Glasner Tells Forest Players to Buy In or Leave After Brentford Defeat

• Oliver Glasner banged the desk through a 14-minute press conference after Nottingham Forest lost 2-0 at Brentford, per The Guardian.
• He blamed himself for making too many compromises and told players who do not buy in that they can leave.
• Forest are the lowest scorers in the league with six goals and remain in the bottom three.

Glasner Takes the Blame and Hands His Squad a Choice

Oliver Glasner spent 14 minutes on Saturday banging the desk in front of him. Nottingham Forest had just lost 2-0 at Brentford, and their head coach had no interest in excuses. He blamed himself for compromising his principles. Then he turned on the squad: players who do not buy in can leave.

“I’m not here to be liked. I’m here to bring success to this club,” Glasner said. It capped an afternoon on which Forest’s own supporters had already booed the team off.

A Defeat That Looked Familiar

Forest created two-and-a-half times as many chances as Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium. James McAtee curled wide from inside the box in the first half, and Ryan Yates headed over from four yards out after Morgan Gibbs-White’s cross. Forest wasted 14 shots before one found the target in the 79th minute, a McAtee effort that Caoimhin Kelleher collected.

Brentford did not need to be at their best. A long ball from Kelleher released Dango Ouattara, whose cross went in off Nikola Milenkovic for an own goal in the 30th minute. Igor Thiago doubled the lead in the 76th minute, set up by substitute Jaidon Anthony, and that shot also deflected in off Milenkovic. The away fans sang a profane question about the performance.

Glasner would not use that as cover. “If you lose four of the last five games, it’s not good enough,” he said. He pointed to the first goal as a pattern, the fourth Forest have conceded from a goalkeeper’s long ball. He also said the players did not lack effort: “You can’t say they’ve had a lack of effort.”

One Person to Blame, and a Warning

The self-criticism came first. “I decided everything. It’s just one person to blame, and that’s me,” Glasner said. Asked what has to change, he answered “Everywhere” and admitted “maybe I made too many compromises in some stuff.”

The warning followed. “And if the players buy in, we can have a turnaround. If not, the sixth manager will come in,” he said. That would make Forest’s sixth manager from the start of last season onwards. He aimed at the club too: “if the club doesn’t want to change it, they need a different manager.”

He also gave one example of the standards he wants. A player had asked to travel home alone from London to Nottingham. Glasner refused. “No extras, no extras,” he said. Of his approach to the squad, he said: “I felt it was more hugging than now. But if hugging doesn’t work, there’s also an opposite way.”

Glasner insisted nobody should feel sorry for him. “For me, I go home and have breakfast with my family, so it’s not the worst situation,” he said, and he added that he could start somewhere else in two weeks if he wanted. “I won’t do it.” His concern was for the players and staff who stay behind. He had already argued that Forest deserve more after a run of defeats.

Sherwood Sees the End, Andrews Sees a Best Win

Tim Sherwood agreed with the diagnosis and doubted Glasner would last. “He’s very honest with his appraisal of his side,” Sherwood said, but he expects Forest to lose to Manchester City next week and Glasner to be sacked in the international break. Sherwood said the club cannot change personnel at the moment and that its history is to change managers.

Sherwood said he admires the stance of owner Evangelos Marinakis. “He doesn’t suffer fools,” Sherwood said, adding that Marinakis “doesn’t sit on his hands and wait, he just makes decisions.” The patience question is not new for Glasner and his impatient owner.

Brentford head coach Keith Andrews had the other side of the afternoon. “It’s probably our best win of the season,” he said, and praised “smart play today and leadership on show from our players.” Brentford’s previous win came against Chelsea before the last international break.

For Forest the numbers are harsh. They have failed to score in five of their nine league games, more than any other side, though they had more xG than their opponents in seven of those nine matches. No side has underperformed its xG by as much, and Forest went into the weekend third in Opta’s expected table but third-bottom in the real one. Forest also lost on Glasner’s return to Crystal Palace earlier in October.

Glasner has now said it out loud: the players follow his plan or the sixth manager arrives. “I’m desperate to change it,” he said. Forest remain in the bottom three, with Sherwood already predicting the outcome.