Crystal Palace have struck an uneasy truce and decided against sacking Oliver Glasner despite him accusing the club’s board of abandoning him and his squad.
Palace chairman Steve Parish was understood to be angered and dismayed by Glasner’s outburst following their 2-1 defeat to Sunderland where the coach outlined how he only found out about captain Marc Guehi being sold to Manchester City at 10.30am on Friday and said he ‘didn’t care’ if he kept his job until the end of the season.
As Guehi took a private jet to Manchester on Sunday morning, ahead of completing his medical at City, Parish considered whether sacking Glasner was the best course of action.
But talks later that morning between the sports director Matt Hobbs and Glasner led Parish to believe his emotional coach deserved a more dignified end to his Palace tenure and to see out his contract until the end of the season as planned.
Glasner had been particularly angered that the club chose to sell Guehi before their trip to Sunderland rather than afterwards. Yet Palace insiders said it was an offer they could ill-afford to ignore considering Guehi could have left for free in the summer.
They also pointed to the fact support was shown previously when the plug was pulled on Guehi’s proposed £35million transfer to Liverpool on deadline day after the coach asked to keep him. Speculation then was that Glasner had threatened to quit if his captain had gone though it was later denied.
Steve Parish’s Crystal Palace hierarchy have decided not to sack Oliver Glasner on the heels of his incendiary outburst on Saturday
The manager aimed his ire at recruitment and the most recent major departure – Marc Guehi
This time, if there was ever an example of a football manager appearing to seek the sack then look no further than Glasner’s post-Sunderland tirade.
‘It’s maybe the last try that things get done that have to get done. Not for Oliver Glasner, it’s for Crystal Palace,’ he said pointedly.
‘The best four players before we arrived – [Michael] Olise, [Eberechi] Eze and the two centre-backs, [Joachim] Andersen and [Marc] Guehi – they have gone now. It’s tough for every club.
‘And then to think, “okay, we sold last year and they got it done, had the best season, won the FA Cup, it’s all good. We can continue doing it like this”, you will get the bill.
‘Oliver Glasner won’t get the bill, Crystal Palace will get it. If you’re fine with it, continue.
‘We feel like we’re being abandoned completely. Selling our captain one day before a game – there is no understanding for this.
‘If your heart gets ripped out twice a year, with [Eberechi] Eze one day before a game in the summer and your captain one day before a game – I’ve just got no understanding.
‘I’ve been in football for 30 years and never experienced this, not once. Now it happens twice in six or seven months. That’s just where we are now.’
The German head coach’s comments came on the heels of a worrying defeat to Sunderland
Glasner will argue his divisive comments represent honesty but there is suspicion of his motives were to leave Parish with little alternative but to held views. In fairness, he hasn’t been shy in speaking critically of the Palace board publicly in the past.
But others closer to the club are suspicious of the genuine motives behind Glasner’s outburst amid a feeling it was designed to leave chairman Steve Parish with little option but to sack the Austrian.
Glasner has already confirmed he is leaving Selhurst Park at the end of the season when his contract expires and with around £2million left on his current deal to be paid it would perhaps have suited the coach to ride off into the sunset with a pay-off.
The flip side is that, despite a winless run of 10 games and an FA Cup exit to Macclesfield Town, Glasner continues to attract admiring glances from top level clubs.
Indeed, he is admired by some at Tottenham who are considering whether to sack manager Thomas Frank whose popularity is waning fast.
Glasner held talks with Tottenham ahead of the club’s eventual decision to appoint Ange Postecoglou in 2023.
With that in mind, Palace’s stance of today would mean them being owed compensation if Spurs look to appoint Glasner to any forthcoming vacancy.
But for now, as dysfunctional as this appears, it is business as usual at Selhurst Park.
Glasner will continue to be involved in recruitment decisions. There is an urgent need to replace Guehi while there is also the pressing issue of sourcing a ready-made striker should Juventus come up with the necessary funds to prise away Jean-Philippe Mateta.
‘Sometimes it would help if we had a little bit of support,’ Glasner said. The next two weeks will tell.
