ANGE Postecoglou hasn’t been sacked in the morning yet, as Nottingham Forest’s fans have taken to singing during their team’s last two matches, but the Australian’s time at the City Ground could be short and not so sweet. After seven games without a win, it’s clear something isn’t working.

Postecoglou is doing his best to argue this is perfectly normal. “I see it as an exciting opportunity,” said the 60-year-old after Sunday’s loss to Newcastle United. “You have to be up for the fight and the struggle. I’d be silly to be sitting here at the age of 60 if I lacked self-belief or fight. Even in the schoolyard I picked fights with people that beat me up.”

Why Postecoglou continually picked fights with people who beat him up is confusing and strikes at the core of why there is already such concern over his Forest tenure. Even after the bruising experience of being sacked by Tottenham Hotspur last season, Postecoglou appears to have learned nothing.

He inherited a squad moulded by Nuno Espirito Santo to play a compact, counter-attacking game. It was an approach that saw Nottingham Forest hold their own in the Champions League places for much of last season and prove wrong those who had predicted they would be fighting relegation.

Now, though, the same players are being asked to perform in a very different way. Postecoglou wants Forest to operate higher up the pitch. He wants his team to be more proactive and take the game to opponents, but has ended up in a philosophical no-man’s land, stuck between two different playing styles. Forest aren’t doing one thing or the other.

Arne Slot won the Premier League title in his first season as Liverpool manager by acknowledging the positive work that had been done before him. He used the foundations left behind by Jurgen Klopp to keep Liverpool on the straight and narrow and was rewarded for this pragmatism with a Premier League winner’s medal. Postecoglou could learn something from this.

What is perhaps most baffling about Postecoglou’s approach as Forest boss is that he demonstrated his ability to see up a team to play on the counter-attack as Spurs won the Europa League last season. Tottenham beat Manchester United in the final playing a brand of football Nuno would have been proud of. They had just 27% of possession and played on the break.

So why hasn’t Postecoglou recycled his Europa League final game plan to at least buy himself more time as Nottingham Forest manager? According to recent reporting, the Australian is already fighting for his position after a run of results that has Forest just one point above the bottom three.

 

In Evangelos Marinakis, Postecoglou has a powerful – the most powerful – ally at the City Ground. Forest’s Greek owner personally pushed for the appointment of Postecoglou who is known to be a close friend. The pair have holidayed together in the past with Marinakis quick to highlight Postecoglou’s Greek heritage.

Marinakis, however, can be a flaky character. He’s known for being somewhat vulnerable. Postecoglou can’t count on the faith of the Forest owner to last as results and performances continue to underwhelm, particularly because Edu Gaspar is surely assessing the situation as the club’s sporting director. 

Postecoglou might be excited by the challenge of remoulding Forest in his own image, but this is a club and a fanbase that last season felt they were on to something special. They want to compete for the Europa League this season and build on what was achieved under Nuno. Postecoglou isn’t doing any of this. Forest would be wise to cut their already considerable losses now.

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