Former Manchester United interim boss Ralf Rangnick offered a current Premier League manager the ultimate praise
Fasika Zelealem Senior Sports Reporter
12:44, 18 Jan 2026Updated 13:45, 18 Jan 2026
Ruben Amorim’s potential successor at Old Trafford received a glowing endorsement from Ralf Rangnick(Image: Getty Images)
Manchester United may count on Ralf Rangnick‘s glowing endorsement of Oliver Glasner should they attempt to appoint the Austrian as their new permanent boss. Following the sacking of Ruben Amorim earlier this month, the Red Devils promoted Darren Fletcher from his role as the club’s U18 head coach to caretaker manager.
Fletcher has since been relieved of the role with former team-mate Michael Carrick accepting the job on an interim basis until the end of the season. Several managers have been linked with the United job, with the Crystal Palace manager among the potential contenders.
Glasner, 51, has enjoyed an impressive run at Selhurst Park since joining the club in February 2024, as he led the Eagles to their first-ever major trophy in the FA Cup last year. The honour meant they clinched European football while also winning the Community Shield in August by beating Liverpool on penalties.
A move to Old Trafford this summer could be on the cards given Glasner confirmed his intention to depart the south London club at the end of the season, meaning United could get him for free. However, his time at Palace was said to be in danger of being cut short before even then with the club considering sacking him after his shocking comments after their 2-1 defeat to Sunderland on Saturday.
Glasner claimed the Palace executives had “completely abandoned” him and his team after the £20million sale of captain Marc Guehi to Manchester City, which is set to go through soon. However, Sky Sports reported the Eagles have decided not to dismiss the Austrian and want him to see out the remainder of his contract.
READ MORE: Oliver Glasner launches scathing attack at Crystal Palace board amid Man Utd and Spurs linksREAD MORE: Man Utd star tipped for axe under Ruben Amorim gives X-rated response to derby win
While the manager’s time with Palace may end on a bad note, either now or in the summer, his managerial ability was lavished upon by Rangnick, who served as United’s interim boss from 2021 to 2022.
“For me, Oliver Glasner is currently one of the most exciting coaches – not only in Germany, but in all of Europe. An absolute top coach,” the Austria national team boss told LAOLA1 in March 2023.
Ralf Rangnick is a huge admirer of Oliver Glasner(Image: Getty Images)
During Rangnick’s reign as Red Bull Salzburg’s director of football, he was responsible for Glasner’s coaching ascent when appointing him as Roger Schmidt’s assistant. Explaining his protege’s rise in football, Rangnick explained: “He developed step by step to where he is now, also because he made the right decisions.
“From his perspective, it was right to go to Ried, from Ried to Linz, from Linz to Wolfsburg. When you see what’s happening with him and Markus Krosche at Eintracht Frankfurt, you can only take your hat off to him. This is a prime example of how a coach’s career should develop. It couldn’t have been written down better beforehand.”
For United fans who are wary that Glasner, like Amorim, prefers a back-three system, the Austrian previously compared his team to Amorim’s side and explained how such a system can be successful in the Premier League.
The Crystal Palace sensationally lashed out at his club after their 2-1 defeat at Sunderland(Image: Getty Images)
“We’re playing the same system,” he said earlier this season. “So it looks like it’s a good attacking system. Also, as we show it, you can have a good defensive structure with it. It’s all about what you do with the system and how fluid you are in attack and how creative you are.”
A historic figure already in Palace’s history, Glasner’s frustrations reached breaking point after the loss at the Stadium of Light as he targeted club executives for their decisions to sell Eberechi Eze and Guehi.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Glasner raged: “I feel we are being abandoned completely. Because I can’t play many players. They did everything they could and this has been going on for weeks and months now. And we have 12, 13 players from the squad available and we feel no support.
Crystal Palace have lost Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi in consecutive windows(Image: The FA via Getty Images)
“The worst thing is selling our captain one day before playing a Premier League game. We are preparing, it’s the first week we are training since September, and then we are selling our captain one day before a game. So I have no understanding of this.
“I have always kept my mouth [closed], but I can’t because I have to defend these players, because it was the 35th game today. Yes we get under pressure here and we are unlucky. But again, you can’t react, we can’t help them, it makes it really tough tonight.”
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After being asked who he feels “abandoned” him, Glasner answered: “It’s pretty clear, yeah? It’s pretty clear. Again, I didn’t sell anyone. If you get your heart torn out twice this season, one day before a game, it was with [Eberechi] Eze in summer, it was with Guehi now, you know?”
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