From 'Glasner Out' to glory? Crystal Palace boss eyes fairytale farewell

It felt like the bitter end of a beautiful love affair three months ago when Crystal Palace fans in the away end for their side's UEFA Conference League playoff against HSK Zrinjski Mostar directed their anger at manager Oliver Glasner.

"We want Glasner Out" they chanted at the Austrian who the previous season entered Palace folklore when his team beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final to deliver the first major trophy in the club's history.

That 1-1 draw in Bosnia left Palace with one win from 15 games in all competitions -- a period in which Glasner announced he would leave at the end of the campaign and Palace sold key defender Marc Guehi to Manchester City, having also lost Cup final hero Eberechi Eze to Arsenal in the close season.

Few would have bet on Glasner seeing through the final months of his contract when the 51-year-old further antagonised fans as he responded to the criticism by telling them to 'stay humble' and 'remember where you've come from'.

But those turbulent times are now all but forgotten and on Wednesday he will walk away with his legacy secure after the Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig.

Victory for Palace would complete an astonishing chapter for the South London club since former Eintracht Frankfurt manager Glasner took charge in February 2024.

As well as that historic day at Wembley against Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, Palace also won the Community Shield versus Liverpool a few months later and have now reached the final in their first European adventure.

'YOU DON'T NEED TO PLAY FOR THE MANAGER'

"I would feel I'd completely failed if the team had dropped off (after I announced my departure) because I'd always told them: 'You don't need to play for a manager,'" Glasner told UEFA.com.

"It's always playing for themselves, it's playing for the group, playing for the fans, playing for the club.

"If we win the Conference League, all the players who stay here at the club, the fans, they (will) have the benefit, because they'll play European football again next year.

"So, everything they do (is) for themselves too, for the club, for the fans and not for me."

While Glasner is keen to deflect the focus from himself, he is not averse to wishing for the perfect sign-off.

"It would be a perfect ending. When you watch a movie, when you read a book, you always hope that there is a happy ending," he said.

"To end this more than two-year journey with another trophy, with the first European trophy in Crystal Palace's history, that would be incredible."

Palace, with the likes of Jean-Philippe Mateta, Adam Wharton and Ismaila Sarr in their ranks, will certainly start as favourites against a club with much in common with themselves.

In Glasner they have a manager who knows what it takes to win a European trophy, having taken Frankfurt to the Europa League title in 2022.

They also have forward Brennan Johnson whose goal won last season's Europa League for Tottenham Hotspur and who will see Wednesday's final as the perfect time to score a long-overdue first goal since crossing London.

Johnson joined during those dark days of January but says the European run has unified the close-knit club once again.

"The more games we played, especially in the Conference League, the buzz came back and it now feels like a distant memory," he said.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ken Ferris)