Holloway queries transfer window benefits

Holloway was the busiest top-flight manager in the window, signing 15 new players as he looks to avoid an unwanted record at Selhurst Park.

Palace have been relegated in their last four seasons in English football's top division, and Holloway's desire to put an end to that run saw him bring in five new recruits on deadline day.

Among his headline deals were moves for Dwight Gayle, Jimmy Kebe, Barry Bannan and Adlene Guedioura, but the sheer volume of acquisitions left Holloway with a dilemma. 

Scottish attacker Stephen Dobbie and French defender Florian Marange, who both signed for Palace in the close-season, were left out of the club's 25-man Premier League squad for the current campaign.

And Holloway, writing in his Sunday Mirror column, has questioned the merits of having a transfer window at all.

"Why on earth do we have a transfer window? The only people who benefit are the big clubs, and Sky Sports," Holloway said.

"The major Premier League players have the finances to put wheels in motion before the rest of us can even think about getting out of neutral gear.

"It gives them yet another crucial advantage on a playing field that long ago ceased to be level.

"And while having a reporter sat outside every training ground in the country might be compelling viewing for some, we shouldn't be in the business of keeping television executives happy."

Holloway would prefer a return to the former transfer system, in which there were no windows, and feels the current dates lead to "blind panic".

"I can't see any reason why they had to change the old transfer system, which enabled clubs to bring in players up until the third Thursday in March," he continued.

"The current arrangements lend themselves to blind panic, with clubs getting increasingly desperate as the deadline approaches.

"In total, I had to tell six of my lads that the regulations meant that unless they each find a lower division club to take them on loan for the season, then they will spend the entire campaign sat watching from the stand. It is utter madness."

Holloway also revealed that he thought QPR's Andy Johnson, and Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner, would be joining the club on a frenetic deadline day.

Still, he is happy with his work in the transfer market, and he praised the efforts of Palace chairman Steve Parish.

"I am grateful for the work that my chairman Steve Parish has done to make things happen," he added.

"The key now is to knit these new boys into our squad. But at least I feel that we have given ourselves a fighting chance (of survival)."