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If Crystal Palace’s victory at the Amex seemed to be the staff getting again on observe after an extended winless run, then Wednesday’s collapse towards Burnley amounted to being sign failure at the very least.
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You would count on any staff to take three factors from the place of being 2-0 up so early in the recreation, particularly towards a relegation candidate, and a win would have nestled the staff fortunately in mid-table.
The response to the outcome was visceral. That was partly right down to the scars of such a poor run of late and in addition the indisputable fact that Oliver Glasner’s lame-duck standing – no matter folks’s particular person view of the supervisor – does bleed into the pondering of loads of followers.
Perhaps on this scenario, ignorance can be bliss. Not figuring out for positive that he’s leaving at the finish of the season would preserve the concentrate on the current, whereas now any defeat or substandard efficiency is extra more likely to increase questions of his personal motivation or his affect over the altering room.
Suddenly, that disastrous 10-minute spell towards Burnley has price the staff extra than simply factors.
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Even if these opinions do not carry a lot water, you possibly can see a scenario the place the stress continues to mount till it is not viable any extra for the membership. Which brings us on to Zrinjski Mostar, Thursday’s European opponents.
Away from the Premier League and an nearly must-win fixture towards Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, the attract of successful the Conference League might be underpinning the the rest of Glasner’s time at Palace.
Only a couple of hundred followers will probably be travelling to Bosnia-Herzegovina this week, however it is going to be a critical moment for the season.
For so long as the staff can keep in the competitors, there are at all times greener pastures simply over the horizon, with a imaginative and prescient of ending the season with yet one more trophy.
Without that, it is going to be laborious to maintain making the case for the Austrian supervisor, regardless that we might need to.
Find extra from Alex Pewter at FYP podcast