Oliver Glasner is not the type of manager to hide his emotions, but heavy back-to-back defeats in which his side have conceded 10 goals, is enough to test anyone’s patience.
The Crystal Palace manager is, by his own admission, impatient. But observe him on the touchline and he conveys a range of emotions. He can, as he is behind closed doors at times, be intemperate. Frustration boils over into anger, confusion can mix with irritation. There is bewilderment, too, at some of the decisions his players make.
But among it all is still support and encouragement. His players will need the right combination of home truths and that more subdued, caring approach. A 5-0 defeat by Newcastle United was chastening, with Glasner expressing many of those emotions throughout the evening.
Glasner gave little insight into his thinking in his post-match press conference, but acknowledged it was time to reset and focus on playing together as a defensive unit. Resolving the conundrum of their sudden defensive shakiness after so many clean sheets away from home, will not only benefit his team, but also probably his blood pressure.
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Yet for much of the second half at St James’ Park there was just one overriding feeling he seemed to offer — resignation. A sense that he had no response, sure that there was no way back. He told BBC Sport afterwards that the message was to at least draw the second half, something they failed to do, but for much of it he seemed calmer than in the opening 45 minutes.
His passion on the touchline is always apparent, and his anger and fury at the mistakes Palace made throughout was obvious. From the first minute, Glasner was on the edge of his technical area, providing instructions but more often than anything else, applauding his players.
Even when there appeared to be no obvious reason to do so. That support and encouragement was later intertwined with criticism in which he did not hold back. Four minutes had passed when a long Dean Henderson kick ran through to Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope. Glasner responded with applause and a thumbs up seemingly in recognition of the idea to play the ball in behind the defence.
It was seven minutes before he returned to his seat, frequently directing his defence to be tighter to each other — something which proved futile as they were repeatedly exposed by Newcastle’s blistering transition play, in particular down the flanks.
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The first flash of anger came after 11 minutes, when Jefferson Lerma sent in a weak cross. Glasner swivelled round and threw out his hands. A Maxence Lacroix pass was then met by no Palace player, but the idea pleased his manager, and received encouragement.
But when there are poor decisions, Glasner is intemperate. Ismaila Sarr carried the ball forward and, when well placed to shoot, passed to Daniel Munoz only for the move to break down. He turned round to his staff, as he frequently does, frustrated. Yet the reaction when Newcastle opened the scoring was to jump and skip back in his technical area, irritated more than anything else.
Eberechi Eze’s dreadful penalty was met with no reaction, but he had been animated with the fourth official as the decision not to award it was reviewed by referee Darren England. He appeared to consult Tyrick Mitchell, Marc Guehi and Newcastle’s Jacob Murphy on their views of Nick Pope clattering into Chris Richards.
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The third goal was met with real fury, before he shouted aggressively at Maxence Lacroix, trying to comprehend why he hadn’t cleared the ball instead of shielding it before being dispossessed in the build up and making that point abundantly clear.
He returned to his seat far more often in the second half, his emotions slightly more subdued, but those flashes of anger, understandably, did not disappear entirely. There are echoes of Ray Lewington’s booming voice and constant applause, but he has far more emotional volatility. Against Manchester City he threw his arm down in disgust at his team conceding.
Palace have been on the wrong end of potentially match-defining moments in those last two matches. Had Eze remained onside and Sarr scored when well placed against Man City, with Palace leading 2-0, and had Eze not missed his penalty against Newcastle at 1-0 down, then things might have been different. But Palace’s defensive shape has collapsed and in both games individual errors have proven costly.
Palace actually generated more expected goals than Newcastle in the game, so a 5-0 defeat feels particularly harsh. But back-to-basics is the necessary approach.
Glasner’s unprompted praise for the travelling Palace support saw him send a message to his players and staff. The fans, he said, had been together as one, singing and backing their side despite a disastrous performance in which their team made almost countless errors. It was that spirit which everyone must channel for the run-in.
It was in the reverse fixture at Selhurst Park that Glasner was shown a yellow card for a wild celebration in the corner after Daniel Munoz equalised with almost the game’s final kick. That was the perfect example of the spirit of the team, and their confidence.
Belief has escaped them in the past week but togetherness should see Palace return to their best during a brutal run of games to end the season. Find it and Glasner will go back to wagging his finger in celebration, not throwing his arms down in anger, and Palace will be far better placed to avoid further capitulations.
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