Ange Postecoglou set for Nottingham Forest after beating two others to the job

Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has decided to appoint Ange Postecoglou as the club’s new manager after sacking Nuno Espirito Santo three games into the season

Ange Postecoglou is set to become the new Nottingham Forest manager after the sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo. Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis wanted a quick appointment after pulling the trigger on Nuno and has already made his decision after holding talks with former Tottenham boss Postecoglou.

Nuno was dismissed in the early hours of Tuesday morning with a terse statement released citing “recent circumstances” as the reason. The Portuguese coach had fallen out with Marinakis and global head of football Edu and has been dismissed just three Premier League games into the 2025/26 season, with Forest sitting 10th.

The 51-year-old had been in charge since December 2023 and guided the club to a seventh-place finish in the Premier League last season to earn a place in the Europa League. He signed a new three-year contract in June, but frustrations over their transfer business following the arrival of former Arsenal chief Edu over the summer ultimately led to his downfall.

Postecoglou has been without a job since being sacked by Tottenham at the end of last season and was always the top candidate for Marinakis. Although brought up in Australia, Postecoglou’s Greek heritage appeals to compatriot Marinakis, as well as his attacking style of football and Europa League success at Spurs.

READ MORE: Notingham Forest statement speaks volumes as Nuno sacked just three games into seasonREAD MORE: Nottingham Forest sack Nuno Espírito Santo after fallout with owner Evangelos Marinakis

Forest face a trip to Arsenal in Saturday’s early kick-off and Marinakis has acted quickly because he wants a new boss can be in place for that game. Postecoglou has been waiting for a new role to become available following his exit from Spurs and held talks with Marinakis over the international break.

The fact he is ready to step into the job straight away was a clear draw and saw him beat Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers and Jose Mourinho to the job. Rodgers is in the final year of his contract at Celtic, where there is some friction behind the scenes, while Mourinho is available following his sacking by Fenerbahce on August 29.

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner, Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola, Mauricio Pochettino who manages the United States men’s national team and Fulham’s Marco Silva were mentioned in reports, but weren’t considered viable options due to the tight turnaround.

Postecoglou will have to negotiate a fractious situation at Forest after the bitter exit of Espirito Santo, who cast doubt on his own future in August by saying there was ‘no smoke without fire’ amid reports he could be sacked, making it perfectly clear that he was unhappy.

His biggest gripe was the dynamic shift following the arrival of Arsenal’s former sporting director Edu, who clashed with the existing structure of chief football officer Ross Wilson, technical director George Syrianos and head of recruitment Pedro Ferreira.

Nuno was frustrated by the slow nature of their business in the summer transfer window – and then unhappy with who did arrive. The signings of Douglas Luiz and Omari Hutchinson were both led by Edu, instead of the manager, who had unsuccessfully pushed for the signing of Southampton midfielder Mateus Fernandes, who instead joined West Ham.

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