REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL
In winning the Premier League manager of the month award for September, Oliver Glasner became the first Crystal Palace gaffer to take the gong since Tony Pulis in April 2014. Of course, Pulis could justifiably claim to have done more to earn his gaudy Perspex commemorative cuboid with four wins and a defeat, compared to his modern-day equivalent’s paltry draw and two wins. However, the man famously commemorated in song for wearing the club shop of whoever he happened to be managing wasn’t subsequently presented with an award for Austria coach of the year at a posh ceremony in Vienna, almost certainly due in no small part to the fact that he is Welsh. “It’s too many awards for me, I don’t feel that important!” protested Glasner in an interview with the Crystal Palace socials team, after beating compatriots in the field of ski-jumping and volleyball to the Niki award, named in honour of a famous Austrian who won two world championships with Ferrari, back in the days when F1 was still good.
