Sport
From Nuno to Postecoglou: Forest’s Risky Shift in Footballing Identity
Many Nottingham Forest fans do not view the club’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis, as the toxic presence he has become known as externally. But waking up to the sacking of manager Nuno Esperito Santo on Tuesday morning must have been tough to fathom.
Despite Marinakis’ obviously volatile nature, Forest are enjoying their most stable, successful period in decades. To a certain generation of football fans, they are one of England’s biggest and proudest clubs, having won back-to-back European Cups under the great Brian Clough in 1979 and 1980. More recently, it has been tough; Forest bounced around the lower divisions for years and crisis was never far away.
Marinakis is the man who guided them back to the Premier League, but a record spending spree which saw 25 players arrive in the summer of 2022 hardly suggested calm waters were ahead. In fact, it contributed to a breach of Profit and Sustainability Rules and a points deduction during the 2023-24 campaign. Steve Cooper did well to keep the club afloat initially, and much like Nuno now, was rather unceremoniously cut against fan wishes. To Marinakis’ credit, that decision was vindicated; an excellent team was built around Nuno’s counter-attacking style, resulting in a stunning push for Champions League football, which ultimately fell just short last season.
This time it feels a lot messier, though. Firstly, it clearly isn’t a footballing decision based on results; Forest have made a solid enough start to the season with four points from three games. Yet this has been coming for some time; Nuno spoke publicly about his strained relationship with Marinakis. All wasn’t well after a 2-2 draw with Leicester City last season when the pair were seen remonstrating on the pitch, but the arrival of Edu in a role overseeing recruitment for Marinakis’ multiclub operation was the final straw.
Nuno clearly didn’t like the new set up, being told to speak more with Edu than Marinakis. The announcement of his exit is the end of a saga, not a particularly great surprise, and it has brought back a sense of chaos so well known to Forest fans over the past 30 years or so. As for Nuno, he will likely be linked with a lot of top jobs in the coming months; while he has always been credited as an excellent coach, his reputation has been restored to the heights of when he left Wolves and joined Tottenham in 2021.
Tactically, his Forest side had one of the strongest identities in the league. Players were bought to fit into what was an incredibly simple but robust system. Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic, arguably the signing of last season, forged an excellent defensive partnership, sitting deep and holding strong in front of goalkeeper Matz Sels. That allowed the pace and creativity of the likes of Elliot Anderson, Morgan Gibbs-White, Anthony Elanga, who left this summer to join Newcastle United, and Callum Hudson-Odoi to express themselves behind Chris Wood. The New Zealand international scored 20 goals last season and has started this term well too. While Nuno’s team rarely dominated the ball or played progressively, they were effective and difficult to play against.
In part, that is why Forest’s next move is so bizarre. Former Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has been confirmed as Nuno’s successor, and it could hardly be more of a clash in terms of style. Postecoglou believes religiously in his principles of possession, high defensive lines and playing through the lines. Given Murillo and Milenkovic’s strength in a low block was the bedrock of last season’s success, it would be a risk for their brief to flip instantly, but Postecoglou hasn’t shown compromise in the past. While at Spurs, he kept his high line even with nine men in a heavy defeat to Chelsea, while they lost 21 league games last season, a record without being relegated. Injuries decimated the squad, robbing Postecoglou of key tools to make his system work, but he didn’t adapt.
Given the entire squad at Forest has been built to serve almost the opposite approach, Postecoglou has his work cut out immediately. Sacking Nuno just after the closure of the transfer window is further evidence that his performance wasn’t the driving factor.
Everything could work out. Postecoglou is an excellent coach and Forest have strong foundations from which to build. But letting Nuno go has thrown a lot of doubt over their season, and Marinakis may live to regret making that choice.
