Nottingham Forest have confirmed the appointment of Sean Dyche as their new head coach.
The 54-year-old is the Reds’ third managerial appointment of the season. He replaces Ange Postecoglou, who was axed on Saturday after failing to win any of his eight games in charge.
Former Watford, Burnley and Everton boss Dyche has been out of work since leaving the Toffees in January. Picking up the reins on the banks of the Trent is almost a case of coming full circle for the former defender.
He was a youth player at Forest in the late 1980s, when Brian Clough was manager. A serious injury held him back and he didn’t make a senior appearance in the Garibaldi, but he always retained a lot of affection for his time at the club.
He now takes over from Postecoglou, who was dismissed less than 20 minutes after the final whistle of Saturday’s 3-0 home defeat to Chelsea. The Australian had replaced Nuno Espirito Santo in the job on September 9 but lasted just 39 days in charge.
Dyche first emerged as a potential candidate for the City Ground role during the recent international break. At the time, owner Evangelos Marinakis was considering his options as he weighed up whether to dismiss Postecoglou.
An eighth game without a win at the weekend proved to be the final straw for Postecoglou. Now it is over to Dyche to kickstart Forest’s campaign.
Get breaking Forest news sent direct to your phone
Join our Nottingham Forest WhatsApp group and get the latest breaking news, interviews and opinion sent straight to your phone, plus matchday team news and live updates of all the action. Just click here and select ‘Join Community’ to get started. The only proviso is that you must have WhatsApp on your phone to participate. No one will be able to see your personal information and you will only receive messages from the NottinghamshireLive Reds writers.
We will not spam your WhatsApp feed with constant messages, but you will receive updates from us daily with the latest Reds stories. If you later decide to opt out, just go to the name at the top of your screen and click 'Exit Group'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you are curious, you can click here to read our Privacy Notice.
His first game in charge will be Thursday night’s Europa League clash at home to Porto. He will then quickly have a trip to the south coast to prepare for, with the Reds away to Bournemouth on Sunday.
The Reds have not won in any competition since the opening day of the season, when Nuno was still in the dugout for a 3-1 victory over Brentford. They are 18th in the Premier League table with five points from their opening eight games.
Dyche has previously said of his time at Forest as a youngster: “In the end, I really enjoyed my time at Forest. Things didn’t go to plan as I broke my leg in the first year I was there - along with, still my mate, Steve Stone. He broke his four days later and hence we’re still good mates now.
“I liked Forest. I liked what they stood for and the way they played at the time. They had a lot of good young players there.”
What do you make of Dyche's appointment? Click HERE to have your say