Guehi, Glasner and now Mateta: Are Crystal Palace on the brink of disaster?

After a week where Marc Guehi left the club, Oliver Glasner doubled down on his anger at the board and Jean-Phillipe Mateta decided he wants out too, Crystal Palace feel like they could be on the brink of imploding.

That doesn’t sound good.

Well, it’s not. Glasner’s side haven’t won in 10 games in all competitions, a run that includes a home draw to Finnish champions KuPS, a loss away to sixth-tier Macclesfield and just seven goals scored.

That alone isn’t necessarily enough to start ringing the alarm – Palace won only one of their first 13 league games last season and look what they ended up achieving – but it’s a symptom of what’s happening off the pitch, which is a real cause for concern.

So what is happening?

A lot. Palace completely rebuilt their squad over the past four or five years, transitioning from an older, more traditional style to having a younger squad that can compete with the top teams.

Roy Hodgson’s Palace team were difficult to beat and were full of Premier League experience. The likes of James McArthur, Jeffrey Schlupp and Jordan Ayew all made over 190 appearances in the league for the Eagles.

But since 2024, they’ve lost plenty of experienced players and sold Michael Olise, Joachim Andersen, Eberechi Eze and Guehi, with the latest rumours suggesting Adam Wharton and Mateta will be following them, maybe sooner rather than later.

Consistently losing your best players is part of the game for mid table clubs – you buy low, develop talent and sell high – but there’s only so much you can lose before relegation comes calling, just ask Wolves fans, who are watching their side stuck to the foot of the table after selling their best players year on year.

It requires the replacements and squad players to step up in the event of a sale, something that is yet to happen at Palace. Yeremy Pino is young and still adapting to the league, Eddie Nketiah is still trying to live up to his Arsenal potential and Ismaïla Sarr is an effective player who is unlikely to make the step up to stardom any time soon.

There have been successes. Daniel Munoz is one of the best fullbacks in the league and Maxence Lacroix could easily make a move to a bigger club, but that in itself is part of the issue.

Clinton Morrison: Mateta's timing 'all wrong'

The timing of Mateta trying to leave is all wrong. It is disappointing, I know JP and he is a good guy who just wants to do well and be successful. But he should have waited until the summer to get his move. I know what the chairman Steve Parish is like, unless it’s the right price, he is not letting him go.

Oliver Glasner isn’t leaving until the end of the season, we hope. Maybe he [Mateta] has got someone in his ear, maybe his agent, telling him “we need to strike why the iron is hot”. But the iron could be even hotter in he summer. He’s 29 now, he’s hitting his peak years and he is thinking he can get the big move that he has wanted. He has his agent speaking to clubs I’m sure. But I’ve seen this play out a million times and the chairman is a clever businessman and he’s not going to let a player go for less than the money he’s worth.

Clinton Morrison spoke to Metro via Freebets.com, the home of the best Cheltenham offers.

But Palace won the FA Cup last season!

Which is what makes the past eight months all the more difficult for fans to take. The club that are perpetually twelfth were dreaming of regular European trips and a Champions League push.

Instead they’ve got a manager who’s feeling ‘abandoned’ announcing he’s jumping ship and, while relegation isn’t a realistic proposition this season, a squad that will be looking down rather than up the table for the next few months.

The bright side for Palace fans? They’re still in the Conference League and the club’s owners have been making long-term decisions to improve the chances of future success.

Funds are there for new players, while construction on a new main stand is finally set to begin after a nine-year wait since plans were originally unveiled.

It’ll boost capacity by over 8,000 and hopes to make one of the best atmospheres around even louder – fans will just hope they are welcoming Arsenal and Liverpool when it’s completed, instead of QPR and Derby.

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