Elevenses - Leaving Party at the Palace? Edgar Davids orders a Taxi

Published: 09 Nov 2010 - 10:19:01

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It was one of those transfers that reaffirms your faith in football. Edgar Davids, Champions League winner and international superstar, deciding to end his illustrious career in the metropolis they call Croydon.

Crystal Palace fans must have had dreadlocked kittens when they heard that one. Elevenses is wondering how many turned up to work the following day wearing Davids' prescription sunglasses and dreaming of a Davids-inspired return to their glory days.

Suddenly 37 was the perfect age for a midfielder. Davids never really relied on his pace anyway, so why not expect the mighty Ajax, AC Milan and Juventus (and Spurs) legend to be every bit as good as he was in the late 1990s?

Of course, his two-year absence from the game might have been a clue.

Sadly, just three months into his cameo, Davids' Crystal Palace career is already over. The Dutch maestro called it a "journey", and "one of the greatest experiences of his life".

For a man with 74 international caps to his name that's quite a statement. And it makes Elevenses curious as to what exactly Davids experienced at Selhurst Park.

Was it the seven starts he made for Palace that did it? Or the fact that they've had a horrible start to the season and look all-but doomed for relegation to League One?

Also, what exactly constitutes a "journey" these days? Elevenses would suggest three months on a pay-as-you-play arrangement is more of a "break" or a "stopover" than a "journey". A "journey" has to be at least a season doesn't it?

Maybe three months at Palace was the perfect prescription for a player who's finding it hard to hang up his boots.