Following the departure of Nuno Espirito Santo from Nottingham Forest, Evangelos Marinakis has made a bold decision to appoint Ange Postecoglou as his successor.
Brave? Ruthless? Stupid? Inspiring? Call it what you will, it seems as if this decision has come a little too soon for many people’s liking.
The fact that you’re only three games into the new season, and are about to begin your Europa League campaign in just under two weeks, was it necessary to axe him at this stage?
Nevertheless, bringing somebody like Postecoglou may give Forest fans something to look forward to in terms of a more exciting brand of football.
Not to forget that he recently just won that competition with a fairly average Tottenham Hotspur side, which finished 17th in the Premier League last season.
While Espirito Santos’ side was exceptional at playing without the ball, Forest will have to adapt quickly to Postecoglou’s possession-based, attacking brand of football.
Looking at their squad, there is no reason to suggest that they can’t do it.
However, how quickly can they do so?
Williams And Aina Involved In More Attacking Areas?
Embed from Getty ImagesPostecoglou’s philosophy of football involves both wing-backs being inverted into midfield to create overloads.
Neco Williams and Ola Aina played a crucial role in making Espirito-Santo’s side an effective counter-attacking unit.
How they adapt to having more of the ball will be an intriguing watch.
There have been certain games, such as the Europa League final, where Postecoglou has adopted a slightly pragmatic approach to his style of play.
He has shown that he can be flexible in certain games, not just the helter-skelter way of playing.
This appointment from Forest seems a big gamble for Marinakis. We shall see.
Coming back to the axing of Espirito Santo, this isn’t the first time that a Manager has been sacked this early in the season.
Embed from Getty ImagesPaul Sturrock was sacked by Southampton just nine days into the 2004-05 season. This shows how ruthless owners can be, even if you start the season slowly.
Having said that, if Postecoglou starts his tenure at the City Ground with a run of positive results, you could call it a masterstroke from Marinakis.
Arsenal, Swansea, Burnley, Real Betis, and Sunderland are the next set of fixtures for Forest in September.
Can Angeball reignite life at Nottingham Forest, or will they end up ruing the decision to axe Nuno?
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