Sport
Why Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace Reign Is Ending In Turmoil
It was telling that when Oliver Glasner made his way over to the visiting Crystal Palace fans after defeat to Sunderland on Saturday, the reception he received was far from positive.
Eight months ago, the Austrian guided Palace to their greatest ever achievement, one that is not likely to ever be topped. Beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final to secure their first ever major trophy should, theoretically at least, make him immune to criticism.
But football is a fickle business; the 2-1 defeat at the Stadium of Light was Palace’s 10th game without a win. Glasner has been extremely vocal about the way the club has been run since the summer, and there were even some warnings before the Wembley heroics.
There has been sympathy, with star man Eberechi Eze sold to Arsenal after the start of the season. Captain Marc Guehi had done all his media duties ahead of a proposed move to Liverpool on transfer deadline day, only for Glasner to reportedly threaten to quit if he wasn’t adequately replaced.
Ahead of the weekend, a deal to take Guehi to Manchester City was confirmed by Glasner. He then let slip the worst kept secret in football. With his contract expiring at the end of the season, he announced he would not be signing an extension.
Palace chief executive Steve Parrish was informed back in October. With Guehi’s exit all but guaranteed because of the club’s desire to get a fee for a player who would otherwise leave for free in a matter of months, they agreed to wait and confirm both exits at the same time so as not to fuel a narrative that Glasner was leaving in protest.
Results and performances have been an issue for some time. Supporters don’t see him as blameless for the current predicament, and may even believe he is deflecting away from his own accountability by being so open in his criticism of the backing he has, or has not, received.
Their relationship and his legacy have undoubtedly been tainted, which is a huge shame; but he does not appear above fanning the flames of discontent.
His post-match comments were stark, laying the blame squarely at the feet of the board and claiming his team had been “abandoned” by the sales of Eze and Guehi, he didn’t have enough quality on the bench to make substitutions.
“I feel we are being abandoned completely,” he told BBC Sport. “Because I can’t play many players. They did everything they could and this has been going on for weeks and months now. And we have 12, 13 players from the squad available and we feel no support.
“The worst thing is selling our captain one day before playing a Premier League game. We are preparing, it’s the first week we are training since September, and then we are selling our captain one day before a game. So I have no understanding of this. I have always kept my mouth, but I can’t because I have to defend these players.
“I didn’t sell anyone. If you get your heart torn out twice this season, one day before a game, it was with Eze in summer, it was with Guehi now, you know? What should I tell the players all the time? What should I tell them?
“And then I see the performance today for 50, 60 minutes, today it was not easy with all the circumstances going here with 12 players from the squad, and yes then you have 15, 20 minutes when you are under pressure, you concede the goal, I look at the bench, I can’t react, just kids on the bench, and this has not happened yesterday, this is weeks ago. That’s why I’m really frustrated today.”
Glasner later said he would not resign, but the relationship with the board now seems untenable. It is one thing to leave amicably as a free agent in search of a new challenge with an enhanced reputation, leaving Palace in a stronger position than he found them. While that may still be true, neither he nor the club will come away unscathed. Glasner has not built his reputation at Selhurst Park; he arrived having won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022; he always had promise to go on to bigger things, and that is why he’s been so publicly demanding.
Manchester United and Bayern Munich are just two of the clubs he has been linked with during his time in South London. But being so outspoken about his lack of options at Sunderland came across as arrogant, and that will not reflect well on him.
The overarching reality is that Palace are just victims of modern football. Their recent success is the most they’ve ever had; Eze and Guehi were always going to have to leave to achieve more. Jean Philippe Mateta and Adam Wharton will likely be next to leave.
Where Glasner’s frustration is justified is whether Palace have enough of a contingency plan to keep growing, in a way Brighton and Brentford do when they lose key figures. All the evidence suggests that they don’t and will struggle when the last remnants of the current squad depart.
Glasner and Palace should be a happy marriage, but they are heading for a messy divorce, and both are to blame for different reasons.
