‘What I’m waiting for’ – Oliver Glasner drops Crystal Palace future hint after FA Cup final win over Man City
Oliver Glasner has provided a clue to his Crystal Palace future after winning the FA Cup.
Oliver Glasner’s comments after winning the FA Cup with Crystal Palace may have said a lot about his future plans. The Eagles achieved history on Saturday when they defeated Manchester City at Wembley Stadium thanks to Eberechi Eze’s first-half winner.
Palace won the FA Cup and a major trophy for the first time in their history, while they have also secured a first-ever European qualification, capping what has been a hugely impressive campaign.
Glasner has been a huge part of that, but his work has not gone unnoticed. Reports over recent weeks have suggested that he is high on the list of RB Leipzig as they search for a new manager this summer. That has left Palace fans understandably fearful given the progress the club has managed under Glasner.
But after the FA Cup final, Glasner spoke passionately, and his use of ‘we’ when referring to next season heavily suggest that he is planning to stay at the club beyond this season. “This connection stays forever – the connection with the players and with Crystal Palace,” he said in his post-match press conference. “I’m pretty sure if, I don’t know, Jean-Philippe Mateta will watch a game at Selhurst Park in 30 years’ time, and the fans will celebrate him and he deserves it, and it will be the same with all the other players.
“It’s massive what everyone did for the club, and this is the special motivation. We wanted to write history – and I think now we wrote a really big chapter in club history. Next year, we will start to write a new chapter with our first time playing in the Europa League – and let’s see, because this year two English teams are playing in the final – that’s what I’m waiting for…
“When you’re 1-0 up and there’s so much pressure from City the whole game, to be honest, and then the 10 minutes [added time] felt really long…But I think today was our day. It was the Crystal Palace day. It was the day for our fans, and it just had to happen that we’d win.
“Credit to the players how hard they worked today to get this clean sheet – a great goalkeeper [Dean Henderson], a great mentality, and a fantastic win. The biggest success we could have was to give tens of thousands of our fans, of South London, a moment for their lifetimes. We can give them great times. We give them hours and days where they just feel happy and are celebrating. I think this is the biggest achievement that sportsmen can do, and we did it for the fans, we did it for many, many people, and that’s why I think everybody who contributed to this success deserves to be proud of the group and of the whole club, because it’s the best thing you can do.”
With European football in the bag, Palace now surely have the bargaining power to keep Glasner around, although the key will be convincing him that the club are willing to keep their best players this summer. The Eagles are likely to lose one, as they often do, but Glasner may need reassuring that he will get the money to replace whoever that is, given there will be a need for quality and depth going into a season with Europa League football next term.
