The former Celtic boss is back in the Premier League after Tottenham sacking but wheels seemed to be in motion even before then
08:54, 10 Sep 2025Updated 08:55, 10 Sep 2025
Ange Postecoglou seen at event with Evangelos Marinakis weeks before Nottingham Forest appointment
Ange Postecoglou was lined up to become Nottingham Forest's new manager at least one month ago.
That's the feeling inside the club, according to the Atheltic.
The former Celtic boss was confirmed as Nuno Espirito Santo's successor just 13 hours after the Portuguese was sacked by Greek owner Angelos Marinakis.
Nuno had admitted publicly that his relationship with his demanding boss was not good, while the arrival of former Arsenal midfielder and technical director Edu as global head of football for Forest, Olympiacos and Rio Ave – Marinakis' three clubs.
Things came to a head this week, and Postecoglou will take charge of Forest for the first time against Arsenal this Saturday.
But the suspicion is that moves to bring Postecoglou to the City Ground started tentatively earlier this summer.
While he was still Tottenham boss, Postecoglou headed to his birth country of Greece for a holiday, spending time in the Athens area as well as the islands of Paros and Crete.
The Aussie's job at Spurs was under serious threat despite winning the Europa League, having finished a lowly 17th in the English Premier League.
And a dinner date two nights before he was sacked offered a major clue as to where his next job could be.
Ange Postecoglou, Panagiotis Kone (white t-shirt) and Giannis Papdopoulos
At an exclusive suburban restaurant called Papaioannou, Postecoglou met with former AEK sporting director Panagiotis Kone but also and more significantly, Giannis Papdopoulos, another former AEK bigwig now working at Olympiacos in an executive capacity.
Five weeks later, Postecoglou was back in Athens as guest of honour at an event to launch the new Greek Super League season.
Marinakis - who presented the Aussie with an award - just happens to be the Greek Super League president, and talked in glowing terms about Postecoglou.
He said: "Ange has spoken many times about Greece. It is very important for a person to be proud and shout about their origins. He achieved it (the Europa League) with a team that was not winning titles and was struggling. With this success, he made Greece proud. He is a very good coach and wherever he goes, he will continue to have success and make Greece proud.”
Sources close to Nuno suspect this is when the call was made that Ange would be Marinakis' man for Forest.
However, there are links to the East Midlands club that go back even further.
On a free week during his time in charge of Celtic, Postecoglou was back in Athens on holiday in 2002 along with then-Forest boss Steve Cooper.
The Welshman had just led Forest into the Premier League while Postecoglou had won the double during his first season at Parkhead.
Article continues below
With both being clients of the CAA Base agency, there was plenty of crossover at the poolside meeting and the seeds of Ange to Forest may well have been sewn then, with Cooper sacked a few months later.