Oliver Glasner has been unveiled as the new head coach of Nottingham Forest, signing a three-year contract after leaving Crystal Palace. The Austrian manager said he wants to bring back the 'sweet honey' of European football to the City Ground and suggested that club owner Evangelos Marinakis may be one of the few people more ambitious than himself.
Seafood dinner in Athens sealed the deal
Glasner revealed that talks with Marinakis over a seafood platter in Athens convinced him to become Forest's fifth head coach in less than 12 months. 'When we had talks, I probably found one of the few people who is more ambitious than I am so I think we will challenge each other with ambition,' Glasner said. He described Forest's hierarchy as 'very hard-working' in their efforts to appoint him.
Transfer activity and squad plans
Forest are pushing to make Tottenham midfielder Lucas Bergvall their club-record signing as they seek to replace Elliot Anderson, who was sold to Manchester City. Glasner is hopeful of having at least two new signings join for next week's Portugal training camp. Midfielder Xaver Schlager is close to joining on a free transfer after leaving RB Leipzig.
Glasner's vision for success
The 51-year-old, who won the FA Cup, Conference League and Community Shield at Crystal Palace, believes he can exceed expectations at Forest but stressed that success will not happen overnight. 'My personal history shows that what we are asking them to do – the habits we want them to do – it takes three to six months to see it for the first time,' he said. 'I'm no magician. I didn't find the button players can press and all of sudden we win the Premier League.'
Glasner added: 'These players felt the sweet honey of playing European football and this year it's just butter – no honey – on the toast. Hopefully, next year it will be sweeter.' He also used a food analogy to describe the club's rebuilding process: 'It doesn't make sense to talk about silverware after three days. We are not talking about the end product when you don't know the ingredients. We are now trying to find the ingredients and then hopefully we will get a great meal.'
Stability and legacy
When asked about Forest's need for stability, Glasner joked: 'Nobody wants to get divorced … I don't know how it is here in England, but in Austria it is 50%. At the wedding, you would say 'no, not us', but it happens.' He dismissed suggestions that joining Forest could ruin his legacy at Crystal Palace, noting that former Palace players now play for Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Manchester City and Fulham. 'I gave 100% every single day for Crystal Palace because that is what everybody deserved,' he said.
Forest sacked previous manager Vítor Pereira because they felt the opportunity to appoint Glasner was too good to miss. Glasner met the squad on Monday and said he is enthused by the club's potential after a season in which they avoided relegation and reached the Europa League semi-finals.
