Aston Villa success seems to have inspired other teams and managers to do the same way as Unai Emery’s side.
Aston Villa have made huge progress since Unai Emery’s arrival. He managed to turn the side which struggled to safety after their promotion in the 2019 to consistently compete in the continental competition consecutively before eventually lifting one trophy as well as ending the 30-year title drought last season.
Emery’s remarkable work followed by the management’s support to generate more revenue in their venue renovation. This season, Villa Park’s North Stand is undergoing construction, which should be completed next year.
Such synergy on and off the pitch in the Clarets and Blue appears to impress one of the well-known European winning managers who is currently in charge of Villa’s rival in the Premier League, Oliver Glasner. The Austrian boss seems to have the same ambition as them, provided he can get the same level of support from the management. He shared his view during the interview with Kicker as reported in Sportwitness.
“why shouldn’t it be possible to become like Aston Villa? In other words, getting a taste of the Champions League, even if you might miss out on it again later.”
The Austrian boss sees Aston Villa as the proper model of success for his team now, Nottingham Forest. They both had glorious years in the past, and had been in the ‘sleeping giant’ period when they were stuck in the second tier just a few years ago.
The only difference is Villa did it faster and more consistently than The Tricky Trees. Last season, both sides even squared off in the Europa League semifinal. Unfortunately, while The Lions stick to Emery, Nottingham, which is owned by Evangelos Marinakis sees managerial changes too quickly. Glasner wants to fix it and shares the goal.
“The goal is not so much to annoy the big ones, but our goal is to get closer to the big ones in order to become a big one again and again,”
“Now we also have to be so realistic but here you can see the ambitions. So, the club has now got the okay to expanded the stadium in the first step to 45,000. (That’s important) because with 30,000 it’s difficult to play with the really big names in the league.”
The former Frankfurt boss realises it would take some time, just like his current stint with The Tricky Trees after his almost instant success with Crystal Palace. Yesterday, his side ironically was beaten by his former side 3-1 on the road. It’s their third defeat so far. Glasner added his comments on the process.
“All has to go step by step. We have to create the conditions in the organisation, of course also in the team. I don’t know if we can ever get as big as Man United or Arsenal now or Liverpool, but why shouldn’t it be possible to become like Aston Villa, who always sniff at the Champions League.
“Yeah, and if it’s not the case, they can also miss out on Europe, but our goal is not to stay small. Our goal is to get bigger and to dock with the big boys.”
In his previous club, he managed to guide them win their first ever silverware, FA Cup in 2025, followed by Community Shield in the same year and finally UEFA Conference League last summer.
It was not his first continental trophy. In 2022, Glasner delivered his first one, Europa League, with Eintracht Frankfurt. They crushed Glasgow Rangers on penalties in the final. The 52-year old boss is tipped to be the similar kind of manager as Unai Emery himself, by leading the non-elite teams to success.
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