Oliver Glasner makes stunning 787-word case to be next Man Utd manager

You would be forgiven for thinking Oliver Glasner had already been given the Manchester United job after he insisted change was needed “everywhere” at his football club and that a rebuild is required “from the bottom to the top” to recover from a “sh*t situation”. But no, he can “start in two weeks”.

The Nottingham Forest fans booed the players off the pitch following the 2-0 defeat to Brentford on Saturday, which leaves them second-bottom of the Premier League on six points from their opening nine games of the season.

Glasner came out swinging in a press conference which could so easily have been conducted by Michael Carrick had the Red Devils manager’s brain chemistry been altered to make him something more than a timid scapegoat.

“We have to accept it’s not good enough,” said Glasner as he walked into the press conference. “If we lose four of the last five games, it’s not good enough. And that’s why for me, it’s now time that we change things, that I change things, and that’s what I will do.”

Asked what he will change, he replied: “Everywhere, and I feel I could see a few things from day number one. I feel now maybe I made too many compromises in some stuff, and it’s always compromises.

“It’s a clear way. I will tell [the players] what we want to do, what we have to do, and if the players buy in, I think we can have a turnaround, and if not, the sixth manager [since the start of last season] will come in.”

Banging his fist on the table like a great warrior at a pre-war feast, Glasner vowed to “change things” upon being asked the very same questions his predecessors fielded upon slipping into relegation battles.

“I always take responsibility for the things I decided,” said Glasner. “I decided everything. It’s just one person to blame, and that’s me.

“That’s why I say I can’t and I won’t continue in the same way as Oliver Glasner. I will change things. That’s so clear for me, because otherwise, again, it’s the same.

“You asked the fifth manager, I think you’re asking the same question [that you gave to the other four].

“I think the performances are better than the ones [the other four] have been, but it’s the same. And if things won’t change, you will ask the sixth [manager to come in].”

Glasner insisted he’s perfectly comfortable with the reality of being sacked by famously trigger-happy owner Evangelos Marinakis.

He “could start in two weeks somewhere else”, perhaps at Manchester United as Sir Jim Ratcliffe waits for the international break to swing the Old Trafford axe.

“I have no consequences,” Glasner said. “For me, I go home and have breakfast with my family. It’s not the worst situation. Nobody needs to have pity with Oliver Glasner or with the manager.

“If I want, I could start in two weeks somewhere else. I won’t do it.

“But, you know, the players, the staff, they remain in the same situation. And it’s the same, sorry for the word, s*** situation that the club had last year.

“So you need to change and rebuild from the bottom to the top. And this is clear for me. And this is what I will do. And without any compromises. Zero. Zero. And if these things don’t work, they will let me know [about my exit].

“I didn’t come to Nottingham because I was bored at home. No, I came to Nottingham to succeed. I came to Nottingham to get the visions of the owner and the fans and the club to reality. And therefore we need to have a bigger change than maybe I thought, to be honest.

“But again, when you’re in a club, then you see what’s going on. And I’m desperate to get this turnaround. But again, Oliver Glasner can’t do anything alone. And I said this so often, and not just after a defeat. I always said the same after winning.

“It’s not me, no, we’re all together and can do it. But I know where we have to go.And therefore, it’s exactly this, being ruthless. And either you buy in or you leave. It’s the only way.

“There is no compromise. Either you buy in where we want to go as a club. Because, and I mentioned it, if you’re three times struggling, four or five Premier League seasons, struggling, being at the bottom of the league, there is a pattern. And I just know that Oliver Glasner is not here for five years.”

Glasner was for a while thought to be one of the leading candidates for the Manchester United job, around the time that Carrick was handed the interim reins following the sacking of Ruben Amorim.

Any slim chance that hadn’t already been extinguished through a difficult last season at Crystal Palace has been snuffed out by a run of one win in nine games at Forest.

But it’s the sort of home-truths press conference that would be welcomed by Manchester United fans, the like of which they’ve not seen since Ralf Rangnick called for “open-heart surgery” in April 2022.

They can’t hope for such a brutal assessment from company man Eddie Howe, could fully expect one from firebrand Antonio Conte and have a decent chance should either Unai Emery or Julian Nagelsmann be handed the role.

Which is precisely why Eddie Howe will be the next Manchester United manager. Neither the Glazers nor Sir Jim Ratcliffe want an employee to rock the boat.

We can’t imagine Marinakis will be looking too kindly upon Glasner’s rant either, and will presumably see the international break as a suitable time to pull the plug on the Forest boss.

“We have the personnel, but we need to get more out of the players,” Glasner added. “And this is where I see my responsibility.

“And again, I felt it was more [about] hugging [the players after a defeat]. But if hugging doesn’t work, there’s also an opposite way.

“And again, I don’t need to be loved. I’m here not to be loved. I’m here to bring success to this club. And that’s what I think. That’s what I will change.”

Asked if this could be done overnight, Glasner replied: “No. It’s going to take a long time. But in this league and in your position, people will want to see changes immediately.

“Again, I think the club wanted to see changes immediately. That’s why they always changed the manager. But the things didn’t change.

“Again, I’m an employee. If the leadership thinks I’m the wrong one, they will let me know. But I think things won’t change.

“That’s just how I see it now. I think I was not harsh enough on getting a few changes.”

Glasner also revealed that he denied a request from a player to travel back from London on his own on Saturday, banging his fist on the table even more vehemently at this point.

“I was asked if a player can drive home alone. I said no,” Glasner said.

“I have no understanding [why] somebody wants to go home on his own today, from London to Nottingham. No, go with the bus like everybody else. No extras. No extras.

“Buy in. Buy in every single day, every single moment, every single session. Everything we do. You buy in, you can be part of the team.

“You don’t buy in? Leave. Otherwise, I’m wrong. I’m in the wrong place.”

Glasner obviously isn’t the right man for Manchester United, not least because he’s failing when tasked with a similar ‘everything must go’ job at Forest.

But he’s got a mindset that the Red Devils need in their next boss as he’s not afraid to deliver the cold, hard facts of a “sh*t situation”.

READ NEXT: Man Utd need ‘shaman’ to replace Carrick and relegation-bound Red Devils have Ferguson to blame