After every week where Marc Guehi left the club, Oliver Glasner doubled down on his anger on the board and Jean-Phillipe Mateta decided he wants out too, Crystal Palace feel like they might be getting ready to imploding.
That doesn’t sound good.
Well, it’s not. Glasner’s side haven’t won in 10 games in all competitions, a run that features a home draw to Finnish champions KuPS, a loss away to sixth-tier Macclesfield and just seven goals scored.
That alone isn’t necessarily enough to begin ringing the alarm – Palace won only considered one of their first 13 league games last season and look what they ended up achieving – but it surely’s a symptom of what’s happening off the pitch, which is an actual cause for concern.
Welcome back to In The Mixer
You’re reading an extract from Metro’s weekly football newsletter, which is full of punchy evaluation, transfer talk and lots more. Enroll here to get your football fix every Friday.
So what is going on?
Quite a bit. Palace completely rebuilt their squad over the past 4 or five years, transitioning from an older, more traditional style to having a younger squad that may compete with the highest teams.
Roy Hodgson’s Palace team were difficult to beat and were filled with Premier League experience. The likes of James McArthur, Jeffrey Schlupp and Jordan Ayew all revamped 190 appearances within the league for the Eagles.
But since 2024, they’ve lost loads of experienced players and sold Michael Olise, Joachim Andersen, Eberechi Eze and Guehi, with the newest rumours suggesting Adam Wharton and Mateta will probably be following them, possibly sooner quite than later.
Consistently losing your best players is an element of the sport for mid table clubs – you purchase low, develop talent and sell high – but there’s only a lot you may lose before relegation comes calling, just ask Wolves fans, who’re watching their side stuck to the foot of the table after selling their best players yr on yr.
It requires the replacements and squad players to step up within the event of a sale, something that’s yet to occur at Palace. Yeremy Pino is young and still adapting to the league, Eddie Nketiah remains to be attempting to live as much as his Arsenal potential and Ismaïla Sarr is an efficient player who’s unlikely to make the step as much as stardom any time soon.
There have been successes. Daniel Munoz is among the finest fullbacks within the league and Maxence Lacroix could easily make a move to a much bigger club, but that in itself is an element of the difficulty.
Clinton Morrison: Mateta’s timing ‘all improper’
The timing of Mateta trying to go away is all improper. It’s disappointing, I do know JP and he’s a great guy who just desires to do well and achieve success. But he must have waited until the summer to get his move. I do know what the chairman Steve Parish is like, unless it’s the correct price, he shouldn’t be letting him go.
Oliver Glasner isn’t leaving until the tip of the season, we hope. Perhaps he [Mateta] has got someone in his ear, possibly his agent, telling him “we’d like to strike why the iron is hot”. However the iron might be even hotter in he summer. He’s 29 now, he’s hitting his peak years and he’s considering he can get the massive move that he has wanted. He has his agent talking to clubs I’m sure. But I’ve seen this play out one million times and the chairman is a clever businessman and he’s not going to let a player go for lower than the cash he’s value.
Clinton Morrison spoke to Metro via Freebets.com, the home of the perfect Cheltenham offers.
But Palace won the FA Cup last season!
Which is what makes the past eight months all of the harder for fans to take. The club which might be perpetually twelfth were dreaming of standard European trips and a Champions League push.
As a substitute they’ve got a manager who’s feeling ‘abandoned’ announcing he’s jumping ship and, while relegation isn’t a sensible proposition this season, a squad that will probably be looking down quite than up the table for the subsequent few months.
The brilliant side for Palace fans? They’re still within the Conference League and the club’s owners have been making long-term decisions to enhance the possibilities of future success.
Funds are there for brand spanking new players, while construction on a brand new predominant stand is finally set to start after a nine-year wait since plans were originally unveiled.
It’ll boost capability by over 8,000 and hopes to make among the finest atmospheres around even louder – fans will just hope they’re welcoming Arsenal and Liverpool when it’s accomplished, as an alternative of QPR and Derby.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the newest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
MORE: Michael Carrick told £74m star needs to be ‘nowhere near’ Manchester United team
MORE: Steven Gerrard makes title prediction and Liverpool claim ahead of Arsenal vs Man Utd
MORE: Man Utd make major Kobbie Mainoo transfer decision after Casemiro exit sealed