Just four months after leading Tottenham Hotspur to a historic Europa League triumph in Bilbao, Ange Postecoglou has returned to Spain and UEFA’s second-tier club competition with a new challenge, and he cannot wait.
Postecoglou ended Spurs’ 17-year wait for a major trophy with that 1-0 win over Manchester United — and was rewarded with the sack.
He is now at Nottingham Forest, and trophy drought is twice as long at 35 years.
Forest is a two-time European champion, having won the European Cup (now Champions League) in 1979 and 1980 under the charismatic managerial genius Brian Clough, and the memories still burn brightly.
But this will be its first continental tie in 10,781 days, since a UEFA Cup quarter-final against Bayern Munich in March of 1996.
Ange Postecoglou is chasing another Europa League triumph – this time with Nottingham Forest
Postecoglou’s men are in Spain ahead of their clash with La Liga outfit Real Betis from 5am on Thursday AEDT
Asked if it feels like a big moment for the club, the Australian said: ‘Oh, absolutely. Without a shadow of a doubt.
’30 years, a club that’s absolutely climbed to the peak of European football in the past and you can just imagine how the supporters are feeling.
‘There’s probably a couple of generations in there who’ve heard the stories but not lived the experiences. Now they can live their own experiences.’
For Postecoglou himself, the campaign is a title defence.
He added: ‘I’m excited by it. When I made the decision to accept the position, it was one of the most enticing bits.’
Forest will be cheered on by 3,385 travelling fans at the cavernous La Cartuja in Seville, where Betis is playing while its Estadio Benito Villamarin is redeveloped.
Postecoglou is in the early stages of transforming Forest from the safety-first football practised by his predecessor Nuno Espirito Santo to the attacking style he is known for.
He is yet to win a match after two defeats and a draw, all away from home, since taking over earlier this month.
While the team transitions, he recognises he may have to compromise, in Europe at least.
Nottingham Forest are coming off a 1-1 draw with Burnley in what has been a slow start to their Premier League season (pictured, Forest star Morgan Gibbs-White)
‘It’s fair to say that the world is crying out for me to be pragmatic,’ he said. ‘But I’m just not built that way.
‘I’ve always said what I like to do and what I enjoy more than anything is winning, so whatever it takes we’ll do.
‘In the final we [Tottenham] had to play a certain way because of the availability of the players we had.
‘I think you do have to approach the Europa League a little bit differently.
‘Tactically, there’s some tweaks you need to make to allow the players to perform at their best. I still want to win every game.’
Real Betis midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, who played under Postecoglou at Spurs, praised the Australian.
‘Obviously, he is a great coach,’ the Argentina international said. ‘He is a coach that likes the best kind of football.’
Betis lost the third-tier Conference League final to Chelsea last season and with Forest is among the Europa League favourites.
Coached by former Real Madrid and Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini, Betis has made a mixed start to the Spanish league season with three away draws and two wins and a loss at home.
