24th Feb 2024 • Written by Riley Moquin

Glasner's backroom staff: who's who?

New Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has a well-documented resume: Europa League winner, success at virtually every stop. But with his backroom staff now confirmed, what do his hand-picked assistants bring to the table for the new-look Eagles?

Ronald Brunmayr

Glasner’s assistant manager is a familiar name to fans of Eintracht Frankfurt. The Austrian was part of Glasner’s initial staff at Frankfurt upon his hiring in 2021, remaining as part of the Frankfurt backroom for the 2022 Europa League trophy and for the club’s runners-up DFB-Pokal run the next season. When Glasner stepped aside in 2023, Brunmayr was retained on the staff of his successor, Dino Toppmöller.

Brunmayr and Glasner have a relationship stretching at least as far back as 1998, when Brunmayr joined Glasner at Austrian club SV Ried during their playing days when the pair were just 23 and 24 years old, respectively. Brunmayr departed SV Ried in 2000 but returned for another two-year stint in 2005, reuniting with Glasner.

Before Frankfurt, both Glasner and Brunmayr spent time working at LASK, albeit at mostly different times. Brunmayr worked as a youth coach at the club in several different capacities between 2012 and 2015. After Glasner’s hugely successful stint as senior manager at the club, Brunmayr returned to LASK as Under-19s manager for one year in 2019 before taking the senior managerial job at FC Blau-Weiß Linz.

Michael Angerschmid

Joining Palace as an assistant coach, Angerschmid is another longtime member of the Glasner camp. The pair have a relationship dating back to 1993, when Glasner first joined SV Ried at age 18. Angerschmid had been in the Ried youth system since he was just 8 years old. The pair would go on to forge a partnership at Ried lasting nearly two decades, including two Austrian Cup wins. To date, Glasner and Angerschmid are Ried’s number one and two in club appearances, respectively.

Angerschmid (right)

When Glasner drew the curtain on his playing career in 2011, Angerschmid became senior manager at Ried for a second stint since his retirement. His term lasted from 2012 to 2014, at which point he departed and Glasner took the job—his first managerial position. After his lone season in charge of Ried, Glasner departed to LASK and hired Angerschmid as an assistant, where he remained for Glasner’s entire four-year stint until following him again to VfL Wolfsburg in 2019. When Glasner left for Frankfurt in 2021, Angerschmid stayed at Wolfsburg, marking one of the only points since the pair were 18 years old that they were not at the same club together.

Emanuel Pogatetz

A former Austrian national, Emanuel Pogatetz had a 19-year playing career that included 61 caps for Austria and a five-year stint at Middlesborough between 2005 and 2010, four seasons of which were spent in the Premier League. Pogatetz finished his career with two seasons at LASK under Glasner, retiring in 2019.

Just 41 years old, Pogatetz has spent short periods as an assistant at LASK and SKN St. Pölten.

Glasner poked fun at Eberechi Eze during footage released by PalaceTV this week, saying that Pogatetz would have "killed" the Palace talisman during his playing career.

Michael Berktold

Palace’s new Fitness and Conditioning coach worked with Glasner for periods at both LASK and VfL Wolfsburg. He has also worked for RB Salzburg.

The Angle

Palace fans are very familiar with Paddy McCarthy and Dean Kiely, the two members of Roy Hodgson’s staff who have been retained by Oliver Glasner. This pair of coaches will be a crucial piece in bridging the gap between the club, its players, and the new man-in-charge.

The fresh faces at Palace, though, tell of a manager who knows those he trusts but approaches the Palace job with forward thought. Kiely, age 53, is now the oldest coach on the Crystal Palace staff. McCarthy, age 40, is the youngest, though barely; new assistant Emanuel Pogatetz is only marginally older at just 41 years old. Glasner, Brunmayr, and Angerschmid are all 49-year-old former players who have worked with one another since early in their playing days. 

Glasner wants a Palace squad with a goal-scoring mentality, intent on keeping in touch with the reasons he, his staff, and his players all fell in love with the game. Palace fans yearned for this sort of progressive-thinking manager. If his staff is any indication, Oliver Glasner fits the bill.

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