Inside Postecoglou’s 39 days to forget at Forest

Ange Postecoglou had only recently moved into his new apartment.

Before being fired as manager of Nottingham Forest, the Australian had little time to unpack in the new apartment.

The 60-year-old became the shortest-serving permanent Premier League manager after only 39 days in charge.

Forest only took his post-match press conference 17 minutes after Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat, which he did not even have time to attend.

Postecoglou, who replaced Nuno Espirito Santo on September 9, was supposed to bring the club to its highest level and win their first major trophy since 1990.

Instead, the club is muddled, lacking a clear brand, and looking for a new manager after two months of a campaign that had promised so much.

Owner Evangelos Marinakis, who left his seat in the Peter Taylor Stand after about an hour, was the last straw as he predicted what would come next.

Postecoglou will now lead Forest’s shortest-serving permanent manager after his eighth game without a win, less than Alex McLeish, who had lasted for 40 days.

In his first week at the club, Postecoglou allowed the players to digest Nuno’s departure and wished them well of the close friendship their new team shared with their former manager.

Their affection and attachment to Nuno should not be used against Postecoglou.

Despite Postecoglou’s speeches about his past becoming tiresome and saying he needed time to set up his system, which he lacked with six games in his first 23 days, which had slashed his time on the training field, the players continued to squirm.

Some people struggled to adjust to the change, so Nuno’s pragmatic counter-attack and Postecoglou’s flowing, high-pressing game seemed too big. Too much, too soon.

Morgan Gibbs-White claimed that some people liked the system more than others when they clicked “Forest” would be “unstoppable.” While center-backs Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic were hesitant and occasionally exposed, Elliot Anderson excelled.

Results, undoubtedly, undermined belief, but the team spirit that gave way to last year’s seventh-place finish, which marked Forest’s first European appearance since 1995-1996, also suffered.

Postecoglou’s supporters describe him as honest, a good guy, and unapologetic about his playing style.

However, his decision to play five at the back for his final few games belied his principles at the beginning, and doubts had permeated the squad.

After Danish champions Midtjylland won their first European game at the City Ground for 30 years, the fans at the top were shocked at how quickly and viciously they turned on Postecoglou.

As Postecoglou sat on the sidelines with his hands on his head as a result of a Valdemar Byskov goal, a section of the City Ground snapped last month and chanted “you’re getting sacked in the morning.”

Fans waited for the manager to enter the tunnel to mock him, while some had already questioned Marinakis and expressed their disapproval at his Peter Taylor Stand position.

Postecoglou was confident in surviving the storm, ignoring the noise that had been brewing almost since his appointment, before the 2-0 defeat at Newcastle.

He accepted the challenge of convincing the doubters wrong, both privately and publicly, claiming that the internal commotion was unavoidable.

However, it grew too loud, and Postecoglou’s internal support for the win should have been greater.

No one at City Ground wanted him to fail. Marinakis has to switch managers twice in just over five weeks, which is unacceptable.

After the former manager exposed his feelings in public, he was unable to mend his relationship with Nuno despite the fact that he would have acknowledged that there was no way to heal.

There was also a willingness to accept the fine lines and mitigating circumstances, which further underscored the success of the project.

A defense that was so established last season was undermined by injuries sustained by Murillo and Ola Aina.

After scoring 20 goals last season, Chris Wood’s lack of goals, which the forward hasn’t scored since the first day of the season, could have led to victories against Burnley and Real Betis.

It would be unfair to point all the finger at Forest because Postecoglou is not the cause of his problems.

Issues developed over the summer, with Nuno and Edu, Forest’s global head of sport, having a verbal disagreement with him.

The pair disagreed, particularly regarding Nuno’s desire to bring winger Adama Traore from Fulham, who he had previously worked successfully with at Wolves.

Only from the perspective of Nuno’s actions and how the season has turned out differently since Edu’s appointment can be seen as the beginning of the issues.

Nuno was disappointed that he did not get his man when Omari Hutchinson, age 21, signed for a club record sum of £37.5 million from Ipswich, while Edu desired younger signings with greater resale value, which is not unrealistic in modern football.

Hutchinson was ultimately dropped from the Europa League squad despite Forest sources’ suggestions that there were few other options when deciding who to cut and squad balance.

Cuiabano, who was on the verge of joining Brighton, was due to the Seagulls to loan him to the Championship before Edu pursued a deal and sent him back to Botafogo on loan.

Since Nuno took over in early September, Edu has also been much more visible around the training facility, which is unusual for a sporting director, but it is in stark contrast to his previous routine, which had him deciding to leave a potential explosive situation.

Ross Wilson, the head of football operations, assisted him in staying in charge until the transfer window was over, and leaving when the time came. He had agreed to join Newcastle in a deal that was announced last week, and Edu has since since taken the opportunity to fill the void.

However, the former Arsenal midfielder will now also be pointed at.

After signing the Sweden international for £15 million in 2023, Forest spent about £180 million over the summer and recouped more than £1100 million. The majority of that money came from the record-breaking £55 million transfer of winger Anthony Elanga to Newcastle.

Despite reports that Danilo, who joined Botafogo, was reluctant to leave Forest, and Jota Silva’s switch to Portugal collapsed in the last minute, it was due to other sales, like goalkeepers Matt Turner to Lyon and Andrew Omobamidele to Strasbourg.

After weeks of negotiations, a deal for the forward to join Sporting Lisbon on loan for 4 million euros was reached in the final hour of the summer transfer window, but the documents did not arrive on time with the Portuguese league’s registration platform.

Silva instead chose Besiktas, a club he was happy to join, because the Turkish window lasted until September 12th.

Only loanees Douglas Luiz and Oleksandr Zinchenko, who Forest had already paid over £100m, started against Chelsea. Is there an imbalance in the squad, or did Forest not make enough money to buy them?

Postecoglou entered a fully functional machine without breaking it, but it was already obvious that it was in the wrong place.