Oliver Glasner ‘feels ready’ ahead of Premier League switch to Crystal Palace - Raphael Honigstein

Raphael Honigstein believes Oliver Glasner “feels ready” for a move to the Premier League following his managerial arrival at Crystal Palace.

The Austrian boss has replaced Roy Hodgson in the dugout at Selhurst Park, eight months after leaving Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt.

Palace struggled towards the end of Hodgson's tenure. They suffered heavy defeats to Arsenal and rivals Brighton & Hove Albion before a deflating home loss to Chelsea signalled the end of Hodgson’s reign.

Glasner was hand-picked by the Palace board for the hotseat, with hopes that he can steer the club to safety after slipping to 16th place, five points above the drop zone.

“[He is] very driven, very committed,” Honigstein told TNT Sports. “Everyone agrees [he is] also a very, very good coach. I think Crystal Palace fans can really look forward to his reign, it should be a really interesting one.”

On Glasner’s style of play, Honigstein added: “He likes to play three [defenders] at the back. He had a bit of a background in the Red Bull school of football where he started out as an administrator at RB Salzburg before getting promoted to promoted to assistant coach of Roger Schmidt in 2012.

“I think [Palace] have the players, they have the width that he wants them to do and if he continues with the same successful trajectory we’ve seen in his last two stations in Germany, then I’m sure the club will be very accommodating to get the right players in to make his vision.”

Glasner watched on from the stands as Palace battled to a 1-1 draw against fellow relegation-threatened Everton at Goodison Park on Monday.

The Austrian started his coaching career at SV Ried in 2014 where he also played as a defender, before moving to another former club, LASK.

He guided LASK to the Austrian Bundesliga before sealing his big move to the German top flight, replacing Bruno Labbadia at the helm of Wolfsburg.

Glasner led Wolfsburg to UEFA Champions League football before he was snapped up by Frankfurt, who he guided to the UEFA Europa League title in 2021/22.

Honigstein says Glasner’s job at Palace will differ from his roles in the past, but thinks he has all the tools to succeed.

“It’s going to be quite a change for him, going from two teams who had ambitions to play international football to saving, potentially, Crystal Palace from relegation in their battle at the wrong end of the Premier League,” Honigstein said.

“I think his coaching acumen, his skill, his tactical know-how will not daunt him. The owners would have done a lot of tactical due diligence on him and I think he feels ready and [will be] absolutely excited to be in the Premier League which is where he sees himself having done some really good work in Germany.

“I think the next club was always going to be a special move for him and it’s going to be very interesting to see how he does at Palace.”

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