Manager wants to have “a great four months” after putting conflict with board behind him
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has made clear he is committed to seeing out his contract at the club, after smoothing out his relationship with the hierarchy.
Glasner lashed out at the Palace board in the media last weekend after the 2-1 loss to Sunderland, accusing them of not supporting the team.
“We feel that we’re being abandoned,” Glasner said. “There’s no support. Everybody’s disappointed. We’ve been playing with 12 to 13 players for weeks now. On the bench I had just kids.”
When managers publicly criticise the board they tend to get sacked, as shown with the swift dismissals of Enzo Maresca at Chelsea and Ruben Amorim at Manchester United this month, not to mention the sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo by Nottingham Forest in September.
But Glasner is already on his way out. He has only four months left at the helm, after announcing last week he would be leaving in the summer when his contract runs out. Reports then emerged later in the week that Palace’s sporting director Matt Hobbs had had a conversation with the Austrian and resolved matters.
Speaking at his press conference on Friday ahead of Sunday’s fixture against Chelsea, Glasner confirmed he has now also met with Palace chairman Steve Parish to iron things out.
“I had a very long dinner with Steve this week and we talked about this situation,” Glasner said. “Not to sell Marc [Guehi], it’s the timing and the possible replacement. This was the situation I wanted to explain and the talk was a very good talk for both of us.
“But nothing changed what I said at the press conference before the Sunderland game. When I said I will give my best to play a great season. Steve and I are 100% committed that we will do our best to have a great rest of the season, a great four months together.
“Dani Munoz came back at the beginning of the week. Ismaila Sarr came back as an Afcon winner from Senegal. Now we are preparing for the rest of the season. It was a thunderstorm, but always after a thunderstorm the sun is shining.”
Glasner had been upset after captain Guehi joined Manchester City, describing it as having “your heart torn out”. Dissatisfaction with the board for selling key players has been a major theme in the Austrian’s two-year stay so far at the club.
“I was quite emotional after the game and I think it shows how much the players, how much Crystal Palace means to me,” Glasner said. “I agreed one year ago in February at a meeting, I agreed to sell Marc. It’s all about timing and replacement. That was the whole situation.
“I know that Crystal Palace will always sell players if they have big offers from other clubs. But it was just the situation, telling the team 28 hours before a Premier League game that the captain is leaving. This was my feeling at that moment and this is what I tried to express.
“I know it feels like criticism, but for me it was just telling the feelings, the emotions I had, the team had.”
