Are Nottingham Forest Relegation Candidates After Hiring Ange Postecoglou?

Ange Postecoglou is back in the Premier League – but will his Nottingham Forest side still be in England’s top division this time next season?

Postecoglou was confirmed as Forest’s new manager on Tuesday afternoon, barely 12 hours after Nuno Espirito Santo’s sacking — one of the earliest managerial axings in Premier League history — had been announced in a club statement just 80 words long.

The club statement to welcome Postecoglou was much longer  — 266 words, to be exact — and in it Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis said: “We are bringing a coach to the Club who has a proven and consistent record of winning trophies. His experience of coaching teams at the highest level, along with his desire to build something special with us at Forest, makes him a fantastic person to help us on our journey and achieve consistently all our ambitions.

“After gaining promotion to the Premier League, then building consistently season after season to secure European football, we now must take the right step to compete with the very best and challenge for trophies. Ange has the credentials and the track-record to do this, and we are excited he is joining us on our ambitious journey.”

Marinakis is a very ambitious owner and his decision to mention Postecoglou’s record of winning trophies was a clear statement of intent.

Can Forest win a trophy this season?

But are Forest really in a position to challenge for silverware?

On various football betting sites, Forest are rated as 500/1 rank outsiders to win the Premier League this season, while they can be backed at 9/1 to finish in the top four.

The best price on Forest winning this season’s FA Cup is currently 25/1, while they are 33/1 shots for the Carabao Cup.

Based on the betting, Forest’s best chance of shiny success would appear to be in the UEFA Europa League, where they are joint-fourth favourites at 12/1.

However, relegation looks more likely than silverware if the odds are anything to go by. The best price on Forest to go down is currently 9/1, while they are as short as 11/2 with Sky Bet.

Are Nottingham Forest really relegation candidates?

Based on last season’s evidence, Forest should be nowhere near relegation. Forest came seventh in the Premier League in 2024-25, finishing just six points behind Manchester City in third.

But so much has changed since then. Nuno and Big Ange could hardly be further apart in their tactical philosophies and the new manager will not be able to change his squad until January. And even then one assumes there will be very little to spend after Forest splashed out £182.5 million on new players in the summer.

The general consensus last season was that Nuno was working wonders and getting Forest to punch well above their weight — a sentiment reflected in many emotional messages from fans following his sacking.

Therefore, it is easy to understand why some people fear a drastic change of approach might result in a drastic change of fortune.

While Forest’s welcome statement referenced Postecoglou’s record of winning trophies with Brisbane Roar, Yokohama F. Marinos, Celtic and Spurs, there was no mention of the 22 Premier League defeats he oversaw last season, which ultimately led to his sacking in north London.

Postecoglou arguably had better players at his disposal last season and — although he won the Europa League — he delivered just 38 points in the Premier League, resulting in a final placing of 17th.

Despite that horrific domestic form, Postecoglou left Spurs as a club legend. His European triumph in Bilbao, where Spurs beat Manchester United 1-0 in a scrappy final, came after he publicly doubled down on a claim that he always delivers silverware in his second year at a club.

“I always win things in my second year. Nothing has changed,” he defiantly told a reporter after Spurs had suffered back-to-back defeats in September.

When asked about those words after delivering on his promise, he said: “It wasn’t me boasting, it was a declaration. If we fell short, I was ready to cop it.”

But he could yet still cop it. Because those words will not be forgotten. They will travel with him to the City Ground.

Indeed, social media is already full of mocking fans all making the same joke: that the only way Big Ange will be able to maintain his remarkable second-year record at Forest is by going down this season and winning the Championship next!