From his new home in South Yorkshire, Valerien Ismael casts his mind back to south London.
It was January 1998, a year in which Barnsley basked in the glow of their only campaign in the Premier League, when Ismael swapped Strasbourg for Crystal Palace. He was a young centre half, signed for a club record £2.75million. He would come to appreciate the value of timing.
During 10 months spent at Selhurst Park, Ismael worked under five managers — from Steve Coppell to Terry Venables via the joint tenure of Attilio Lombardo and Tomas Brolin and a caretaker shift from Ray Lewington.