Angry Holloway needs signings

Frustrated Crystal Palace manager Ian Holloway claims the last week has been “one of the worst of my life”.

Holloway is furious with his club’s inefficiency in the transfer market after seeing several targets of his slip out of the club’s reach.

The 50-year-old has seen a potential move for midfielder Dan Gosling collapse, while striker Atdhe Nuhiu signed for Sheffield Wednesday after a trial spell with Palace.

And Holloway’s misery was compounded by a 3-0 friendly defeat to Crawley Town on Saturday, a result that will be a big wake-up call to a Palace squad who are exactly three weeks away from playing their first Premier League match in eight years.

“We have got to hone down some targets, but this week has probably been one of the worst of my life because things have broken down for all different reasons,” Holloway said.

“It’s just an accumulation of coming into this so late. I was half expecting it but it is a little bit worse than it’s been before.

“I thought we were signing someone the other day and they went somewhere else. It’s all a bit crazy really.

“You get phone calls, and phone calls on phone calls from people who are not even anything to do with the deal and then suddenly they think they are.”

Holloway said this week is an important one for the club, and that he would sit down with the co-chairmen Steve Parish and Stephen Browett in an attempt to thrash out some deals.

“Myself and the chairman are going to sit down and have a look at the targets we have shot at, and go from a scattergun approach to the rifle,” he said.

“We have got to knock some targets over. Now we have found out what it might cost us, where we are going. I’m sure if he was here today he wouldn’t have been too happy with that either.

“We have got to try and give the lads we have got a chance to feel good about themselves when in a couple of weeks’ time they are going to start in the toughest division in the world.”

Crystal Palace begin their Premier League campaign with a home fixture against Tottenham on August 18.