Crystal Palace

Tyrese King
BBC Sport journalist

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Wolves at Selhurst Park (kick-off 14:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• The Austrian was asked if he will remain in charge until the end of the season and said: "I always said, and this wasn't the first press conference where I could just repeat myself. As I said, eventually you always depend on your players, and they will get all the support like always, and then we will see."

• On whether he wants to stay at Selhurst Park until the summer, Glasner said: "Let's see what the future brings, you never know."

• On if he has the drive to lead the club: "Yes, I think so, yes."

• Glasner offered more on his position, stating: "In football, it's easy. As a manager, you will stay or be allowed to stay when the results are OK. Football is all about this and the last months, the results were not good. The performances were not consistently good and that's it."

• On Palace's current form: "I'm always realistic, and we're not in the best moment right now. And to be honest, I understand, and I take responsibility for everything because I'm responsible for the whole team."

• He added: "And right now, I'm just not good enough to replace the players we sold. I'm just not good enough to integrate the new players in a way to play the same way like we did, and I'm not good enough that we can cope with the schedule we had."

• On what his team accomplished last year: "On the other side, I was good enough to play the best season ever, win two trophies and also to look back 32 points after 26 games - I look back because I like to look back sometimes - Crystal Palace has been better twice. Once was our season last year, and once in 2021. Never before it was more or less between 25 and 29 points all the time."

• He also believes that even now when everybody is "completely angry, disappointed, frustrated", his Palace side is "playing a better Premier League season than eight of the last 10 seasons". Glasner added: "We play European football, and that is the reality."

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We asked for your views on Crystal Palace's Conference League draw with Zrinjski.

Here are some of your comments:

Terry: Glasner deserved his chance to deliver us a good season. He is no longer the man to deliver us the Conference League. He needs to leave before the relationship ends in an unamicable way.

Dave: Really lethargic, seemed like we didn't have a plan at times. With the quality we have in the team, it was a hard watch against a lesser team. Glasner needs to go now and we need a fresh spark. Also very disappointing is Brennan Johnson. He looks a complete waste of money.

Donald: An away draw isn't the end of the world but the fall off in performance levels is worrying. Thanks to Macclesfield the excuse of too many games in too few days wasn't there. Glasner needs to demonstrate his coaching ability and integrate the new signings as the club doesn't look as though it is going to give him the easy out of firing him.

Gyika: That was nowhere near good enough. We are desperately lacking a leader out there. Glasner has to take the blame too—he has absolutely no Plan B against a low block. If we've already got a replacement lined up, we should hand him his P45.

Vic: We just don't have the nous to break a full block. No pace apart from Sarr and very little invention to cause a threat. We have known for months the problem and have spent £80m with little to show for it. Glasner cannot say he hasn't the tools.

John: Very poor. Two Keepers on the bench again limiting options. A lame duck manager is not what we want at this stage of the season. We need some renewed impetus. Being in Europe is probably not helpful to our hopefully continued Premier League membership.

Steve: I am very concerned that Glasner is unable to change the system. His obsession with three at the back, and wing backs way up field, exposes a severe weakness on the counter. A better quality side would have put three or four past them. I fear Wolves might repeat the damage Burnley inflicted, unless Glasner tightens up the defence and midfield. It's time to take immediate action that will halt this dreadful run, and a spiralling drop into the relegation zone.

Bunny: We will take the draw. Great atmosphere in Mostar, but we need to be ruthless in the return leg. Long journey home now!

Keifer MacDonald
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

It has been a miserable season for Crystal Palace.

After defying the odds to beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final less than 12 months ago, the wheels have slowly begun to come off for the south London club.

Since the Eagles last featured in the Conference League on 18 December, things have gone from bad to worse.

Palace have slipped from fifth to 13th in the Premier League, exited the League Cup at the quarter-final stage, and seen their reign as FA Cup holders ended by sixth-tier Macclesfield.

Add to that the departure of captain March Guehi to Manchester City and confirmation that Glasner will leave the club at the end of the season, and it has been a testing couple of months at Selhurst Park.

Thursday night's trip to Bosnia was supposed to provide relief from a difficult domestic season, but it instead highlighted Palace's ongoing problems.

For all of their possession, they could not turn control into a convincing display.

For now, talk of the final by supporters - and any travel plans to go with it - may be slightly premature.

Image source, Getty Images

Oliver Glasner speaking after the 1-1 draw at Zrinjski in the Europa Conference League, firstly on an injury to Maxence Lacroix, which forced the defender off on 64 minutes: "I don't know the level. You have to make a substitution due to a muscle problem. Hopefully it's not too bad as Riad had cramp at the end - he's just come back. Lerma is out, so now we have to be very creative to find the right players for these positions."

On the game, where Palace surrendered their lead but had 72% of the ball: "It was the same against Burnley, controlling the game with the lead and then we made two easy mistakes.

"Even when you see all the opportunities, we always had an overload but then we can't defend the one-v-one.

"Lerma is injured, we play with a 19-year-old, with a 21-year-old who was injured for 18 months and Chris Richards, so we see they are not in the best rhythm.

"When you have the lead like today and controlling the game, just don't give them these easy opportunities. We have to be very self critical today. We controlled the game like against Burnley but we gave away the momentum with easy mistakes. Maybe that's what we have to learn, with a few young players in defence the learning should be quick.

"They are well organised in defence, good on transitions and this is what we will analyse. In attack it was a little bit too slow. Sometimes it's a lack of creativity in attack and we miss runs in behind. When we did this we were dangerous and created chances.

"We were very dominant. But it's not just having possession. We need to be more dominant into the box."

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Crystal Palace's first leg performance

Come back on Friday for a selection of your replies

Zrinjski Mostar: Karacic, Vranjkovic, Barisic, Dujmovic, Mamic; Djurasek, Savic, Abramovic, Ivancic, Mikic, Cuze

Subs: Bogdan, Sajko, Lagumdzija, Karacic, Juric, Sakota, Arapovic, Nalic, Surdanovic, Cavar, Memija, Majic

Oliver Glasner makes three changes to the Crystal Palace side that lost 3-2 to Burnley in the Premier League eight days ago, with Chadi Riad, Borna Sosa and Brennan Johnson replacing Jefferson Lerma, Tyrick Mitchell and Evann Guessand in the starting 11.

Crystal Palace: Henderson (C), Munoz, Richards, Lacroix, Riad, Sosa; Kamada, Wharton; Johnson, Sarr, Strand Larsen

Subs: Benitez, Matthews, Mitchell, Clyne, Canvot, Cardines, Hughes, Rodney, Devenny, Pino, Guessand

Holly Bacon
BBC Sport journalist

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner has been speaking to the media before Thursday's Conference League play-off first leg at Zrinjski Mostar (kick-off 17:45 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Glasner said no players have returned from injury. Jefferson Lerma, who went off injured against Burnley, is expected to miss "about three weeks" and they hope to have Jean-Philippe Mateta back in the next "two or three weeks".

• The Palace boss also said Eddie Nketiah has "had a setback" and they "will miss him for a few more weeks".

• Glasner said "playing two legs is always about going to win the game", adding: "You see how the game is going. I don't like to enter the pitch and say a draw is fine. We want to play football, we want to score goals and we want to attack, but of course it's always important to have a good balance and to go to win the game."

• On their opponents: "We are here to win the game and show a good performance but Mostar are doing well. Normally they don't concede a lot of goals, or score a lot of goals - always tight results, especially in the Conference League."

• Glasner said he doesn't think Zrinjski will play very defensively and that they have respect for the Bosnian side: "They're always pressing high and creating a lot of chances when they press high, but if you break their press they're always defending with nine or 10 players around the box. Therefore we have respect for them."

Got a question about Crystal Palace? Get in touch here and we'll put it to our experts

Tottenham, Crystal Palace and West Ham are among the clubs keen on signing Real Madrid's 32-year-old Germany defender Antonio Rudiger this summer. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

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Alex Pewter
Fan writer

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If Crystal Palace's victory at the Amex appeared to be the team getting back on track after a long winless run, then Wednesday's collapse against Burnley amounted to being signal failure at the very least.

You would expect any team to take three points from the position of being 2-0 up so early in the game, especially against a relegation candidate, and a win would have nestled the team happily in mid-table.

The reaction to the result was visceral. That was partly down to the scars of such a poor run of late and also the fact that Oliver Glasner's lame-duck status - regardless of people's individual view of the manager - does bleed into the thinking of plenty of fans.

Perhaps in this situation, ignorance would be bliss. Not knowing for sure that he is leaving at the end of the season would keep the focus on the present, whereas now any defeat or substandard performance is more likely to raise questions of his own motivation or his influence over the changing room.

Suddenly, that disastrous 10-minute spell against Burnley has cost the team more than just points.

Even if those opinions don't carry much water, you can see a situation where the pressure continues to mount until it isn't viable any more for the club. Which brings us on to Zrinjski Mostar, Thursday's European opponents.

Away from the Premier League and an almost must-win fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, the allure of winning the Conference League is probably underpinning the remainder of Glasner's time at Palace.

Only a few hundred fans will be travelling to Bosnia-Herzegovina this week, but it will be a critical moment for the season.

For as long as the team can stay in the competition, there are always greener pastures just over the horizon, with a vision of ending the season with yet another trophy.

Without that, it will be hard to keep making the case for the Austrian manager, even though we may want to.

Find more from Alex Pewter at FYP podcast, external

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Whether Crystal Palace have drifted away from their strategy of buying young talent from lower leagues and offering them a pathway has been the subject of several questions sent in via our ''Ask about Crystal Palace' form.

Now the dust has settled on the transfer window, I think the strategy change in terms of players like Brennan Johnson and Jorgen Strand Larsen was down to two things.

First, poor form had them looking over their shoulders at the relegation places - and no matter how much those signings may look like Palace overpaid, the price of dropping to the Championship is bigger than that.

And two, Palace are into the play-off stage in the Conference League and are trying to win it. To get over the line in those competitions you need senior pros.

Johnson won the Europa League with Spurs last season, scoring the winner in the final, so having him and Strand Larsen - experienced but at a good age - makes sense at this point in the season and was what Palace needed in their squad.

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Recently, Liverpool and the Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk said former players-turned-pundits have a responsibility when discussing the performances of the current generation of footballers.

He believes they can stray into "clickbait" and have a possible impact on players' mental health.

On Thursday's episode of the More than the Score podcast, former Scotland international Pat Nevin and chief sports editor for Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf Marcel van der Kraan join John Bennett to discuss and analyse the modern world of punditry and the impact it can have on players and managers alike.

"As a player you do tend to take it to heart, especially when it feels a little personal," said Nevin.

"Generally, it isn't personal and the pundit is just having their opinion and we all kind of know where the lines are. But, the lines have been jumped over more often in recent years and I think Van Dijk is right about that.

"Because of the clickbait, it is so much easier to get more likes, views and work if you're a little bit more extreme. Ex-players aren't stupid and they know that. If you are too sensible and sit on the fence you won't get the big gigs.

"You have a dichotomy. Most ex-players would like to be balanced but they know if they are too balanced and sensible they won't be there next week.

"My criticism would always be constructive criticism which is explained. One-dimensional labeling of players should never happen. Sometimes if a big name says something enough it becomes accepted wisdom."

Van der Kraan added: "There are two different kinds of pundits; those who need to be on every week and those who are genuinely focused on what is right and what players should do.

"For Van Dijk, after so many years enough is enough.

"It all started after he came into the Netherlands team and became a big player at Liverpool. The first ex-player to really criticise him was Marco van Basten, saying he was not a leader. Van Dijk was biting his lip after every match because it became a bit of a stigma.

"Eventually it filtered to England and every time he had a bad game it became an open nerve."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

We asked for your views on Burnley's Premier League win over Crystal Palace.

Here are some of your comments:

Crystal Palace fans

Iain: Quite possibly the most depressing result of a miserable season. You can't be 2-0 at home to the team second from bottom and lose 3-2. Woeful performance in the second half. We looked clueless on the field and the manager seemed equally clueless with his substitutions.

Lee: Glasner's exit confirmation has rotted the squad. Players have downed tools. He's done nothing but moan about ambition and transfers. We won't go down. Sack him now; get Thomas Frank in for a bounce. Nothing to lose.

Leigh: An embarrassing seven minutes from a Palace perspective. Good performance overall, lots of chances created. Never should have lost. We created our own downfall.

Brian: I've been supporting Palace since third division South and it looks like they're going back.

Gary: Disgraceful. Pathetic. Nowhere near good enough. Feel sorry for Strand Larson, no service in second half. Why take Munoz off and put Sarr on the right? He's wasted out there. We miss Guehi's calmness in defence. I'm afraid we'll be out of Europe soon and finish in our usual place in the table 12-15th. The fun and happy days are over.

Burnley fans

Martin: We're going down - that has been evident for weeks, and this result changes nothing. As fans, we just want to see fight and determination every game until the end of the season. We haven't even managed that recently. Let's hope this game is a sign of things changing.

Andrew: Hannibal was magnificent. Everywhere. Inspiring all around him. Kyle Walker is a totally class act.

Bob: Much better but I fear too little too late! However let's keep it up and maybe… At least let's go down fighting. Whatever happens big changes need to happen.

John: The most incredible comeback by Burnley that I can remember in the many decades that my family have supported them.

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The 40-point mark - or thereabouts - could be needed once again to guarantee Premier League survival this term, with an in-form West Ham United attempting to chase down the sides above them.

That mythical number has often been cited as the threshold at which managers, players and fans can relax - but the total has not actually been needed to stay up since 2010-11.

Prior to that the only other occasions clubs were demoted with 40 points or more were 1996-97, 1997-98 and 2002-03.

But could that be about to change?

West Ham, who are 18th in the top flight, are only three points behind 17th-placed Nottingham Forest, who sacked manager Sean Dyche after Wednesday's goalless draw with Wolves.

While Tottenham - who sacked boss Thomas Frank on Wednesday - are 16th, another two points ahead of Forest.

• Read a full breakdown on the 40-point target

West Ham's current points tally (24) is the most by any side in 18th at this stage of a campaign since 2019-20, when the Hammers recovered to stay up with 39 points.

Leeds also look to have found some momentum with recent wins over Fulham and Forest as well as draws at Everton and Chelsea.

In contrast, Spurs have managed a meagre four points from the previous 27 available to them.

Meanwhile, now managerless Forest have won just two of their past 10 games and fans of Brighton and Crystal Palace may also be looking over their shoulders.

The 14th-placed Seagulls (31 points) are on a dismal run having won just one top-flight game since 30 November.

Palace - who are a place and a point above Brighton - have only tasted victory once since 7 December and most recently let a two-goal lead slip as they lost to struggling Burnley.

That magic 40-point mark could well be needed once more to avoid dropping into the Championship.

Pundits Alan Shearer and Danny Murphy join host Kelly Somers to bring you the action and talking points from Tuesday's and Wednesday's Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

Matthew Howarth
BBC Sport journalist

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Sunday's victory at rivals Brighton had provided a much-needed lift for Oliver Glasner and his Crystal Palace players.

But, on his 100th game in charge of the club, the Austrian - who is leaving the club at the end of the season - was brought back down to earth with the heaviest of bumps after Burnley's extraordinary first-half fightback at Selhurst Park.

It was all going so well for the Eagles, who appeared to be heading for back-to-back victories after Jorgen Strand Larsen's first-half double.

Had Palace held on, they would actually have been two points better off than they were at the same stage last season.

As it happens, they are now just eight points clear of the bottom three – still a comfortable cushion, but not comfortable enough for a side with only one win in all competitions since 11 December.

If Wolves manage to pull a leaf out of Burnley's book in Palace's next league game on 22 February, alarm bells really will start ringing.

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner, speaking to TNT Sports: "I can't explain it. We gave the game away too easy. Maybe it was too easy. There was a lack of intensity and we didn't defend well. We can't show a consistent performance over 95 minutes very often. Once it's this, once it's that – and you get punished.

"The start was good, scoring very nice goals. We controlled everything. I've watched all the goals back and it's just not acceptable how we defended as a team – just jogging around, not in the duels, not in the second balls.

"In the second half we tried everything, but we don't deserve to win.

"I praise the boys very often for their effort. We had a great effort three days ago at Brighton, so it's not about the character. I don't know the reason [for tonight], the players usually work hard.

"When you throw the game away like we did, you don't deserve to win.

"I don't know what to do with this ball. It's not serious play. We just can't clear it. We start with a kick-off after the 2-2, we play the ball long, then they have a big chance – it's not acceptable.

"Right now, we don't have someone on the pitch who leads the team in these moments, who makes the players calm and decides about the meaning of the game – that's why we lost."

Did you know?

• Crystal Palace are now without a win in their last eight home Premier League matches (D3 L5), last enduring a longer run at Selhurst Park in the top-flight between August 1997 and April 1998 (15 games).

• Palace striker Jorgen Strand Larsen is the first player to score against Burnley with two different teams in a single Premier League season.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Crystal Palace's performance

What did you make of Burnley's display?

Come back on Thursday for a selection of your replies

Oliver Glasner makes two changes to the Crystal Palace team that started Sunday's win at rivals Brighton.

Daichi Kamada comes in, while Aston Villa loanee Evann Guessand is handed his full debut.

Will Hughes and Yeremy Pino drop to the bench.

Crystal Palace XI: Henderson, Lerma, Lacroix, Richards, Munoz, Wharton, Kamada, Mitchell, Sarr, Guessand, Strand Larsen

Subs: Benitez, Pino, Johnson, Uche, Clyne, Hughes, Sosa, Riad, Devenny

Image source, Premier League

Scott Parker also makes two alterations to the Burnley side that started the 2-0 defeat at home to West Ham on Saturday.

Joe Worrall and Josh Laurent return, with Florentino and Lucas Pires named among the substitutes.

Burnley XI: Dubravka, Walker, Humphreys, Esteve, Worrall, Edwards, Mejbri, Laurent, Ugochukwu, Anthony, Flemming

Subs: Weiss, Bruun Larsen, Foster, Florentino, Tchaouna, Ekdal, Ward-Prowse, Pires, Barnes

There are five games in the Premier League on Wednesday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Aston Villa v Brighton

• Crystal Palace v Burnley

• Man City v Fulham

• Nottingham Forest v Wolves

• Sunderland v Liverpool (20:15)

Kick-off times 19:30 GMT unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

And listen to Around The Grounds on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds from 19:00

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