Manager’s decision is no surprise having fought to keep Marc Guéhi in the summer and doubts over futures of a host of Palace’s FA Cup-winning stars
It was the day Crystal Palace supporters had dreaded but feared was inevitable. Oliver Glasner, having confirmed that the captain Marc Guéhi’s move to Manchester City is poised to go ahead, had another bombshell prepared for his press conference to preview Saturday’s trip to Sunderland.
Nearly eight months to the day since the Austrian led the club to their first major trophy by beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final, his announcement that he will leave Selhurst Park at the end of the season came as no surprise. It rounds off one of the worst weeks in the club’s history after the humiliating defeat by non-league Macclesfield that will be for ever an unwanted postscript to their victory.
The writing has been on the wall since Glasner revealed at the end of August deep frustration at Palace’s failure to reinvest the record £67.5m fee received from Arsenal for Eberechi Eze – the man who scored the winning goal against City – as they embarked on their debut campaign in Europe. Two days after their triumph at Wembley, and with the club yet to become embroiled in the dispute with Uefa over breaking its regulations on multi-club ownership that led to their demotion from the Europa League to the Conference League, the manager urged Palace not to become “one-hit wonders” and insisted he was “100% here”.
