NEW CRISIS FOR PALACE
That shock announcement was made to more than 1,000 stunned Eagles fans at a meeting of the Crystal Palace Supporters Trust (CPST), the group trying to raise enough cash from fans to buy out the club.
Mr Lim sent a message to the meeting via Trust joint co-ordinator Paul Newman. It said: "I am still negotiating with the administrators and there are a number of problems which we hope will be resolved. If they are not resolved within the next three days, we will pull out."
Newman said after the meeting: "The implications of Lim pulling out are extremely serious. His is the only bid that the administrators are dealing with at present and if he pulls out, there`s nothing left."
Palace boss Steve Coppell said that the latest development in the long-running takeover saga gave the CPST`s bid renewed urgency. He said: "It seems there are certain guarantees Jerry wants. I don`t know what they are. These are desperate measures we`re going through but we need cold, hard cash to save the club."
Hosting the meeting was TV comedian Kevin Day, a lifelong Palace fan who has donated more than the requested £1,000 to the Trust. He told supporters: "We are the last chance. Think about what a void it would leave in your life if the club didn`t exist."
Coppell, who watched his side ease their relegation fears with a superb 1-0 win at Norwich City on Saturday, told the packed meeting that he believed youngsters Clinton Morrison and Hayden Mullins would not be leaving the club before this month`s transfer deadline.
The Palace boss said: "Clinton and Hayden are not among the vulnerable players at the club because they are not owed any money and so cannot apply for free transfers, unlike Matthias Svensson recently."
The Eagles chief, who was given a 60-second standing ovation by the supporters when he arrived on stage, added that he had told the "mysterious" Lim that it would cost around £8 million and take three years to develop a side capable of challenging for promotion to the Premiership.
But he said the fact that the ground`s freehold was still owned by former chairman Ron Noades was a big problem. "That`s destroying this club," he said. "It must be returned. Without the freehold, we cannot move forward."
Gary Taphouse
