After Macclesfield defeat, club must invest wisely to bolster a weak squad and convince their manager to stay
Oliver Glasner’s face told the story. The Crystal Palace manager watched in exasperation as the FA Cup holders headed towards ignominy on Macclesfield’s artificial surface and was still in shock when he conducted his post-match interview. “Honestly, I have no explanation for what I have seen today,” said Glasner.
A mere 238 days since the greatest day in Palace’s history, when he and the club stalwart Joel Ward paraded their first major trophy at Wembley, Marc Guéhi’s first thought after the final whistle at the weekend was to face the music from the diehards who had made the trip to Cheshire from south London. Accompanied by the assistant manager, Paddy McCarthy, the Palace captain held intense discussions with several supporters as Macclesfield’s celebrated their historic victory with a pitch invasion.
It was hard to imagine what Guéhi could have said to make them feel better after such an embarrassing defeat against part-time opponents whose real jobs include property developer, gym owner and lawyer. John Rooney’s side were full value for their victory over a team that sit 117 places above them in the league pyramid and grew in belief after Paul Dawson headed in from a free-kick in the first half – the 10th goal from a set piece Palace have let in out of the last 12 they have conceded.
