Glenn, who takes over the reigns as West Ham boss today, knows that he has to convince fans of his worth - and can only do that when the season starts.
"I would understand a fair few of the supporters being a little bit puzzled at how I have landed this job but it is up to me to prove to them that I am up to it and that I can change their minds.
"That is why it will be so important to hit the ground running and do well in those first few weeks and the coming months thereafter.
"I think winning them over will solely dictated by results and if we get off to a good start and get points on the scoreboard very early I'm sure I can win any doubters over.
"That will be my intention, and hopefully we can have a good pre-season, and the fixture list will be kind to us when it comes out.
"Every game in the Premiership is hard, don't get me wrong, but there are some games that are a lot harder than others."
Glenn is already working through a dossier of players that he helped prepare as he looks to strengthen the squad for his first season in charge.
"Already I have got certain targets that I would like to bring to the club and if I'm successful in bringing in the type of player that I would like to before the start of the season, I think the supporters will see where I'm coming from."
He says he hopes to emulate Harry's success in the transfer market - and denies that he won't be able to attract the big names to the club.
"I don't see that as being a problem," he says. "I think potential high profile players will look at the club first of all, they will look at the playing squad, and see the likes of Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Trevor Sinclair, Paolo Di Canio, Fredi Kanoute, and many others, and I think that will be the big attraction for them to come here to play for me and the club."
He recognises that there may be a mixed reception to his appointment - and is ready to deal with potential problems from within.
"I'm sure there will be support, but there will obviously be one or two who aren't happy, just like some of the supporters who think the club should have looked for a more high profile manager.
"But I think in most cases the players will happily accept my appointment; generally speaking they are excellent trainers and as long as I put on the sessions that I think will bring organisation and help the players improve I'm sure they will be happy to work with me."
And he insists that, being an internal appointment, he will settle in to the role straight away.
"It certainly gives me a head start over someone who has come in cold, that's for sure," he says.
"It was fantastic news for me when I was told that I was going to be appointed and if someone had said that to me a couple of months ago I would have said 'you must be joking'.
"Harry Redknapp had had such a good spell at the club with three years in the top half of the table, so it was quite a surprise when he left his post.
"As we know now the contenders to replace him have fallen by the wayside and I am very grateful that the job has come to me.
"I'm very excited about the opportunity to take this great club on, because for a year or so now, not just last season but towards the end of the previous season, things haven't gone so well, and it's important that we put a break on that and get going on an upward curve now."
He says he is not suffering from wounded pride by not being the first choice, adding: "Not at all; I can only say that I am very honoured to be given this opportunity to bring some success to the club that the supporters deserve.
"My role here over the last two years was working with the younger players who were too old for the youth team and probably not ready for the first team.
"Often at the weekends I'd be doing match assessments or looking at individual players abroad and I've got a fair idea of what's around the country, what is in Europe, and who can help us become a better team.
"I did see a number of games last year, and I obviously have an opinion of players having seen them train through the week at Chadwell Heath which gives me an advantage.
"There will be players in the squad that for whatever reason weren't getting on particularly well with Harry and weren't involved with the first team.
"But, as when any manager comes in the slate is wiped clean and everyone will get an opportunity to impress."
But he is resigned to losing Frank Lampard, and says: "To all intents and purposes Frank will be going to Chelsea and we don't see any problems or hitches that will stop that move going through.
"We understand and accept the reasons for him wishing to leave and we wish him all the best in the future.
"I'll be looking to spend that money but I'll be looking to spend it carefully and wisely and obviously have to stretch it to the point of being able to bring in up to three players before the start of the season, and I'm assured by the board that there will be an amount of money on top of the money we receive for Frank to go into the transfer market.
"But I will only bring in players that I feel will make the squad better; there's no point bringing in players of the same ability that we've already got in the squad; to improve the team we must bring in players that are better quality.
"A midfield position is an area that we will be looking at having lost Frank, and the biggest concern is that we are losing an excellent professional, and, just as importantly, we are losing a player that could potentially come up with ten goals a year from midfield.
"As we haven't been a high scoring team in recent seasons, obviously that is of concern to me.
"So when we are looking at a midfield player we are looking at one that has got he ability to score a goal."
He insists has not lost out on any targets through not having been appointed earlier, and adds: "I don't think that any players that have been transferred in the last four or five weeks are ones that I was particularly looking at."
But he is pleased the wait is over, and adds: "Obviously four or five weeks ago I didn't know I'd be in this job, and it has been a tense time, a difficult period for all the staff at the club."
And, explaining why he did not put his name forward from the start, he says: "When I first was put in charge as caretaker manager my first statement was that I wouldn't have been looking to take the job at West Ham because normally someone who comes out and says that in a caretaker role and is not then named the manager he is the first one to lose his job.
"I so wanted to stay at the club; I've enjoyed these two years so much that I wanted to stay.
"I fully accepted that they would be looking at other managers with a high profile but as those managers fell by the wayside I'm the one left standing.
"I've carried on working in a professional manner and obviously that has impressed the board."
He denies suggestions that it was the 'easy option' for the Hammers hierarchy and adds: "It's not the easy option - that would have been to wait and find a so-called higher profile manager.
"The board had a definite plan and road they wanted to go down, and once the well-touted candidates in Steve McClaren and Alan Curbishley fell away they could see those qualities of the type of new manager they were looking for in me.
"I'm very grateful that they did and I'm so delighted to have this opportunity.
"I'm fully aware of the fantastic job Alan has done at Charlton and I can fully understand why our board were keen to bring Alan to West Ham but it didn't materialise for whatever reason and the job has come my way."
As for the search abroad, he says: "I got the impression that they looked at the possibility of foreign coaches and they obviously didn't feel that was right for the club.
"You have to say of the foreign coaches that have come to work in the Premiership so far have been at very high profile clubs with expectations of winning the championship, and have been given a huge pot of money to go out and buy who they want.
"It goes without saying that a club of our size doesn't have that huge pot of transfer money, and there have been one or two foreign coaches that have come in, haven't spent very well, they have lost their job, and have nearly brought their club to their knees.
"So the foreign route in the opinion of our board of directors wasn't the route to go down.
"I felt they wanted to go for that younger type of person, a young hungry coach who wanted to prove himself at the highest level - and I fall into that category.
"Even if I hadn't been a manager before I would have something to prove; everyone does."
While critics have claimed his managerial record was not overly successful, he counters: "I was player manager at Gillingham and took over in November when the team was five points adrift at the bottom of the division and staring the Conference in the face.
"We stayed up that year with two or three games to go so in the short time I had there I can say it was a success.
"I got the opportunity that summer to go to Watford when Ossie Ardiles went to Tottenham and couldn't get there quick enough.
"In the first season I did about the same as Steve Perryman which was just below half way; we improved greatly in the second season to just miss out on the play-offs with 72 points.
"I had great success in the transfer market and when I left two thirds of the way through the third season my net profit in the transfer market five and a quarter million pounds.
"The man that I worked for, Jack Petchey, wanted to sell the best players and take a profit when it was available, and with that profit he built two new stands.
"In any other business bar football I'd have probably got a new contract and a pat on the back but I realise that professional football is driven by results.
"But when you are working under somebody who wants to keep selling his best player to take a profit and then expect to compete in the top of the division you are in you are asking the impossible.
"If you keep selling your best players you will end up in serious trouble, and that's what happened, compounded by injuries, and Graham Taylor took over from me with 18 games to go.
"He found it difficult to keep the club in the division with 18 to go.
"I came away from Watford very disappointed that I wasn't supported more and quite often the day you lose your job you are better qualified for it because of the experience.
"I didn't want to take the route back of going for a second or third division job; I've never applied for a manager's job since because I decided I wanted to work at the highest level possible in coaching.
"I was very fortunate to be given an opportunity by Glenn Hoddle and John Gorman to work part time for England and it was a fantastic experience working with the best players in England.
"When Glenn lost his job on a non-footballing matter Harry gave me the chance to work for West Ham, which I will always be grateful for."
Although not a former player, he says it wasn't for the want of trying: "I'm an east end boy; I have lived in the area all my life apart from a six year spell when I played for Newcastle, and as a player I always wanted to play for the club.
"Unfortunately a certain Billy Bonds decided he was going to play on until he was 42 years old; Alvin Martin, an outstanding central defender, and Tony Gale as well blocked the path to realising my ambition.
"That's why I'm so excited and grateful about becoming the manager of West Ham; don't let anyone think that I don't realise what an honour it is and I realise the huge responsibility that goes with it.
"The fans must remember, in respect of being a local boy, I am one of them."
He says that none of the club's top players will be leaving, adding: "If anyone tries to come in and buy any of our players there will be no pressure from the board to sell; that is very reassuring and from now on we are going to be keeping our best players.
"I'm sure if I bring in quality players the best players at the club will see what I'm trying to do and I don't see any reason for them to be unsettled."
He admits, though, there could be difficulties in moving one or two fringe players out and says: "It is quite a big squad when everyone is fit and possibly a few will move on but at Premiership level the wages that some of these players command, there's no way that they are prepared to drop into the first division and take less money, which is why you have to be so careful when you give players long contracts.
"You have to make sure they play to the level that you require to get West Ham back to where Harry had the club, challenging for Europe.
"When I was at Watford the phone never stopped ringing with people wanting to buy the best players - anyone could sell good players, but it is a much more difficult task to sell players on that are not so good, especially when they are on big salaries."
As for his backroom staff, he says that is yet to be finalised - though Roger Cross will be staying.
"I can't go into great detail at the moment but we will be retaining a degree of continuity which I think is important," he reveals.
"It may be next week before we say what the background staff is going to be and if we get the people we want I will look forward to working with them because they will be of the highest quality.
"It's very important because you have to be able to delegate to capable people and I must get that right.
"We all need to be rowing in the same direction."
The club are not revealing the length of Glenn's contract, and he says: "The main thing is to get the job done well, and if I do, I'll be around a long time."