Nottingham Forest Appoint Oliver Glasner as Head Coach

Nottingham Forest have rolled the dice again – and this time they have handed the club to a proven European winner.

Oliver Glasner, the Austrian coach who turned Crystal Palace into cup winners and previously conquered Europe with Eintracht Frankfurt, has been appointed Forest’s fifth head coach in less than a year. He replaces Vitor Pereira, who was sacked on Tuesday in ruthless fashion – just two minutes before an exit clause in his contract was due to expire.

At the City Ground, the message from the top is clear: chaos on the touchline is no longer acceptable. Trophies are the target.

“Oliver is a winner,” said owner Evangelos Marinakis. “It was clear that we share the same vision, the same ambition and the same relentless desire to succeed.”

Those aren’t throwaway lines. They are a statement of intent from an owner who has burned through managers at a remarkable rate. Nuno Espirito Santo started last season in charge. Then came Ange Postecoglou, Sean Dyche and Pereira, all since September. Now it is Glasner’s turn to steady a club that has lurched from one idea to the next.

A coach with medals – and momentum

Glasner arrives with something Forest have lacked on the bench for years: a recent track record of winning major honours.

He took over at Crystal Palace in 2024 and, in his very first season, delivered the club’s first major trophy – the FA Cup. He followed that by lifting the Europa Conference League last season, adding a European title to the one he claimed with Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League in 2021-22. Only two other coaches have managed to win both the Europa League and the Conference League.

Palace’s rise under Glasner did not stop there. In August, they beat Liverpool on penalties to win the Community Shield, underlining their transformation from survivors to silverware collectors.

So why leave? In January, Glasner made his position clear: he wanted a new challenge and would walk away at the end of the season, even with a new contract on the table. Forest, sensing an opportunity, moved early. Initial contact with the 51-year-old came in the summer, and the pursuit has now ended with his arrival on the banks of the Trent.

Vision, trust and a long-term promise

Glasner’s first words as Forest head coach were not about the past. They were about trust and time – two commodities Forest have rarely dealt in under Marinakis.

“From my very first conversations with the owner and the leadership team, it was evident to me that they have a clear vision for this football club and complete trust and belief in me and my staff to build a strong future together over the long term,” Glasner said.

“That trust and shared commitment, together with the potential that I see within the squad, were key factors for me and I am excited about what we can achieve together.”

The language is deliberate. Long term. Build. Future. For a club that has rattled through coaches, Glasner is challenging Forest to match their rhetoric with patience. Marinakis, for his part, insists this is exactly the sort of project he wants.

“He has consistently demonstrated throughout his career that he can build outstanding teams and deliver success against the strongest competition,” the owner said. “He has earned success through his leadership, his personality and the style of football his teams play.”

Forest’s ambition laid bare

Forest’s recent history has been about survival and firefighting. Marinakis is openly demanding more.

“It has always been our goal to establish Nottingham Forest once again among the leading clubs in England and Europe,” he said. “Our ambition is not simply to compete – our ambition is to win, to challenge for major honours and to create a football club that our supporters can be proud of for many years to come.”

That is the bar. Glasner, with three major trophies in the last few seasons and a reputation for building aggressive, organised sides, fits that ambition on paper.

Now comes the hard part. A restless club, an expectant owner, a fanbase desperate for stability – and a coach who has shown he can turn potential into silver.

If Forest finally give a manager time, Glasner has already shown what he can do with it.