Why Nottingham Forest Can Expect Manager Bounce Under Sean Dyche

Sean Dyche has been sworn in as Nottingham Forest’s new boss – and the stats show he could turn things around early doors.

The 54-year-old former Everton gaffer arrived at the City Ground this week to replace Ange Postecoglou who was binned after just 39 days at the helm.

Postecoglou’s tactics were questioned from the beginning in terms of his suitability at Forest.

That was because former boss Nuno Espirito Santo had built a squad suited to defending as opposed to being gung-ho in their approach to attack.

Forest under Big Ange struggled seriously and failed to find a victory for the ex-Celtic head coach and that saw club president Evangelos Marinakis wield the axe after their 3-0 defeat to Chelsea last weekend.

Sean Dyche can give Nottingham Forest manager bounce

Some called it harsh while others accepted the call but all supporters made sure to get behind the replacement in Dyche who has a major job on his hands.

But the experienced Premier League manager has been there and done that. He has bought and worn out the T-shirt.

And with Forest sitting within the bottom three in the division, he will have to do it again.

Nottingham Forest is delighted to confirm the appointment of Sean Dyche as the Club’s new Head Coach, following a thorough recruitment process led by Global Head of Football, Edu Gaspar, and Global Technical Director, George Syrianos.

The former Forest youth player joins the… pic.twitter.com/ZjUZdG4E6j

— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) October 21, 2025

Dyche, though, has the history of immediately improving a failing team and he has done it at all three clubs he has managed across his 14 years in the dugout.

It is FC Porto up next for Nottingham Forest in the Europa League in two days time which is certainly not an easy start for the Englishman.

Yet if the statistics are anything to go by, he has a chance of picking up points at home in his first game in charge, alleviating some stress from the fanbase and bringing back a feelgood factor.

Sean Dyche early career at Watford

In August 2011, Dyche was given his first job as a manager in his own right at the Hornets having replaced Malky Mackay who left the club for Cardiff City.

He took on Burnley away from home in his first outing and secured a 2-2 draw for his new side which was considered a strong result on matchday one.

Given he had inherited a squad without two of their former key players in Danny Graham and Will Buckley, he guided the team to 11th in the Championship before he was sacked due to a change in ownership.

Sean Dyche’s Burnley start

Dyche joined the Clarets in October 2012 with the team having conceded 29 goals in their opening 13 matches which represented the worst record of any club in the Championship at that time.

Eddie Howe had left for Bournemouth and Dyche was brought in and he certainly whipped the team into shape early on.

In his first match he managed to keep a clean sheet at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Burnley beat Wolves 2-0 on the day back in November 2012 thanks to strikes from Martin Paterson and Charlie Austin.

His second match was also a win and a clean sheet. He beat Leeds United 1-0 and it was Austin the scorer again on that day.

It was the beginning of a terrific 10-year stint at Turf Moor that ended surprisingly.

Everton and Sean Dyche

Frank Lampard had left Everton sitting 19th in the Premier League back in late January 2023.

They only had 15 points from their opening 20 games which offered 60 points that they could have had.

In his first match in charge – at home to league leaders Arsenal at the time – the Toffees won the game 1-0 thanks to a James Tarkowsky header in what was a massive upset.

It was testament to Dyche who swapped to a basic 4-5-1 at the time and squeezed their opponents to win the three points.

The next game did not go quite so well on derby day vs Liverpool which ended in a 2-0 loss but three more points came in his third game in charge in a 1-0 win over Leeds United.

Dyche would save the club from relegation by helping them finish just above the bottom three.

Forest have started their Europa League competition with one defeat and one draw – to FC Midtjylland (3-2) and Real Betis (2-2) respectively – but Dyche has a decent chance of winning early and at home if his history is anything to go by.