Has Oliver Glasner already talked himself out of the Man Utd job?

Robin Bairner

• 19 Jan 2026 05:15 CST
• 4 min read

Nieuws

Will Oliver Glasner be Manchester United’s next permanent manager? For so long, the odds were looking good for the Austrian to take the Old Trafford post, but his public clash with the Crystal Palace hierarchy may well have put off the powerbrokers with the Red Devils.

On the face of it, Glasner has everything required to become the next United boss. He now boasts substantial Premier League experience and has a reputation for excellence in England after winning the FA Cup and Community Shield with Crystal Palace.

What role he has played in Palace’s recruitment efforts has clearly been successful, while his player development has been admirable.

And out of contract at the end of the season, he would not be a costly option for United.

What did Oliver Glasner say?

Glasner finds himself at the heart of a very public disagreement at Palace.

“We feel that we are being abandoned completely. Selling our captain one day before a Premier League game,” he complained after watching his side lose 2-1 at Sunderland.

“There was no understanding, we're playing with 12, 13 players from our original squad for weeks now. That makes it so tough to accept.

"We had no substitution. I was looking on the bench, just kids there. That's how it is, that's why we are where we are.

“If your heart gets torn out twice a season, one day before a game, with Eze in summer and your captain now, I have just completely no understanding.

“I think the players deserve more support. That's what they deserve.”

It’s easy to have sympathy with Glasner. It’s hard to think of an example of a club that has been so brutally asset stripped in this manner, leaving the manager helpless.

Of course, from a business perspective, this situation is understandable, but could Palace have held out for more than €23 million (£20m) for Guehi? He has, after all, an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €43m.

While both sides have their arguments, one fact is undoubtedly true: Glasner’s immediate future hangs in the balance and long-term lies away from the club.

Why this matters for Man Utd

While Glasner’s outburst effectively cements his departure from Crystal Palace, it will have those at Old Trafford jittery.

If there’s one thing that Ineos have shown that they can’t abide, it’s public insubordination.

Ruben Amorim bumbled along for months with the worst record of any modern Manchester United manager. But it was not an embarrassing defeat versus 10-man Everton or a humiliation against Grimsby that proved the end for the Portuguese; it was a direct attack on the board’s authority.

He demanded to be the “manager, not the coach”, and called on director of football Jason Wilcox to “do his job”.

Ironically, it was just as Amorim was starting to turn around the fortunes on the field that he was ultimately paid off.

Man Utd were sending a clear message: bad results are one thing, but mutiny towards the board is too much.

What Carrick’s appointment says about United

In appointing Michael Carrick as interim manager, United have taken the easy way out in the short term.

They have looked to a man steeped in ‘Man Utd DNA’ and someone not likely to rebel against the current order, which has seen power move from the dugout to the offices of Wilcox and CEO Omar Berrada.

Carrick, of course, made an excellent start with victory over Manchester City at the weekend, but there is a sense that he is a pliable short-term option who could become, by default, the permanent boss.

United don’t want someone who’s going to stir things up at board level, and for that reason, it’s unlikely that they want a figure like Glasner, who now has a track record of rebellion.

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