Oliver Glasner has been chosen as the man to, in the short term, pull the club away from relegation danger and then, assuming that job is completed, deliver the kind of progress which proved beyond Hodgson this season.
But the process which brought Glasner to Selhurst Park has not been straightforward. Here, we explore how Palace appointed him, his background and how he is likely to set up his team.
How Palace hired him
Glasner’s arrival as Crystal Palace manager has already achieved something rarely seen in the club’s boardroom: unity.
Palace’s owners — comprising four general partners, Steve Parish, John Textor, Josh Harris and David Blitzer — have been split in their views on how the club should be run for some time. Those divisions have often centred on long-term strategy, but they have also extended to who should take charge of the team.
Not all of those involved backed the decision to hand Hodgson a year’s contract in the summer, and neither were they enamoured by the length of time he was allowed to continue in his role despite results going awry. Textor, in particular, was against the decision to re-hire Hodgson last summer and wanted him replaced as long ago as December. But those divergences disappeared when it came to the decision to hire Glasner.
The Austrian has been admired by Textor since last summer – the U.S. businessman had also tried to hire him for Lyon, another member of his Eagle Football Holdings multi-club group – although Palace’s preference was to wait until the end of the season to make any permanent appointment. There was also scepticism that Glasner could be persuaded to join during the season, as he ideally wanted to have a full pre-season to work with his new squad.
But Palace’s poor run of form meant the club felt they could not afford to wait any longer. Efforts to hire Glasner intensified in January and the 49-year-old subsequently made a good impression on Parish — despite his general preference for candidates with Premier League experience — and sporting director Dougie Freedman, another influential voice in the club’s hierarchy. Harris and Blitzer, who are more removed despite having an equal vote on key decisions, were happy to go along with the prevailing mood.
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