Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner heaped praise on Shelbourne and the progress of Irish football, with a comparison to his native Austria.
He was speaking ahead of the UEFA Conference League clash between Shelbourne and Crystal Palace at the Tallaght Stadium on Thursday, with the odds stacked against Joey O’Brien’s side for obvious reasons.
With just two games remaining, Shels face an uphill battle to get themselves into the reckoning to qualify for the knockout stages.
They are currently in 34th place in the table, level on points and one place ahead of Shamrock Rovers, but both still have plenty to play for in the Conference League.
Shels’ last two league phase games are against Crystal Palace and Celje of Slovenia.
🗣️ ‘[Shelbourne are] a very physical team… very good defensively!’
🗣️ ‘They are progressing, and it shows in Irish football!’@CPFC‘s Oliver Glasner is ‘pleased to see’ two Irish teams still competing in Europe, as he compares Ireland to his native Austria ahead of his side’s… pic.twitter.com/4LkmjKsXgs
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) December 11, 2025
Conference League football is a good achievement for Irish football
In his preview of the game, 2022 Europa League winner Glasner talked up the progression of Irish football, represented by the two Dublin sides competing in Europe’s third-tier tournament this season.
He commented that Joey O’Brien has his team very organised, but also that they tend to concede too many goals.
Oliver Glasner continued, “It’s a little bit tricky for Shelbourne and the Irish clubs because the season has already ended and maybe you are not in this rhythm anymore.
“Shelbourne ended the season in third place and it’s a very physical team, a very good defensive structure and not so easy to find space and gaps. They defend in the box very well.
“I don’t know how the last years have been for Irish football, but two teams playing in Conference football is a good achievement.
He added, “I am from Austria and in Austria we have one team playing in the qualification for the Conference League and did not qualify, so it is not so easy sometimes.”
The former Eintracht Frankfurt and Wolfsburg head coach also revealed that he will be supporting the Republic of Ireland in the World Cup playoffs.
Glasner’s comments cause mini diplomatic incident
Oliver Glasner also caused a mini-diplomatic incident when he described the Shels vs. Palace clash as a ‘UK derby’ but he later revisited his comments, as a ‘big brother’ with a lot of emotion at play, just like the Austria vs. Germany contests that he is familiar with.
The Crystal Palace boss was adamant that they aren’t visiting Dublin on holiday.
There is a strong will to collect three points to push Palace toward automatic qualification for the Last 16, given that they are currently in 18th place in the Conference League table.
Glasner expressed his disappointment at their record so far in the campaign, with two wins and two losses from the four games played.
Crystal Palace’s UEFA Conference League results so far:
Dynamo Kiev 0-2 Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace 0-1 AEK Larnaca
Crystal Palace 3-1 AZ Alkmaar
Strasbourg 2-1 Crystal Palace
Shelbourne vs. Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace vs. KuPS
Image credit: cpfc/X
