By month’s end, Andoni Iraola and Oliver Glasner will depart their respective clubs. Having both taken their clubs into uncharted territory, neither’s task is yet complete. Bournemouth’s victory, a game all but won in the first half, was one for the club with their Premier League position as the priority. Bournemouth’s hopes of emulating Palace this season in playing European football for the first time were increased by a deserved, convincing win. The Champions League may even be in reach, Europa League permutations permitting.
“We are in a good spot but need more points,” said Iraola, determined to leave a legacy and delighted by a “most dominant performance … we want to give the players the chance to play in Europe next season, it would be massive.”
Palace played as if something else was on their minds. Perhaps understandably so. On Thursday, in the Europa Conference League semi-final, Selhurst Park will stage the biggest match in 102 years of being home to south London’s Eagles. “Today the tank was empty,” said Glasner.
Where Iraola and Glasner alight next is as yet unrevealed. The Basque is linked with the managerial meat grinders at Chelsea and Manchester United though also with replacing Glasner. The Austrian’s future is yet more opaque. Public complaints against the decision-making of Palace executives may have cooled certain elite clubs’ interest, despite trophies in Frankfurt and south London. Club suits do not react well to insubordination, as this season’s departures of Ruben Amorim and Enzo Maresca have evidenced.
