Why Crystal Palace's Horror Season May Still Come Good After All

A Nightmare Season For Palace That Could Still End In Silverware

Oliver Glasner and Crystal Palace's woes this season have been well documented, to say the least.

Life for Palace fans at the start of 2026 turned into a continuous and relentless stream of chaos and disappointment, and it seemed as though things behind the scenes were coming to a boiling point, turning the club into a pressure cooker about to burst at the seams.

But emotions in football can change at the click of a finger, and the Eagles have been an excellent reflection of that recently. All of a sudden, there is now reason to have a positive outlook on the remainder of the campaign and good reason to get excited for what may lie ahead.

What's changed then?

A Tumultuous Period

As you'll have probably heard plenty about over the last couple of months, Crystal Palace have been in a very difficult position as of late.

Not only is Oliver Glasner, the manager who finally brought a major trophy to Selhurst Park, guaranteed to be leaving at the end of the season, but tempers have risen and relationships have been frayed between himself, the players, the fans and the board.

The Austrian spoke out against the club's ownership after they sanctioned the sale of captain and star player Marc Guehi to Man City, having threatened to quit from his role last summer when the player almost joined Liverpool.

He also told the fans to be "humble" after growing sections demanded he be sacked.

That was, obviously, not very well received, especially considering he had already made clear his intentions to see his contract run out with the club at the end of this season.

Jean-Phillipe Mateta had established himself as one of the Premier League's most powerful strikers and was envied by top clubs across Europe as a result of his goalscoring record and undeniable talent up top. Then he handed in a transfer request, and tried to force a move to AC Milan that fell through on deadline day.

Glasner now had a disgruntled striker that wasn't exactly likely to play for the badge anymore, so he would have to adapt to find new ways of hitting the back of the net.

On top of that, they hit an awful patch of form where they suffered a run of 12 games in all competitions without a win, with their historic loss to minnows Macclesfield in the FA Cup coming as a particularly low point.

They also failed to earn a place in the top eight of the group stage of the Conference League, despite being tipped as favourites to win the whole thing at the start of the campaign, which meant they had to face Zrinjski Mostar in a play-off battle for round of 16 qualification.

Essentially, supporting Palace had become an onslaught of frustration for the best part of two months.

That page appears to have turned now.

Newfound Optimism

Frankly, it was quite a bold move of Steve Parish, Palace's owner, to have not relieved Glasner from his position after the apparent breakdown in every relationship conceivable within the club.

He instead opted for stability to see the season through, and perhaps the fact that he would see the back of the Austrian in a few months' time anyway meant he didn't fancy the payout that a sacking would ensue.

That gamble seems to be paying off, as they have turned things on the pitch around almost miraculously, having lost just once in their last six games, their most recent coming as a 2-0 win over Mostar to send them to the Conference Round of 16.

At that stage, they'll face AEK Larnaca, an opposition that they should progress past without a great deal of complication on paper, though they did fall to a shock defeat to the Cypriot side when they met in the group stage.

Larnaca gave a very good account of themselves at that stage, conceding just one goal in six games while going unbeaten, but the comparative quality of this Palace side should mean that they make it through another stage.

Their dramatic upturn in form now sees them just three points behind eighth place in the Premier League and in a good position to make the most of their first-ever European campaign.

Should they maintain the improved form they've displayed lately, there's a good chance that they could end the season as a resounding success based on the standard of opposition they're due to face in the Conference League.

Of course, being an elite European competition, it will be far from an easy ride to win the competition, but they've displayed composure in cup competitions before, having won the FA Cup last season and are arguably one of the best sides that remain in contention, alongside AZ Alkmaar and Gary O'Neil's Strasbourg.

Success on the European stage would make them the fifth winners of the Conference League and the third English winners, behind Chelsea and West Ham, strengthening the chokehold that London has over the cup.