Ange Postecoglou is back in the English Premier League, and the new Nottingham Forest manager has been greeted with the same disrespect he has encountered since first arriving in the United Kingdom.
Celtic fans were up in arms in 2021, ridiculing their club for bringing in a manager who had only succeeded in far away places like Yokohama, Brisbane and Melbourne.
Once a domestic treble was delivered and the green and white half of Glasgow had fallen head over heels for him, it was the turn of Tottenham fans, the English press and Premier League fans more broadly to poke fun at, and doubt, Postecoglou.
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Winning the Europa League to end Tottenham’s 17-year trophy drought only served to silence the critics prematurely, as former Tottenham chair Daniel Levy gave Postecoglou his marching orders in June after an injury-ravaged 17th place finish in the league.
Many within the English football ecosystem took Postecoglou’s sacking as vindication that someone from outside the traditional European sphere could not succeed.
The same sentiments are now being shared once again as the Australian’s new home at the City Ground was made official on Tuesday night AEST.
Forest fans adore previous manager Nuno Espírito Santo, and many are outraged that the man who delivered the two-time European champions continental football for the first time since 1996, will not be able to bare the fruits of his labour.
The Forest faithful have been flooding talkback radio and social media comments sections with predictions of doom and gloom, and former England striker Darren Bent riled up them up further on TalkSport by saying, “If I’m honest, I find the decision disgusting!”.
While there has been much anger directed towards Forest owner Evangelos Marinikas as the Greek businessman’s rift with Nuno led to the latter’s dismissal.
That outrage has spilt over towards Postecoglou with Forest fans, as well as football fans and experts alike, opting to spruik the same tired tropes the 60-year-old has disproved everywhere he has gone.
The main attack has been focused upon game style.
‘Angeball’ entered the common vernacular during his time at Tottenham, but fans’ relationship with Postecoglou’s often cavalier approach balances on a knife edge.
While the Australian willingly lives and dies by the sword, those who praise the aggressive tactics when it yields goals and exciting football, are often the first to slam Postecoglou when it backfires.
There is also no guarantee that ‘Angeball’ will be implemented in Nottingham, especially as Postecoglou walked into the club on Tuesday and their next game is on Saturday.
The Forest squad have a defensive, counter-attacking system ingrained into them from their two years under Nuno.
It is a style that differs from ‘Angeball’, but as The Guardian’s Will Unwin pointed out, “he showed in the Europa League final, and in some knockout games, that he could be pragmatic and Forest will be hoping that mindset is employed in his new role”.
Forest largely played without the ball last season on their way to a seventh place finish as they averaged roughly 40 per cent possession per game.
The fact they still managed to score 58 goals in 38 games, gives Postecoglou plenty to work with.
That is why Former Nottingham Forest striker Robert Earnshaw told Sky Sports: “I feel like it’s a good fit and I think he’s got a really good squad”, but there have been many detractors.
“It will not come as a surprise to Postecoglou, though, to find that his return to coaching is being greeted by predictions he will not be able to adapt at the City Ground,”
The Telegraph’s football news correspondent Matt Law wrote.
“This is a Forest squad brought up the Nuno Espírito Santo way, a group of players who qualified for Europe by being pragmatic, tough to beat and sitting deep before breaking at speed.
“Will we see Angeball? What even is Angeball?
“Postecoglou is probably amused by those tying themselves in knots trying to decide and will relish the chance to prove his doubters wrong again.”
Postecoglou’s appointment is clearly the next step in Marinakis’ master plan for his club.
Forest fans did not want Steve Cooper to be sacked in 2023 either, after the year prior he returned them to the Premier League for the first time since 1999.
Marinikas’ view however, was that Cooper was not equipped to take Forest to Europe, so he turned to Nuno.
The rift between owner and manager led Marinikas to believe that Nuno was not equipped to deliver trophies despite having won the Saudi Pro League with Al-Ittihad and the Championship with Wolves.
The 58-year-old, who earned his fortune in the shipping industry, knew a proven winner was available, and decided to pull the trigger.
There has been a perception that nabbing Postecoglou is about fulfilling Marinikas’ desire for a Greek manager, given his glowing appraisal of the Greek-born Australian at a recent award’s ceremony in Greece to honour Postecoglou for his Europa League triumph.
But it is extremely disrespectful to dismiss Postecoglou being appointed in the world’s top league once again as little more than a nationalistic powerplay.
“It’s clear Evangelos Marinakis wants Nottingham Forest 3.0 in the Premier League,” Sky Sports News’ Anton Toloui said.
“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 Dilane Bakwa, plus James McAtee came in for up to £30m, £25m went to Rennes for Arnaud Kalimuendo and Igor Jesus wasn’t cheap from Botofogo.
“They’ve also given big contracts to Callum Hudson-Odoi and Morgan Gibbs-White.
“Forest can easily name three different front-threes capable of competing in the Premier League and Europe, it’s down to Postecoglou to unleash them.
Toloui added: “Also, 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.”
One of the other attacks on Postecoglou has been a supposed lack of player development.
Players from Tottenham, Celtic, Yokohama F. Marinos, the Socceroos, Melbourne Victory, Brisbane Roar, Australia’s youth teams and South Melbourne would also say otherwise.
But renowned football writer Henry Winter was one expert who took to social media to question Postecoglou, and his appointment.
“Ange Postecoglou is not an upgrade on Nuno Espírito Santo,” Winter wrote. “Nuno improved Forest players. How many Spurs players did Postecoglou improve?
“Angeball, high line, occasionally high and calamitous, is also different to Nuno’s counterattacking style, so Forest players will have to adjust.
“If the former Spurs manager is appointed in time he should get a lively reception at his first Forest game – away to Arsenal.
“Postecoglou has to hit the ground running, finish 7th minimum and learn from Nuno’s mistake (deliberate or otherwise) and not talk about his owner in public. No pressure. Good luck to him but it’s a gamble.”
From Postecoglou’s time in north London, defender Djed Spence is one player who would attest to the Australian manager improving him as a player.
Spence was initially not even named in Tottenham’s Europa League squad at the beginning of last season, and the right-back came off the bench to make his England debut in their World Cup qualifier against Serbia on Wednesday morning AEST.
Centre back pairing Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven played some of the best football of their careers when they were healthy under Postecoglou.
Meanwhile, Brennan Johnson enjoyed a career best season last campaign with 18 goals across all competitions, and the likes of Dejan Kulusevski, Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma all progressed during Postecoglou’s two-year reign.
Former Celtic star and England international Chris Sutton objected to Winter’s comments, replying, “a lot of nonsense in here Henry … they both have different ways of playing that’s all”.
“But to go down the who’s better route and to not recognise Ange Postecoglou’s achievements throughout his career is very short sighted,” he added.
Winter then responded: “He won a trophy, Chris, at Spurs and obviously did great things at Celtic. But you saw his PL form with Spurs.
“My point is that I’m sorry to see a good manager like Nuno leaving Forest and Postecoglou is not an obvious upgrade. Regards.”
Such arguments could go on for hours, if not days.
There will be no way to settle them for some time with the results on the pitch to do the talking.
A visit to the Emirates to take on Arsenal is a daunting introduction, but the remainder of September gives Postecoglou a good opportunity to find his feet in Nottingham.
League matches against newly promoted Burnley and Sunderland, as well as a League Cup tie at Championship side Swansea, are all winnable contests on paper.
The big one on September 25 AEST however, is the first Europa League clash away to Spanish side Real Betis.
That match will be scrutinised with a fine tooth comb as it is the tournament Postecoglou has essentially been hired to win.
There will be plenty of talking done in the mean time, however.
Postecoglou will no doubt field questions in his first press conference as Forest boss about always winning a trophy in his second, or if this counts as “season three” when he said “season three is always better than season two” at Tottenham’s trophy parade.
He will no doubt have plenty of headline-grabbing answers in return.
Regardless of what is said, the disrespect towards a manager that boasts a remarkable record of success everywhere he has gone will unfortunately continue.
Postecoglou will just have to prove all the doubters wrong once again.