Crystal Palace legend Jim Cannon lauds defensive signing

Jim Cannon has lauded Palace’s defensive qualities and says that Gary Cahill’s signing is a great move for the club.

Palace’s record-breaking centre-back heaped praise on Cahill and his team-mates after watching back his own achievements  in BT Sports’ Team of the Eighties documentary, for which he was a guest of honour at the premiere held at Boxpark on Tuesday.

Cannon said: “We have had Sakho and Tomkins out, but the lad Kelly, as a centre half, is brilliant.

“And [Gary] Cahill, that was a really shrewd move to get him. He has got that calmness about him and he reads the game well, and he has been brilliant for us.

“He is an ex-England international and he was probably unlucky not to play more last season at Chelsea, but for us to get him was a massive coup.”

Cannon, who holds the record for the most appearances at Crystal Palace with a total of 660 for the club, in a career that spanned more than 15 seasons, also reserved special praise for Cahill’s right-back team-mate Joel Ward, whose form has helped the club recover from the sale of Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

“Joel Ward has come in, and people aren’t thinking about Wan-Bissaka anymore, because Ward has done really well and has probably been our best player over the last few games.

“But the back four as a whole have looked really good.”

Cannon experienced the disarray of defensive dis-organisation when the much-lauded “Team of the Eighties” were relegated at the end of the 1980-81 season, and says that  Roy Hodgson’s defensive approach to games helps to give the side structure.

“The foundations have to be built and Roy [Hodgson] doesn’t want to give anything away, and you build beyond that to get things happening further up the park.