Nottingham Forest's brutal Ange Postecoglou sack statement in full after five-minute rant
A crushing 3-0 defeat at home to Chelsea marked the end of Ange Postecoglou's 39-day struggle as Nottingham Forest manager, as owner Evangelos Marinakis wasted no time in weilding the axe
Ange Postecoglou's 39-day nightmare at Nottingham Forest is over - after a brutal 39-word statement. Saturday's damning 3-0 loss at home to Chelsea spelled the end for the former Tottenham manager, who's been sacked by a Premier League club for the second time in four months.
Postecoglou, 60, was given just eight games after replacing Nuno Espirito Santo. The Aussie-Greek coach lost six and failed to record a single win, with Forest - who qualified for Europe last season - staring down the barrel of a relegation battle.
Less than 20 minutes after the full-time whistle sounded at the City Ground, the statement from Forest was released. "Nottingham Forest Football Club can confirm that after a series of disappointing results and performances, Ange Postecoglou has been relieved of his duties as head coach with immediate effect," it read. "The Club will make no further comment at this time."
It comes after Postecoglou gave an extraordinary, five-minute response to a question regarding his future in his pre-match press conference on the eve of the game. "I guess from my perspective I just don't fit, not here, just in general," the ex-Spurs manager began.
"If you look at things through the prism that I am a failed manager who is lucky to get this job, I know you're smirking at me, but that's what's been said, then of course these first five weeks looks like this guy is under pressure.
"But there is an alternative story…I came to the Premier League two years ago and I took over at Tottenham, I was told by the chairman (Daniel Levy) that this club has to win a trophy.
"He said we've tried to bring winners in: Jose [Mourinho], Antonio Conte, and it hasn't worked. We need something different. I was slightly offended by that because I see myself as winner.
"I took over Spurs who finished eighth. Massive club, but no European football, and one that can't go two years without European football. We finished fifth in my first year and every time Harry Kane scores a goal [for Bayern Munich after leaving Spurs] I go, 'I wish he stayed just one more year'. It would have been handy to have him after finishing fifth.
"But somehow that year has disappeared from the record books. It was even used as a reason for me losing my job because even Tottenham decided to exclude the first ten games. Yet the first ten games here [at Forest] are important apparently. But anyway, we finished fifth. I got them back into European football, which is where a club like Tottenham should be.
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"Then I was in meetings and was told we need a trophy because it will mean everything to the football club. That's fine. We win a trophy. We shed the tag of being 'Spursy'. [We get] Champions League football, which brings some rewards and the opportunity to bring greater players.
"But all I have heard since I finished at Tottenham is that we finished 17th last year. So if you look at it through the prism of finishing 17th, then I am a failed manager who is lucky to get another opportunity. But again, if I have to explain why we finished 17th, it's really basic. It doesn’t have to be too in-depth.
"Just look at the last five or six team sheets of last season to see what I prioritised [the Europa League], and who was on the bench. And the last game against Brighton, the players were out partying for two days, which I sanctioned because I felt they deserved to.
"So yes, we finished 17th. But if people think that's a reflection of me and my coaching then again, I think they are looking at it through the prism of I just don't fit.
"So we get to the current space [at Forest] where there is a different story to tell, that maybe I am not a failed manager who was lucky to get this job and instead maybe I am a manager who, if you give him time, the story always ends the same. At all my previous clubs, [it ends] with me and a trophy."
Asked why he felt like he needed to launch such a fierce defence of his credentials ahead of the Chelsea defeat, Postecoglou told TNT Sports: "At some point you've gotta stand up for yourself."
Sean Dyche, who came through Forest's academy and was axed by Everton earlier this year, is the favourite to replace Postecoglou.
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