Latest Nottingham Forest verdict as Reds set to make Sean Dyche new head coach
05:00, 21 Oct 2025
Sarah Clapson is Nottingham Forest correspondent for NottinghamshireLive and the Nottingham Post. She has covered the Reds since 2015, having joined the Post the previous year. Being involved in the coverage of everything from Evangelos Marinakis’ takeover of the club to Forest winning promotion at Wembley, she has followed the team up and down the country, as well as abroad, to report on the latest goings-on.
Sean Dyche is poised to take charge of Nottingham Forest
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Sean Dyche is poised to take charge of Nottingham Forest(Image: PA)
After the end of an error, Nottingham Forest are turning to Sean Dyche to begin a new era at the City Ground.
Ange Postecoglou was supposed to fill that brief, having been appointed as Nuno Espirito Santo’s replacement on September 9. But he was given the boot after just 39 days and eight games in the job.
Saturday’s 3-0 defeat to Chelsea proved to be the final straw for Evangelos Marinakis. Postecoglou had his doubters right from the start, and six defeats and two draws left the Reds owner opting to wield the axe.
Postecoglou’s style was vastly different to that of predecessor Nuno; it proved too big a leap, too quickly for Forest. Now Dyche is set to be the one tasked with steadying the ship.
His priority will be to get back to basics and make the Reds difficult to beat. For the players, it is another new manager to impress as they fight for places in the starting XI.
So who might Forest’s winners and losers be under Dyche? Below, NottinghamshireLive takes a look.
Winners
Forest’s defence: The switch from Postecoglou to Dyche is about going back to elements of what had worked so well prior to the former’s appointment. Namely, having solid foundations and a formidable rearguard.
Nuno made that the cornerstone of last season’s success and Dyche will likely go down the same path. His first task will be to work on shoring up a back line that shipped 18 goals under Postecoglou.
Centre-backs Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo will no doubt be key to that. As will last term’s Golden Glove winner Matz Sels.
Ryan Yates: If anyone feels like a Sean Dyche type of player, it is surely the club captain. He will be ready to fight and scrap for the incoming head coach.
Perhaps the Reds really need some of that as they bid to get out of a slump. They are in the Premier League relegation zone and have won just once in all competitions so far this season.
Yates is the type to roll up his sleeves and get on with it, as he demonstrated when he fronted up on Saturday to conduct media interviews following Postecoglou’s dismissal. Regardless of whether he is a regular starter under Dyche, the midfielder’s character and commitment will surely be appreciated.
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Chris Wood: The striker and Dyche already know each other from working together at Burnley. Dyche made Wood the Clarets’ record signing at the time, snapping him up from Leeds United for £15 million.
He knows how to play to the New Zealand international’s strengths and how to get him scoring. After all, Wood enjoyed a fine spell of form at Turf Moor.
It hasn’t happened for him so far this term in the Garibaldi. He has scored three goals but has missed a fair few good chances. Dyche will need to get him firing again.
Losers
Oleksandr Zinchenko: The Arsenal loanee undoubtedly carried out the role Postecoglou wanted from him. He has had some decent moments with the ball since his arrival.
Defensively, however, he has looked vulnerable. Dyche will want a well-drilled unit at the back, and it remains to be seen how Zinchenko will work within that.
Arnaud Kalimuendo: In fairness, it might be the attacker eventually gets more of a chance under a new manager. To date, he has made seven substitute appearances for the club.
Along with fellow summer signings James McAtee, Omari Hutchinson and Dilane Bakwa, he was not even in the match squad against Chelsea. Forest spent a lot of money in the summer - upwards of £100m on that quartet alone - and Marinakis will want Dyche to make the best use of that talent.
But as the Reds try to turn the tide and stop a run of defeats, Dyche may well go with tried and tested formulas - at least initially. He will have the same challenge as both Nuno and Postecoglou when it comes to helping players who arrived in the transfer window to settle and adapt, but first up it is about getting Forest back to winning ways.
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