Ange Postecoglou accepts he has no time to waste as he looks to make an impact at Nottingham Forest.
The 60-year-old's tenure as Reds head coach started with a disappointing 3-0 defeat at Arsenal on Saturday. However, the new man in the dugout was keen for the result to be viewed in the context of a 'disruptive' week for his players.
Postecoglou was announced as Nuno Espirito Santo's replacement on Tuesday, a few hours after confirmation of the Portuguese’s sacking. It left him with little time to prepare for the trip to the Emirates Stadium - but no such leeway will be afforded going forward.
Ambitious owner Evangelos Marinakis wants success and silverware, and Postecoglou knows that. He didn't want to change too much initially, but by the time Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup tie away to Swansea City comes around, he expects Forest to play more in his image.
Asked whether it could take weeks or even months to stamp his mark on the team, Postecoglou said: “No mate, it won’t be months and it won’t be weeks. It will be Wednesday.
“I cannot afford to waste time. This is not a project.
“This football club had a strong season last year. It needs to be stronger this year.
“My job is to get us to where I want us as quickly as possible. Wednesday night, we’ll start seeing some real principles being embedded.
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“It won’t take long. I’m not going to let it take long. I’ll make sure we turn it around because we have got an unbelievable opportunity this year to make an impact, and I’m not going to let that slip.”
Ahead of Saturday's game, Postecoglou felt he needed to give his squad time to process Nuno's departure. He admits taking on Arsenal was always going to be a big test in such circumstances.
“In any walk of life, if you have such a massive disruption, then face such a massive challenge straight away… all I asked for was endeavour and effort," Postecoglou said.
“We tried to do a couple of things a little bit differently and I could see they were trying. As long as I see that, that’s all I need. That’s the encouragement I need. My job now is to give them clarity moving forward, so that we can play our football."
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