Nottingham Forest appoint Dyche as new manager

Sean Dyche, formerly of Burnley and Everton, has been appointed as manager of Nottingham Forest.

The 54-year-old Englishman becomes the Forest’s third successive manager this year, signing a contract that will run until the summer of 2027.

Ange Postecoglou, who only spent 39 days before being fired 17 minutes following Chelsea’s 3-0 Premier League defeat, is now Dyche’s replacement.

After taking over Nuno Espirito Santo, who was fired just three matches into the campaign, Postecoglu failed to win any of his eight games in charge, drawing two and losing six.

After claiming one win in eight games during a difficult start to the season, Forest are 18th in the league.

Forest’s global football head of football Edu Gaspar and global technical director George Syrianos led the selection process.

Roberto Mancini, a former Italian manager, and Roberto Mancini, a former manager of Fulham, both had a reputation for being admired by Forest.

Dyche, a well-known and accomplished Premier League manager, “provides the perfect blend of character, tactical acumen, and proven accomplishment to steer the club through its next chapter,” according to a statement from Forest.

Dyche, a former Forest youth player who now resides in the area, also has a thorough understanding of the values and sense of pride in Forest and its supporters.

His appointment provides the best chance for a successful and competitive season, both domestically and internationally.

Ian Woan and Steven Stone, both of whom played for Nottingham Forest, will serve as Dyche’s coaches.

It’s a mess, isn’t it? Before Dyche’s appointment was made public, BBC Sport football pundit Chris Sutton said on the Monday Night Club.

“If Dyche crosses the line, it means that they are considering their own survival and have something wrong with Ange Postecoglou,” Dyche says.

“Dyche has always run clubs where it’s difficult. He resisted the Burnley rule, benefited from the players he had, and established himself as a highly capable manager.

He stabilized the club by taking control of a struggling team at Everton. He had to deal with points deductions.

The Australian’s tenure at Forest, which came 39 days after his appointment on September 9, was the shortest ever tenure under the Premier League, was marred by a failed win.

In the late 1980s, Dyche was a member of Forest’s youth team, and Brian Clough was his manager, but he never made a first-team appearance.

Since taking over the Toffees in January, he was fired by Everton after just under two years in charge. He has not held a managerial position.

As Everton manager, Dyche led the club to 17th and 15th-place finishes, winning 21 games, losing 31 and drawing 23 of his 75 Premier League games.

Prior to that, Dyche served as Burnley’s manager for nearly ten years, helping the Clarets reach Europe for the first time since 1967, twice winning promotion to the top flight, and between October 2012 and April 2022.

Additionally, he served as Watford’s manager for the 2011–2012 season before losing his position as manager following a change of ownership.

Dyche’s arrival at Nottingham Forest makes sense, in contrast to Postecoglou’s appointment, because Nuno used a different style of play to bring European football back to the City Ground.

The Australian struggled to impose his unique footballing ideologies on a squad that was so used to playing a certain way with no pre-season and a slew of games coming thick and quickly at the start of his tenure.

The addition of a similar-minded, pragmatic coach to Nuno should in theory help Forest’s players, who were defensively strong and proved to be devastating on the counter-attack in 2024 and 25, stay in the game.