Finding the right words under pressure is hard, even for managers who do it every week. PMR tracks how well they manage it in the minutes after a match.
I learned how much those words matter in places where lives were on the line. One of those moments came down to three seconds. I’ll tell you about it at the end.
Every post-match interview Oliver Glasner has given in Premier Managers Revealed 2026/27, collected in one place: the quotes, the score out of 12, the Identity level and the analysis, matchweek by matchweek. For the latest standings, see the Premier Managers Revealed league tables.
Matchweek 1
Nottingham Forest 0 – 1 Leeds United
Saturday 22 August, The City Ground
Oliver Glasner — Nottingham Forest (home)
10/12 · Identity level fed: Purpose
“It was a very tight game, very few chances. Every chance was from set pieces. It was clear one situation would decide the game or it’s 0-0. Unfortunately it was for Leeds and a direct free-kick for Stach. We knew he is a good taker and that’s why it’s disappointing.”
“The second half, we were a little bit better in the game, we played more in their half without having big chances. We had two or three situations where we could score, but we did not. It was a lucky punch that was on their side.”
“Everybody gave their best. The players worked very hard, intense and wanted to get the win. That’s why I’m looking forward in a positive way, that’s the foundation of everything. We’re learning from this defeat, we’re at the beginning of this journey and not burying our heads in the sand. Unfortunately we lost, but I saw many encouraging things today. This is the way we decided to go, this is the way we continue to go.”
Glasner loses at home on the opening day and holds his line. He calls the game what it was, tight and settled by one set piece, and credits Stach as a good taker. He puts the effort and intensity of his players at the centre of it, calling that the foundation of everything, and says twice that Forest will carry on the way they have chosen. The defeat is Fleeting and the commitment is Lasting. The one thing he avoids is naming anything Forest did wrong. The free kick is left sounding like bad luck on its own.
Source: Sky Sports match report, Nottingham Forest 0-1 Leeds — skysports.com
Matchweek 2
Liverpool 2 – 2 Nottingham Forest
Saturday 29 August, Anfield
Oliver Glasner – Nottingham Forest (away)
12/12 · Identity level fed: Capability & Purpose
I think we all have the same feeling, proud of the performance, proud of how many chances we created and proud of the reaction after we conceded the equaliser. On the other side, we’re all a little bit disappointed we couldn’t get the win. I think this shows how good we performed, how well we played. Overall, a very good performance.
I could see our tactical shape work well in many parts but after 60-65 minutes, the level drops a little bit. Which shows we everything is not 100% settled, it can’t be after six or seven weeks together. Also, we conceded the same goal more or less, in the same area. We opened the middle and we know Liverpool always tries to pass into these gaps.
Many of these situations, we avoided but in these two situations, it was the wrong behaviour and then you get punished when you play here at Anfield. What I loved most was how we played forward and created the chances, especially in the first half. I think we should have led by more than one goal. But again, it’s still the beginning of the season.
The beginning of the journey and this performance will give us confidence. I always hope the next time it will go quicker but, again, we could see many positive aspects. Many things that should and will give us confidence but it’s important to stay humble and keep working hard. I am [hopeful of new signings].
The club are working hard before closed doors, I’m confident we will have two signings. We have Liam [Delap] in and hopefully one more, potentially two. The club is doing a great job, working hard. We have another new start, integrating new players.
Glasner is proud of the performance and disappointed with the result, and he explains both. Forest created chances, reacted after the equaliser and made their tactical shape work, then lost their level after 60 to 65 minutes and repeated the wrong behaviour in the middle of the pitch. He describes this as the beginning of a journey, asks the players to stay humble and keep working, and treats the performance as evidence they can use. Every part of the Elevate Formula is present.
Source: Sky Sports post-match interview, source page
Matchweek 3
Nottingham Forest 0–0 Tottenham Hotspur
City Ground · Williams goal disallowed (VAR, handball)
Oliver Glasner (Nottingham Forest)
Source: BBC Sport, 5 September 2026
Q: On the disallowed Neco Williams goal?
I watched five or six different angles and, to be fair, from one angle you can guess that the ball touched the arm because the shirt moves a little bit, but it’s not clear is it the ball or [Sandro] Tonali on the goalline. I think the VAR can’t intervene when he is guessing. It was not clear and obvious. We had a briefing before the season that the threshold for VAR intervention this year should be very high, which is why this is a wrong intervention. If it’s not 100% clear, stick to the on-field decisions. This is the inconsistency today. I told the referee after the game that I felt the goal should have stood.
I think, yeah, we had a very, very well-organised defence today. In a few situations, we had a big chance. It was the same, was no offside. The big chance right before half-time of Morgan, but we didn’t take it. So on the other side, if we take our clear chances we had, I think we should have won the game.
Q: You just mentioned the defending. I was going to ask you about the overall performance of your team. Can you see, game by game now, just starting to take shape as to what you want?
Yes, things are getting clearer and clearer, how we want to defend, and it’s how we want to then do our transitions. I think in possession, it’s still, yeah, we’re giving the ball away too easily in many situations without pressure, playing a risky pass, losing, is running again. I think here we need a little bit better decision-making. But yes, I see players feeling more and more comfortable. You could see Morgan had two fantastic chances, one against the keeper, with an incredible pass of Liam Delap, with a fantastic pass of James McAtee. So yeah, we’re getting there, but again today it feels it should have been more.
Q: And Liam Delap in from the start, Daniel Munoz on as a substitute. These new relationships between players, how long is that going to take to really knit?
I see, I don’t know exactly. I think what we can see midfield, James McAtee and Salihs Schlager, I think they know each other now for four weeks, have never played. So this was the second game they played together after Ibrahim Sangaré was injured. I think understanding each other better and better, and then this is, yeah, and it’s the same. I really believe Neco Williams had a fantastic game today. He should have been rewarded with a goal, or at least with, let’s say, an assist because we get a penalty. I think for Liam’s first appearance for us, or starting for us, was very well as well. And Morgan, what’s important, had good chances today. So overall, I think we’re going in the right direction.
7/12 · Identity level fed: Capability
Glasner is visibly deflated and returns repeatedly to the result he feels Forest deserved, which reduces the force of his leadership language. There is still useful positivity. He praises a well-organised defence, says the players are growing more comfortable and names Williams, Delap, McAtee and Morgan’s contributions. Better decision-making in possession gives them a specific area to improve. The interview supplies some evidence of progress, although the grievance and flat delivery prevent it from becoming a strong confidence-building message.
Matchweek 4
Aston Villa 1–2 Nottingham Forest
Oliver Glasner, Nottingham Forest: 12/12
“I’m really proud of the team’s performance and the spirit they showed.”
Glasner explains how Forest earned the win through their spirit and response. He identifies their early impatience, then describes how quicker switches of play and greater confidence helped them improve in the second half. The problem belongs to one part of the match, rather than defining the team.
This is useful leadership after a win. The players receive praise for what worked and a lesson about what needed changing. Delap receives individual recognition within the team’s achievement. Forest leave with reasons to trust their ability and a clear idea of the football they should repeat.
Breakdown: Towards 2 · SQAs 2 · Adversity 2 · Identity 2 · Path 2 · Good Winner* 2
Source: BBC Match of the Day interview, carried by Yahoo Sports
Matchweek 5
Nottingham Forest 0–1 Coventry City
Oliver Glasner, Nottingham Forest: 9/12
“The effort was there, and the players tried and tried, but then when you are in a rush, when you are nervous, then you take wrong decisions, and this is what we did in the final third.”
“For me, being very honest, I felt for the first time the heaviness of the past. The players were very quiet before the game.”
“Sometimes you need to be calm, let things happen, trust in your quality, in what we’re doing, and this is what we lost today.”
“This group of players are great lads, are great human beings, are great characters, and they will always give their best that we can win. In this situation, like we all know, you need support, you need a hug.”
“Of course we work on some stuff, how we can create more chances. We had plenty of shots today, we didn’t give them a lot, and I think we’re quite stable in defence, but in the final third we have to do better.”
Glasner diagnoses the “heaviness of the past”, then explains how the club will respond: calm the rush, trust the players’ quality, support them and work on chance creation. He repeatedly separates effort and character from the result.
Calling the pressure a weight from the past makes the adversity feel Broad and Lasting. That language can reinforce the very burden he wants to remove and also weakens his Good Loser* leadership. Around it, Glasner protects Identity exceptionally well. The players are great characters who give their best, and his immediate response is support rather than blame.
Breakdown: Towards 2 · SQAs 2 · Adversity 0 · Identity 2 · Path 2 · Good Loser* 1
Source: BBC Sport post-match interview.
Matchweek 6
Crystal Palace 3–1 Nottingham Forest
Sunday 11 October 2026, Selhurst Park, London.
Oliver Glasner, Nottingham Forest: 9/12
Identity level: Belonging.
I think in total we played our best performance in the entire season.
But again, if you don’t score from all these chances… but there’s nobody to blame because the effort was massive. 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.
Forest lost 3-1 at the ground where Glasner used to work, and he won’t let the score speak for his players. Our best performance in the entire season, nobody to blame, the effort was massive. He still says what went wrong, scoring goals in the right moments, so he’s being honest with them as well as protecting them. Two managers lost by three goals this weekend. This one took it all on himself and his players kept their quality. He drops marks on Towards and Path, though, because nothing in the answer tells Forest what they do next.
Breakdown: Towards 1 · SQAs 2 · Adversity 2 · Identity 1 · Path 1 · Good Loser* 2 · 9/12
Source: Sky Sports.
Matchweek 7
Nottingham Forest 0 – 1 Arsenal
Sunday 18 October 2026, 4.30pm, The City Ground.
Oliver Glasner, Nottingham Forest
12/12. Identity level: Belonging and Capability.
“Very tough, to be honest, and it’s a little bit of déjà vu. It’s many games where we feel the result is unfair, but at the end it’s what stands then — yeah, is zero points at home. Very good performance against the champions, really having them in many situations, or they have many problems with the way we did. We couldn’t control, didn’t give them a lot, and at the end here, yeah, going home with zero points is really tough today. Again, it feels a little bit unfair, but on the other side, it’s in our responsibility to not now drop the head. So now really building up on the performance and the many positive aspects, because it feels a little bit weird because it was the third defeat in a row, but I see progress in every single game, and today the effort was amazing. Everything, to be honest. It was just a result that we can’t be pleased with.”
“Oh, yes. Huge credit to the players, yeah, how they stick to the plan, knew exactly what they want to do, and we did so well, and then we had our moments, and of course, if you want to win against the champions, then you have to take these moments, and I think this is what we have to improve, what we have to work on to take the moments, yeah, and we had them, and again, when I see the reaction at the end, and then having three big opportunities in the last seven, eight minutes, where everybody knows how tough and how difficult it is against Arsenal to create chances, so we had many set pieces today, and again, it’s still things to improve, because we have eight corners, yeah, but it’s then take one. We had two great situations of free kicks, yeah, then take one, and I think this is what we have to learn, and this is what we have to improve, and then we’ll get the results we all feel we deserve.”
“Exactly. Yeah, could be, again, I don’t think so. It’s, let’s say when you see their goal is deflected, otherwise you think it’s straight into the arms of Matz Sels, and but you have periods in football where you feel all things going against you, and then there are periods in football where everything falls on your side, yeah? And we are now, let’s say, on the dark side of the medal, and it’s again now how you deal with this situation, how you react as a team, and for me, it’s just one way how we can change this — this is being, staying positive, sticking together, and then working hard, and on the other side, also having this coolness, yeah, not to worry too much, because again, I can see good performances, not good results, and then the results, my experience is the results will come if the performances stay good.”
“Oh, yes. Again, it’s, I had it in, it’s, you never know, because I always say it’s like the stock market, yeah, what the past never tells you exactly what happens in the future. I can just, I know from my personal experience that sometimes it takes a bit, so I remember…”
Glasner loses a third in a row and still gives his players about as much as a beaten manager can. The deflected goal and periods in football where you feel all things going against you put the problem outside them and make it temporary. He doesn’t hide behind it either, because eight corners and then take one is him naming the controllable failing in the same answer. Huge credit to the players, how they stick to the plan, the effort was amazing, I see progress in every single game: those are SQAs, theirs, wide and lasting. Both halves of the Elevate Formula. Staying positive, sticking together, working hard is the Identity. Take one of the eight is the Path, and it is the most specific next action anyone gave this weekend.
Source: BBC Radio Nottingham post-match interview, transcribed. Credit: BBC Sport.
Matchweek 8
Ipswich Town 1 – 1 Nottingham Forest
Friday 23 October 2026, 8.00pm, Portman Road.
Oliver Glasner, Nottingham Forest
Score: 11/12. Identity level: Esteem and Capability.
Very good performance at the end and great start into the game, and then, OK, it was maybe 15, 20 minutes in which Ipswich were the better side, and I think we started to control the game again straight before half-time and then we made one mistake and it’s a 1-1 draw but direction second half was amazing so then really dominating and it’s not easy here playing Ipswich in their home stadium and then really all the effort and keeping them on one finish overall and yeah it’s a topic but it’s important now to stay calm because it feels everything goes into the right direction and this final bit um you know we have we have to be patient because then we will get the reward
Yeah, it’s, I would say it’s football, it’s a game of mistakes as well and nobody does it on purpose, things can happen but again, it’s how we react and the direction was great and always keep believing and playing forward and creating all these moments and let’s say this challenge thing we can do to support the players I think everybody sees everybody feels the way we are playing the way we approach the game is absolutely right and not now losing the nerves because the results are not what we what we want and what everybody wants but on the other side we also have to to accept and to respect that Ipswich plays very well at home they won against Fulham they won against Sunderland even Liverpool had a very tough game here so it’s a good team and so yeah let’s take the point respect the point it’s one of the first things I learned and we will build up on our performance like we do like we always do
Well, yes, but, you know, it’s, as I mentioned, let’s say, there is There is no other way than supporting the players and encouraging them, because they work so hard to get into these situations to do really so many things we are doing in training, we are speaking with them, we are showing them in videos, so it’s a lot of positives to take from, because let’s say the opposite. We’re now always blaming the players and then they lose all their confidence, and it’s the only ways now, like we do, supporting them and keep believing. So it still feels like we are all tested that we don’t lose the nerves and stay patient. They should be confident.
no it doesn’t make sense so because uh that’s what he decided and that’s what we accepted it looks like the var uh is not from East Midlands because I think it was the third we are decision against us so two goals were overruled and today it felt during the game like it is a red card but again I think we couldn’t have played a more dominant half than we did in second half having 11-1 shots And so not to blame the referee. It’s up to us, and I know the players now, and we will keep working. We will keep analyzing. We will keep practicing, and then we will have good results as well.
Yeah, then I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I don’t know if the referee was a former football player because what we’re always taking… When a player runs one against the keeper and he runs straight, it’s very difficult to score. We always tell them to create an angle. That means you need to go half right or half left, and this was McAtee. He prepared his finish. That’s why the ball to create an angle that the goalkeeper has to move and then he opens the nearer or the far post. But let’s say that comes from the football side and not from the referee’s side and again, we won’t change it anymore.
Glasner is as protective as any manager in the table. He says the alternative out loud. Blame the players and they lose all their confidence, so he supports them and keeps believing, and he points at the training and the videos as the reason he can. The mistake that led to the goal is treated as part of football, and nobody does it on purpose, so none of it sticks to the player who made it.
He also mentions the VAR decisions going against them. That does put the problem outside his players, though it is not something they can do anything about, so it does not earn him the mark for Adversity.
Source: BBC Sport match report.
Matchweek 9
Brentford 2 – 0 Nottingham Forest
Saturday 31 October 2026, 3.00pm, Gtech Community Stadium, London.
Oliver Glasner, Nottingham Forest
Score: 5/12. Identity level: None reached.
Very frustrating. Same story as every week. But, you know, if things always happen in the same way, and they happen in the same way, then there’s a kind of pattern. And that means for me today it’s completely clear: we have to change something. A few things. I have to change a few things, and I will change a few things 100%. So it’s now to think about it, but we can’t continue in the same way. We have to change a few things and that’s the key.
Yeah, there were long spells in the game where you had a lot of the play and seemingly momentum in the game going forward, but it’s just that cutting edge again.
No, it’s the same. We’re making too many mistakes in defence. Then we are down. So we control the game. It was the fourth goal we concede from a long ball, with a long ball from the goalkeeper, and this just can’t be. It’s so obvious. We knew exactly what’s going to happen, but then we are slow, making the same mistakes, always different players. And the same in attack. We can say, yeah, we were good, we were good, we missed a few chances. But if you miss always chances, then it’s also a pattern, yeah. And I don’t want to talk about, and I won’t talk about, any statistics, because something doesn’t count. We didn’t score a goal and we conceded two. Credit for the second goal Brentford scored, it was a fantastic counter-attack. But we’re making too many mistakes in our defence and we are not ruthless enough, good enough, in finishing. That’s the truth.
How concerned are you at this point?
Again, it’s changing things, yeah. So if things always happen, the only way is you have to change it, because otherwise things will happen again. And that’s what we will do.
Do you already have positive thoughts about how you’ll go about that?
Not really, but a few things I have in my mind because, of course, I could see a few things I was not really pleased [with] all the time since my arrival. And sometimes I felt that I made too many compromises. And I think it’s now time not to make compromises. It’s now time to show a clear way and everybody has to follow. And if they don’t want to follow, I guess the sixth manager will come in. Thank you.
Two weeks ago Glasner said out loud what blaming the players costs you. It costs you all their confidence, and he chose to support them instead. That interview scored 12 and was the best of the season after a defeat. This one is the same man doing the opposite.
There is a case for it. A manager who stays positive through consecutive defeats, when nothing is actually getting better, starts to look divorced from reality, and that is one way to lose a dressing room. In the context of Forest’s season some tough language was probably needed, and he gets a mark for being willing to use it.
The trouble is what comes with it. The word he keeps reaching for is pattern. Things always happen the same way, so there’s a kind of pattern. They are always making the same mistakes. If you always miss chances, that’s a pattern too. Said that way, a bad afternoon stops being an afternoon and becomes a description of the squad: Lasting, Broad and theirs. Not ruthless enough, good enough, in finishing is how he puts what they are, and he adds that it’s the truth. No SQA of theirs is named anywhere in it. And asked what he will change, he says everybody has to follow, and if they don’t, the sixth manager will come in, so his players now have his job on the table next to their own and nothing in particular to do about it.
Source: Sky Sports.
What links this league table to a life-or-death negotiation?
A young mother. Her children asleep in the back of the car. A hosepipe connected to the exhaust. A police negotiator with three seconds to find the words that might save their lives.
That call is where The 7 Skills to impress™ began.
When I listen to a manager after a match, I listen for the message beneath the words. A manager can be talking about a win or a loss, but the way they frame it can lift or chip away at a player’s belief before anyone even realises it.
Read Three Seconds to Save Their Lives: Jacqui’s Story and find out what he said.