Ange Postecoglou was sacked as Nottingham Forest head coach after just 39 days in charge at the City Ground
09:37, 26 Mar 2026
Ange Postecoglou was sacked as Nottingham Forest head coach in October
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Ange Postecoglou was sacked as Nottingham Forest head coach in October(Image: PA)
Ange Postecoglou has recalled how his “brutal” Nottingham Forest sacking unfolded after just 39 days in charge.
The former Tottenham Hotspur boss replaced Nuno Espirito Santo at the helm in September but lasted barely a month in the job. He was in the dugout for eight games and failed to win a single one of them.
Postecoglou has admitted he rejected advice not to take the City Ground role in the first place, coming so soon after his Spurs exit and with the Premier League season already several weeks in. A 3-0 defeat at home to Chelsea proved to be the final straw and Postecoglou was axed less than 20 minutes after the final whistle.
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“I haven't told the story but it was brutal, mate,” he told Australian radio station SEN 116. “I literally got sacked straight after the game.
“You know what it’s like after any game, I’m in the coaches’ room. I knew it was coming so it was one of those where (I thought) it could come any day now but they literally sacked me straight after the game.
“I hadn't done the press yet, but the press already knew. I’m walking out into the corridor and I just wanted to leave because I was going to do something I regret.
“I hadn't spoken to the assistant coaches, who I knew were also probably going to be sacked so I needed to say something to them, but I'm doing this while walking through throes of press and people who are just all looking at me. I just wanted to get out of there. Security, who are really good guys, said to me: ‘Ange, how do you want to get out of here?’
“With EPL games all the roads are blocked for half an hour, (so I couldn’t) get my car. I was just by myself. And then after half an hour, they said: ‘Ange, the roads have opened but there's obviously traffic out there.’
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“They did their best to try to get me through. But I got stuck at one set of traffic lights for at least 15 minutes and I've got Chelsea supporters giving it to me, Forest supporters weren't much kinder.
“I'm sitting in the car, laid back. In between, I’ve got little kids coming up asking for a selfie. So what do you do? I don't want to disappoint. So I paid for my penance; whatever mistake I made, I paid a pretty heavy price for it.”
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Sean Dyche was appointed Reds head coach following Postecoglou’s exit. He was given the boot on the back of a 0-0 draw with bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers in February, with Vitor Pereira subsequently becoming the club’s fourth boss of the campaign.
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