Glasner: Thank you for supporting and trusting us
Oliver Glasner has thanked his Crystal Palace players, staff and supporters for their belief after he guided the club to a top-ten Premier League finish.
When the Austrian was appointed Palace manager on 19th February, the Eagles were 16th in the Premier League table and were 10 points off the top half of the league.
But after initially starting with one win in his first six matches, Glasner’s Palace put in a remarkable string of performances to win six of their final seven, going unbeaten dispatching recent European qualifiers Liverpool, West Ham, Newcastle, Manchester United and Aston Villa.
Scoring 21 goals across that run, Palace were propelled up the table to just their second-ever top-half Premier League finish.
“No, I didn't [know if that were possible when appointed],” Glasner smiled. “I don't know how many points we were away, but I didn't focus on the table, never.
“In the first days, we were always focused and concentrated on the team, on the players, what we need to improve, what we need to win games.
“I'd like to say thank you to the players, thank you to the staff, thank you to all the members of the club for supporting us, for trusting us. Yes, we know the first game we won 3-0, but then we had six weeks, or six games, no win.
“But they all stayed positive and we really worked hard, really worked hard, and now we all get the reward.”
Jean-Philippe Mateta was the hat-trick hero on the final day of the season, with his treble – Palace’s first at home in the Premier League – added to by an Ebere Eze second-half brace to secure a joint-record biggest win in the competition.
“Every press conference is the same: once we talk about Michael [Olise], once about Ebs, once about JP!” Glasner smiled. “Yes, he's in great shape, he scores fantastic goals, but he also benefits from his team-mates.
“The first was a great ball from Michael. We knew they play a high line, he [Mateta] makes the run and scores the goal. The confidence in finishing the second [after] a great ball from Daniel Muñoz. The third again, great dribbling from Michael. It's all about team effort.
“The players benefit from the team and the team, of course, benefits from every individual player.”
The Austrian also joked that, seven matches ago, he said he was targeting seven wins from Palace’s final seven games – a proposition which admittedly seemed tough at that stage.
“First of all, I have to apologise: I promised seven wins and we have just six, sorry!” Glasner said. “I don't think too far ahead. I'm also enjoying the game today, the performance today, how I can see the players are performing and what fun they have, but also how hard they work in defence.
“We had a bit of trouble in the first-half in defence and we made some adaptions [at half-time] and the players go out and show it again immediately. And then we controlled the game and scored great goals.
“But I know from more than 30 years in football and you can't say… we were very successful, that means next season will be the same for the whole season.
“Now we enjoy what we all did together, what we all achieved. But when we start again for pre-season at the beginning of July, it's still hard work.
“Everybody knows how difficult it is to win a Premier League game. Of course, now after 5-0, you think, ‘oh, it's easy. It's never easy.’ All the teams are so good, all the managers are so good, all the staff are so good. But yes, the last weeks were really enjoyable.
“At the end of the league season, you always get what you deserve, but not for one game, what you deserve for nine months.
“We’ll start in three months and then it's a nine-month competition, every weekend. And then you get what you show for nine months – and so this is our challenge.
“It's not just for several periods of the year, it's for nine months: it's for every FA Cup game, it's for every Carabao Cup game, staying hungry, staying ambitious, working on your strengths, working on your weaknesses, improve personally, improve as a team.
“And then, I could say the first-half, every set play, we had problems in defence, so it was a big challenge for us to work on it and improve – I see many points we can improve.
“But, of course, I see a lot what the players are doing really excellently and I'm enjoying it.”