It’s a tale of two former Spurs managers.
The first, Nuno Espirito Santo, became the first manager to be sacked in the 25/26 instance of the Premier League, removed from his post in charge of Nottingham Forest. The news came after Nuno publicly criticized the club and its owner, the tempestuous Evangelos Marinakis, in recent weeks. The sacking comes as somewhat of a surprise given the Portuguese coach’s achievements with Forest last season, including qualifying for European football, well beyond what many would have expected; but it seems the backroom relationships had become untenable.
Enter the second former Spurs manager: Ange Postecoglou.
According to The Athletic, Ange Postecoglou is to be named Nuno’s replacement imminently:
Look, we don’t often write about other clubs, but 1) news is slow with the international break still underway; and 2) it’s not often you have a managerial saga including two former Spurs managers - not least one that only left the club last season.
Ange Postecoglou has written his name in Spurs folklore after Spurs’ Europa League win; but I think few at this point would still argue he should have been retained. That’s not to say he’s a bad manager by any stretch… but this is a bizarre hire for Forest. Going from Nuno’s stodgy low-block-and-counter setup to Ange’s expansive vertical movement and high press is such a tactical kneejerk the Forest players will likely suffer whiplash. To add to the tactical shift, Ange will somehow need to get the Forest squad operating in something resembling cohesion while contending with midweek European matches.
In some ways, it’s an odd move for Ange as well. Marinakis isn’t exactly the most… patient of owners, and Ange isn’t really known for pulling his punches in the media either. It’s not like other teams will be beating down Ange’s door either if this appointment doesn’t go well. It seems very much like a roll of the dice, and they are not loaded in Postecoglou’s favor. At least he’s probably getting paid.
Good luck, Ange, I guess. I hope this goes okay for you. Just… not too well.