Oliver Glasner is bracing himself for a highly charged reunion on Sunday when his Nottingham Forest side travel to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace, the club he guided to the most successful period in its history before his summer departure.
The fixture carries extra weight given the strained relationship between the two clubs. Forest's place in this season's Europa League came after a complaint to Uefa over Palace's breach of multi-club ownership regulations, a decision that saw Palace demoted to the Conference League instead. Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is also pursuing legal action against Palace over a banner displayed by their fans, adding further tension to an already combustible occasion.
Speaking at Forest's training base, Glasner reached for literary imagery to capture his mixed feelings about facing his former employers. "Two hearts are beating in my chest," he said, referencing a line from Goethe's Faust, before adding that his time at Palace amounted to "a little bit more than two great years."
Under Glasner's management, Palace secured the first major honours in their history, winning the FA Cup last season before he departed and claiming a first-ever Conference League title in Leipzig in May — the very competition they were demoted into following Forest's intervention. The club also lifted the Community Shield for the first time during his tenure.
Glasner was keen to stress that his move to Forest was not motivated by any animosity towards Palace, explaining that he had already decided in October last year not to extend his contract at Selhurst Park. "It was not a decision against Crystal Palace... it was then, in the summer, a decision for Nottingham Forest, due to different reasons," he said, adding that joining Forest had not been part of any long-term plan.
The Austrian, who remains on good terms with Palace chairman Steve Parish, was unrepentant about past comments that irritated some supporters, including his February remark urging fans to "stay humble" during a rocky run of form. "I will never say what everybody wants to hear, I will say it if I think it's right," Glasner said, adding that at 52 he no longer feels the need to seek universal approval for his decisions.
Forest arrive at Selhurst Park having endured a mixed start under Glasner, highlighted by a damaging home defeat to a previously winless Coventry City side following a win at Aston Villa. Glasner pointed to similar slow starts earlier in his career — including winless opening stretches at both Palace and Eintracht Frankfurt, where he eventually won the Europa League — as reason for patience. "I see things going in the right direction," he said, recalling how he told Marinakis over a seafood dinner in Athens that there would be no instant fix for a squad that had cycled through four managers the previous season.
Glasner also reflected on the adjustment to life in Nottingham, noting a greater sense of public recognition compared to his time in south London, where he said he could often move around anonymously. He described feeling "butterflies" after studying Forest's squad in detail, despite admitting his family was initially unhappy about him taking on a new challenge so soon after leaving Palace.
Away from first-team matters, Glasner revealed a lighter dynamic within his coaching staff, recounting a playful in-house padel tournament in which defenders Nikola Milenkovic and Nicolás Domínguez triumphed over Glasner and his assistant, Michael Angerschmid, in the final.
With Forest sitting on one win and two draws from their opening five league fixtures, Sunday's trip to Selhurst Park represents both a personal and professional test for Glasner as he seeks to build momentum while navigating an emotionally complex return to his former home.
Based on reporting from The Guardian.