Ange Postecoglou: Nottingham Forest set to appoint former Tottenham head coach after Nuno Espirito Santo sacking
Ange Postecoglou has agreed a deal to become the next Nottingham Forest head coach.
The contract will last until the summer of 2027 and an announcement could come as soon as Tuesday.
The first game for the former Tottenham Hotspur boss is set to be away to Arsenal on Saturday lunchtime.
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Postecoglou, who wants Mile Jedinak, Sergio Raimundo, Nick Montgomery and Rob Burch as past of his backroom staff at Forest, was identified as the leading candidate to succeed Nuno Espirito Santo and talks accelerated on Tuesday morning.
Greek owner Evangelos Marinakis has been an admirer of the former Celtic and Spurs head coach, whose family are of Greek origin, for some time.
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*Opposition passes allowed per defensive action (PPDA):
PPDA is the number of opposition passes allowed outside of the pressing team’s own defensive third, divided by the number of defensive actions by the pressing team in that same area
In July, Marinakis presented Postecoglou with a special award in Greece for being the first coach of Greek origin to win a European trophy in the men’s game.
“Ange has spoken many times about Greece,” said Marinakis. “It is very important for a person to be proud and shout about his origins.
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Ange Postecoglou arrives at Nottingham Forest where he will take on the role as head coach following the departure of Nuno Espirito Santo.
“He achieved it with a team that was not winning titles and was struggling. With this success with Tottenham, he made Greece proud.
“He is a very good coach and wherever he goes, he will make Greece proud.”
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Nuno Espirito Santo was sacked by Nottingham Forest – take a look back at his last few months at the club
Postecoglou has been out of work since leaving Tottenham in June, just 16 days after leading them to Europa League glory.
The 60-year-old spent two seasons at Spurs and ended their trophy drought last season, but did so at the expense of the league, where they finished 17th.
Nuno was relieved of his duties on Monday night after publicly falling out with Marinakis this summer.
The 51-year-old was given a new contract in June after guiding Forest into the Europa League, their first European qualification since 1995, but cracks were beginning to show behind the scenes.
Nuno had a poor working relationship with global head of football Edu Gaspar and his bond with Marinakis suffered as a result.
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Former Nottingham Forest striker Robert Earnshaw reacts to the sacking of Nuno
He questioned the club’s transfer business ahead of the new season and then pre-empted his own sacking by saying “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” when asked about his future at the club.
He was set for peace talks with Marinakis during the international break, but the Greek businessman pulled the trigger without them happening.
Forest said in a statement: “Nottingham Forest Football Club confirms that, following recent circumstances, Nuno Espirito Santo has today been relieved of his duties as head coach.
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“The club thanks Nuno for his contribution during a very successful era at the City Ground, in particular his role in the 2024/25 season, which will forever be remembered fondly in the history of the club.
“As someone who played a pivotal role in our success last season, he will always hold a special place in our journey.”
Strains in the Nuno-Marinakis relationship began to show in mid-August when Nuno criticised Forest’s summer transfer activity and expressed concern for the season ahead.
“I always had a very good relationship with the owner, last season was very close,” the Portuguese said. “This season, not so well. No, it’s not [good].
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Nuno said he was still in direct communication with Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis and stated his intent to remain committed to managing the club
“I don’t know exactly, but I’m being honest with you. I cannot say that is the same, because it’s not the same. The reason behind it, I don’t know.
“I always believe that dialogue and what you say or your opinion, is always valid, because my concern is the squad and the season that we have ahead of us, but our relations have changed.
“The reality is that is not what it used to be. What it used to be was a good, respectful relationship, but was more based on trust and sharing opinions and now it’s not so good.”
Why has Marinakis chosen Postecoglou?
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We look back at some of the more entertaining comments Postecoglou made to the media during his time as Tottenham Hotspur head coach
Latest from Sky Sports News’ Anton Toloui:
“It’s clear Evangelos Marinakis wants Nottingham Forest 3.0 in the Premier League.
“Steve Cooper got them up, Nuno took them to Europe and now Ange Postecoglou is in charge of making this team more dynamic and successful.
“Forest have spent big on attackers in the summer, it’s now up to the former Tottenham boss to unlock their potential.
“£35m was spent on Omari Hutchinson, a similar fee also splashed out on Dan Ndoye and Dylane Bakwe, plus James McAtee came in for up to £30m, £25m went to Rennes for Arnaud Kalimuendo and Igor Jesus wasn’t cheap from Botofogo.
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Get an insight into what former Spurs boss Postecoglou said to his players before they beat Manchester United to win the Europa League. Credit: Spurs Play
“They’ve also given big contracts to Callum Hudson-Odoi and Morgan Gibbs-White.
“Forest can easily name three different front-three capable of competing in the Premier and Europe, it’s down to Postecoglou to unleash them.
“Forest missed out on the Champions League by just a point despite only having the ball for 40 per cent on average in games last season. To put that into context, only Everton and Ipswich had less possession on average.
“Ignore the lazy narrative about club owner Marinakis wanting Postecoglou because he was born in Athens.
“To paraphrase the words of Forest hero Brian Clough, Marinakis ‘wants to win but wants to win it better’. He believes he’s found the man to do just that.”
Forest’s next 10 fixturesSeptember 13: Arsenal (A), Premier League, kick-off 12.30pm
September 17: Swansea (A), Carabao Cup third round, kick-off 8pm, live on Sky Sports
September 20: Burnley (A), Premier League, kick-off 3pm
September 24: Real Betis (A), Europa League, kick-off 8pm
September 27: Sunderland (H), Premier League, kick-off 5.30pm, live on Sky Sports
October 2: Midtjylland (H), Europa League, kick-off 8pm
October 5: Newcastle (A), Premier League, kick-off 2pm, live on Sky Sports
October 18: Chelsea (H), Premier League, kick-off 12.30pm
October 23: FC Porto (H), Europa League, kick-off 8pm
October 26: Bournemouth (A), Premier League, kick-off 2pm, live on Sky Sports
