Category News

Nuno Espirito Santo’s reign at Nottingham Forest ended in slow motion.

After a series of surprise outbursts from the usually guarded Portuguese, and almost a month of doubt, his 21-month City Ground reign finished abruptly with an early morning statement.

When it came to his replacement, there was no waiting as Forest moved quickly and Ange Postecoglou was appointed within 13 hours.

Nuno lit a flame when he criticised the slow pace of Forest’s transfer business, before revealing his relationship with owner Evangelos Marinakis had changed from last season.

A summer spend of around £180m on 11 players would not likely initiate complaints but Nuno was unhappy they had not arrived quickly enough to integrate them into the squad and his methods.

“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” he said, when asked if his job was on the line before the 1-1 Premier League draw at Crystal Palace last month, likely creating a deeper rift.

In August, BBC Sport was told Postecoglou – sacked by Tottenham in June despite leading them to Europa League success – was a likely candidate to replace Nuno, who had already gone public with his frustrations.

Discussions with the Australian had accelerated over the last two-and-a-half weeks as Nuno’s position became increasingly unstable and ultimately untenable.

The trust was eroded between owner and head coach after his public comments and once that had gone it was very difficult to repair.

There was also friction between Nuno and global sporting director Edu, but the head coach could have stayed silent and worked the issues out privately.

The outbursts, though, were ultimately viewed as creating noise and disruption that was unnecessary, rocking the boat as Forest planned for the new season and a first European campaign for 30 years after a dream previous campaign.

Internally, there was sadness at how it ended. Nuno was well liked and it had been an almost perfect relationship for 18 months, taking them from battling relegation to the Europa League, only missing out on the Champions League on the final day.

Amid the backdrop of a four-point deduction for breaching Profit and Sustainability rules, Nuno led Forest away from relegation danger, before last season’s surprise seventh-placed finish.

But after discussions during the international break, and following the disappointing 3-0 home defeat by West Ham – the worst performance of Nuno’s reign – the axe fell.

The fact a statement announcing Nuno’s exit came out at such a strange time, 00:15 on Tuesday morning, was due to the news breaking in the manager’s native Portugal

Forest would have preferred not to have done it that late, out of respect to Nuno, but it was out of their control after leaks elsewhere.

The fact Postecoglou was available, the 60-year-old became an option given the existing good relationship between him and the Greek owner which stretches back a number of years.

They were together in July when Marinakis, president of Greece’s Super League, presented Greece-born Postecoglou with an award for becoming the first coach from the country to win a major European club trophy.

“What he achieved, he did with a team that has not won any titles – it has had a very difficult time in recent years,” said Marinakis at the time.

“In this huge success that the whole world saw, he promoted Greece. We must thank him especially for this and we wish him well, although we are sure that he will do well as he has the ability. Wherever he goes, the successes will come.”

As it turns out that is now at the City Ground.

Postecoglou arrives, having ended Tottenham’s 17-year trophy drought with their 1-0 triumph over Manchester United.

He paid the price, though, for finishing 17th in the Premier League, losing 22 of their 38 games and sitting 27 points adrift of Forest.

It will not have escaped attention in Forest’s statement welcoming the Australian to the club, that Marinakis was quoted as saying the new manager has the credentials to help them challenge for trophies.

Players, many away on international duty, were also surprised at the news of the managerial changes. Nuno had given many of them the opportunity to progress in their careers.

Some received calls and messages from other shocked team-mates and they will return to training this week for the start of a new era.

Nuno created a close-knit group, squad members had previously stayed and played around with an American football after media appearances at the training ground, rather than immediately dashing off home.

The bond was evident, and the best thing Postecoglou can do is to harness it and recreate the unity fostered under Nuno.

It will be difficult, given the 51-year-old’s popularity within the squad and the fanbase.

Ex-Celtic boss Postecoglou must win over the supporters who adored Nuno, although that is something the former Wolves manager did himself when he replaced Cooper in December 2023.

While Tottenham’s wretched season last term still ended in silverware, Postecoglou’s first campaign saw them finish fifth in 2023-24, qualifying for the Europa League which they eventually won.

Adopting a different style – pressing and possession – to Nuno’s counter-attacking punch which served Forest so well, Postecoglou has the tools to succeed.

Record buy Omari Hutchinson, £30m attacker James McAtee and striker Arnaud Kalimuendo have joined to complement England internationals Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson and last season’s 20-goal striker Chris Wood.

Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton believes Postecoglou – who won two Scottish titles, two Scottish Cups and a Scottish League Cup with the Hoops – will be a success.

He told BBC 5 Live: “People are quick to forget that when he first went to Spurs, he really improved the team with a fifth-placed finish in the Premier League and then won a trophy.

“Spurs never win trophies and he gave the fans a night which will stick in their memories forever.

Erling Haaland has done it again.

A little more than a week ago, his goal against Brighton meant he claimed yet another Premier League record, with his 88 goals the most any player has scored in their first 100 games.

Now, the Norwegian striker has taken his tally to 48 goals in 45 games for his country with five goals in their 11-1 win against Moldova on Tuesday. His fifth treble for Norway.

Remember, he also scored 86 goals in 89 games for Dortmund, prior to coming to City.

With such an incredible goalscoring record, it makes sense to consider the Manchester City striker an unbelievable finisher.

Given the quantity and quality of chances that Haaland has had since joining the Premier League in 2022, the average player historically would have scored about 84 goals, meaning that the Norwegian’s finishing being above-average accounts for just four of his incredible goals tally (and just two if you exclude penalties).

Haaland’s critics might jump on this as proof that anyone could score bundles of goals if they played up front for Manchester City.

But what that fails to recognise is that no other player would get as many and as good chances as Haaland does because they’re not as strong, fast or tall as he is.

Nor do they have the incredible movement, anticipation and reflexes that he does that make him such an unmanageable monstrosity for defenders.

While obviously playing for Pep Guardiola’s side means he gets great service from his team-mates, if we compare his non-penalty numbers to another world-class striker who’s played there – Sergio Aguero – Haaland’s brilliance in getting great chances becomes clear.

Despite shooting more often than Haaland, Aguero didn’t score as many goals and, looking at their shot conversion rates, it seems that the Norwegian was simply more clinical.

But when we take the quality of their shots into account, Aguero was actually a better finisher – converting 2% more of his chances than a player would historically.

Looking at the top forwards in Europe’s top five leagues since Haaland joined City, it’s clear that most have to choose between taking lots of lower-quality shots – like Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe – or fewer, high-quality ones – like Dortmund’s Serhou Guirassy – to score their goals.

But not Haaland. He takes a lot of shots and barely compromises on the quality.

Even this early into the new Premier League season, Haaland is already showing how unstoppable he is when it comes to getting chances.

Gerwyn Price fought back to beat World Youth Champion Gian van Veen in the Players Championship 26 final, rising to the top of the rankings in the process.

The 40-year-old Welshman hit 13 180s and averaged 109.28 as he beat Van Veen 8-5 in Hildesheim, Germany.

It was rapid revenge for Price after Van Veen beat him 6-0 in Sunday’s Czech Darts Open last eight.

Price leapfrogs Van Veen to occupy top spot on the Players Championship rankings, while climbing to seventh in the PDC’s world rankings.

“I think I deserved to win today,” said Price.

“My back was against the wall a couple of times, but I think that game against James Hurrell definitely won me the tournament.