Risk-taking welcome for Palace boss Glasner as Devenny continues to impress

After the final whistle had blown at Selhurst Park following the 2-2 draw between Crystal Palace and Manchester City last Saturday, Eagles boss Oliver Glasner spent time on the pitch in deep discussion with young midfielder Justin Devenny.

The Northern Ireland international has broken into the first team in recent weeks, replacing Ebere Eze in the 72nd minute in the draw against City – his fifth Premier League appearance of the season which has also seen him score a goal – and continued the chat with his manager into the tunnel after yet another appearance in which he more than held his own, against some of the best talent the Premier League has to offer.

So, what were they talking about? Well, we asked.

“In this situation (with Justin) it was quite easy and it’s not a secret,” said a smiling Glasner to the South London Press in his weekly media conference on Friday.

“I said to him I want him to be playing with more confidence. There was a situation (against Manchester City) where we were in a transition situation and he stopped. I said to him ‘take the risk, take the player on. If you lose the ball, you lose it….it’s football’.

“And then for the last corner, he delivered it a little bit, let’s say, with what looked like too much respect, [like he was thinking to himself] ‘I want to bring it here, on this’, but I just said to him: ‘Come on – you see the wind, with the tail wind? Kick it in and whatever happens will happen’.

“This is what I want from them – not to think about all the consequences, especially don’t think always about the negative consequences. No, just do it. This was where I encouraged him. I said: ‘You will never get blamed for something you are trying you will get blamed for something you will not try’, and this the message for the young players.

“Life [experience] makes it better and to try something, don’t always be worried about failure. Just do it and then get the experience. Then, all the experiences you get in your life, you can use for better decisions in the future, but if you never have experiences, you never can make better decisions in the future.

“This is maybe the most important part why I’m a coach, because I love to work with people, with all ages,” added Glasner. “Justin is one year younger than my oldest son. He could be my son. I like to give them advice, not just in football.

“Maybe in five,10, 15 or maybe 20 years, they will say: ‘What Oliver told me was not that stupid’. It’s just giving some advice with my experience, with my life experience and telling them some values I have.”

Brighton are next up for Glasner and his players as they travel to the south coast for the rivalry game on Sunday, the first match in a run of five fixtures in a busy two-week, festive period.

And the 50-year-old Austrian coach continues to enjoy his time in South London, learning off of his playing squad, especially the younger players.

“When you get older, you always think about tomorrow, planning” he explained. “I say to my sons – one is 19, one is 22, ‘you know, enjoy your life. Maybe these are the best years in your life as you don’t think about tomorrow. You go to a party, and you don’t think about your head tomorrow; you have one mulled wine, a second or third – when you are 19 you don’t care, it’s just one drink’.

“This is life and when we are now in the tunnel, preparing for all the games, you need this – being free, enjoying. [As a coach though] it is always give and take – giving energy into the group, to the players and getting a lot of energy back. If this is in a good balance, we all can grow. We all can develop.”

PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD