Steve Parish: Crystal Palace chairman says club 'bought' their way out of trouble

Sam Allardyce signed four new players in the January transfer window and guided Palace to 14th in the league

Crystal Palace "bought" their way out of trouble last season by appointing Sam Allardyce and spending in January, says chairman Steve Parish.

Dutchman Frank de Boer, 47, has been named as Allardyce's successor as manager, signing a three-year contract.

The Eagles finished 14th in the Premier League last season after Allardyce joined in December and bought in four new players the following month.

"We can't do that every year, we need to be smarter than that," said Parish.

Palace were 17th in the Premier League after a run of one win in 11 games when Allardyce was appointed.

They signed defenders Patrick van Aanholt and Mamadou Sakho, midfielder Luka Milivojevic and the versatile Jeffrey Schlupp in the January transfer window.

Parish told BBC Radio 5 live: "We need to get to a comfortable place in this division. That will take hard work, planning, thinking.

"We bought our way out of it last season by bringing Sam in and the money we spent in January."

• Honest and hard-working - what to expect from De Boer

'We spoke about Inter'

De Boer had been out of work since he was sacked by Italian side Inter Milan in November after only 85 days in charge.

At his first news conference as Palace manager, he said he had learned "a lot" from his time at the San Siro.

"Frank had prepared a long presentation about himself and he researched about the club and where we were," said Parish.

"He took a lot of time and trouble to articulate what his philosophy, thinking and feelings were about the club and what he could achieve.

"We spoke about Inter and what went wrong and what lessons he learnt there."

The Ajax blueprint

De Boer managed Ajax from 2010 to 2016, winning the Eredivisie in four successive seasons from 2011 to 2015.

Parish said: "We are hoping not to just improve the first team but to look at the whole set-up of the club and use his knowledge, experience and probably the blueprint of a club that does things the right way in Ajax.

"It's about improving players and buying the right talent at the right age."

Parish said he would like to take Palace to a position where they are "five, six, or seven points away from any kind of consideration of danger".

'It's not about whether they're British or foreign'

De Boer is Palace's first foreign permanent manager.

"It's not about whether they're British or foreign, it's knowledge and belief," said Parish.

"For example, when I look at a manager from abroad in the middle of the season, they don't know a lot of our squad. They have to come over, find a house, get their family settled. By then, two, three or four games have gone by.

"We now have six or seven weeks of full pre-season and someone who speaks very good English and good knowledge of the world game."

'Money where money needs to be spent'

De Boer has said he is excited to join a club that "spend a lot of money," but Parish said their outlay will be controlled.

"We need to spend money where money needs to be spent and then be astute when there's no need to spend," he said.

"We always look to the market to improve the squad but Frank first of all needs to understand what he can achieve, his best formation, and the pegs he needs to put in the holes to improve."