Oliver Glasner

Oliver Glasner

Glasner in 2022
Personal information
Date of birth	(1974-08-28) 28 August 1974 (age 50)
Place of birth	Schärding, Austria
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Crystal Palace (manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992–2011	SV Ried	516	(27)
2003–2004	→ LASK (loan)	3	(0)
Total		519	(27)
Managerial career
2014–2015	SV Ried
2015–2019	LASK
2019–2021	VfL Wolfsburg
2021–2023	Eintracht Frankfurt
2024–	Crystal Palace
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Oliver Glasner (born 28 August 1974) is an Austrian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Crystal Palace.

A defender by trade, he spent almost all of his professional career with Austrian Bundesliga club SV Ried, winning the Austrian Cup in 1998 and 2011. ^[1] Following his retirement, Glasner worked as an assistant manager at Red Bull Salzburg before returning to Ried as manager in 2014. He then spent four seasons as manager of former club LASK, winning promotion to the Austrian top flight, and helping the club finish as runners-up in his final season.

In 2019, he was appointed manager of Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg, qualifying for Europe in both seasons at the club. He was then appointed manager of Eintracht Frankfurt, and won the UEFA Europa League in his first season, as well as leading the club to the Champions League knockout stages and DFB-Pokal final in his second and final season. In 2024, he was named manager of Crystal Palace.

Playing career

Glasner started his career at SV Riedau, and joined the second Austrian division team SV Ried in 1993. ^[2] Ried got promoted to the Austrian Bundesliga in 1995. During the 1997–98 season he won the Austrian Cup with the club. When Ried went down to second division again in 2003, Glasner joined First League team LASK for the next season, but returned to Ried a year later. Ried returned to the Bundesliga in 2005, and in the 2010–11 season, Glasner won the Austrian Cup for the second time. On 31 July 2011, he suffered a cut above the eye and a slight concussion during a heading duel in a league match between Ried and Rapid Wien. Nevertheless, he accompanied his team during the Europa League third qualifying round second leg against Brøndby. After the final heading training session, a brain haemorrhage developed on 4 August 2011. He was operated on the same day. Glasner survived the operation, but ended his career on the advice of the doctors on 23 August 2011. He made more than 500 league appearances in his 16-year career. ^[3]

Managerial career

Early career

In 2006, Glasner completed his Diplomkaufmann qualification at the University of Hagen. He was offered an assistant coach role at Ried in 2012. But Peter Vogl, then honorary president of SV Ried and CEO of Red Bull Salzburg, hired Glasner as management assistant, responsible for sports. Glasner asked Ralf Rangnick for an opportunity in coaching, and in July 2012, he became assistant manager to Roger Schmidt in the first-team squad. After their successful two-year spell at Salzburg, finishing as Austrian champions, Glasner did not follow Schmidt to Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga, but instead was appointed manager at his former club Ried for the 2014–15 season. ^[4] He started the campaign with two wins: 3–2 against Parndorf in the first round of the Austrian Cup on 11 July 2014; and 3–1 against Wiener Neustädter in a league game on 19 July. ^[5]

LASK

Glasner in 2018

Glasner joined LASK in the 2015–16 season as a director of sport, as well as manager. Over time, vice president Jürgen Werner and Glasner constructed a team with an unmistakable style of play. LASK earned promotion to the first division in Glasner's second season, then finished the 2017–18 Austrian Football Bundesliga season in fourth position, earning a place in the 2018–19 Europa League third qualifying round. It was the club's first European campaign since 2000. ^[6] In the 2018–19 season, LASK finished in second place, just behind perennial champions Red Bull Salzburg, which allowed them to participate in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. ^[6] Following his success with LASK, Jörg Schmadtke hired Glasner to manage VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, and Valérien Ismaël joined LASK as his replacement. ^[7]

VfL Wolfsburg

In his first season with Wolfsburg, the club managed to qualify for the Europa League, finishing seventh in the league. Glasner also guided them to the Europa League round of 16 phase, where they lost 5–1 on aggregate against Shakhtar Donetsk. In the 2020–21 Bundesliga, Wolfsburg finished fourth, qualifying for the UEFA Champions League. ^[8] Glasner left Wolfsburg after two seasons, despite qualifying for the Champions League, due to a poor relationship with sporting director Jörg Schmadtke and some players including club captain Josuha Guilavogui, who said, "I'm happy he's gone." ^{[9] [10]} Mark van Bommel joined to succeed Glasner.

Eintracht Frankfurt

Glasner managing Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022

In May 2021, Eintracht Frankfurt announced that Glasner had signed as manager on a three-year deal until 30 June 2024. ^[2] The start at Frankfurt was challenging. Frankfurt appointed Axel Hellmann as the new chairman of the board, Markus Krösche succeeded Fredi Bobic as managing director for sport, Ben Manga replaced Bruno Hübner as sporting director and the team lost its top scorer, André Silva, to RB Leipzig. The team lost 2–0 in the first round of DFB-Pokal against third tier Waldhof Mannheim. Frankfurt were close to the relegation zone in November, managing to win only one league game during the first months – against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. It was the first time after 21 years, and after 16 matches they did so. ^[11]

Between November and December, Frankfurt won six out of seven, and were placed sixth at the end of the first round of matches. The second half of the season was inconsistent and Frankfurt finished the league at 11th place. Their European campaign was successful, they advanced to the Europa League final, for the second time in the club's history (after 1980) – defeating Barcelona and West Ham United en route ^{[12] [13]} – and won the match 5–4 on penalties against Scottish club Rangers. Frankfurt stayed undefeated for 13 EL games, and qualified for the Champions League for the first time since 1960. ^[14]

The following season, Glasner led Frankfurt to second place in the Champions League group stage against Tottenham, Sporting and Marseille, but lost in the round of 16 against the subsequent Italian champions Napoli. ^[15] Though they were fourth at the halfway point, Frankfurt only finished seventh, winning two of their last three matches to secure qualification for the Europa Conference League. ^[15] They also reached the DFB-Pokal final against RB Leipzig, but lost 2–0. ^[16] Following a poor second half of the league season, Glasner left Frankfurt at the end of the 2022–23 season, one year earlier than his original contract. ^[15] Dino Toppmöller was his successor.

Crystal Palace

On 19 February 2024, Glasner was appointed manager of Premier League club Crystal Palace, signing a contract until the end of the 2025–26 season. He replaced Roy Hodgson, who stepped down as manager the same day. ^{[17] [18]} He did not take charge of the match against Everton that day, which was overseen by interim manager Paddy McCarthy; he was instead seen watching the 1–1 draw from the Goodison Park stand alongside chairman Steve Parish. ^{[19] [20]}

Glasner won his first game in charge, beating Burnley 3–0 at Selhurst Park on 24 February. ^[21] On 14 April, Glasner won his first away game with the club, ending Liverpool's 29-game unbeaten streak at Anfield with a 1–0 win. ^[22] On 6 May, he led Palace to a 4–0 win over Manchester United at Selhurst Park to complete their first ever Premier League double over the club. ^{[23] [24]} On the final day of the season, he led Palace to a 5–0 home win over Aston Villa, the joint biggest Premier League win in Palace's history. ^{[25] [26]} Palace ended the season with six wins from their last seven games, equalling their highest ever Premier League points tally of 49, having won 4 consecutive home games for the first time and finishing in the top 10 for the second time in the Premier League era. ^{[26] [27]}

Managerial statistics

As of match played 15 December 2024

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record								Ref
			G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
SV Ried	12 May 2014	25 May 2015	37	13	7	17	52	54	−2	035.14	[28]
LASK Linz	1 July 2015	1 July 2019	161	94	32	35	308	173	+135	058.39	[29]
VfL Wolfsburg	1 July 2019	30 June 2021	87	41	22	24	146	110	+36	047.13	[30]
Eintracht Frankfurt	1 July 2021	30 June 2023	97	38	30	29	145	137	+8	039.18	[30]
Crystal Palace	19 February 2024	present	32	13	10	9	54	37	+17	040.63
Career total			413	199	101	113	704	509	+195	048.18	—

Honours

Player

SV Ried

• Austrian Cup: 1997–98, ^[31] 2010–11 ^[32]

Manager

Eintracht Frankfurt

• UEFA Europa League: 2021–22 ^[14]
• DFB-Pokal runner-up: 2022–23

References

1. "Die unglaubliche Trainerkarriere des Oliver Glasner". Oberösterreichisches Volksblatt (in German). 19 May 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
2. "Oliver Glasner wird neuer Cheftrainer". Eintracht.de (in German). Eintracht Frankfurt. 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
3. "Maierhofer joins Salzburg, Glasner retires". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
4. "Oliver Glasner wird neuer Trainer der SV Ried". nachrichten.at. 11 May 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
5. "SV Ried". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
6. "Club Brugge v LASK facts". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 22 August 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
7. "Oliver Glasner to take over". vfl-wolfsburg.de. 23 April 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
8. "Oliver Glasner leaves Wolfsburg to coach Frankfurt". AP News. 26 May 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
9. "Who is Crystal Palace's new manager Oliver Glasner?". www.premierleague.com. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
10. "Eiszeit zwischen Eintracht-Trainer Glasner und Wolfsburg-Sportchef Schmadtke". www.fr.de (in German). 19 September 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
11. Eintracht Frankfurt gewinnt beim FC Bayern München: Trapp und Kostic öffnen die Flasche, bundesliga.com, 2021-10-
12. "BREAKING: Frankfurt smash Barcelona 3-2 at Camp Nou to setup semi-final vs West Ham". GiveMeSport. 14 April 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
13. Hinteregger verpasst Saisonfinish und Finale, orf.at, 2022-05-06.
14. Conroy, Alison (19 May 2022). "Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 Rangers (AET): Aaron Ramsey misses spot-kick as Ibrox side lose Europa League final on penalties". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
15. "Zusammenarbeit mit Oliver Glasner endet nach der Saison". eintracht.de. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
16. "Christopher Nkunku-inspired RB Leipzig beat Eintracht Frankfurt to win DFB Cup". Bundesliga. 3 June 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
17. "Oliver Glasner appointed as Palace manager". Crystal Palace F.C. 19 February 2024.
18. "Crystal Palace appoint Glasner as new manager". BBC Sport. 19 February 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
19. "the new Palace boss with an 'intensity akin to Klopp'". BBC Sport. 19 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
20. Matticoli, 11FREUNDE, Nico (16 May 2024). "Premier League: Oliver Glasner beeindruckt bei Crystal Palace". www.11freunde.de (in German). Retrieved 20 May 2024.
21. "Palace beat Burnley in Glasner's first game in charge". BBC Sport. 24 February 2024. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
22. "Liverpool 0-1 Crystal Palace: Jurgen Klopp's side suffer blow to Premier League title hopes". BBC Sport. 12 April 2024.
23. "Full-time: Crystal Palace 4-0 Man Utd". BBC Sport. 6 May 2024. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
24. "Manchester United's season hits new low after Crystal Palace humiliation". The Independent. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
25. "Mateta hat-trick helps Palace thrash Villa". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
26. "Records tumbling: all the stats from Palace's remarkable final day - News". Crystal Palace F.C. 20 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
27. "Crystal Palace 5-0 Aston Villa highlights". Sky Sports. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
28. "SV Ried: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
29. "LASK Linz: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
30. "VfL Wolfsburg: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
31. "SV Ried - Sturm Graz 3:1". Welt Fussball (in German). Retrieved 19 February 2024.
32. "SV Ried - Austria Lustenau 2:0". Welt Fussball (in German). Retrieved 19 February 2024.

External links

• Oliver Glasner at Soccerway