Former Celtic boss has been in charge a the City Ground just five weeks but is already facing questions over his future
Under-fire Nottingham Forest boss Ange Postecoglou delivered a passionate defence of his legacy in an astonishing rant after it was suggested he is viewed as a “failed manager”.
The former Celtic and Tottenham boss was brutally axed by the North London club in the summer, despite the Australia ending their long wait for a trophy by winning the Europa Conference League.
A terrible Premier League campaign, which had seen them finish 17th, was enough for Daniel Levy to pull the trigger on Postecoglou, with the decision splitting opinion among the fanbase.
Some felt the 60-year-oled should have earned more time, but fast forward to the present day and Postecoglou finds himself under-pressure once again.
He replaced Nuno Espirito Santo at the City Ground just five weeks ago, after the Portuguese boss reportedly clash with owner Evangelos Marinakis following a failure to win any of his first seven games in charge.
Ange Postecoglou has urged Nottingham Forest fans to ‘give me time’
Asked as a press conference on Friday ahead of their domestic clash with Chelsea on Saturday, why some perceive him as a 'failed manager' in England, Postecoglou, who counts five trophies including a domestic Treble at Celtic on his long list of silverware, gave a five-minute monologue with the club sitting down in 17th spot.
“I guess from my perspective I just don't fit. Not here, just in general,” he said. “If you look at things through the prism that I am a failed manager who is lucky to get this job – I know you're smirking at me, but that's what's been said – then of course these first five weeks looks like this guy is under pressure. But there is an alternative story.
“I came to the Premier League two years ago and I took over at Tottenham, I was told by the chairman that this club has to win a trophy. He said we've tried to bring winners in: Jose, Antonio Conte, and it hasn't worked. We need something different. I was slightly offended by that because I see myself as winner.
“I took over Spurs who finished eighth. Massive club, but no European football, and one that can't go two years without European football. We finished fifth in my first year and every time Harry Kane scores a goal (for Bayern) I go, 'I wish he stayed just one more year'. It would have been handy to have him after finishing fifth.'
Read More
“But somehow that year has disappeared from the record books. It was even used as a reason for me losing my job because even Tottenham decided to exclude the first ten games. Yet the first ten games here at Forest are important apparently.
“So we get to the current space (at Forest) where there is a different story to tell, that maybe I am not a failed manager who was lucky to get this job and instead maybe I am a manager who, if you give him time, the story always ends the same. At all my previous clubs, (it ends) with me and a trophy.”
Postecoglou - ‘I should have stayed in temporary digs’
Postecoglou suggested he'd have been as well staying in temporary accommodation rather than finding a permanent home in Nottingham, given how quickly supporters have turned on him.
He continued: “The difference is saying that somebody should lose their job after five weeks… I mean I’ve only just found an apartment to move into, mate, which may be a bad decision on my behalf. I should have stayed in temporary digs, that’s how early it is.
“Yeah, we haven’t won a game, and I'm as disappointed as anyone about that, no one likes not winning games of football, but within that context if you look at those games and suggest to me that we weren't in a position to win any of those, that’s a different story as well.
“The pressure is there, but the pressure is always there, the pressure is part of managing at this level.
“We’re all judged by our results and at the moment results are suggesting I'm not doing a very good job, but that’s a far cry from people speculating I should lose my job after five weeks.”
Continue Reading