Why are Forest swapping Nuno for Ange?

Summary

The Athletic FC Podcast

Episode: Why are Forest swapping Nuno for Ange?
Date: September 9, 2025
Host: Adam Leventhal
Guests: Tim Spears, Matt Davies-Adams, David Ornstein

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Overview

This episode explores the sudden sacking of Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo and the imminent appointment of Ange Postecoglou, former Spurs boss. The hosts and guests discuss why this change is happening, the internal conflicts leading up to it, the impact on Forest’s future, and what Ange’s arrival could mean for squad management and playing style. Both journalistic and fan perspectives are explored, along with broader implications for the club’s direction.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo

• Shock but Not Surprise: Both Tim Spears and Matt Davies-Adams agree that while Forest’s decision is startling, signs pointed towards an impending sacking.

  • Tim highlights the visible cracks between Nuno, sporting director Edu, and owner Evangelos Marinakis, especially after public disputes and transfer market issues.
  • “The writing was on the wall for Nuno I think a few weeks ago... it must be a bit of a punch in the stomach for Forest fans...” (Tim Spears, 02:32)
  • Matt, as a fan, saw the move coming and prefers it was done quickly rather than drawn out.
  • “It wasn't feasible to carry on with Nuno... I'm actually pretty pleased that it's been done this swiftly.” (Matt, 03:56)

• Unresolved Club Power Structure: Adam raises whether a power struggle between Nuno and club leadership inevitably meant one had to leave.

  • Tim explains that Nuno’s public comments were a power move, understanding he’d lose out if push came to shove.
  • “He knew that if Nuno and Edu's relationship was completely untenable, which it seems it was, then it would be Nuno who would lose his job.” (Tim, 05:33)

2. The Transfer Window and Its Fallout

• Squad Building Tensions: Both Matt and Tim dive deep into the discord between Nuno’s desires and the club’s signings – Nuno preferred a leaner, sharper squad, while Edu and Marinakis packed the squad with many new faces, some from agency connections.

  • “There's a real mix... There's a lot going on at Forest. You know, there are three right wingers... five or six senior fullbacks...” (Tim, 10:27)
  • “Yeah, the transfer business was confusing and confused...” (Matt, 07:59)

• Too Many Players, Too Much Discontent: Tim points out that having 29 senior players frustrated Nuno, who succeeded with smaller squads at Wolves. This likely created divisions in the dressing room.

  • “He likes having that smaller squad because he believes it improves performance in training... he ends up with 29. So that would have caused big problems behind the scenes.” (Tim, 10:27)

3. The Ange Postecoglou Appointment

• Why Ange? Football correspondent David Ornstein provides the club side: Ange is Marinakis’s choice, with Greek heritage and recent European success at Spurs.

  • “Why Postecoglou? Marinakis knows him... He ended their wait for a European trophy... Nottingham Forest will clearly hope he repeats the trick.” (David Ornstein, 15:58)

• Tactical Fit and Adaptability:

  • Matt expresses mixed feelings, concerned about Ange’s high-risk style and last season’s Spurs struggles but hopeful based on the reshaped squad and Postecoglou’s willingness to adapt.
    • “The style of football between Nuno and Ange could hardly be more different... But he won the Europa League, and Marinakis is desperate for Forest to do that this season.” (Matt, 17:57)
  • Tim discusses Ange’s principled approach, sometimes to a fault, and wonders how much he has learned and will adapt at Forest.
    • “For 18 months at Spurs he talked about principles... he only got away with it because he won the Europa League... Is he this sort of principled manager who won’t bend for anyone?” (Tim, 20:40)
  • Notable anecdote:
    • “I remember one game at Spurs... he refused to substitute his players because he wanted them to endure and suffer and learn lessons rather than give them the easy way out of being subbed... That’s crazy.” (Tim, 20:40)

• Club Size, Atmosphere, and Backing:

  • Matt defends Forest, noting the club environment has changed and that fans will back a new manager who shows effort.
    • “There was a movement... saying, look, we’ve been out of the Premier League for nearly a quarter of a century. Maybe it’s the way that we back the team... All you’ll hear is backing for the team and backing for the manager.” (Matt, 22:43)

4. Marinakis–Postecoglou Dynamic

• Greek Connection: Adam reads out a prior Marinakis quote, praising Postecoglou for his public Greek pride and achievements.
  • “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... He promoted Greece.” (Adam quoting Marinakis, 24:19)
• Potential for Friction: Tim predicts Marinakis has long wanted Postecoglou and admires his loyalty, seeing less risk of public spats than with Nuno, but recognizing the “explosive” mix that club leadership often brings.
  • “He will... protect the club... fiercely. And I don’t think you’ll see what we saw with Nuno... He strives to tap into what makes a club different or unique.” (Tim, 25:15)

5. Squad Management and Style of Play

• Immediate Challenges & Opportunities:

  • Both Matt and Tim agree the squad’s depth (and resulting bench discontent) will be a test. Forest has a busy schedule with little time for the new manager to imprint his style before important matches.
  • “It might take a while for it to stick. But as I say, get Arsenal out the way... there’s a good opportunity there for him to have a look at various different players.” (Matt, 27:58)

• Style Transition Concerns:

  • “Whether the sea change in playing style is going to be too much too soon without a pre-season to get everybody on board... it might prove to be quite jarring for the players and it might take a while for it to stick.” (Matt, 27:58)

6. The Injury Question

• Historical Issues: Adam points out the spate of injuries under Ange at Spurs, linked to his high-intensity style. Tim is curious whether Ange has learned from this, noting the need for adaptability to avoid repeating mistakes.
  • “Those injuries constantly held him back at Spurs... These weren’t broken ankles, these were pulled hamstrings and calf strains... they had a horrible tendency to bring players back too quickly... and lo and behold, the hamstrings would go again.” (Tim, 31:05)
  • “Is he going to change his style and his principles, which he talked about for 18 months? Are we going to get Postecoglou 2.0 in England?” (Tim, 31:05)

7. Final Reflections and Fan Perspective

• Matt concludes with a plea for perspective, reminding fans how far Forest has come since their pre-Premier League years.
  • “There needs to be a massive dollop of perspective on this. Forest have been in far worse positions... they're in the best position they've been maybe in my lifetime. Whoever comes in has got some great players to work with... Let's roll with it. If it doesn't work, there'll be another one along pretty quickly anyway.” (Matt, 33:43)

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Notable Quotes

• On the Sacking:
  • “It’s a real shame... for that to now be... a fork in the road to go back to what they were used to in terms of the sort of chaos and madness that they have been used to under Marinakis for so long.” – Tim Spears (02:32)
• On Nuno’s Situation:
  • “He thinks so studiously about what he's going to say... So it was clear then that something was very wrong. And he will have seen this sacking coming, by the way. This won't be a surprise to him either.” – Tim Spears (05:33)
• On Postecoglou’s Style:
  • “For 18 months at Spurs he talked about principles and how he would never ever change those principles for anybody. And he only got away with it because he won the Europa League...” – Tim Spears (20:40)
• On Fan Attitude:
  • “All you’ll hear is backing for the team and backing for the manager.” – Matt Davies-Adams (22:43)
• On Forest’s Perspective:
  • “Forest were outside of the Premier League for 23 years and we're now talking about... another one in who's just won the Europa League ahead of our first European campaign in 30 years. So there needs to be a massive dollop of perspective on this.” – Matt Davies-Adams (33:43)

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Timeline of Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |:---|:---| | 01:42 | Intro: Sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo, Ange Postecoglou expected to replace | | 02:32–05:15 | Discussion: Why Nuno was sacked, reactions from Tim and Matt | | 05:15–07:59 | Power struggle between Nuno and club management, transfer window fallout | | 10:27–12:50 | Squad building, Nuno's philosophy vs. Forest's squad size strategy | | 15:45–17:48 | David Ornstein: Why Postecoglou? Owner’s viewpoint, Ange’s credentials | | 17:57–22:39 | Matt and Tim: Lessons from Postecoglou’s Spurs stint, fit for Forest | | 24:19–25:15 | Marinakis’s quotes on Postecoglou, owner/manager dynamic | | 25:15–27:57 | How Ange’s appointment might unfold, squad buy-in | | 31:05–33:31 | Injuries under Ange, concerns about repeating Spurs’ mistakes | | 33:43–35:00 | Final thoughts: Perspective on change, fan optimism and realism |

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Tone and Style

The conversation mixes sharp analysis and insider reporting with the relatable voice of a concerned, sometimes wry, supporter. The tone is candid, sometimes rueful about Forest’s “chaos,” but also balanced by an optimistic view of how far the club has come and a willingness to embrace new challenges.

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Summary for Listeners

• Nottingham Forest have sacked Nuno Espirito Santo after internal power struggles, frustrating transfer dealings, and limp performances.
• Ange Postecoglou, recently of Spurs and a Europa League winner, is set to take over, favored by club owner Marinakis for both cultural and footballing reasons.
• Transition brings risk: Ange’s tactical style is vastly different, known for high-intensity football that previously led to injury crises at Spurs, but he’s also shown adaptability and the ability to win trophies.
• The atmosphere among Forest fans is one of cautious optimism mixed with a realistic understanding of their club’s unique, sometimes chaotic, recent history—echoed and amplified by the panel’s closing thoughts.

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For Forest—and for football fans—the next chapter will be as fascinating as it is unpredictable.

Transcript

[A]

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[C]

The Athletic FC.

[D]

Welcome to the Athletic FC podcast. I'm Adam Leventhal. Breaking news in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Nottingham Forest sacking head coach Nuno Espirito Santo. And they look set to replace him with former Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou. So what is going on at the city ground? Well, with me for this one is Tim Spears who covered Nuno's time at Wolves in depth and in detail and watched him go on to have great success with Nottingham Forest. He also covered Ange Postecoglou at Spurs, Matt Davis Adams as well. Familiar to everyone that listens to the Athletic fc but also can give us a Forest fan's perspective. Let's start with you, Tim. So Nuno out, Ange in. How does that make you feel?

[E]

It's one of those sort of very, very shocking, but also not shocking developments I guess you could see. You know, the writing was on the wall for Nuno I think a few weeks ago when this, you know, this very explosive sort of, you know, argument behind the scenes with Edu and Marinakis became public. And then, you know, we've seen huge issues with the sort of transfer window and does Nuno want these players, does he not? And a couple of poor results on the pitch. And so, yes, some big name managers waiting in the wings and it has sort of felt inevitable for some time. I just think it's. I think it's a real shame, you know, that Forest were on their highest high for decades and heading into Europe and you know, they've. They've been waiting for this since the 90s and for that to now be. I mean, who knows, Postcode may come in and just carry on that trajectory and do something really special, but it's just, I guess it must be a bit of a punch in the stomach for Forest fans who've got used to these wonderful times in, in the past sort of two, three years and are now maybe fearing that this is a sort of a fork in the road to go back to what they were used to in terms of the sort of chaos and madness that they have been used to under Marinakis for so long. So it's very hard to call which way it's going to go from this point, but it's certainly sad that it's come to this.

[D]

Matt, do you feel winded?

[C]

No, I think I did. I was at the West Ham game a couple of weeks ago and from that point I knew that this was coming at some point in the near future. I'm actually pretty pleased that it's been done this swiftly. I think there would have been a temptation to drag it out for a couple more weeks, maybe until the next international break, and I don't think that would have served anybody. I. It's probably quite a smart time to do it because Forester at Arsenal on Saturday, nobody, nobody will expect them to get anything from that game. But after that they play Burnley and Sunderland and that looks like a decent opportunity for if it is an postecoglou or whoever the new manager is to. To hit the ground running and put some wins on the board relatively early on in their tenure. It wasn't feasible to carry on with Nuno and it's looked that way since that pre Crystal palace press conference, to be honest. So Forest supporters have had a lot of time to get used to this. It's sad that the person who led us into Europe for the first time in 30 years won't get even the first match in the Europa League in charge. But I don't think we can say that he's not culpable, at least in part for what's happened here. And at Least he leaves with his reputation intact, not only amongst Forest supporters, but as a manager. You know, the next job that he gets will be a good one based on what he's done at Forest. So if I'm being optimistic, I can say that there's a scenario here in which Forest win and Nuno wins as well.

[D]

Tim, was it always the case that when he took on Marinakis that there was only ever going to be one winner? Because there was a. There was a glimmer of hope that they might. They might in some way shape or form have. Have repaired relations after that initial interview, wasn't there?

[E]

I mean, I remember saying on. On the athletic pod a couple of weeks ago that they probably weren't the kind of men who would sit down and have a cup of tea and iron out their differences, you know? Yeah, I mean, that press conference was. It was just on the eve of the season when you kind of. Yeah, like Matt says, you knew this was coming. He's very. Nuno's very guarded and very deliberate with what he says and usually toes the party line to hear him talk that way. You know, he thinks so studiously about what he's going to say to the press. So it was clear then that something was very wrong. And he will have seen this sacking coming, by the way. This won't be a surprise to him either. I think he'll have seen it come in at that time. He's worked in environments like this before, especially Valencia. A kind of, you know, sort of a turbulent sort of behind the scenes environment. So those comments he made a few weeks ago were a power move. It was about protecting his reputation, knowing that Marinakis was not going to fire Edu and that if Nuno and Edu's relationship was completely untenable, which it seems it was, then it would be Nuno who would. Who would lose his job. You know, if he was. If he was desperate to stay Nuno, which I don't think he was. I think the only way at that point amid a power struggle is to be unsackable. And you only do that by doing what your owner wants. And he certainly hasn't done that if he's the man who's left Amari Hushinson out of his Europa League squad, for example. And also you've got to pretty much win every match. And like Matt, I was at that West Ham game and they were desperately poor that day. At worst, I've seen them under Nuno and he looked clueless as to how to fix it in that moment. They had one shot in the first half, his subs didn't work. He had no explanation after the match, which was not like him. He said it was shocking and the signs were also there. And I think I'm right in saying he only started one of his new signings that day, Dan and doi. And two days later he ends the window with 13 new signings, many of whom he probably doesn't want. So when you look at all that context, yes, this was inevitable and yes, it is a mess.

[D]

Yeah. And Matt, on the issue of transfers, because obviously that was the demand from him or the impression that he was giving, that the squad had been underprepared at the moment, that he discussed it publicly, but then the signings do arrive. Do you think that he had a point at that time or do you think it was less about the actual nuts and bolts of the players that he had in there and it was more just a personal battle that he was having with Edu?

[C]

Yeah, I think it's the latter, to be honest, Adam. I mean, Nino's always been very clear that he considers pre season to be the most important part of any season. And that was massively successful for Forest last year because they were able to get Nicola Milankovic and Elliot Anderson in to go on their pre season tour and he felt that was key this time round. He had Igor Jesus and Jaya Cunha and that was about it for when they went away. Now I think that there's got to be some acceptance on Forest supporters part and on Nuno's part as well, that the reason that they couldn't get a load of players in early was partly because they didn't know which European competition they were going to be playing in and the budget was going to be different and the players that they could attract was going to be different between Europa League and Conference League. I think what has happened here though is that there are very clearly some players who are EDU recommendations and you know, the story is that they're players who are linked to Kia Juravchin, like Amari Hutchinson, like Douglas Luiz, whereas Nuno was after Adama Traore and Matis Fernandez for those kind of positions. Now he hasn't got what he wanted. There's two arguments, isn't there? There's one where you say, well, you don't give a manager players that he doesn't want to work with and the other says you don't give the manager carte blanche to make the signings for the club when it's likely that he's not going to be in position for as long as the sporting director or the owner is. So, yeah, the transfer business was confusing and confused. The Hutchinson one is particularly baffling that he hasn't even made the Europa League squad, and that makes you wonder if that was ever a possibility. Why was Nuno allowed to pick that Europa League squad? I think Marinakis is. Has paid the price for. For trying to let this rift heal itself or trying to let Nuno find a way out of the problem that he'd made for himself. And now it's got messy as a result of that.

[D]

Tim. Back in the day, I used to cover Watford who, you know, sacked managers for fun, regularly had seasons with, with three managers. That was. That was almost like a, you know, quite a relaxed season at Watford. But in my recollections, it never really worked. If you were sacking a manager this early into the season when all the preparation work had been done over the summer, you're almost handing a hot potato or a hospital pass to the, to the guy that's coming in. Do you think that that's, you know, necessarily going to happen this time around, or do you think that that's, you know, a manager of the likes of Ange Postecoglou might be able to pick up the reins easily in this situation?

[E]

That's a really good question. I think the fact that a lot of, potentially a lot of the 13 players that have come in were not wanted by Nuno or necessarily required by Nuno kind of helps the new manager, really. It won't help the new manager when it comes to the existing players who, you know, I'm, I'm here and I'm sure have a great relationship with Nuno. You know, he really prides himself on having those close relationships with individual key players in the squad. Very sort of personable. So, yeah, it's. There's a lot going on at Forest. You know, there are three right wingers. I think I'm right in saying, Matt, that they've signed for about £100 million in this window. You know, they've got three senior strikers for one position. They've got five or six, you know, senior fullbacks. There's a real mix of young English talented players like McAtee and Morgan Gibbs White and Hutchinson and Elliot Anderson. And then you've got, you know, four. Four Brazilians from Botafogo, although one's gone back on loan already. And the large squad thing would have really irritated Nuno. I think he's gone on record as saying it that was another untenable part. It was a key principle of his success at Wolves in that he kind of only had 16 or 17 senior players. Bearing in mind he's got 29 now at Forest, he's sort of about 16 or 17, and that relies on a good injury record, by the way, which they had. But the idea being, and I know he carries these principles throughout his career that if you have bad apples around the group who aren't playing and know they're not going to play, it's not conducive to team spirit. And he likes having that smaller squad because he believes it improves player performance in training. Everybody knows they're in the mats day squad. It's about pushing for the 11. It's not, oh, I'm going to. If I train really well, I might not even make the bench. That's his preference. He said last week he wanted 22 to 23 players to get through four competitions until January and he ends up with 29. So that would have caused big problems behind the scenes as well. I'm sure. You know, if Edu is just giving Nuno players he doesn't need or want, then again it's an it's another recipe for disaster. And that's where that's where discussions with the new manager, be that Postecoglou or whoever would have centered around. Look, these are the players you've got and this is the circumstances you've got to work with. And obviously Postecogli or whoever will accept that and embrace that, rather than Nuno, who's completely anti that.

[B]

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[D]

So we have obviously mentioned who is expected to come in at time of recording and that is Ange Postecoglou. Let's get the latest from our football correspondent David Ornstein.

[F]

Ange Postecoglou is, at the time of recording, on the verge of being confirmed as the new Nottingham Forest head coach. Overnight we broke the news that Espirito Santo was given his marching orders. It wasn't his decision. He was relieved of his duties after 20 months as forest boss. And Postecoglou was the first choice of Marinakis. Why Postecoglou? Well, Marinakis knows him, they both have Greek heritage, clearly great fan of his managerial career, which has taken him all over the world at the Citigroup and then Celtic broke into the Premier League with Spurs. And despite what many people think of his overall time in North London, he ended their wait for a European trophy. Nottingham Forest will clearly hope that he repeats the trick in the same competition, the Europa League, on this occasion. And now he'll be in in time for the Arsenal game, the lunchtime kickoff on Saturday. Coming with him will be a number of staff who worked under Postecoglou at Tottenham. His last job. Whatever you think of the job done by Espirito Santo, maybe Ange Postecoglou, with that European title under the belt, has now operated at a slightly higher level and they'll believe that Postecoglou can take them on to the next level. And for him it's a chance to get back into the big time. After his departure from spurs, there were many links with him in the Premier League and abroad. Lots of clubs looking at him. Of course, Marinakis will not be an easy man to please. And that's the task of Postecoglou, the latest man to take on this mantle in a fascinating development among many at the City Ground.

[D]

So we've heard what David has said there. Matt, how does the prospect of Ange Postecoglou coming in make you feel?

[C]

Initially it made me feel pretty concerned because of what happened with spurs in the Premier League last season, but also because the style of football between Nuno Espirito Santo and Ange Posta Goglu could hardly be more different. Now, my hope is that the fact that Forest have changed their squad so much in terms of the profile of players and the amount of new players over the summer, that this has been a consideration toward that. Certainly Nuno was talking about trying to change Forest style of play. Anyway, I actually think that some of the players that Forest have got, that they've bought in and that were there already, will quite like playing Ange Postecoglou football. I think Elliot Anderson and Morgan Gibbs White are two that spring to mind. I think Murillo is going to have loads of fun. Whether Nicola Milenkovic is going to be quite mobile enough to. To be part of a line that high, I'm not so sure. But yeah, the. The problem that Postecoglou has got is that spurs were absolutely atrocious in the Premier League last season. And that is a concern for Forest going forward. But he won the Europa League. And Evangelos Marinakis is desperate for Forest to do that this season. And I think that' big part of the reason why he's been chosen as the successor. The other part, obviously, is that it's easy to get him because he's out of work now. I would have rather maybe waited a little or spent a little more and got somebody like a Marco Silva, who is somebody else that Marinakis has always admired, who's in the last year of his contract and has made lots of noises about not being particularly happy with Fulham's lack of business. But we just don't know, do we, with, with Postecoglou, whether he is going to be able to. To adapt his style of play to how Forest had been more traditionally, or whether he's still wedded to the way that he started the season with Spurs. But we ought to remember he did change it. That's how they won the Europa League final, right? They didn't play in the typical Postecoglou way. And you would hope that somebody as experienced of him as him learns from every job that they have, whether they go well or whether they go badly. And I don't think you can say it went completely badly at spurs, but because they haven't won anything since 2008 before he arrived. So cautious optimism with some concern.

[D]

It's an important point, isn't it, Tim, that we should remember that Ange Postecoglou was lampooned for almost this chaotic football high press. You know, we're just doing it this way and only this way. And it was almost as if when he was playing in the Europa League, he thought, oh, I can go away. They're not gonna be watching what I'm doing over there. But I have actually changed my ways and I have actually learned and I know that I've had to adapt because he has shown that he can change. And maybe he is actually gonna be more of a. More of a fit than people think at Forest.

[E]

Maybe. It's fascinating to see how he's gonna come in and like and sort of, you know, behave and sort of call what he's going to do, really, because for 18 months at spurs he talked about principles and how he would never ever change those principles for anybody. And he only got away with it because he. Because he won the. Won the Europa League. I mean, he still got sacked anyway. But, you know, you can. You can and should call that, you know, clever, smart management. But I'm curious as to how he plays it at Forest. Is he this sort of principled manager who won't bend for anyone? You know, I'd rather quit than change. I remember one game at spurs, they lost three two. At Brighton they were two n up and lost three two. And he refused to substitute his players because he wanted them to endure and suffer and learn lessons rather than give them the easy way out of being subbed. He basically said, I'm paraphrasing, I would rather lose that match with those players on the field and learn a lesson rather than earn a cheap 22 draw by sort of bringing on some subs to sh. To shore the defense up when they were going from two nil up to three two down. That's like, that's, that's crazy. Like you don't hear anyone else in the, in the Premier League sort of say that. So to be that way so far, that way to going to put in 10 men behind a ball in Europe to win a trophy, where do you go from that? It's, it's, it's really interesting. So, yeah, the smaller club will suit him, I must say. I think a little bit less intensity. He did not handle the.

[C]

I'm sorry.

[E]

Sorry, I forgot I'm on with, with a fan here. Yeah, I think, I think a little bit, a little bit less scrutiny from the media and you know, I'm gonna say it now, a considerably smaller club, but obviously to be under Marinakis, that's another sort of explosive fit, really. So, yeah, it is absolutely fascinating to see how he's going to get on.

[D]

We'll come to the relationship with Marinakis, but fight your corner, Matt. Come on.

[C]

Well, I mean, Forest finished seventh and spurs finished 17th in the Premier League last season. Obviously there's a couple of trophies with big ears in the forest cabinet which always give us that extra bit of clout. But no, I take the point more broadly. Tottenham obviously much more in this media spotlight, much bigger supporter base, much bigger stadium, etc, more scrutiny on them. But I mean this guy's managed Celtic. That's. That's not exactly a quiet job, is it? I think he, he knows how to. How fan bases. I mean, the spurs, there wasn't huge cries for spurs to sack him as far as. As. As I can see. I think it was pretty divided, wasn't it? He. He brought them a trophy. I think spurs supporters understood why they got rid of them, but, but a lot of them kept faith with him for as long as possible because they enjoyed the kind of football that he was playing, and they appreciated the fact that he was able to. To pivot in order to get them over the line to win the trophy. But he will definitely be given time by Forest supporters. I think there's no doubt about that. The. The whole atmosphere at Forest has changed markedly since, I mean, even since before Steve Cooper. There was a movement amongst Forest and a supporters group called Forza Garibaldi, who kind of said, look, we've been out the Premier League for nearly a quarter of a century. Something's got to change. Maybe it's the way that we back the team. And that's something which has been massively beneficial to Steve Cooper, to Nuno, and will be to Postecoglou as well. So lots of Forest supporters have got lots of reservations and legitimate ones about Ange Postecoglou and the decision to remove Nuno. But you won't hear that the next time Forest play at the City Ground. All you'll hear is backing for the team and backing for the manager.

[D]

Well, I just wanted to bring in what Evangelos Maranakis has said previously about Postecoglou, and this was when he was presenting Postecoglou with an award in Greece in July. He said, 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 that he had with Tottenham by winning the Europa League, he spoke about Greece. He goes on to say, 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, so Marinakis is obviously delighted to have a Greek manager alongside him. It's just going to be fascinating to see how long they stay on the same page, Tim.

[E]

Yeah, yeah, it is. I mean, those are the words of someone who has wanted to appoint this manager for a while, by the way. And obviously this has been probably mooted for some time. The fact, it's. The fact it's been lined up, you know, pre Nuno sacking the way. That's the way it seems right now. They've probably been in discussions for a little while. So, yeah, I don't know. The one thing you say about Angie is he will. He will sort of protect the club that he's. That he works for, you know, fiercely. And I don't think you'll see. I don't think you'll see what we saw with Nuno recently, you know, and sort of going against the club, you know, publicly. He strikes me as quite a loyal man who really sort of buys into and tries to figure out what a club means to its, to its staff and its city. You know, he really tries to tap into sort of what, what makes this club different or unique to others and how can I buy into that and how can I sort of, you know, get something going? And he really did that at spurs because it was different at spurs. You know, he absolutely transformed that dressing room. And this is going to be different at Forest Spurs. It was sort of post Conte, if you remember, post Stellini. They had three managers towards the end of that season. Kane left that summer. The levy out process has just started and the whole place was directionless and they were a really, you know, lower band. They needed that leadership. They were yearning for like an Ange type, you know, a rabble rousing, likable at the time because he did start off being liked with nice press conferences and that's sort of a straight talker, positive attacking style and fans just embrace that and the madness and the high octane football and the last minute winners and the high line and the risks and they wanted to have fun again. They bought into that to such an extent that when they lost 51 to Chelsea, you know, they got stand innovation. So but it's different circumstances here. Forester are just coming from their highest point for decades. And Nuno was, you know, okay, there are question marks over what he's done in the last few weeks from fans, but otherwise he was, he was adored, I think and they believed in him and they trusted him. But Postecoglo will need to earn that trust because his reputation has been tarnished overall, I think by what he did at spurs despite the trophy in May. I think he comes out of what he did at spurs with a. With a less enhanced reputation. But what I would say on the flip side is that the players, I think as Matt has alluded to earlier, the players will embrace this. You know, Gibbs, White and Anderson and Hutchinson and others. They don't want 40% possession every game, which is what Forest average last year. I think only Everton and Ipswich average less possession than Forest now. They want to be on the front foot and have lots of the ball. So I think there are quite a few players that embrace it and I think that's why he'll probably get off to a good start like he did at Spurs. I think the players will enjoy the style of football he's going to presumably enlist.

[D]

Do you agree with that, Matt?

[C]

Yeah, I think so. I think, you know, it's not like Forest flew across the line at the end of last season. They won three of the last nine games in all competitions. They effectively blew up. There was a great chance for them to get Champions League football through the Premier League, which isn't going to come round this season and might not come round again. So I think that there was a fair bit of regret, actually about the way things ended and. And a lot of that was down to squad management. You know, you had the likes of Olorina limping through the end of the season. Literally lots of players completely cooked. Chris Wood, another no replacement for him, effectively come in. And so he had to keep playing even when it was clear that, you know, his form had dipped because he wasn't fit enough anymore. So, I mean, there's obviously a concern therefore with Postecoglou given the amount of injuries that spurs had, but he's going to have a much deeper squad, I think, with Forest than he had at spurs last season. There are two and in some cases three players for every position for him to work with. So I think he can get the balance right of mixing the team up a bit better than he did with spurs, just because he's going to have more options. And as Tim says, there are players in the Forest team who want to get on the ball. Think about somebody like James McAtee. We've barely seen him so far for Forest. He feels like a really good Postecoglou fit for me. So obviously there are going to be players who will be really upset this morning. And one of the big things Nuno got right was making everybody feel part of it, or most everybody. You know, people like Jota Silva might have something to say about that, but certainly most people in terms of playing stuff were on board with Nuno and were big fans of his and the feeling was mutual. But Postecoglou seems to foster those relationships. Ships really well as well, so you'd think they'd be able to pick up the baton there. It's whether the sea change in playing style is going to be too much too soon without a pre season to get everybody on board with that, that it might prove to be quite jarring for the players and it might take a while for it to stick. But as I say, get Arsenal out the way, then you go to Swansea in the League cup. You've got Burnley and Sunderland next two Premier League games. There's a good opportunity there for him to have a look at a, various, various different players. You know, that Swansea game, I'm sure will be a heavily rotated team. So get the chance to see players as to whether they can fit into his Premier League Europa League plans and get a couple of wins on the board in the league. Everybody on the playing stuff starts buying into the new guy and his way of doing things and it makes things a lot easier going forward.

[D]

The injury situation is going to be interesting, Tim, isn't it? Because for people who aren't necessarily au fait with what happened at Tottenham, there was a lot of injuries and the accusation that was put towards him was it was his style of football that was causing a lot of those injuries. So there's going to be a lot of scrutiny on how that squad reacts to his new methods because there's always going to be a new way of training when a new manager comes in because they also want to make a, make an imprint. It's often the case that, oh, you know, the, the squad's not fit enough or they can't, they can't do this, they can't do that and I want to improve it. So that squad is going to have the screw turned on it in some way, shape or form, isn't it?

[E]

Yeah. And those injuries constantly held him back at Spurs. I mean, it wasn't just sort of four or five players, it was sort of 10, 11, 12. You know, there were times you could name a full 11 that were sidelined through injuries and these, and these weren't, you know, broken ankles from, from an incident in a match. These were, these were pulled hamstrings and calf strains and whatever and you know, Van de Ven and Romero were out for a long time and it did constantly hold him back. And he spoke about it and used that as a, as an excuse and a reason, you know, to stick with him. Things will get better because the, when the injured players are back, you'll see exactly what we're made of. But that never really happened because they had a horrible tendency to bring players back, I think, too quickly and didn't really blood them in reserve games and just stuck them straight into high octane, front to back, constant running Premier League football. And lo and behold, the hamstrings would go again. So it was an issue. And again, again this talks to the question of whether he's going to be adaptable or not. Is, is he going to change his style and his, and his principles, which he talked about for 18 months is are we going to get you know, postecogly 2.2.0 in England, is he. Are we going to have. Have these months away from the game? Not, not too long a period, you have to say. But has the summer given him a different perspective? Has he got a bit of a tan? Is he going to come back sort of smiling and be nice with the media again? You know, like he was at the start of Spurs? Because the way. This is a minor point, but I think it really does annoy fans. The way that he was speaking in press conferences towards the end, the way that he was demeaning reporters for asking very straightforward, normal questions like, why did you lose that match? And he's like, well, isn't it obvious? You know, you can see that, can't you know, that kind of stuff. That's just horrible. It came across a little bit bullying, you know, to, to. To reporters don't like to see that. So hopefully he's had a bit of a refresh. And yeah, the key is the adaptability and we've seen this, a lot of examples of this recently. You know, Maresca changes his spots and Chelsea win the Club World cup with, you know, playing it long out from the back, something he said he would drop Robert Sanchez for doing if he ever saw it doing him in a game. And lo and behold that he's pinging 90 yarders up the field in the Club World cup and they win it, you know, and then on the flip side, we see Amarim not changing his formation at Man United and getting in trouble for it. You've got to be adaptable and I'm sure that must be a lesson that Postecoglou has learned.

[D]

Matt, final word from you. Just a sentence. Your emotions. Are you excited? Is it trepidation? Are you used to it as a Forest fan with Marinakis in charge?

[C]

Yeah. I mean, one normal day of Nottingham Forest, etc would probably be one sentence to sum it up, but Forests were outside of the Premier League for 23 years and we're now talking about, oh, no, we've lost a manager and we're going to get another one in who's just won the Europa League ahead of our first European campaign in 30 years. So there needs to be a massive dollop of perspective on this. Forest have been in far worse positions than this, far more recent, you know, very, very recently, less than five years ago, struggling at the bottom of the championship, looking like they're about to go back to League one. So there needs to be some perspective that Forest are in the best position that they've been maybe in my lifetime. Certainly not far off. They've certainly got the best squad that they've had in the best part of half a century, so whoever comes in has got some great players to work with. The owner is a unique case in and of himself, but you can't doubt his commitment to the club just purely based on the amount of he's put in. I think he tried to stick with Nuno for as long as possible, but it wasn't tenable. Would postecoglou have been my first choice? No, he wouldn't. Is he going to get the backing from me and other Forest supporters? Does he have a decent cv? Yes. So let's roll with it. And you know, if it doesn't work, there'll be another one along pretty quickly anyway.

[D]

Yeah, brilliant. Matt, thank you very much indeed. Tim, thanks to you as well. Whatever happens, it's going to be an interesting ride, as it always is at Forest. Thank you very much for listening. We'll be back with more on the future of football very soon.

[B]

You've been listening to the Athletic FC Podcast. The producers are Guy Clark, Mike Stabru and Jay Beale. Executive producers are Abby Patterson and Avey Moorhead. To listen to other great athletic podcasts for free, including our dedicated club shows, search for the Athletic on Apple, Spotify and all the usual places places. You'll also find us on YouTube at the Athletic FC Podcast, so make sure you subscribe. The Athletic FC Podcast is an athletic media company production.

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