Most successful coach in club history? Oliver Glasner leaves Crystal Palace as Conference League winner

Conference League winner 

Oliver Glasner will be leaving Crystal Palace, having secured the club’s first European trophy. On Wednesday, Palace beat LaLiga minnows Rayo Vallecano 1-0 thanks to a goal by Jean-Philippe Mateta (51’) in front of 39,176 at the Arena Leipzig. For Glasner, who has announced that he will leave the club in October, it is his second European trophy, becoming just the second Austrian to do so after Ernst Happel won the European Cup with Feyenoord in 1970 and Hamburger SV in 1983. Glasner also won the Europa League with Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022.

“I don’t think I can be compared to him,” Glasner said. “He has won the European Cup twice; he was so far ahead of his time, like Pep Guardiola is now, that’s not someone I can be compared with. Maybe if I had won the Champions League twice, then I would be on the same level. I don’t deserve to be compared.” So not quite Happel, but there is no doubt that his reign at Palace was a success on the pitch. “When I first started, we didn’t talk about FA Cups or European Cups,” Glasner said. “It was about creating a successful environment.” Not only has the 51-year-old won the Conference League, but also secured the FA Cup, the club’s first major trophy in 2025. With a point per game average of 1.59, Glasner also ranks first among all coaches who have been in charge for at least a full season at the club (overview).

“The difference he has made in two and a half years is incredible,” Palace midfielder Adam Wharton said to TNT Sports after the game. “Three trophies, the first in the history of the club, first European competition and winning it. “He’s got to be one of the best managers Palace have had and he’s made a huge difference to how the club looks at competitions now—we’re looking to win it.” The success, however, takes its toll; Glasner is the Austrian Jose Mourinho. While his clubs are successful, there are also plenty of stories of confrontations with people above him in the hierarchy. That was the case at Eintracht Frankfurt and VfL Wolfsburg, where Glasner left after successful periods on the pitch. In his defence, both clubs were less successful following his departure.

Glasner: European success versus Premier League slump

Sure, there is also a flipside to Glasner’s success. In the Premier League this season, Palace have struggled, finishing just 15th with 45 points. It isn’t the first time this has happened under Glasner, either. When Frankfurt won the Europa League in 2022, the club finished 11th in the Bundesliga standings. Like now, Glasner opted to focus on only one competition, and the reward then was participation in the Champions League. For Palace, it will be ‘just’ the Europa League next season.

“I just guided this group of players and the staff,” Glasner said when asked about his time at the club. “I couldn’t be a magician without the players. They have to listen and trust the staff. They have to work very hard, and every player will tell you that I am very demanding. I can’t accept if a player drops by just one or two percent. But I just want the best for every single one.” The Austrian now has the pedigree of having won not just one but two European trophies. His personal ambition has meant exits at Wolfsburg, Frankfurt, and Palace. All three times, Glasner bet on himself, and the bets paid off, and whoever bets on him next is likely to secure a top coach, with the ability to win trophies, and backed by the right funding might even stick around for a long-term project.

“Don’t ask me difficult questions,” Glasner said when asked about his future. “Today is about celebrating. Ahead of the game, it was all about the final. I didn’t have the energy to speak to anyone about a new club, because the boys deserved 100% Glasner to the end.”