Oliver Glasner: ‘There was no plan for me to be Nottingham Forest manager’
On Sunday Oliver Glasner will return to Selhurst Park with Nottingham Forest to face Crystal Palace, the club he left in the summer after leading them to the FA Cup, the Conference League and the Community Shield, and he accepts there could be “booing”.
Bitterness remains between the clubs after Forest complained to Uefa about a breach of multi-club ownership rules, a complaint that saw Palace demoted to the Conference League, and Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is suing Palace for defamation over a banner unfurled by Palace supporters. Glasner led Palace to the Conference League final in Leipzig in May and spoke of fans’ memories of Wembley and the Community Shield, saying: “They should look back at the emotions they had when they attended the final at Wembley, when they attended the final in Leipzig, when they watched the Community Shield; how much joy they had, how much they enjoyed being a Crystal Palace fan.”
Glasner set out the timeline of his departure, saying he decided last October not to sign a new contract and that, in the summer, he made a decision for Nottingham Forest; “It was not a decision against Crystal Palace, because I decided last October, one year ago, not to sign a new contract. It was then, in the summer, a decision for Nottingham Forest, due to different reasons. Sometimes unexpected things happen in life … there was no plan for me to be Forest manager.” He added he remains in touch with Palace chair Steve Parish and has visited him in London.
Addressing expectations around his return, Glasner said: “I know I will be, but I don’t want to be in the middle of all the comments and the stories about this game.” He cited Goethe’s Faust to explain his feelings, tapping his chest and quoting: “Two hearts are beating in my chest,” and signalled he would accept vocal opposition while defending his readiness to speak frankly: “I will never say what everybody wants to hear, I will say it if I think it’s right. And then I have to accept the booing, I have to accept that not everybody is aligned with what I’m doing in my life. I’m now 52, I don’t need to ask everyone if it’s fine what I’m doing … as long as it’s aligned with the law.”
Off the pitch, Glasner described aspects of life at Forest since his arrival, including experimenting with a four-man defence in a friendly win over Swansea and staging an in-house padel tournament won by Nikola Milenkovic and Nicolás Domínguez, who beat Glasner and his assistant Michael Angerschmid in the final. “I was disappointed that I lost,” Glasner said, adding: “But Milenkovic and especially Domínguez, an Argentinian, were too good.” He also welcomed grassroots coaches and schoolchildren to a training Q&A and led a 45-minute session for the kids.
On the field, Glasner acknowledged a mixed start to the season: following a victory at Aston Villa, Forest suffered a home defeat to a previously pointless Coventry, and he reflected on the response required after such setbacks: “It’s always in these situations [that] the season is decided,” and, after losing against Coventry, it is important how the club reacts rather than who to blame. He noted supporters could take heart from his earlier slow starts at Palace and Eintracht Frankfurt, when he won none of his first eight league matches at both clubs but finished his season at Frankfurt by lifting the Europa League trophy in Seville.
Glasner recounted his initial discussions with Marinakis in Athens, held over a seafood platter in Vouliagmeni, where he warned the owner there was no quick fix: “If you expect everything to work within one month, I’m the wrong one, take another one.” He said he sees progress at Forest and that the messages being demanded of players are becoming more natural; he pointed to personal landmarks, referencing a glossy image of the City Ground and a picture of him on the balcony of the Frankfurt Römer with “50,000 fans celebrating behind him,” adding: “I get goosebumps.” He also described being on holiday with his wife Bettina when interest from Forest intensified and recalled her asking: “Why are you always looking at your phone?” followed by his reply: “I’m going to Athens tomorrow.”
Glasner will return to Selhurst Park on Sunday with Nottingham Forest, aware of the rivalry and legal tensions between the clubs and of the possibility of a hostile reception, and the match will be his first visit to Palace since he left in the summer.