Managerial jobs in football is a cut throat business. If a team isn't performing well and aren't winning games, the manager will find him/herself in the unemployment line. If they are performing well and winning games, not only is the manager safe but they might be rewarded with a new contract and a possible pay rise. Ange Postecoglou has found himself on the former side.
He has been kicked to the curb from managing Nottingham Forest. The "good" news is that it wasn't a shock. It was talked about even before the international break ended.
Nottingham Forest have sacked Ange Postecoglou after he failed to win any of his eight games in charge.
Forest were beaten 3-0 at home by Chelsea on Saturday and within 20 minutes of the full-time whistle, the club announced Postecoglou had been dismissed. By that time, he had already left the City Ground.
"Nottingham Forest Football Club can confirm that after a series of disappointing results and performances, Ange Postecoglou has been relieved of his duties as head coach with immediate effect," read the statement. "The club will make no further comment at this time."
Postecoglou signed a two-year deal at the City Ground on 9 September, following the departure of Nuno Espirito Santo but lost six times and managed just two draws during his 39-day tenure.
Nuno Espirito Santo was a fan favourite in Nottingham and was fired just three games into this season; shortly after saying that telling the BBC that his relationship with club owner, Evangelos Marinakis, "had changed."
His 39 day tenure is the shortest reign for any permanent manager in Premier League history - following a 3-0 home defeat to Chelsea. This comes after serving one day fewer than Les Reed at Charlton in 2006. Sam Allardyce, who managed 30 days in charge of Leeds United, was an interim appointment at Elland Road in May 2023.
He was the subject of "sacked in the morning" chants from his own fans in one defeat to Danish side, FC Midtjylland.
After a 2-0 loss at Newcastle, Postecoglou revealed he was expecting talks with the Forest owner over his future. However, in a defiant pre-match press conference on Friday, he said those talks didn't take place and said: "The story always ends the same... me with a trophy."
Forest's wasteful finishing was a familiar flaw during Postecoglou's time in charge, with his side missing a host of chances against Chelsea. It is the first time since October 1998 they have failed to score in three successive home games in the Premier League, with two of those under Postecoglou's watch.
Forest also conceded 11 goals from set-pieces under Postecoglou - more than twice as many as any other Premier League side during that time.
The official version seems to be that Postecoglou was fired 18 minutes after his final defeat at the City Ground. In reality, he was fired in real time, a live-action televised touchline sacking, gone from the moment Evangelos Marinakis disappeared from his seat midway through the second half with the look of a gamekeeper required now to wring the neck of a dying pheasant.
Evangelos Marinakis left his seat midway through the contest and less than 20 minutes after the defeat at the City Ground, a club statement said Postecoglou had been dismissed after, "a series of disappointing results and performances."
Home fans were seen leaving the ground when Reece James scored Chelsea's third goal six minutes before the end, prompting visiting supporters to chant 'you're getting sacked in the morning' to Postecoglou.
Boos followed the full-time whistle after a fourth successive defeat, which left Forest fourth from bottom of the table, having taken five points from their first eight matches.
It wasn't the first time the "sacked in the morning" chant had been heard during his time in charge.
It's also true that Ange to Forest was always a terrible appointment. Mainly because it involved getting rid of a successful, popular and settled predecessor, bookended now by a sacking at the end of an international break.
Not all mistakes have to be fatal. Postecoglou made this one into a disaster by never at any stage seeming to understand the assignment.
There was always something odd about the suggestion he kicked things off by saying, in effect: "Give me time and we can rebuild this project." Forest were coming off a brilliant season. The current one had already started. Why make the job into a rebuild? Naivety, perhaps.
Some startling stats behind the tenure
- Since the start of 2023-24, no manager has seen his teams concede more Premier League goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half of matches than Ange Postecoglou (16).
- Nottingham Forest have conceded 10 set-piece goals under Ange Postecoglou in all competitions - twice as many as any other Premier League club in that time.
- Nottingham Forest are on the longest current ongoing run without a clean sheet of any side (16 games), while of current managers in the competition; Ange Postecoglou is on the longest run without a clean sheet (18 games).
- Since Ange Postecoglou's first game in charge of Nottingham Forest, they have conceded more corner goals in all competitions than any other Premier League side (5).
In this sense, Postecoglouās sacking seems like a double departure. He has now been fired twice in four months. Is there a league rule similar to the loan regulations that state you canāt be sacked by three clubs in a year? Sadly for Postecoglou, this is unlikely to be an issue.
He wonāt be back here now, not without serious remedial work. It's not just because of a record that reads lost 31 and won 13 of his last 50 Premier League games.
BBC Sport reported that Postecoglou was told that he was sacked before speaking to his Nottingham Forest players in his post-match team talk. The BBC claim: āHe [Evangelos Marinakis] did not deliver the news to Postecoglou, with a senior club official instead telling the 60-year-old ā although that is not unusual.
Evangelos Marinakis has had a hectic start to the season. Here's a timeline of events:
- 15 August: In the first week of the Premier League season, Nuno Espirito Santo admits his "unbalanced" side have a "major problem" as the Premier League returns, warning they are "very, very far" from where they should be.
- 15 August: Forest then advance on a quadruple deal for Omari Hutchinson, Douglas Luiz, James McAtee and Arnaud Kalimuendo.
- 22 August: A week later, Nuno says his relationship with Marinakis is "not the same" and admits "where there's smoke, there's fire" in response to reports his position at the club is under threat.
- 22 August: Marinakis is understood to be "baffled" by Nuno's comments and there has been no intention of sacking him as the club's manager.
- 24 August: Nuno takes charge of Forest's 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace and calls for a goalkeeper and two full-backs to complete his squad in the transfer window.
- 29 August: After Forest's Europa League League Phase draw, Marinakis says Nuno is the "right man for the job" and "everything is solid" between him and the head coach. He also admits there are talks planned during the international break.
- 31 August: In what would end up being his final interview as Forest boss, Nuno revealed his desire to stay on in the job and said there was direct communication with Marinakis.
- 1 September: Forest deliver on Nuno's demands for two full-backs and a goalkeeper on Deadline Day - completing deals for Nicolo Savona, Oleksandr Zinchenko and John Victor, while winger Dilane Bakwa also joins.
- 8 September: Nuno is sacked as Forest head coach.
- 9 September: Forest move quickly to appoint Ange Postecoglou as Nuno's successor, with the Australian seen at the Forest training ground by lunchtime.
- 18 October: Postecoglou is sacked after failing to win any of his eight matches in charge.
Forest have made early contact with former Everton manager Sean Dyche with a view to replacing Postecoglou, while ex-Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini is another contender. Dyche has been out of work since being sacked by the Toffees in January, while Macini's last role was in charge of Saudi Arabia's national side.
Mancini has Premier League experience, having led City to the Premier League title in 2012. While talks have been held with Dyche, sources indicate that an agreement is not a foregone conclusion. There is also major internal support for Fulham manager, Marco Silva but he is understood to have a 'significant' release clause in his contract which provides an obstacle for Forest.
Importantly, Mancini and Dyche are out of work and available without the need to pay for their release.
I'm not at all surprised by this. I'm not a Forest fan but I had a bad feeling about the appointment. The sacking was inevitable to me. I thought it was a dumb decision to sack Nuno. A golden rule should be that you don't sack a manager if they are doing extremely well. This bares true even if the owner has a bad relationship with the manager.
It's hard to determine where Ange Postecoglou goes from here. I can't imagine him managing in England again. Two failed jobs in one country isn't a good look.