Ange Postecoglou and Evangelos Marinakis are not being thrown together as complete strangers at Nottingham Forest.

They know each other reasonably well and in their own different ways represent Greek success in modern football.

United by their shared pride in heritage, they gathered for dinner in July, where Marinakis honored Postecoglou for becoming the first coach of Greek descent—born in the Athenian suburb of Nea Filadelfeia and relocated to Australia at five—to clinch a major European club trophy.

Postecoglou knows full well what lies ahead. His capability to meet the expectations of a demanding chairman will be tested, but he remains confident in his skill set.

During his two seasons at Spurs, one of his notable strengths was his aptitude for rallying a team around a cause, creating cohesion and inspiring belief in his approach.

Now, Ange Postecoglou and Evangelos Marinakis will join forces at Nottingham Forest, following the dismissal of Nuno Espirito Santo to accommodate the Greek-born Australian.

In July Marinakis handed Postecoglou an award for being the first Greek-born coach to win a major European competition

There’s no doubt about his prowess as a speaker. Postecoglou was motivating as he revitalized a club worn by the bitterness of Antonio Conte’s final weeks and a chaotic aftermath with Cristian Stellini.

He made his entrance without a backroom team, standing solo, and the players quickly adapted to him, many remaining loyal until the end. Fans rallied in support, and even Daniel Levy was swept along, declaring: ‘We have our Tottenham back’.

Levy and Marinakis both fall into the category of ‘difficult chairmen’ although for different reasons.

At Spurs, Levy maintained a respectful distance from the football. He was not likely to storm the tunnel piling pressure on the referee. Nor wade onto the pitch to berate his head coach in public.

Tensions might have simmered in private – usually when the transfer market was open – but Postecoglou, for all his wonderful oratory skills, seldom chose to elaborate on relationships at board level. Compared with some predecessors, he fronted the club impeccably.

Wise move. And, as he was always so quotable talking on other matters he was rarely pressed too hard on the subject. Not until the final weeks, when the strain of poor form led to situation where his days were numbered, regardless of what was happening in the Europa League.

Postecoglou cannot abide small talk. He would rather pass time in silence when in the company of all but close associates. This should chime with Marinakis. For him, all talk is business talk. He is not for wasting words, either.

He employs others to schmooze on his behalf and yet will demand an open line of communication to the individual responsible for the results and performances of his football team.

Ange Postecoglou has had his fair share of different owners over the years, including another hard taskmaster at Tottenham in Daniel Levy

Now he will have to navigate the Marinakis conundrum that Nuno fell foul of this summer

Nuno revealed how he and Marinakis would talk ‘almost on a daily basis’ when in harmony. After games, the owner would expect a full debrief. It was when those conversations fell silent that Nuno knew he was for the chop.

Postecoglou will not relish interference or demands to explain what went wrong on occasions when they do. On matchday he can be prone to disappear deep within his own thoughts. He is not keen to take advice or interruption, not even from his own coaching staff. He would rather concentrate on the game.

After matches at Spurs, he might occasionally pop into the chairman’s suite to show his face and shake hands with important guests, but he did not like to linger.

Life will be different with Marinakis. Postecoglou is smart enough to realise this. His various chairmen will all have tested him in different ways. This one comes with an impulsive nature and a reputation for a fierce temper.

At 60, Postecoglou is not walking into this as a fresh-faced innocent. He has sampled the glare of the Premier League and will be better for it. He is accustomed to managing upwards and coping with the influences of others upon recruitment strategy, which stretches far beyond the realm of the head coach, these days.

At Forest, that will mean forging an understanding with Edu, the global head of football for the Marinakis stable of clubs who Nuno very much did not get on with – a sticking point that was one of the major factors in his exit from the City Ground.

Postecoglou’s relationship with Edu will be integral to the challenge of imposing his own adventurous attacking style of football upon a team successful by surrendering possession, defending deep and breaking at pace.

There could hardly be two more distinct tactical styles than the pure-Postecoglou early Spurs and Forest under Nuno – one subscribing to all-out attack, the other preferring to sit deep and hit opponents on the break.

Marinakis will not be slow to let Postecoglou know if he thinks something is wrong, having charged onto the pitch to speak to Nuno after a match in May

Postecoglou will be back in the Europa League this season, with Forest returning to European competition for the first time in 30 years 

Postecoglou did adapt though, whereas Nuno’s style appeared to have been worked out in the run-in, when Forest slipped from third to seventh in the space of a month. 

Ultimately, Postecoglou was not the dogmatist he liked to make out. Pragmatism won the day and neither that glorious night for Tottenham in Bilbao, nor the excellent quarter-final victory at Eintracht Frankfurt, would have happened without it, so it will be intriguing to see if his instinct is to revert to his free-spirted principles without the luxuries of time and transfers.

It would require a major overhaul and therefore fraught with risk, when logic would suggest the surest way to lay the groundwork for a prosperous relationship with Marinakis would be to win some games.

Forest return to Europe this month and if Postecoglou can recreate his Europa League success he will be a hero all over again.

The stuff of Greek legend not myth. And if not, well at least he might appreciate the Athenian passion fuelling an urgent desire to succeed and disturb the elite.