Steve Parish and Oliver Glasner after winning the UEFA Conference League. (Image: Getty Images)
Steve Parish has confirmed there will be no sentimental change of heart regarding Oliver Glasner’s future. Nevertheless, the Crystal Palace chairman maintains the Austrian has delivered the ideal farewell present in the club’s hunt for his replacement. Parish said following the Eagles’ Conference League victory in Leipzig: “It’s incredible, I’m overjoyed for everybody.
“But Oliver’s not going to stay, no, he’s not going to stay on. Listen, it’s a great ending, it’s a happy ending. We’re absolutely thrilled and I’m thrilled for him because he’s worked so hard. There’s a lot of pressure on everybody, and, you know, sometimes pressure makes diamonds and that’s what we did tonight. It was a big effort from everyone.
“Importantly, everybody always wanted the same thing for the football club, we just had to find a way through some things. Oliver wants to go and do other things and he can’t have done anything more for us, right?”
Andoni Iraola, who is poised to leave Bournemouth despite also delivering Europa League qualification, continues to be Palace’s preferred managerial candidate.
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The Eagles are prepared to grant him substantial influence over transfer decisions as they attempt to ward off competing interest from AC Milan and Bayer Leverkusen.
Coupe de France-winning Lens manager Pierre Sage and Frank Lampard are viewed as possible alternatives should a deal prove elusive.
Parish continued: “Tonight’s tonight, right? Tomorrow, we’ll worry about the future. You know, obviously, we’ve been doing things [talking to various candidates]. There’s no doubt this helps, right?
Oliver Glasner will not reverse his decision. (Image: Getty)
“Now the club has got more to offer, this helps with everything. It’s just a great night for the club. I want to go and enjoy it.”
Parish, who labelled UEFA’s decision to demote Palace to the Conference League “a terrible injustice” last July, believes relations with the governing body have since been repaired.
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He concluded, having been seated alongside UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin at the Red Bull Arena: “He’s a great guy, he was very nice.”
“We had a nice dinner last night. You know, in the end, everything worked out, right? Everything worked out, so it’s great. He was a good guy. I enjoyed his company. He was fantastic to be around, it was good.”
Separately, Daichi Kamada’s future remains one of Palace’s most pressing concerns. The Japan international, who won the Europa League under Glasner at Eintracht Frankfurt, is currently set to become a free agent this summer.
Meanwhile, the club have also activated a one-year extension clause to keep versatile midfielder Jefferson Lerma at Selhurst Park.