Ange Postecoglou’s 39-day disaster at Nottingham Forest: Flaws in his appointment, how he angered players from the start, the key changes that cost him including set-pieces, training drills and a hairdryer, and why Morgan Gibbs-White’s form dried up

At least Ange Postecoglou^[1] managed to eclipse Brian Clough in one category.

Clough led Nottingham Forest^[2] to consecutive European Cups in 1979 and 1980, and yet his notorious 44-day spell at Leeds^[3] United is discussed nearly as frequently. Postecoglou’s disastrous eight-game tenure at the City Ground came to a shuddering halt after just 39 days on Saturday, following a 3-0 home defeat by Chelsea^[4].

That is not the only similarity. In 1974, Clough cooked his goose at Leeds by telling champions such as Billy Bremner and Johnny Giles that everything they had won under Don Revie should be ‘thrown in the bin’, as Clough believed they had achieved by underhand means.

To be clear, Postecoglou never went that far. But emerging from his early meetings at Forest, Daily Mail Sport understands some players felt their new manager had been a little dismissive of their achievements under Nuno Espirito Santo^[5].

The core of the squad had qualified for Europe in 2024-25, after spending the previous campaign fighting relegation. They had beaten Manchester United home and away^[6], taken four points from Liverpool^[7], beat Manchester City^[8] at home and reached the FA Cup^[9] semi-finals. Suddenly, some of them felt these efforts no longer counted for much under the new regime.

This would never have been Postecoglou’s intention, of course. His style of play is so different from Nuno’s and without a pre-season to implement it, the Australian felt he had no time to waste. He would have wanted everyone on the same page quickly and felt this was the most effective way to get there.

Ange Postecoglou’s 39-day Forest reign came to end after defeat by Chelsea on Saturday

Nottingham Forest have slumped from last season’s seventh-placed finish and the malaise has been going for longer than just Postecoglou’s tenure

It’s understood that Postecoglou was (perhaps unintentionally) a little dismissive of last season’s achievements under Nuno Espirito Santo (right)

It is worth wondering whether Postecoglou would do the same a second time around. He was already a risky choice – the ceiling high, the floor low. A manager who had lost 22 Premier League games last season, but also delivered a European trophy. A high-intensity, all-out attacker, nothing like the defence-and-counter tactics that served Forest so well under Nuno.

Though Nuno was trying to turn Forest into a team more comfortable controlling possession, it was still a leap from Nuno 2.0 to ‘Angeball’. And so it has proved.

More cracks started to appear in Postecoglou’s second match, the Carabao Cup tie at Swansea City, when Forest gave up a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 to the Championship side, who scored twice in stoppage time.

Those standing near the away dressing room that night winced as Postecoglou tore into his players following their defeat. There is still a time and a place for the hairdryer treatment, but two games into a reign, when players are still sizing you up? Perhaps not.

At any level, most footballers are creatures of habit. They like a clear plan of what each week will look like – what time they will train, when they will have their day off, the nature of different sessions and when the team will be named. They do not like change, either.

So when a new manager arrives, they will be instantly suspicious if training is wildly different from what has gone before.

Some players enjoyed Postecoglou’s methods and were excited by the idea of playing an attacking game. Yet Postecoglou’s early sessions were far more physically demanding than Nuno’s had been and – certainly initially – featured less work with the ball. This raised a few eyebrows.

It is too simplistic to say the players were pining for Nuno. The formidable team spirit that Portuguese built last season was starting to fracture long before he was sacked – partly because Nuno struggled to hide his disenchantment.

The formidable team spirit that Portuguese built last season was starting to fracture long before Nuno was sacked

Owner Evangelos Marinakis now has to search for a manager for the second time this season

Nottingham Forest led 2-0 at Championship side Swansea City – then collapsed to a 3-2 defeat

One day Nuno turned up on TV criticising the club’s transfer policy. The next, he used a press conference to reveal his relationship with owner Evangelos Marinakis was in decline.

Players may argue they can filter out most external noise but when the manager is having a public pop at the owner, it is certain to be a topic of discussion in the canteen and on the WhatsApp groups. All the while, new players were arriving – 13 of them – as others adjusted to the new dynamic.

Last season, the squad knew which players were first choice and which were in reserve. The deputies accepted their status and played a crucial role in ensuring the squad remained united.

Then during the off-season, Nuno decided he needed two starting XIs for the twin challenges of domestic and European football, and this upset that delicate balance. Instead of the back-ups being happy starting on the bench, there were now new players who grumbled when they were left out.

The charismatic Anthony Elanga was like a band leader at the training ground and his departure to Newcastle left a hole. Ola Aina is similarly influential and is now out for the rest of the year, meaning less contact with his team-mates as he continues his recovery.

Though he was stopped from joining Tottenham and handed an enormous new contract, there are some doubts about Morgan Gibbs-White’s current mindset. The 25-year-old’s application has never been questioned, but it is clear he expected to be playing Champions League football this season, ideally with Manchester City.

Gibbs-White was never as keen on Spurs as he was on City but there is a suspicion that the skipper is not quite the same player as last season, when he forced his way into the England squad.

None of this was Postecoglou’s fault but there were other matters that set alarm bells ringing, and it was not only the winless run.

There are some doubts about Morgan Gibbs-White’s mindset. His application has never been questioned, but it is clear he expected to be playing Champions League football this season

Forest have lost two of the stars of last season and key figures in the dressing room, in Anthony Elanga (centre, now at Newcastle) and the injured Ola Aina (right)

Forest’s injury record last term was outstanding. By contrast, they have lost Oleksandr Zinchenko, Douglas Luiz and Murillo (twice) since Postecoglou joined. A side known for its durability under Nuno lost the lead against Swansea, Burnley and Real Betis, and conceded late against Swansea (twice), Betis and Midtjylland.

The Danes are known to cause danger from set-pieces and sure enough, they scored from two in the first half that Thursday. Was anyone in Postecoglou’s staff alive to this threat? Or were the players simply too overwrought to follow the plan?

The Forest ownership deserve their share of scrutiny, too. Not necessarily for sacking Nuno, who effectively made his position untenable by being so outspoken about Marinakis. It had also been noted that the fire seemed to have gone out in the Portuguese, who was then quickly offered a new job at West Ham.

It is hard to dispute Marinakis’ track record at Forest, who were drifting in the Championship when he took over and are back in Europe. The club have operated effectively in the transfer market and the value of many players has grown. The ‘chaos club’ tag is as unfair as it is inaccurate.

That does not excuse the unforced errors. What, exactly, is a ‘global head of football’ and if Forest needed one so badly, how many candidates did they consider beyond former Arsenal sporting director Edu Gaspar?

Edu’s arrival clearly upset Nuno and produced much of the discord that clouded the summer. In Pedro Ferreira, Ross Wilson and George Syrianos, Forest had three capable executives reporting to Marinakis, who remains a formidable negotiator and deal-maker.

It was an enviable combination but now Wilson has joined Newcastle and they could lose Ferreira to Benfica. It remains to be seen whether Syrianos, long an advisor to the Marinakis family, will have as much influence now Edu is in the building.

Appointing Postecoglou was an unnecessary risk. Forest saw his record of winning trophies – including, crucially, last season’s Europa League – and decided he was the man to lead them to the Champions League. The first half at Betis might be as well as Forest play for some time. Yet league performances are a far better barometer of a manager’s work than cup football, where luck is a bigger factor.

Midtjylland exploited Forest’s weakness at set-pieces in their victory at the City Ground – a weakness that Postecoglou has not been able to rectify from his time at Tottenham

Appointing Postecoglou after his Premier League failures at Spurs was an unnecessary risk

Did the Forest ownership notice the extensive injury list that derailed Spurs’ season? If so, why did it not persuade them to look deeper into Postecoglou’s training methods? Why were they prepared to overlook the 22 – yes, 22 – league defeats in 2024-25, or that Spurs finished only one place above the relegation zone?

Spurs got away with it last term because the bottom three were so weak but form like that this year, when the promoted trio look far stronger, could result in relegation. And ultimately, with Forest 17th and just a point above the drop zone ahead of Saturday afternoon’s fixtures, this is what has forced Marinakis’ hand.

Forest can still win the Europa League and achieve Marinakis’ dream of qualifying for the Champions League, which would produce the revenue to turbocharge his ambitions.

They have a squad that would be embraced by many of their rivals. But Marinakis needs to get his next appointment right or all his dreams could quickly turn to dust.