Ange Postecoglou poised to replace Nuno Espírito Santo at Nottingham Forest

Ange Postecoglou is the early favourite to become the head coach of Nottingham Forest after the departure of Nuno Espírito Santo was confirmed on Tuesday morning.

Postecoglou has been a free agent since early June, when he was sacked by Tottenham Hotspur barely a fortnight after ending the north London club’s 17-year trophy drought by winning the Europa League. The victory earned Tottenham a spot in the Champions League despite a 17th-place finish in the Premier League.

It is understood that talks between Forest and the 60-year-old Australian have already taken place, with Postecoglou potentially in line to be in Forest’s corner for Saturday’s Premier League trip to Arsenal. He recently declined an opportunity to take over at Fenerbahce after the Turkish club parted ways with Jose Mourinho, and has also been the subject of summer links with Al Ahli, Brentford and Bayer Leverkusen.

A fractured relationship

Fault lines began to appear in the relationship between Nuno and Evangelos Marinakis, Forest’s Greek owner, towards the end of last season, when Marinakis appeared to confront the Portuguese on the pitch following a home draw with Leicester City.

While the club dismissed the incident, claiming Marinakis had simply been unhappy about the failure to substitute Taiwo Awoniyi immediately after the Nigerian striker suffered a late injury, Nuno recently admitted that his relationship with the Greek businessman had deteriorated.

‘Wherever he goes, the successes will come’

Earlier this summer, Marinakis made plain his admiration for Postecoglou, who was born on the outskirts of Athens but moved to Melbourne with his family aged five.

“What I want to say about Ange is that he has spoken about Greece many times, he is proud to be Greek and in the great success he had with Tottenham by winning the Europa League, he spoke about Greece,” said Marinkais as he presented Postecoglou with an award at the draw for the Greek Super League, of which he is president. 

“A man who not only does not hide his origin but is also proud of it. What he achieved, he did with a team that has not won any titles, it has had a very difficult time in recent years. In this huge success that the whole world saw, he promoted Greece. We must thank him especially for this and we wish him well, although we are sure that he will do well as he has the ability. Wherever he goes, the successes will come.”

It would now seem that destination will be the City Ground, with Postecoglou the clear frontrunner in a shortlist of candidates also believed to have included the Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers, Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner, and Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola.

What is clear is that the new man will have his work cut out if he is to replace Nuno, who led the club back into Europe last season for the first time in three decades, in the affections of Forest fans.