Oliver Glasner launched an angry tirade at the Crystal Palace hierarchy over the sale of captain Marc Guehi to Manchester City, accusing the club of “abondoning” him and his squad.
Glasner said the team’s heart had been “torn out twice in a season”, referring to the sale of Guehi and Eberechi Eze’s transfer to Arsenal in the summer, as the manager risked his relationship with the club.
A turbulent week has seen the Eagles crash out of the FA Cup to non-League Macclesfield in the third round, Glasner confirm he is leaving at the end of the season, and that defender Marc Guehi is nearing a move to City.
Palace slipped to a 2-1 defeat against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light – their 10th successive game in all competitions without a win.
Glasner made no substitutions during the game, stating that he is trying to protect his players and called for more support.
He said: “The players did for 50-60 minutes play well and the game was quite even. Then in 15 to 20 minutes under pressure they took the lead (at 2-1) and we tried everything to get back into the game.
“Couldn’t support them from the bench. That’s how it feels now, I think the players left their hearts on the pitch. Your heart gets torn out twice in a season, one day before a game with (Eberechi) Eze in the summer and Guehi now.
“It’s tough to say why, but that’s how it feels right now. We feel that we are being abandoned, no support, playing with 12/13 players for weeks now and the bench just kids.
“We’ve never played in a stadium or an atmosphere like this, then I see the players and everyone is disappointed. That’s why I’m saying, it’s not to protect myself, I don’t care about me. But they need to be protected because they are leaving their heart.
“I made no substitutions because it would have been unfair. That’s why we are where we are, we have a few players, they played their fifth game now. We need support. This group of players needs support and that’s how it feels.”
Skipper Marc Guehi was not included in the squad as he closes in on a switch to Manchester City, a move Glasner revealed he only found out about on Friday morning.
“We’re selling our captain one day before a game. First time I heard about it was 10.30 yesterday,” he said. “All they said was everything was prepared, we had to change everything. Nobody told us. You then have to stand in front of the group telling them the captain doesn’t play tomorrow.
“Then lifting the mood – again I think they did well for all the circumstances. When I see them, how hard they are working, that’s why I’m so direct today because I feel I have to protect them.
“I see them every single day and that makes it so disappointing because it’s not so easy to play here, as many teams have experienced. Therefore, for 50/60 minutes the performance was really good and at the end, of course, it’s frustrating.”
Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris was pleased with his team’s ability to “find solutions” as they extended their unbeaten run at the Stadium of Light to 11 league matches.
“They started better than us, created a couple of chances, found solutions to escape our pressure sometimes,” he said. “They went long to (Jean-Philippe) Mateta, to (Justin) Devenny, directly in behind, so we struggled a bit in this part of the game. And progressively, I think we found the solutions to solve those problems.”
additional reporting by PA
