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Despite Crystal Palace‘s FA Cup exit to non-league Macclesfield last weekend, there is no doubt Oliver Glasner has made a big impact in his two years as manager.

Glasner, 51, led Palace to their first major trophy – and into Europe – when they won the FA Cup last season.

On Friday, he announced he would leave the club at the end of the season.

Earlier this month, Glasner sat down with Kelly Somers to talk about where he grew up, the life-threatening injury that led to him retiring from playing, and partying as a teenager.

Kelly Somers: Oliver, as always, lovely to see you in the players’ lounge here at Crystal Palace. But let’s talk about yourself and football. Where did your love affair with football begin and why did you end up coming into the sport?

Oliver Glasner: I can’t remember so long ago, but this was just what my mum told me – whenever a ball was laying, I was just kicking it, and I think the love started there. I just played football in my home village, a very small village in Austria, and with my friends.

Kelly: What was the name of your first team?

Oliver: My first team was SV Riedau. So Riedau is the… I can’t say city… it’s a village with 2,000 residents. I’m still living there. We built our house there 25 years ago and my best friends are still living there, so my best friends are my childhood friends. Whenever I come home, it’s not so often, but when I come home we go for a dinner or play tennis together or play golf together. This will always stay as my home base. Of course, now I’m traveling around the world, but the home base will always stay -Riedau.

Kelly: In terms of the team when you joined it, can you remember the people that you played with? Are they still your best friends?

Kelly: You had a really successful playing career as a defender but then, of course, it was cut short. It wasn’t your choice to retire. Talk us through what happened that caused you to end your playing career.

Oliver: Yes, I played many years. I was not a freshman at that time when I had to retire. I was almost 37. I had a very long career and I enjoyed playing football. I enjoyed being in a team, even then, when I was 37. Then I had my crash head-to-head – an aneurysm, and I had surgery. Everything went well at the end but then I had to retire. But I think it was time. My wife always said, ‘Oh, you would have never retired’ because I love playing football. I love to be in a team and maybe that’s why I became a manager later, because I love to be in a team. I love to support players, I love players, human beings, people.

Kelly: For those that don’t know, it was a head injury that you had. You had a brain haemorrhage and then you had an operation? Didn’t you? But it’s clearly changed your whole perspective. Would you say it’s shaped how you think? Has it changed your attitude?

Oliver: No, I don’t think so.

Kelly: Were you like this before? You were able to use these negatives in such a positive way?

Oliver: Yes, I think so. It was more a confirmation what I was thinking before. We had never taken anything for granted. It was 50-50 to survive, that is what I was told afterwards – but in the moment you don’t know.

It was much, much tougher for my wife and for my children at that time because they need to do an emergency surgery and she had to give her OK. You’re at home on the phone in Austria expecting your husband to play football and then you have to say: ‘OK’ [to surgery]. This is tough. I can’t remember, so for me it was not tough – it was just… I woke up the next morning, I didn’t know where, I couldn’t remember. I didn’t know that this happened. I pressed the button when you’re in the hospital and the nurse came in and I asked, ‘what’s going on?’ so it was tougher for my family.

Also. at that moment I took the phone and turned it back to a selfie because I didn’t know what [I looked like], then I could see that my whole head was cut.

This is then the perspective where I think sometimes – we all know complaining about little things – really little things – it’s not really important. This maybe helped me to create the mindset to really get back into a good mood and enjoying things quickly.

Kelly: Has there been a turning point at all in your career? Is that it?

Oliver: I think who we are starts with how we grow up. My mum was a single mum – she had to work as we needed money and we didn’t have a lot of money, but I still feel I had everything I needed to have a great childhood, even without being rich. Boots I always got from the Easter Bunny and I loved it – we couldn’t buy three pairs of boots a year. I think that keeps me grounded, that keeps me humble. I know where I’m coming from. I will never forget it. I’m always telling my players we should never forget that we’re all living our childhood dream.

I grew up with five TV channels – there was no internet at that time – and I was allowed to watch football when it was at 8pm in the evening. I usually had to go to bed because I had school but when there was a football game on, I was allowed to watch it. sitting there as a small boy there and I could see a few times what is now the Champions League, then it was a European game and I remember Liverpool in the ’80s. I remember it like it was yesterday – sitting there thinking that I would love to be involved in this. Now I am.

With all the challenges we have in our job this is when I sit back and have a coffee and think, ‘Oliver, with all this stuff, come on, don’t complain, you are living a childhood dream. When you were a boy, you wanted to be here. And now you are, so come on, be positive and enjoy what you’re doing.’ It takes me usually maximum one hour and then I’m back on track.

Kelly: You’ve obviously gone on to have an incredibly successful managerial career. We don’t have time to talk about all of it because you’ve achieved so much – be it at Frankfurt or be it here at Crystal Palace now. But when you look back so far, what’s the highlight… the standout of your managerial career?

Oliver: Honestly, for me, the highlight is the whole journey. For me, the highlight is getting to know so many great people and sharing great moments with them, and also sharing great moments with my family. Yes, the finals and winning the Europa League and winning the FA Cup, my whole family was there for that. I am always telling the players these kinds of emotions you can’t buy, you have to deserve it and that makes it so special for me.

It is something different if you get a gift – it’s nice and you’re enjoying it, but if you had to work for achieving something and then you achieve your goal with all the effort, it feels better. No Oliver Glasner, no player, no chairman, no owner, no fan could achieve it [alone] but all together we could.

Kelly: Tell me one thing about yourself that might surprise me.

Oliver: I think you would be surprised when you have seen the 18 or 19-year-old Oliver Glasner. He was much wilder than he is now.

Kelly: Wild in what way?

Oliver: I don’t know how you say it but when you graduate at school, you go on a holiday with your schoolfriends and we went for a Greek island. It’s a huge party island. At the time we went there for two weeks and it was two weeks just partying from sunrise until sunrise.

Kelly: You’re telling me you don’t do that now…

Oliver: No, I don’t do it any more! It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it. In life, it is good to have these wild times – you need to develop. That’s why I’m also a little bit more patient with our young players. I’m just thinking they should party a little bit more than they are doing because now with all the phones, with all the videos, they’re always worried that something gets published. It’s good that you haven’t been there and have seen me, and nobody has seen me – and especially my parents haven’t seen it.

Kelly: You have just said it on television. You just told us…

Oliver: I think it is part of life. You need many experiences in your life to grow. Yes, a few of them I maybe think it would have been better if I haven’t done it but it’s part of it. I am always telling my players that making mistakes helps you to grow. I made some mistakes in my life, of course. My children are between 15 and 24. You want them to avoid the mistakes you made at that age but you can’t.

Kelly: So you’re telling them to go partying when they finish university?

Kelly: What do you still want to achieve? What does the rest of your career want to look like?

Oliver: I want to enjoy what I’m doing – that’s my biggest goal. Because I know then, as long as I’m enjoying what I’m doing… if I’m enjoying being a manager, then I can affect the group I’m working with, I can affect the environment I’m working in and then we will be successful.

I think I’m always surrounded with great stuff and again, it’s not just Oliver Glasner, we need everyone here and a great group of players. Then if we enjoy the time together, we will be successful. This is what I want because for me, it’s not saying, ‘OK, I want to win the Champions League’ but if this year and after I say, it was wasted time, I think it’s not worth it. As long as I’m enjoying the journey then I’m really pleased with my life.

Kelly: What do you need to enjoy it, just progress?

Oliver: For me, it’s working hard together to improve because this is what drives me. It is not being satisfied. I said once to my players if they want to stay in their comfort zone, they should let me know because then I go into my comfort zone, and that’s with my family in Austria, playing golf and tennis. It’s relaxing.

Scottish Cup, fourth round: Dunfermline Athletic v Hibernian

Venue: East End Park, Dunfermline Date: Saturday, 17 January Time: 12:30 GMT

When Kieron Bowie takes to the field against Dunfermline Athletic on Saturday, it will be a reminder to one of Fife’s finest talents of where his blossoming football career began in the humblest of surroundings.

The 23-year-old Hibernian and Scotland striker started at Dunfermline’s biggest local rivals, Raith Rovers, with whom he says he owes a great debt of gratitude to current Falkirk manager John McGlynn.

Bowie was playing public park football in his home town of Kirkcaldy before McGlynn was alerted to the teenager and instantly took him to Stark’s Park when he was in charge there.

“Until I was 16, I was just playing with my mates and stuff – and then Fife League was a thing at the time,” he recalls when anticipating the Scottish Cup fourth-round tie at East End Park.

“I was only there for a few months and then John McGlynn and [assistant] Paul Smith went in at Raith and it sort of caught their eye a little bit.”

Bowie admits he was “a raw 16-year-old” when he was told “right, you can come in twice a week from school”.

Bowie, who won his first two Scotland caps last year, was a late bloomer.

“I played for a team called Real Fife from 10 – I think I started playing quite late, nine, 10 and then, after that, I went on to Glenrothes Strollers, who a few of my mates played for, and one of their dads took the team,” he says.

“It was different, to be honest. At Real Fife in Kirkcaldy, we just played up the park. Literally.

“Everyone has their own pathway to make it in the game and it’s different to other people. People go through pro-youth academies and stuff, people go through grassroots clubs like myself.

“Everyone has a different way and, if everyone made it the same way, it’d be boring, wouldn’t it?”

Bowie’s route to the top also took a detour to London and a time on the wings before only really making the striker role his own after his move to Hibs 18 months ago.

After leaving Rovers for Fulham in 2020, he was loaned out to Northampton Town, where he was playing out of position.

“I was never an out-and-out striker,” Bowie explains. “I played on the wing when I was at Northampton on loan for two seasons, which I played almost 100 games. Imagine me on the wing, this tall lad just running about.

A wonder goal against Partizan Belgrade in Conference League qualifying in August brought Bowie greater attention and that has continued as he has notched up nine goals in 28 appearances so far this term.

His strength and prowess has led to speculation about interest from Celtic, Rangers and top clubs in England.

However, in this World Cup year, the Hibs striker has only one goal – and that is to try to convince national head coach Steve Clarke he is worthy of a place on the plane to the Americas.

“Anyone that’s been involved with Scotland over the last year, they’re lying if they don’t say ‘I want to be there’,” Bowie says.

“Obviously I want to be there, but I just need to focus on now and what I’m doing here and hopefully that’ll lead me to getting on that flight.

“Last summer, it was different, because it was just friendly matches. But it just sort of shows you’re not that far away.