Ange Postecoglou has opened up about the ‘brutal’ nature of his dismissal from Nottingham Forest, revealing he was let go just 18 minutes after his last match as manager.
The 60-year-old Australian faced a challenging tenure at the East Midlands club, stepping in for Nuno Espirito Santo earlier this season. Unfortunately, his time at Forest was marred by an eight-game streak without a win.
Owner Evangelos Marinakis decided to part ways with Postecoglou only 39 days into his role, following a disheartening 3-0 home defeat to Chelsea which ultimately sealed his fate.
“It’s a story I haven’t told, but it was brutal, mate. I was sacked right after the game,” Postecoglou shared.
He continued, “I knew it was imminent, just a matter of when. They actually sacked me before I even faced the press, but the press already knew. I just wanted to leave because I feared doing something I might regret.”
The Australian was dismissed by owner Evangelos Marinakis 18 minutes after the team lost 3-0 to Chelsea at home
Postecoglou added, “I hadn’t yet spoken to my assistant coaches, who were likely facing the same fate, so I needed to talk to them. As I walked through the press crowd, all eyes were on me, and I just wanted to make my exit.”
‘Security said to me Ange, how do you want to get out of here, you know [with] Premier League games all the roads are blocked for half an hour.
‘And then after half an hour they said Ange, the roads have opened but there’s obviously traffic out there and they did there best to try and get me through.
‘I got stuck at one set of traffic lights for at least 15 minutes, I’ve got Chelsea supporters giving it to me, Forest supporters weren’t much kinder.
‘I’m sitting in the car laid back and in between I got little kids coming up asking for a selfie, so what do you do, I don’t want to disappoint. So I paid for my penance, whatever mistake I made, I paid a pretty heavy price for it.’
Postecoglou was replaced by Sean Dyche, who was sacked by Forest in February. New boss Vitor Pereira is the club’s fourth manager in charge this season.
Forest’s 3-0 win at Tottenham on Sunday gave them much-needed breathing space in the relegation fight, with Pereira’s side three points clear of 18th-placed West Ham.
Postecoglou believes Spurs, another of his former clubs, are in ‘a hell of a fight’ to stay in the Premier League, but has backed them to secure safety.
Tottenham are 17th and only one point above the relegation zone after a run of two league wins in 22 fixtures.
Postecoglou, who was dismissed last June despite guiding the club to a first trophy in 17 years with Europa League success, feels his old team have what it takes to turn things around in their remaining seven matches.
‘I still have a really strong attachment to the club,’ Postecoglou added to SEN 1116.
‘It was two years and they were by no means easy years, but we invested a lot into them. Second last game we won a European trophy, which was an incredible high.
‘The connection there will be there forever. To watch them struggle has not been easy and it’s not the way I thought it would go. They’re in a hell of a fight, relegation is massive for any club but for Tottenham, it’s a pretty big deal.
‘They have some fighting to do and they have the quality to get out. They need a circuit-breaker, for sure.’
With no fixture until April 12, Tottenham players and staff have been given time off during the first week of the March international break.
However, former Spurs midfielders Tim Sherwood and Gus Poyet have put forward their services in recent days to help the club if current interim head coach Igor Tudor departs after a run of five defeats in seven.
Tudor is mourning the death of his father Mario on Sunday and that has added another layer of complexity to a situation which the club are eager to handle with sensitivity.
There has been heightened speculation around ex-Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi in recent days, but the Press Association understands the Italian is unlikely to accept a role mid-season after his February dismissal from Marseille, and is expected to wait until the summer to assess his options.
Reports in France continue to link former Monaco head coach Adi Hutter to the Tottenham job.
