- Palace take huge step towards Conference League final
- European glory could be pivotal in managerial hunt
- Andoni Iraola should come to South London
Crystal Palace beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 at Selhurst Park on Thursday night as they progressed to the Conference League final, winning 5-2 on aggregate. Palace’s progression and potential success in this tournament has always felt like a key factor in their search for a new manager.
Oliver Glasner will leave the club as their greatest ever manager should he lead the side to Conference League glory in just under three weeks time. Andoni Iraola has been heavily linked to the upcoming vacancy at Selhurst Park, however there is also interest from other clubs.
Fans on social media have been split in their judgement of the links, with some claiming that Palace is not enough of a step up, if one at all to justify Iraola leaving the Cherries.
The move makes sense
Whilst Bournemouth are currently experiencing a brilliant Premier League campaign, it’s a one-off. The Cherries currently occupy sixth place in the league table, and have a huge chance to increase their chances of qualifying for Europe next season if they beat Fulham on Saturday [9th May].
Palace have won an FA Cup, a Community Shield and are now in with a huge chance of winning the UEFA Conference League, as their 14th consecutive Premier League season approaches and will be confirmed if West Ham lose against Arsenal this weekend.
Whilst Bournemouth have been successful, it’s fair to say that success has been because of Iraola.
At Palace, yes Oliver Glasner got the side over the line to win the competition, they have come close many times before, and no other side outside the ‘big six’ has played at Wembley more times than Palace.
The infrastructure and culture of the club is set in stone, with solid foundations to build from. A new stadium development lies around the corner, an evergrowing and succeeding academy is feeding the first team, and the club is on a wave which doesn’t seem to be slowing down.
Differing seasons
Yes, Palace’s league form has faltered this season, but the focus on replicating a Spurs-esque campaign and winning European silverware has clearly been the focus. This season’s Premier League has also been one of the most open and competitive we have seen.
It is no surprise that the clubs that are not managing European football have been able to kick on, with Bournemouth, Brentford and Brighton have all been able to capitalise, but even so the Cherries only find themselves 9 points ahead of Palace who have stumbled down to 15th.
Considering Iraola has his side on a remarkable 15-game-unbeaten-run, and Palace have had a relatively disappointing couple of months in the league, the gap being just 9 points says a lot.
Ultimately, if Palace are able to achieve yet more success by winning the Conference League, their league position will simply not matter.
It seems as if Iraola has potentially taken the Cherries as far as he can, and with limited resources, Palace makes sense as the next move on his managerial journey.
