Forest fans want Postecoglou out after just 23 days in charge following Europa league defeat against Midtjylland.
Nottingham Forest fans call for Postecoglou axe after 23 days following European defeat.
After 23 days on the job, Ange Postecoglou finds himself in a precarious situation. The Nottingham Forest manager put his hands on his head as Midtjylland surged forward on the counterattack in the 88th minute, confident in the outcome of the following few seconds. As he expected, Forest would give in for the third time, but he probably did not foresee the loud and violent pushback that ensued.
With thousands of home supporters singing, “You’re getting sacked in the morning,” the scenes were almost spectacular on a gloomy evening. Then, with some of them turning to face Evangelos Marinakis, the owner, who was watching from his own enormous private television in the directors’ box, the same fans further twisted the knife by singing the name of his predecessor, Nuno Espírito Santo. It was a sombre sight.
With a trip to Newcastle on Sunday and a home game against Chelsea two weeks from Saturday, Postecoglou’s team has now lost six straight games. After that, Manchester United will start the competition in November, followed by Porto at home and Bournemouth away. There are questions over whether the Australian will advance that far following this loss to the Danish opponent. After Forest fell behind two goals from set pieces by Ousmane Diao and Mads Bech Sørensen, previously of Brentford, the inquest in the stands started at halftime, and Postecoglou was then subjected to some difficult questioning.
Asked if he still believed positive results are on the horizon, the 60-year-old replied: “Yes, I do, and nothing I saw tonight changes any of that. I get the mood around the place isn’t going to be great, I understand people’s attitude, particularly towards me, but I never worry about that, it’s not unfamiliar territory for me. I really believe that we’re on the right track and when we get through this period of uncertainty that we’ll be on a good path. If we start winning games, the atmosphere will improve.”
“I guess it’s the accumulation of things,” Postecoglou said. “It’s not like our goalkeeper is having to make multiple saves, but every time they get near our goal they [the players] get really nervous. If you allow the opposition to score just about every time they get near your goal, it’s going to be very hard to win games.”