By Ange Postecoglou is expected to replace the sacked Nuno Espirito Santo as Nottingham Forest’s head coach. Nuno left his position at the City Ground late on Monday night, and the club is moving forward with efforts to secure a replacement.
Sources indicate that Postecoglou, 60, is a strong candidate for the role. Initial contact is understood to have taken place, with a sense that an agreement is possible.
Postecoglou was sacked by Tottenham at the end of last season following a dismal Premier League season when they finished 17th. However, the Australian led Spurs to a historic Europa League victory at the end of the season to end the club’s long-running trophy drought.
Forest currently sit 10th in the Premier League table after their opening three games of the season. After 21 months in charge, Nuno’s last match was a 3-0 defeat by West Ham before September’s international break.
The 51-year-old Portuguese coach took charge of Forest in December 2023 after the dismissal of Steve Cooper and helped preserve their top-flight status.
Last term, he led the club to seventh in the Premier League – their highest finish since 1994-95, as they qualified for European competition for the first time in three decades. It is thought Postecoglou will be appointed before Forest’s trip to Arsenal on Saturday.
He would become the eighth permanent manager since Evangelos Marinakis took over the club in May 2017.
Is Postecoglou the Right Man for Forest?
Some argue that appointing Ange Postecoglou shows that Marinakis lacks understanding of football, claiming that Postecoglou’s tactics—or perceived lack thereof—have been exposed in the Premier League and that he could run the team into the ground, ending in disappointment. Others contend that the key factor in hiring Postecoglou is his proven track record of winning trophies. He has succeeded wherever he has managed. While Tottenham’s Premier League campaign last season was poor, the memorable Europa League triumph in Bilbao remains a highlight and is likely part of the attraction for Nottingham Forest—a manager who has demonstrated he can win trophies and compete for the biggest prizes.
Ange Postecoglou’s playing career was spent in Australia, primarily with South Melbourne, where he played under the legendary Hungarian Ferenc Puskas, to whom he attributes his coaching philosophy.
He began his managerial career in 1996 with South Melbourne before winning back-to-back A-League titles with Brisbane Roar between 2009 and 2012. After a season with Melbourne Victory, he became manager of Australia in 2013, guiding the national team to the 2014 World Cup and victory in the 2015 Asian Cup.
Further success followed during his time in Japan with Yokohama F. Marinos, where he ended the club’s 15-year wait for a J-League title in 2019. Few in Scotland were familiar with Postecoglou when Celtic appointed him in 2021, but after an initial period of adjustment, he delivered five trophies across two seasons.
He is one of only five managers—alongside Jock Stein, Martin O’Neill, Brendan Rodgers, and Neil Lennon—to achieve a domestic clean sweep with Celtic.
Postecoglou became the first Australian to manage in the Premier League when he took over at Tottenham in 2023, and led the club to their first trophy in 17 years with the Europa League triumph against Manchester United in May.
