'Nobody wants to get divorced' - Glasner on Forest challenge

New Nottingham Forest boss Oliver Glasner joked about his sunburn as he sat at the City Ground.

The affable Austrian - facing the press for the first time as Forest boss - was a little red in the face after catching the sun during Tuesday's training session.

If that is the worst thing to happen to him over the next 12 months, he will have had a successful season.

His was Forest's fourth managerial unveiling since September. The new man, who has signed a three-year deal, has been brought to the club to deliver for silverware and stability.

After guiding Crystal Palace to the FA Cup and Europa Conference League in the past two seasons before standing down in May, he arrives with the winning pedigree owner Evangelos Marinakis demands.

But after the carousel of managers at Nottingham Forest in the last 12 months, is taking the job a risk?

Behind the same desk, Nuno Espirito Santo started the merry-go-round when revealing his breakdown in relationship with the club's hierarchy last August.

Ange Postecoglou did not even get a chance to host a final post-match press conference before he was sacked after 39 days following a wretched defeat by Chelsea.

Sean Dyche lasted 114 days. Replacement Vitor Pereira was told he was being dismissed just two minutes before a clause which allowed Forest to terminate his deal expired in June.

So why is it not a gamble for the new man?

"Nobody wants to get divorced. I don't know how it's in England but in Austria it's 50% [the divorce rate]," said Glasner, who takes his new side across the Trent to Notts County for Saturday's opening pre-season friendly.

"So when you ask them at the wedding, they would say 'yeah, not us' but it happens.

"Every single club wants to have the same manager for a decade, have the same players as long as possible but that's just not the real world - due to different reasons, due to different expectations, different plans in your life.

"When we had the talks, that's why we were also committed on a three-year contract. We said, 'OK, we want to get stability and consistency' because that's what the owner and I are convinced of. That's the foundation of success.

"We hope now that this is the starting point."

An end-of-season study by the League Managers Association found the average tenure of sacked managers in the Premier League was less than a year - having been more than three years as recently as 2021-22.

Across the English leagues, 43 managers were sacked, up by 2% from last season, and there were 65 managerial movements - a rise of 12% - but it is not something Glasner considers.

"In Cyprus last year they had 14 teams in the top league and all 14 changed manager. I don't really think about that part of the job," said the 51-year-old.

"I never sign and think about getting sacked. I just think: 'OK, what do we have to do to bring success to the club?'"

When Glasner took over at Selhurst Park in February 2024, Palace were 15th, having lost 10 of their previous 17 games under Roy Hodgson.

Come the end of the season they finished 10th, winning six of their last seven games - beating Liverpool, Manchester United and Aston Villa.

He utilised a back three, something he used with success at Frankfurt, but it is not something Glasner has immediately promised at Forest.

"We are not here to be Palace 2," he said.

"The habits and the patterns are important, how to attack and defend, the spirit you create, to create a shared way of playing and understanding of what we want to do.

"I told the players I don't know if we will play a back four or back three, we will get the players where they feel comfortable and it's important they all play in their best positions.

"Get to know the players and find the right system but the patterns and the habits will be the same as at previous clubs."

It feels, though, Glasner has the right players with Ola Aina and Neco Williams a perfect fit for wing-backs leaving Murillo, Nikola Milenkovic and Morato as the senior central defensive options. Zach Abbott is highly thought of but lacks top-flight experience.

Nuno toyed with a back three on occasion but it is not something this squad has regularly played.

In attack at Palace, Glasner inherited a forward line of Jean-Philippe Mateta, Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise. This time he has Chris Wood, Igor Jesus, Omari Hutchinson, Dan Nodye and Dilane Bakwa.

Add to that Morgan Gibbs-White and James McAtee, and he has the players to suit his style. Expect Glasner's Forest to get up the pitch quicker.

His Palace side attacked the fastest (2.00 m/s) of any side in the Premier League last season, with Forest 13th in that table (1.80).

Although Forest scored more goals and had more shots than Glasner's Palace, they can still improve under him.

Both sides struggled to take chances as Forest created poor ones - only Burnley and Tottenham created worse on average. Palace created good chances under Glasner but could not take them, ending the season with -17 xG.

Under four managers, Forest played the highest ratio of backwards passes in the Premier League last season, with 17.1% of their total, while Palace had the lowest score on that front, with just 14% of their 14,920 passes.

There will be a clear change in style and the way Forest attack. They put in 628 crosses - the second highest - with Palace managing only 417, the third-lowest in the division, only above Manchester City and Burnley.

Palace did not do much passing in the final third of the pitch - more than 500 passes fewer than Forest last season - but Glasner's philosophy is not to waste time when his teams get close to goal.

The Eagles created 29 more big chances (98) than Forest (69). Forest still scored more, though, netting 32 to Palace's 30. Their conversion rate was 43.5%, better than Palace's 32.7%.

There will not be another 13-player £180m spree like last summer with Forest looking to add quality over quantity.

Nicolas Dominguez has taken the number eight shirt vacated by Elliot Anderson's record-breaking move to Manchester City but Tottenham's Lucas Bergvall remains a priority target in midfield.

Forest ideally want another midfielder, while a goalkeeper - following the exits of Stefan Ortega and Angus Gunn - is needed to support Matz Sels and John Victor.

A striker is also wanted to aid Wood, who turns 35 in December, and Igor Jesus - who performed admirably in his debut season as cover from the injured New Zealander.

With the World Cup ending, Glasner now expects the market to pick up before next week's training camp in Portugal.

He said: "I have one strength and weakness - it's impatience. Sometimes it's a strength, sometimes it's a weakness. Of course, I would have hoped they had already trained with us.

"It's impossible because the players we're now talking to played at the World Cup so are still on vacation. I'm pretty convinced we will have a few players joining us in Portugal."