"ABANDONED" NO MORE? THE TRUTH BEHIND OLIVER GLASNER’S U-TURN ON THE PALACE BOARD
After clearing the air with the board, Oliver Glasner shifts focus to Chelsea and Palace’s hunt for Conference League glory.
Oliver Glasner doesn’t want his time at Crystal Palace to end on a sour note, not after the past couple of weeks at Selhurst Park.
The year started rough for Palace. They crashed out of the FA Cup to non-league Macclesfield. Then Marc Guéhi, the club captain, left for Manchester City in a £20 million move. Glasner has already said he’s leaving at the end of the season, and the team hasn’t won in ten games. The latest blow? Losing 2–1 at Sunderland, which set Glasner off—he slammed the board for selling Guéhi when they did and said he felt like the squad had been “abandoned.”
But things seem to be calming down. Glasner and chairman Steve Parish sat down for dinner this week. They talked things through, made peace, and agreed to focus on the UEFA Conference League.
Glasner only joined Palace in February 2024, taking over from Roy Hodgson, but he made an immediate impact—he won the FA Cup in his first full season, finally bringing the club their first major trophy in 120 years.
Now, Glasner wants to close out his time at Palace on a high and put all the drama behind him.
“I was emotional after the Sunderland game. The club and the players mean a lot to me,” Glasner said. “I don’t regret what I said—this is just who I am. But, yeah, it wasn’t the best timing.
“I had a long dinner with Steve this week. We talked about the Marc situation—not about selling him, but about the timing and who might replace him. I wanted Steve to understand where I was coming from.
“It was a good talk. I wasn’t attacking anyone. I just needed to share how I felt.
“Steve and I left dinner smiling. We’ve achieved so much together in the last 22 months. We’re not going to let it end as these last few weeks have gone.
“We’re sticking together and working to finish the season the way it deserves. That’s what I told the players.
“I was honest with them about everything. Now that we’ve got some players coming back, there’s a real sense that we can turn this around.”
Glasner’s been pushing for more signings since January, but with Daniel Muñoz and Ismaïla Sarr both back and set to start against Chelsea, he thinks they only need one more new face.
“I hope Daichi Kamada comes back at the start of February. He wants to play against Chelsea—honestly, we had to calm him down.
“He’s frustrated. He just wants to train and play more. I told him, ‘Hey, tranquillo’—I don’t know how to say that in Japanese.
“He’ll be back when the Conference League heats up. Hopefully, we’ll be in it for a while.
“Eddie Nketiah should return soon. That’ll give us more options. I still think we’ll bring in one more player this window, and then we’ll have a good balance.
“We already signed Brennan, and he’s a great addition. The last couple of weeks haven’t felt great, and I take responsibility for that, along with our results. But now we’re focusing on what we can actually control—the work on the pitch.
“We have to get better. There’s no point dwelling on everything else. We don’t need to change everything, just improve in a few areas.
“We used to create a lot more chances earlier in the season, and we’ve lost that a bit. To start winning again, we need to fix that.
“That’s what we’re working on. We’ve got more time to train now, to focus on the right things. I’m pretty optimistic about the next few weeks and months.”
AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY
Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.
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Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.
Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.
Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.
Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.
West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.
Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.
Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.
CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH
As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.
Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.
After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.
He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.
Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.
“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”
Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.
Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.
He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.
Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.
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