Oliver Glasner joins Nottingham Forest, says owner Marinakis is even more ambitious than me

"I had the feeling this is the right place": Oliver Glasner is unveiled as the new Nottingham Forest manager. Photograph: Harriet Massey/Getty Images

Oliver Glasner has said he wants to bring back the "sweet honey" of European football to Nottingham Forest and suggested that the club's owner, Evangelos Marinakis, may be one of the few people more ambitious than himself.

Glasner revealed that talks with Marinakis over a seafood platter in Athens convinced him to become Forest's fifth head coach in less than 12 months. The Austrian has signed a three-year contract following a fruitful two-year spell at Crystal Palace.

Glasner met the Forest squad on Monday, his first day, and expressed enthusiasm about the club's potential for growth after a season in which they avoided relegation and reached the Europa League semi-finals.

Transfer Activity

Forest are pushing to make Tottenham midfielder Lucas Bergvall their club-record signing as they seek to replace Elliot Anderson, who was sold to Manchester City. Glasner is hopeful that at least two new signings will join the squad for next week's Portugal training camp. Midfielder Xaver Schlager is close to joining on a free transfer after leaving RB Leipzig.

Appointment Background

Forest sacked Vítor Pereira because they felt the opportunity to appoint Glasner—out of work after leaving Selhurst Park—was too good to miss. Glasner acknowledged that Forest's hierarchy were "very hard-working" in their efforts to secure his appointment.

The 51-year-old, who won the FA Cup, Conference League, and Community Shield at Crystal Palace, believes he can exceed expectations at the City Ground but stressed that success will not happen overnight.

"My personal history shows that what we are asking them to do—the habits we want them to do—it takes three to six months to see it for the first time," he said.

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"I'm no magician. I didn't find the button players can press and all of sudden we win the Premier League. Our goal is to come closer and closer to European places."

European Ambition

Glasner highlighted the importance of European competition for the squad's motivation:

"These players felt the sweet honey of playing European football and this year it's just butter—no honey—on the toast. Hopefully, next year it will be sweeter. If I had felt there was no potential any more, I wouldn't have signed."

On Owner Evangelos Marinakis

Reflecting on his discussions with Marinakis in Greece, Glasner said:

"When we had talks, I probably found one of the few people who is more ambitious than I am so I think we will challenge each other with ambition. Every Premier League club, owner, manager and player is ambitious, but that doesn't automatically mean that you will win silverware."

He added:

"It doesn't make sense to talk about silverware after three days. We are not talking about the end product when you don't know the ingredients. We are now trying to find the ingredients and then hopefully we will get a great meal and then we will be successful."

On Stability

Glasner's analogies extended beyond food during his hour-long unveiling. When asked about Forest's need for stability, he remarked:

"Nobody wants to get divorced... I don't know how it is here in England, but in Austria it [the divorce rate] is 50%. At the wedding, you would say 'no, not us', but it happens."

He concluded:

"Every club wants the same manager for a decade..."