south of France next to Eddie Jordan. I was looking at the boat he was buying thinking ‘I could buy that boat if I wasn’t buying that club footed clown that I know isn’t going to be of any use to me. And that’s what I ended up doing and so he proved to be. I got neither the boat nor a decent player."
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