Football Daily | Crystal Palace keep good times rolling but must now fend off more sharks

3 hours ago 2

EAGLES FLY AGAIN

Described as “a feel-good final” at kick-off by commentator Adam Summerton, last night’s Tin Pot decider between Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano could scarcely have been more gloopy. It was a match contested by two clubs that serve as the beating hearts of their respective working class suburbs, while acting as symbols of local identity in different capital cities dominated by the Death Star gravity of superpowers such as Real Madrid or Chelsea. Needless to say, the romance ended there, as Crystal Palace’s vastly superior financial heft ensured they made off with their third trophy in 12 months, further cluttering a silverware cabinet that until last year’s FA Cup final win had consisted solely of a solitary Kent Senior Cup and some thick dust. While both teams were punching above their traditional weight, Palace’s plucky Spanish opponents struggled to lay a glove on the eventual winners and Rayo’s 102-year wait for a trophy goes on. Far from being angry with their team, the tens of thousands of Bukaneros present took Jean-Philippe Mateta’s knockout blow on the chin with commendable stoicism. “I know no greater victory than to be with you in defeat,” read the banner they unfurled within seconds of the final whistle. It was small wonder so many of their players were blubbing salty tears.

Elsewhere in the stadium, the post-match scenes were a heady mix of Sarf Lahndan wide-boy swagger and ruthless Teutonic efficiency, with Oliver Glasner straddling the gap with a celebratory belly-slide across the Red Bull Arena turf that was even more surprising than the backflip his star player, Adam Wharton, recently produced from his locker. “He has got to be one of the best managers Crystal Palace have ever had,” tooted Wharton, who is quite clearly the best midfielder England’s Geopolitics World Cup squad doesn’t have. “He has made a massive difference for how the club looks at competitions. We are not just looking to stay in the Premier League and be in Europe, we are looking to win and be as high as possible.” When hacks enquired if the Austrian might consider changing his mind and staying at the club for the Bigger Vase tilt previously denied to them by the combined forces of Nottingham Forest and Uefa, Glasner answered with an emphatic no. “I said to the players after the FA Cup, go and get what you deserve – [Bigger Vase],” he parped. “Now with a one-year delay, the club, fans, players, sometimes you have to take a road around and now Crystal Palace is where it should be.”

At the end of a season that was as turbulent as it was successful, where they go from here is anyone’s guess. Palace are reported to have offered Glasner’s gig to Andoni Iraola, a manager who first made his name at Rayo Vallecano. Newly promoted Frank Lampard’s Coventry City’s Frank Lampard is rumoured to be second on their wish-list should the Spaniard turn them down. Having seen their club lose players as gifted as Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise and Marc Guéhi in the past 12 months, Palace fans can almost certainly expect a massive summer scramble for the services of – off the top of Football Daily’s head – Mateta, Wharton and Maxence Lacroix. We’ve almost certainly overlooked a couple of other prized assets that could form part of the next exodus but rest assured, the sharks from far bigger, less successful clubs won’t.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Football is for the fans. We stand together in support of the tradition of European club competition finals being shown free to air and urge TNT to honour this tradition by making the [Bigger Cup] final free to watch for millions of fans, as it always has been. This is bigger than any one club or match. This is about putting fans first. There is still time to make the right call” – the Football Supporters’ Association joins Keir Starmer in calling for the big shindig in Budapest to be made free to air.

While she’s busy investigating Fifa, NY Attorney General Letitia James should probably take a look at NJ Transit’s $105 train ride to MetLife? After all ‘no one should be manipulated into paying sky-high prices for seats’ - especially when it’s a commuter train (normally $12.90)” – George Smith.

Most hilarious Football Daily ever (yesterday’s edition)! Two good knee-slappers, including ‘sending people emails they are desperate to receive and read’ and Noble Francis’s opinion of his level of pedantry. Keep up the good work. Can we try for three in the next edition?” – Steve Mintz (and, surprisingly, a few others).

In the penultimate game of the club season we were treated to a triple post-hit which gave commentators and pundits alike the opportunity to share their outdated exclamations that the ball has hit the woodwork. It has not. It has maybe hit fibre plastic, probably aluminium, but most definitely NOT wood! It may be pedantic but it is irritating week after week that we/they get it wrong!” – Jeremy James (and no others).

For those 1,057 of us who are going to take no notice of the coming Trump/Infantino money-making fest and watch the cricket instead, perhaps for the duration you could try to include an alternative non-GWC related item every day. If you could put it first (noted – Football Daily Ed)“ – Bob Cushion.

If you have any, please send letters to [email protected]. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day is … George Smith. Consider this your punishment, Phil. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.

RECOMMENDED LISTENING

Get your ears around the latest episode of the Football Weekly podcast, with a look back at the Tin Pot final and a preview of PSG v Arsenal in the Bigger Cup decider.