Oliver Glasner Returned to Crystal Palace and Fans Turned From Applause to Taunts as Forest Lost

In the days before kick-off, Sage had already set the tone for how he wanted the reunion remembered. “I have big respect for what he did for the club,” he said of Glasner, previewing a fixture he insisted would be judged on the match itself rather than old loyalties.

This was never going to be a simple homecoming. Glasner left Palace at the end of his contract after delivering the FA Cup and, a year later, the Europa Conference League, the club’s first major trophies. Nottingham Forest then hired him to replace Vitor Pereira, who had been sacked even after keeping Forest in the Premier League and reaching a Europa League semi-final.

What made the appointment sting for Palace fans was the context behind it. Forest had taken Palace’s place in last season’s Europa League after UEFA ruled Palace ineligible over a multi-club ownership link to Lyon held by a former co-owner, John Textor. Palace fans had already unveiled a banner aimed at Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis over the episode, and the Football Association charged the club with misconduct over the banner. Glasner responded to being demoted into the Conference League by winning it anyway, beating Rayo Vallecano in the final.

When Forest announced his arrival, the statement listed his previous clubs, Wolfsburg and Eintracht Frankfurt, and praised what he had achieved at Selhurst Park, without once naming Crystal Palace. Forest owner Marinakis called him “a winner” who shared the “same vision, the same ambition” as the club’s hierarchy. For a fixture already carrying history, that omission only added to the sense that Sunday’s game meant more than three points.

Forest’s fifth head coach in a year walks into a familiar pattern

Glasner is not just another new face at the City Ground. He is Forest’s fifth head coach inside twelve months, arriving at a club that sacked Pereira even after Premier League survival and a run to the last four of the Europa League. That is the backdrop against which this defeat lands. A manager who won two trophies in two years at his previous club has now lost to that same club in his first match back against them, leaving Forest 14th in the table on five points from six games.

Palace head coach Pierre Sage, who succeeded Glasner at Selhurst Park, was careful afterwards to describe the result as nothing more than three league points, not a settling of scores. “It’s not about revenge, a confirmation or something like this for every individual player. It’s only about one game in a big series,” Sage said. “The game is not against Oliver. The game is against Nottingham and that’s the most important thing. We just have to be respectful with him, with what he did here. He helped me a lot because this team knows and is able to do a lot of things, and I have to thank him for that.”

Sage also used the win to point to where his side still needs to improve, rather than let the scoreline mask the problems. “It’s not normal to concede too many chances as we conceded today. We had a problem in the first half, especially in the area of Ndoye. We have to be more efficient in one-vs-one situations when we defend.”

Sage did not shy away from the defending that let Forest back into the contest through Ndoye’s early strike. “We have to be honest with what happened on the pitch,” he said. “Everybody is aware of that, every player is aware of that, but I want to underline one thing: they give their life on the pitch.”

Glasner insists the performance was better than the scoreline suggests

For his part, Glasner argued his team’s display did not deserve defeat; the result still ended any sentimental afternoon on a sour note. “I think in total we played our best performance in the entire season. But again, if you don’t score from all these chances, there’s nobody to blame because the effort was massive,” he said. “Even after the 1-3, the players tried and tried and tried, and then effort created chances. I’m 100 per cent encouraged by this. Today I saw many positive performances, but it’s not shown by the result because we missed the most important thing: scoring goals in the right moments.”

Palace goalkeeper Walter Benitez had a direct hand in making sure those missed moments stayed missed, with a string of saves to deny Liam Delap, Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood at key moments. Sky Sports’ William Bitibiri noted that Palace have now scored three or more goals in two of their last four league games, as often as they managed across their previous 37 Premier League matches combined, a sign Sage could be rediscovering the attacking identity that went quiet in Glasner’s final months in charge.

One of Benitez’s saves came against Delap, who shot straight at the goalkeeper when the chance looked more promising than the save suggested. Glasner defended his forward’s decision afterwards. “He has scored 90 per cent of his goals with power, that is his strength and I don’t blame him for this,” Glasner said. “He knows he could have done it differently but I think 10 times with the same situation he would have scored that.”

What Sunday actually settled, and what it did not

The head-to-head history explains why Sunday’s result carried extra significance. The previous three Premier League meetings between the two sides had all finished 1-1, and six of the last seven matches in all competitions had ended in draws, including a stalemate at the City Ground as recently as February. Sunday was the first time in that stretch that either side had turned a tight fixture into anything more than a share of the points.

Nothing about one league match fixes Forest’s deeper problem, which is a club now five managers deep in a single year and still searching for the stability that kind of turnover usually prevents. Glasner’s task was never going to be judged fairly on one afternoon at the club where he is still loved by people wearing a different shirt. But results like this one, following straight into a dressing room that has already seen four coaching changes in a year, tend to get remembered long after the final whistle.

For Palace, the win ended a 14-year wait for a league victory over Forest and offered real evidence that life after Glasner does not have to mean life without goals. For Glasner himself, the day gave him both the warmest possible reminder of what he left behind, and the clearest possible sign of how fast a new set of supporters can turn when the scoreline goes against them.

Glasner reflected on how emotionally charged the day itself had been, joking that any blame for the outcome belonged to him alone. “Today it looks like it is just me who is responsible for this, call it karma or whatever,” he said, before turning to the larger challenge facing his new club. “My job is not to be influenced negatively by the result.”

Sunday’s match was the sixth round of Premier League fixtures this season, and it leaves both clubs with contrasting paths to work out before their next games: Palace looking to build on a result that finally broke a long winless run in the fixture, and Forest looking for stability under yet another new head coach.

Quick read:

• Oliver Glasner returned to Selhurst Park for the first time after leaving Crystal Palace, now in charge of Nottingham Forest, the club he joined under circumstances that angered Palace supporters.
• Glasner received a warm ovation before kick-off, but the mood turned as Palace fought back from behind to win 3-1, with chants of “sacked in the morning” aimed at the man who delivered two trophies at Selhurst Park.
• The result leaves Forest, now on their fifth head coach in twelve months, 14th in the table, while Palace rediscover an attacking edge that had gone missing after Glasner left.

A hero’s reception, then a result that turned the crowd against him

Oliver Glasner walked out at Selhurst Park to applause from the same supporters who sang his name through two trophy-winning seasons. By full time, parts of that same crowd were chanting “sacked in the morning” in his direction. Few afternoons capture how quickly football can turn on a manager quite like this one did.

Palace came from behind to beat Glasner’s Nottingham Forest 3-1, with Dan Ndoye’s early opener for the visitors wiped out by goals from Daichi Kamada, Jefferson Lerma and Yeremy Pino. For Glasner, a reunion that began with a reminder of what he built at Palace ended with a reminder of how little that history now counts for once his new team is the one losing.

“I want to say a huge thank you to the Crystal Palace supporters for this great reception. I didn’t know what I could expect but it just shows the wonderful memories we created together here,” Glasner said afterwards. “I haven’t experienced that I was supported from both sides and so a really huge thank you.”

Why Glasner’s move to Forest was never going to be simple

In the days before kick-off, Sage had already set the tone for how he wanted the reunion remembered. “I have big respect for what he did for the club,” he said of Glasner, previewing a fixture he insisted would be judged on the match itself rather than old loyalties.

This was never going to be a simple homecoming. Glasner left Palace at the end of his contract after delivering the FA Cup and, a year later, the Europa Conference League, the club’s first major trophies. Nottingham Forest then hired him to replace Vitor Pereira, who had been sacked even after keeping Forest in the Premier League and reaching a Europa League semi-final.

What made the appointment sting for Palace fans was the context behind it. Forest had taken Palace’s place in last season’s Europa League after UEFA ruled Palace ineligible over a multi-club ownership link to Lyon held by a former co-owner, John Textor. Palace fans had already unveiled a banner aimed at Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis over the episode, and the Football Association charged the club with misconduct over the banner. Glasner responded to being demoted into the Conference League by winning it anyway, beating Rayo Vallecano in the final.

When Forest announced his arrival, the statement listed his previous clubs, Wolfsburg and Eintracht Frankfurt, and praised what he had achieved at Selhurst Park, without once naming Crystal Palace. Forest owner Marinakis called him “a winner” who shared the “same vision, the same ambition” as the club’s hierarchy. For a fixture already carrying history, that omission only added to the sense that Sunday’s game meant more than three points.

Forest’s fifth head coach in a year walks into a familiar pattern

Glasner is not just another new face at the City Ground. He is Forest’s fifth head coach inside twelve months, arriving at a club that sacked Pereira even after Premier League survival and a run to the last four of the Europa League. That is the backdrop against which this defeat lands. A manager who won two trophies in two years at his previous club has now lost to that same club in his first match back against them, leaving Forest 14th in the table on five points from six games.

Palace head coach Pierre Sage, who succeeded Glasner at Selhurst Park, was careful afterwards to describe the result as nothing more than three league points, not a settling of scores. “It’s not about revenge, a confirmation or something like this for every individual player. It’s only about one game in a big series,” Sage said. “The game is not against Oliver. The game is against Nottingham and that’s the most important thing. We just have to be respectful with him, with what he did here. He helped me a lot because this team knows and is able to do a lot of things, and I have to thank him for that.”

Sage also used the win to point to where his side still needs to improve, rather than let the scoreline mask the problems. “It’s not normal to concede too many chances as we conceded today. We had a problem in the first half, especially in the area of Ndoye. We have to be more efficient in one-vs-one situations when we defend.”

Sage did not shy away from the defending that let Forest back into the contest through Ndoye’s early strike. “We have to be honest with what happened on the pitch,” he said. “Everybody is aware of that, every player is aware of that, but I want to underline one thing: they give their life on the pitch.”

Glasner insists the performance was better than the scoreline suggests

For his part, Glasner argued his team’s display did not deserve defeat; the result still ended any sentimental afternoon on a sour note. “I think in total we played our best performance in the entire season. But again, if you don’t score from all these chances, there’s nobody to blame because the effort was massive,” he said. “Even after the 1-3, the players tried and tried and tried, and then effort created chances. I’m 100 per cent encouraged by this. Today I saw many positive performances, but it’s not shown by the result because we missed the most important thing: scoring goals in the right moments.”

Palace goalkeeper Walter Benitez had a direct hand in making sure those missed moments stayed missed, with a string of saves to deny Liam Delap, Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood at key moments. Sky Sports’ William Bitibiri noted that Palace have now scored three or more goals in two of their last four league games, as often as they managed across their previous 37 Premier League matches combined, a sign Sage could be rediscovering the attacking identity that went quiet in Glasner’s final months in charge.

One of Benitez’s saves came against Delap, who shot straight at the goalkeeper when the chance looked more promising than the save suggested. Glasner defended his forward’s decision afterwards. “He has scored 90 per cent of his goals with power, that is his strength and I don’t blame him for this,” Glasner said. “He knows he could have done it differently but I think 10 times with the same situation he would have scored that.”

What Sunday actually settled, and what it did not

The head-to-head history explains why Sunday’s result carried extra significance. The previous three Premier League meetings between the two sides had all finished 1-1, and six of the last seven matches in all competitions had ended in draws, including a stalemate at the City Ground as recently as February. Sunday was the first time in that stretch that either side had turned a tight fixture into anything more than a share of the points.

Nothing about one league match fixes Forest’s deeper problem, which is a club now five managers deep in a single year and still searching for the stability that kind of turnover usually prevents. Glasner’s task was never going to be judged fairly on one afternoon at the club where he is still loved by people wearing a different shirt. But results like this one, following straight into a dressing room that has already seen four coaching changes in a year, tend to get remembered long after the final whistle.

For Palace, the win ended a 14-year wait for a league victory over Forest and offered real evidence that life after Glasner does not have to mean life without goals. For Glasner himself, the day gave him both the warmest possible reminder of what he left behind, and the clearest possible sign of how fast a new set of supporters can turn when the scoreline goes against them.

Glasner reflected on how emotionally charged the day itself had been, joking that any blame for the outcome belonged to him alone. “Today it looks like it is just me who is responsible for this, call it karma or whatever,” he said, before turning to the larger challenge facing his new club. “My job is not to be influenced negatively by the result.”

Sunday’s match was the sixth round of Premier League fixtures this season, and it leaves both clubs with contrasting paths to work out before their next games: Palace looking to build on a result that finally broke a long winless run in the fixture, and Forest looking for stability under yet another new head coach.