Owen Garvan attitude to blame for omission from Crystal Palace squad reveals Ian Holloway

The midfielder took a swipe at his manager on Twitter

(GETTY IMAGES)

Midfielder Owen Garvan would have been in Crystal Palace's 25-man Premier League squad had he shown a better attitude, according to manager Ian Holloway.

Having featured in the first three matches of the season, the 25-year-old was the most surprising omission from a Palace squad bolstered by a flurry of late transfer activity.

It was a decision Garvan did not take well and led him to take a thinly-veiled swipe at Holloway on Twitter, posting: "I'll be here longer then he will...trust me".

The Palace boss would not confirm whether action had been taken against Garvan for the tweet, but suggested the midfielder only had himself to blame.

"He hasn't said anything to me," Holloway said.

"If it has been on Twitter, who knows what you can trust on that sort of site. All I can say is there is no player in the world who doesn't want to be selected.

"The rules of the competition are that if you have more than 25 players you have to de-select some. That is just it.

"What I hope is that they will all get to clubs where they can play and their players will kick on.

"It might yet be here, particularly with Owen. He was really close to being selected.

"In fact if it wasn't for a conversation we had the week before, because he wasn't going to be in the starting XI, he would have been in my 25.

"He made it totally clear to me that he didn't want to be in the 25 if he wasn't starting almost every week. I couldn't guarantee him that."

Garvan was not the only omitted player to express their anger.

Aaron Wilbraham, Stephen Dobbie and Florian Marange were also left out, with the latter, a summer signing from Bordeaux, saying he was "disgusted" by the decision.

"I didn't want his family coming over here if he wasn't exactly the player we thought he was going to be," Holloway said.

"It's as simple as that. I needed some pace in that backline and he hasn't got it.

"We brought him in during pre-season, I have had a look at his record and thought he would be fine, but in two games he didn't look quick enough. If he doesn't like it, I can't help that.

"His agent knew three or four days before the window shut. So he could have got him a French club, so why didn't he?"

PA