Oliver Glasner expresses anger at the sale of Marc Guehi after Crystal Palace’s defeat at Sunderland | Football news
Oliver Glasner has hit out at Crystal Palace after it was revealed to him the day before their game at Sunderland that captain Marc Guehi would be sold.
In an explosive press conference before the game, Glasner said that Guehi will not be seen at the Stadium of Light as he is about to leave the team. He is set to join Manchester City, with a £20m move edging closer.
The Austrian then added that he will not renew his contract at Selhurst Park and will leave at the end of the season. He mentioned he was looking for a ‘new challenge’, but his comments after their 2-1 defeat to Sunderland suggested the problems may be deeper than previously thought.
Glasner did not take the place during the Premier League defeat – which took the Eagles on a 10-game winless run in all competitions – and said he was told at 10.30am on Friday that Guehi would be leaving.
He explained to Sky Sports: “I think the players gave everything they could. We didn’t change, look at the bench, there are just kids.
“We feel like we have been completely abandoned. To sell our captain one day before the game – there is no understanding of this.
“We are preparing and it was yesterday [Friday]I am told that our captain will be sold, but why not next week? At least he can play this game and next week the other players will come back. It really annoys me.
“If your heart is removed twice a year, with [Eberechi] He came one day before the game in the summer and your captain one day before the game – I have no understanding.
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Highlights from the Premier League clash between Sunderland and Crystal Palace
“I’ve been in football for 30 years and I’ve never had to deal with this, not even once. Now it’s happening twice in six or seven months. That’s where we are now.
“We have been playing for weeks now with 12 or 13 players in our team. Some players have played their 35th game now.
“For 50 or 60 minutes we played well here and for 15 or 20 minutes, we were under pressure and conceded a goal. The players tried everything but again I failed to give them support from the bench and it made it very difficult.
“The players left their hearts on the field, they fought. It’s not very easy to play here and in every situation, the team did very well. But again, we don’t feel supported.
“I heard yesterday at 10.30 in the morning that we are selling Marc. I think the negotiations lasted for a few days so no one was going to call at 10 in the morning and at 10.30 everything was agreed.
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Crystal Palace coach Oliver Glasner has revealed that he will leave the club at the end of the season after refusing to sign a new contract.
“Then we have to deal with it. One day before the game, we have to come to Sunderland, where we know that we are not at the top level. We know the situations where there are no players and we sell our captain.
“No team can do this. Other teams, the players play and the next day they leave and we sell the day before?”
When asked if he would see out the season, Glasner replied dismissively: “I don’t know. I’ve always had a lot of respect for this group of players.”
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Paul Merson questions the timing of Oliver Glasner’s announcement that he will leave Crystal Palace at the end of the season.
“I trust them completely. Their character is unique and we will fight and evolve. I will not back down because these players deserve Oliver Glasner as their manager and leader and this is what I will do.
“Sometimes it helps if we get a little support.”
‘I need to protect my players – whether it’s me or another manager, I don’t care’
Glasner continued his anger at the post-Sunderland press conference, detailing how the management appear to be approaching Crystal Palace’s season.
He explained: “For me, it feels like ‘oh we have enough points so we won’t be relegated and that’s fine’. But these players are not happy and satisfied with this. That makes it difficult tonight.
“If Crystal Palace goes well with finishing the season like this, with Oliver Glasner and another manager, I don’t know, I don’t care, but if they go well with this, fine, they can do it.
“If they want to have a successful season… to me, it feels like ‘if all the players are back, we’ll be ready, we’ll get 42 points, everything’s good’, but that’s not how we do it. It’s just my feeling.
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Tim Sherwood believes Oliver Glasner’s decision to take over from Crystal Palace is a ‘defensive’ move.
“In order to protect them, I have to say it in public because just saying it behind closed doors doesn’t make sense.”
Glasner also hinted that his comments are a last ditch effort to try to improve the club’s situation, adding: “Maybe it’s a last ditch effort to make things happen that need to be done. Not Oliver Glasner, from Crystal Palace.
“The top four players before we arrived – [Michael] Olise, [Eberechi] Eze and two defenders, [Joachim] Andersen and [Marc] Guehi – they are gone now. It is difficult for all clubs.
“And then I think ‘OK, we sold last year and they did it, they had their best season, they won the FA Cup, it’s all good. We can keep doing it like this’, he will foot the bill.
“Oliver Glasner won’t foot the bill, Crystal Palace will. If you’re OK with it, go ahead.”
Sherwood: Glasner wants out now
Tim Sherwood on Saturday football:
“When your manager says you’re leaving, how does that feel in the team? It works both ways. The defense. Now they’re losing games.
“If he takes the Palace job, he knows what he’s going to get. He develops players and sells them. That’s a selling club.
“He wants to leave that club as soon as possible. He wants out of the club and he wants out now.”
