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LONDON: Ange Postecoglou is back in management after taking over as coach of Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.
The Australian was fired by Tottenham in June, but has made swift return to the Premier League — replacing Nuno Espirito Santo at Forest.
“We are bringing a coach to the Club who has a proven and consistent record of winning trophies. His experience of coaching teams at the highest level, along with his desire to build something special with us at Forest, makes him a fantastic person to help us on our journey and achieve consistently all our ambitions,” said Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis.
Postecoglou’s appointment concluded a frantic 24 hours at Forest, with Nuno’s departure confirmed shortly past midnight on Tuesday, UK time. Within hours Postecoglou emerged as the favorite to take over and he was confirmed in his new role that afternoon.
Postecoglou led Tottenham to their first trophy in 17 years last season when winning the Europa League and securing qualification to the Champions League. But that wasn’t enough to save his job at the end of a campaign that saw Spurs finish 17th in the 20 team English topflight — their worst position since the start of the Premier League in 1992. His team also lost 22 times in the league — a club record in the modern era.
Postecoglou will get the chance to compete in the Europa League again at Forest after Nuno guided the club back into Europe for the first time since 1996. Forest finished seventh last season — having mounted an unlikely challenge for Champions League qualification for much of the campaign — their best placing in the top flight since 1995.
“After gaining promotion to the Premier League, then building consistently season after season to secure European football, we now must take the right step to compete with the very best and challenge for trophies. Ange has the credentials and the track-record to do this, and we are excited he is joining us on our ambitious journey,” said Marinakis.
Point to prove
Postecoglou’s swift return to top level management will give him the chance to prove Tottenham were wrong to let him go after he ended their trophy drought.
The outspoken 60-year-old coach boldly claimed last year that he always wins a trophy in his second season, having done so with former clubs Brisbane Roar, Yokohama F Marinos and Celtic. That streak looked highly unlikely as his Spurs team struggled for form all season, but an improbable run to the final of the Europa League ended with victory against Manchester United.
Forest haven’t won a major trophy since the English League Cup in 1990 and have spent long periods of the Premier League era outside of the topflight.
Clash of styles
Postecoglou is known for his ultra-attacking style of soccer, which some critics have labeled naive.
After a 4-3 win against United in the League Cup last season, he famously quipped “Are you not entertained?” during his post-match interview.
He takes over a team that proved themself to be one of the most difficult to beat in the Premier League under Nuno, with a more pragmatic approach than Postecoglou and it is unknown how the players will transition to a new style.
Nuno’s legacy
Nuno took Forest from a relegation battler to a Champions League contender.
Appointed in December 2023 when Forest were 17th in the standings, he secured Premier League survival despite the club being deducted four points for breaching financial rules. The next season Forest were fighting at the other end of the table and looked set to claim a top five finish until a late dip in form saw them win just one of their last five matches.
Forest also reached the semifinals of the FA Cup.
Despite such an impressive campaign Nuno said last month he was worried about his job over a deterioration in his relationship with club owner Marinakis.
Nuno is unlikely to be out of work for long.
He previously led Wolverhampton Wanderers to promotion to the Premier League and then established them as a topflight team. After an unsuccessful short-lived spell at Tottenham, he won the ������Ƶn league with Al-Ittihad before taking over at Forest.