Crystal Palace’s greatest day, and the glory of the FA Cup final win against Manchester City, came after they emerged into the light from the darkness of a crisis that threatened to sweep over manager Oliver Glasner.
Palace’s worst start to a season since 1992-93 – they failed to win in the Premier League until beating Tottenham in their ninth game at Selhurst Park on 27 October – was a far distant memory in the Wembley sunshine as the Eagles celebrated the first major success in their history.
As Glasner and his triumphant Palace side celebrated in front of their ecstatic support with their anthem ‘Glad All Over’ echoing around the stadium, this was ultimate justification for chairman Steve Parish and Selhurst Park’s hierarchy holding their nerve as storm clouds gathered around the 50-year-old Austrian.
It was also vindication of Glasner’s own approach, after he said during those troubled times in October: “It’s time for hugging my players, not kicking them.”
There was plenty of hugging going on at Wembley as Palace paraded the FA Cup, the crowning glory of the recovery fashioned by Glasner, carried out brilliantly by his players.
“That’s what Oliver Glasner’s done – he made us all believe,” Parish told BBC One in the immediate aftermath of their battling 1-0 victory. “You could see it at the end. I am so proud.”
Glasner’s reaction when history was made matched his management style – calm and measured as he marched over to shake hands with beaten City counterpart Pep Guardiola.
Allied to these qualities, Glasner’s intensity and positive approach drew comparisons with Jurgen Klopp when he won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022.
It served Glasner and Palace well when they stalled badly at the start of this season.
Glasner never lost faith in himself when Palace secured only three points from their first eight games this season. And, more significantly, he never lost faith in Palace’s players.
He believed there were genuine reasons for Palace’s slow start after finishing the previous campaign with 19 points out of a possible 21.
This meticulous and strict personality, who plans everything around his outlook calendar, was overseeing a major transition after Palace lost arguably their most gifted forward when Michael Olise moved to Bayern Munich in a £50m deal. Key defender Joachim Andersen also left to join to Fulham for £30m.
Eddie Nketiah arrived from Arsenal for £30m, but had not been training, while other big elements of his squad were under-cooked.
Eberechi Eze, Adam Wharton, Marc Guehi and goalkeeper Dean Henderson had been with England at Euro 2024, while Jean-Philippe Mateta had played for France in the Olympic final. Jefferson Lerma and Daniel Munoz were with Colombia at the Copa America.
