Nottingham Forest Appoint Winner Oliver Glasner After Pereira Exit

Nottingham Forest have rolled the dice again. For the fifth time in less than a year, a new man steps into the dugout at the City Ground – and this one arrives with silverware and sharp edges.

Oliver Glasner, the Austrian coach who turned Crystal Palace into trophy winners and previously conquered Europe with Eintracht Frankfurt, has been appointed as Forest’s latest head coach. He replaces Vitor Pereira, dismissed on Tuesday in brutal fashion – just two minutes before an exit clause in his contract was due to expire.

It was a ruthless decision. It also underlined how impatient Forest’s hierarchy have become.

From churn to conviction

Nuno Espirito Santo started last season in charge. Since September, Ange Postecoglou, Sean Dyche and Pereira have all taken a turn in the hot seat. Now it is Glasner’s turn to try to bring order to the chaos.

Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis insists this is not another short-term fling.

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

Contact with the 51-year-old began earlier in the summer, long before Pereira’s exit clause came into sharp focus. Forest knew who they wanted. They waited, then they pounced.

A coach with medals, not promises

Glasner does not arrive on reputation alone. He arrives with a record.

At Eintracht Frankfurt, he lifted the Europa League in 2021-22, putting him in a select group: one of only three coaches to have won both the Europa League and the Europa Conference League.

His work at Crystal Palace pushed his profile even higher. Appointed in 2024, he delivered the club’s first major honour in his debut season, winning the FA Cup. He followed that by claiming the Europa Conference League last season. Palace then beat Liverpool on penalties to win the Community Shield in August.

That is not a lucky run. That is a pattern.

Glasner had already decided in January that he would leave Palace at the end of the campaign, turning down a new contract in search of a fresh challenge. Forest, with their volatility, ambition and history, offer exactly that.

Glasner’s message: trust and long-term vision

If the outside world sees a club addicted to change, Glasner says he sees something else.

“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,” he 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 words matter. So does the emphasis on “long term” at a club that has burned through managers at a startling rate. Glasner is staking his reputation on Forest being ready to change not just coach, but culture.

Marinakis raises the bar

Marinakis has never hidden his ambitions. Survival or mid-table consolidation is not the dream. He wants Nottingham Forest back among the elite.

“He has consistently demonstrated throughout his career that he can build outstanding teams and deliver success against the strongest competition,” the owner said of Glasner.

“He has earned success through his leadership, his personality and the style of football his teams play.

“It has always been our goal to establish Nottingham Forest once again among the leading clubs in England and Europe. 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.”

The message is stark: this is not a club content with merely staying in the division. Forest want nights that echo their past, not just afternoons that avoid disaster.

A bold appointment in a brutal environment

Glasner steps into a dressing room that has seen four different voices, four different ideas, in less than a year. He inherits a squad that has been built, rebuilt and reshaped under multiple managers, each with their own blueprint.

That is the challenge. It is also the opportunity.

Forest now have a coach whose recent career has been defined by knockout triumphs, tactical clarity and the ability to mould teams quickly. The question is not whether Glasner can coach. His track record answers that. The question is whether a club that pulled the plug on Pereira with two minutes to spare can finally give one man the time to build what it keeps talking about.

For Nottingham Forest and Oliver Glasner, this is either the start of something serious – or the most audacious gamble yet in a year full of them.