In Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, Oliver Glasner is convinced he has met one of the few people as ambitious as he is.
The potential of the project Marinakis has created at the City Ground is one of the reasons the Austrian was attracted to the job. He knows there are never any guarantees in football - not least at a club where he is the fifth head coach in the space of a year - but he is excited about where the Reds can go.
Glasner says he had interest from other clubs this summer, after leaving Crystal Palace at the end of last season. But a dinner with Marinakis in the shipping magnate’s native Greece helped convince him Forest would be the right choice.
*JOIN US ON FACEBOOK!Get all the Nottingham Forest latest via our Facebook page*
“Over the summer I had many teams across Europe contacting me and one of those was Forest,” Glasner said. “Like always, I had a look at the squad and talked to the owner. Many other clubs I didn’t even talk to because my goal was to stay in the Premier League.
“I had great talks with the owner. I went to Athens for a dinner and talked about the vision for the club and then I had a detailed look at the squad - and it looks very talented.
“I think there is a lot of potential in the squad, plus a very ambitious ownership, so I thought this could be a quite interesting and exciting journey. For me, the most important thing is a shared vision where we all aim for the same goal.”
Glasner added: “When I had talks (with Marinakis), it was like probably I found one of the few people more ambitious than I am - which is quite difficult (to do). I think we will challenge each other with ambition.
“Every Premier League club is ambitious, every Premier League owner is ambitious, every Premier League manager is ambitious, every Premier League player is ambitious. So that doesn't automatically mean that you win silverware because then every team would win silverware. It's just not possible.
“It doesn't make sense to talk about silverware after three days (in the job). It's now really about getting consistency into this club and starting to build the foundation to succeed. Don’t talk about the end product when you don't know the ingredients, so we are now trying to find the right ingredients in every single part and then hopefully we will get a great meal and be successful.”
Get the latest World Cup news straight to your inbox bysigning up to our Make Football Great Again newsletter now!
Glasner insisted he was not concerned about taking up post at a club where the hot seat has been particularly hot in recent years. He has signed a three-year deal Trentside but is well aware anything can happen in football.
“I think right now the average time for a manager is already below one year,” he said. “Many things can happen in football but I don’t sign (for a club) and think about getting sacked. I just think, OK, what do we have to do to bring success to the club.”
It came as a surprise to some to see Glasner join the Reds after leaving Selhurst Park. A rivalry has developed between the two clubs over the past year amid the wrangle over which European competition each would play in last season.
Addressing the move, Glasner said: “I want to mention this as it’s nothing new, I had two-and-a-half fantastic years at Crystal Palace. I had an amazing time there, with an amazing connection to the players, to the staff, to the chairman, to the owners and also to the supporters, otherwise it wouldn’t have been possible to win three trophies.
“I’m really pleased to have been part of this journey. But for me, a new chapter begins. There’s a new book to be written, and that’s here at Nottingham Forest.”
How will Forest fare under Glasner? Click HERE to have your say