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What went wrong at Palace?

Eight months to the day from delivering the greatest moment in Crystal Palace’s history by winning the FA Cup there seems to be no way back for Oliver Glasner. An abrupt early ending feels like an inevitability. Joy has turned to despair. Frustration has grown. Anger has simmered. Tensions have risen. Another emotional outburst from the Palace manager, to follow an astonishing press conference just over 24 hours earlier, has surely created an intolerable situation after scathing criticism of the club’s hierarchy. Some fans, too, seem to have turned on him, even if there is at least some acknowledgement that his anger comes from being dealt a terrible hand.    Against that, it should be noted that there was a heartfelt article in The Times yesterday by a Palace fan saying that they had lost the best manager they ever had. As full-time came at the Stadium of Light and Palace had suffered a 2-1 defeat to make it 10 games without a win, Glasner walked over to acknowledge the...
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The football manager as a human sacrifice

It's not often that the editorial in the Financial Times is about football, but their editorial today is well worth reproducing. For all that they say, for fans the manager remains of central and possibly exaggerated importance,   Look at the jeopardy facing Thomas Frank after today's home defeat to West Ham and the boos of fans.  Or consider the article in today's Times in which a Crystal Palace fan effectively blames the board for losing their 'best ever' manager. The Pink 'Un states: 'Since New Year, three of the world’s most famous football clubs — Chelsea, Manchester United and Real Madrid — have sacked their head coach. This is normal for the industry: the average tenure of head coaches across Europe is now about 1.2 years, with most serving less than a season. The sackings illustrate football’s dysfunctionality. They also highlight the passing of football’s “big man” era. If clubs, fans and coaches themselves can adjust to this shift, that may be no b...
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Double blow for Palace

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has confirmed he will leave the club this summer at the end of his contract.  The Austrian’s announcement comes as Manchester City are in the process of finalising an agreement with Palace to sign centre-back Marc Guehi in a package worth £20million ($26.8m) plus bonuses and a sell-on clause. Palace are without a win in nine matches across all competitions, and exited the FA Cup third round to Macclesfield of the National League North on Saturday, but Glasner insisted the timing of his future announcement is coincidental. Palace are currently 13th in the Premier League after 21 rounds of action, and are in the play-off stages of the Conference League, where they play Bosnian side Zrinjski, ahead of the knockout stage. They were unfairly deprived of what should have been a Europa League place by Uefa technicalities. It had seemed clear for some time that the direction of travel was for Glasner to depart at the end of his contract and ...
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I do like to be by the lakeside at Como

The Italian lakes are a favourite destination for English tourists and many wealthy Milan residents have second homes there.   One of my abiding memories is being hosted by the Rockefeller Foundation at their splendid centre in Bellagio. Normally the likes of Como FC would not attract the attention of the Swiss Ramble.   But his Zurich fastness is not far away and if he ever tears himself away from his spreadsheets, he might well spend a weekend there. Reading his analysis of Como FC they look a bit like Wrexham iin the EFL.    It also shows that emerging countries are likely to be an increasing source of funds for football. One of the big football stories in Italy has been the rise of Como as they returned to Serie A after a 21-year absence, finishing in a very creditable 10th place in their first season back in 2024/25. To date, this season has been even more promising, as they are currently in 6th place, very much involved in the race for European quali...
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Mystery Americans swoop for Tranmere

One time prime minister Harold Macmillan once said of The Wirral ‘funny place, it sticks out, up there.’   I have only been to Tranmere Rovers once, but I was able to park in the road outside and I thought they were a really friendly club. The problem is that they are the third club on Merseyside and it is relatively easy to travel across the Mersey.    The Wirral itself is an odd mixture of deprived and high end housing.    There was once another EFL club at New Brighton:   the once decaying seaside resort is seeing something ofa revival. Tranmere Rovers are set to become the latest English team to come under American ownership, as a bid for the Merseyside club from Ascent Capital Partners is waiting for English Football League (EFL) approval. Current owners former Football Association (FA) chief executive Mark Palios and his wife Nicola bought the club in 2014 but have been trying to sell the League Two side for at least two years. They decli...
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Lincoln go to first base

A former executive chairman and co-owner of Major League Baseball team the San Diego Padres is set to take a controlling stake in League One club Lincoln City. American Ron Fowler initially bought a minority interest in third-tier Lincoln in April 2024, and he is now poised to replace Arizona-based Harvey Jabara as the majority shareholder if his bid is cleared by the English Football League. Lincoln's board approved a proposal from Fowler to increase his stake - through his company Liquid Investments - to more than 25% on 11 December. Fowler, whose son Andrew is also involved in the club, will take on the position of chairman at LNER Stadium and will "assume responsibility for the funding of the club for the immediate future". The ownership shake-up at Lincoln, who are second in the table, was confirmed as a "future development" in the club's annual accounts covering the 12 months up to June 2025. controlling stake in League One club Lincoln City. Fowler wi...
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