It felt inevitable, but nobody expected Ange Postecoglou’s time as Nottingham Forest manager to end how it did.
Only 19 minutes after the final whistle was blown in Forest’s 3-0 loss to Chelsea at the City Ground, the club issued a statement on social media that Postecoglou had been sacked.
It was obvious that something was in the works when Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis rose from his chair and stormed out of the stadium with roughly half an hour remaining and Chelsea leading 2-0.
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Postecoglou must have known it was coming too.
His impassioned press conference on match eve was reminiscent of the type of spurring talks he gave in his final days at Tottenham.
He then soaked up the atmosphere at full-time, staying on the pitch to applaud the fans that did stick around until the end.
It was the behaviour of someone who knew they were on their last legs, but for his dismissal to happen so swiftly still must have come as shock.
Postecoglou did not even get the chance to give one last post-match press conference.
Instead, he addressed his players and upon emerging from the dressing room, was given his marching orders and shortly after he was seen leaving, alone with just a backpack.
He drove himself out of the carpark, and showed his class by even stopping to take a photograph with a young fan.
But adding insult to injury for the 60-year-old is that him and his family reportedly only moved into a new flat from temporary accommodation during the international window in the past fortnight.
Despite the enormous weight of pressure that came from a winless, eight-game, 39-day spell in charge, it was a sad end for Australia’s first Premier League manager.
Sky Sports football journalist Zinny Boswell described it as “one of the most brutal sackings of the Premier League era”.
“I have never seen a coach lose their job before they could even do their post-match interviews,” he added.
“Strangely, the manner of his sacking is shocking but not surprising given the ruthlessness of Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, who left his seat at 2-0 down.
“In hindsight, it’s clear that he was off to get the wheels in motion to sack Postecoglou, appointed just 39 days ago.
“Only Sam Allardyce’s 30-day spell at Leeds was shorter among Premier League managers.”
After such tumultuous ends to his time at Tottenham and now Forest, it is unfortunately hard to envision another club in the English top fight taking a punt on Postecoglou.
Although, a sympathetic club owner may look at his time in Nottingham through the lens that it was doomed from the start.
The Forest fans did not want him there.
They still longed for previous manager Nuno Espirito Santo, who took them to European football for the first time since 1996 but fell out with Marinakis and clashed with Edu Gaspar, the former Arsenal sporting director who joined Forest in July as Global Head of Football.
The supporters then took out their frustrations about the past in fighting, and the poor results on the pitch, on the manager.
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On what should have been a glorious night of celebration when Forest hosted their first European fixture in almost 30 years, they sung ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’ at Postecoglou as they lost 3-2 to Danish side FC Midtjylland.
It was obvious that the former Celtic boss was dumbfounded.
He could see the improvement in the side adjusting to his style of play, but they continued to let in sloppy goals.
“That image of Postecoglou staring bewildered at the pitch with hands on his head as the Danish side broke clear to score the third goal will haunt him,” The Telegraph football reporter John Percy wrote.
NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 02: Ange Postecoglou, Manager of Nottingham Forest, looks on as a Forest fan shouts at him during the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD2 match between Nottingham Forest FC and FC Midtjylland at City Ground on October 02, 2025 in Nottingham, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 02: Ange Postecoglou, Manager of Nottingham Forest, looks on as a Forest fan shouts at him during the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD2 match between Nottingham Forest FC and FC Midtjylland at City Ground on October 02, 2025 in Nottingham, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
The fans sung of his impending demise again at Newcastle three days later as Forest lost 2-0.
It was not a poor performance against a strong side away from home, but it was clear from that week onwards that Postecoglou’s days were numbered if wins did not come thick and fast.
In the end, he only lasted one more match.
Two weeks of speculation throughout the international window only pushed things to boiling point with Sean Dyche reportedly waiting in the wings to step in and take over.
“He relished the challenge of proving the doubters wrong, privately and publicly stating the external commotion was not a concern,” BBC football news reporter Nick Mashiter wrote.
“But it became too loud and, even if there was large internal sympathy for Postecoglou, there was also a sense that wins should have arrived sooner.”
The sympathy for Postecoglou stemmed from the fact that several of Forest’s issues existed before he took charge.
“Postecoglou will point to the lack of time, training sessions and matches. He also sustained injuries to key players such as Ola Aina, Douglas Luiz and Murillo during his brief tenure,” Percy wrote.
“Forest’s poor results also pre-date him, so he does not deserve all the criticism. Indeed, Forest have not managed a clean sheet since April 1 and won only three of their last 11 games under Nuno.
“Maybe he did not rate the summer signings. It felt significant that Omari Hutchinson, Dilane Bakwa, James McAtee and Arnaud Kalimuendo – joining for a combined total of more than £120m – were not even in his final match-day squad.”
Postecoglou also got little out of Forest’s star players who soared to dizzying heights last season, underpinning their surprise charge up the table to finish just one game away from a Champions League place.
“Injuries to Murillo and Ola Aina robbed a defence which was so settled last season of some of its key foundations,” Mashiter wrote.
“Chris Wood’s lack of goals - the forward has not scored since the opening day of the season - has been a factor after 20 last season, while draws against Burnley and Real Betis could have produced victories.
“Postecoglou was unable to name an unchanged line-up in any of his games. He named five changes against Chelsea, with little impact, despite the heartwarming return of Taiwo Awoniyi.”
He was simply unable to find the answers as Forest built a deeper squad to prepare for the rigours of European football, but that only left question marks over the best team.
The instability certainly did not help in defence, and Postecoglou’s strength had always been that his teams knew how to score goals, even if they were suspect defensively.
But the Forest attack simply did not click.
“Forest were frail defensively under him, conceding 18 goals and failing to keep a clean sheet across his tenure, and, perhaps more alarmingly, unconvincing in attack, scoring just once in five league games,” The Guardian’s Ben Fisher wrote.
“‘Are you not entertained?’ was famously one of Postecoglou’s zingers at Spurs and after five weeks Forest, certainly, felt short-changed.”
The teething problems led the Australian to a strategic shift in recent outings, but that yielded no rewards.
“Those close to Postecoglou describe him as honest, a good man and unapologetic about how he wants to play,” Mashiter wrote.
“But his decision to switch to a more pragmatic five at the back for his last few games belied his principles early and doubts had crept into the squad.
“Granted, that pragmatism helped Tottenham win the Europa League - especially in the semi-final second leg win at Bodo/Glimt in May as Spurs navigated a tricky tie well - but it was not what he was brought to the City Ground for.”
Postecoglou’s detractors will take great delight in his famous record of always winning silverware with his teams not continuing in Nottingham.
But as he said only a day ago, he is not a failed manager.
His feats around the world have been remarkable, but not every story gets a happy ending.