Crystal Palace fans all over the planet will undoubtedly remember the famous ‘poogate’ incident at Brighton.
As Ian Holloway and his players arrived at the AMEX Stadium for the second leg of the Championship play-off semi-final back in May 2013, they were met with the foul sight and stench of excrement splattered all over the toilet inside their dressing room.
Holloway was memorably livid, but famously admitted he used it to motivate his players towards victory, saying: “I’d like to thank that person, whoever it was. You did me the biggest favour ever. I didn’t have to gee anyone up, I just had to calm them down.”
Rayo Vallecano have not exactly left a mess of their own in the Red Bull Arena for us to find, but Oscar Valentin – captain of the Spanish side – has now delivered a risky message Oliver Glasner could use to fire up Crystal Palace ahead of the UEFA Conference League final.
Any changes you would make to our UEFA Conference League final starting XI? 🤔
Oscar Valentin says Rayo Vallecano have more togetherness than Crystal Palace
Speaking to El Partidazo de COPE ahead of the showpiece event in Leipzig on Wednesday, Valentin said: “I am sure the Crystal Palace locker room isn’t like the one we’ve got here. That’s a point in our favour.”
We feel the Spaniard is playing with fire by making a comment like that.
Glasner prides himself on having a tight-knit squad where every player fights for each other, and there always seems to be plenty of togetherness amongst the players, whether it be during training sessions or actual games.
If we were Glasner, we would be printing those comments out and pinning them up in the Red Bull Arena dressing room ahead of the UEFA Conference League final.
Would you try to keep Glasner or push for Iraola? 👀
If Rayo Vallecano feel they have more fight amongst them than we do, there is no better way for Glasner to use Valentin’s words other than as fuel to ignite a fire in the Crystal Palace squad.
