Ange Postecoglou: Nottingham Forest job came ‘too soon’ after Tottenham

Ange Postecoglou has admitted he regrets taking the head coach role at Nottingham Forest this season, believing it was “too soon” after he left Tottenham Hotspur.

Postecoglou was sacked by Spurs last summer despite breaking the club’s 17-year trophy drought by winning the Europa League trophy just weeks prior.

He then suffered the same fate, but this time at the hands of owner Evangelos Marinakis at Forest, where he was let go after a 39-day winless spell earlier this season.

And speaking on The Overlap podcast, Postecoglou opened up on the decision to take the job at the City Ground, and how it came at the wrong time.

“The whole Forest situation was on me. It was, I think, a case of being careful what you wish for,” Postecoglou said.

“It was a bad decision by me to go in there, and I’ve got to take ownership of that. There’s no point blaming timing or circumstances — I should never have gone in. It was too soon after Tottenham.

“I went in at a time when they were used to doing things a certain way, and although I was always going to do things differently, I’ve got to cop that. It was my mistake. It’s no one else’s fault.

“It was the first time I hadn’t worked in 20-odd years, and I was lost. In the off-season, you’re normally busy — transfers, preseason, your mind is always ticking over. This time I wasn’t, and I felt lost.”

Forest have since appointed two new managers, with Vitor Pereira succeeding Sean Dyche to become the club’s fourth permanent manager of the season, a Premier League record.

Amid the managerial merry-go-round Forest find themselves just three points above the drop zone, a significant underperformance compared to the quality of the squad, with Postecoglou speaking about the uncertainty he walked into.

“Usually when you go into a club, they want change. But the reality is, I don’t think they really wanted what I had to offer,” he said.

“I don’t even think they wanted to interview me. Something must have happened behind the scenes, because after the previous season, there was no way they would normally have come for me.

“So you’re not walking into a normal environment where everyone wants change. I saw a group of players and thought, I can turn this around quickly. But strategically, it was never really going to work.

“By the time we started playing competitive games, we never got traction. It’s no wonder the supporters never connected with me. Even the players were a bit distant.”

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– Forest’s 4th boss of season, Vitor Pereira, has ‘trust’ in owner Marinakis

Postecoglou was eventually sacked by Forest just 19 minutes after a fourth successive loss against Chelsea, and believes he should have had more “extensive discussions” before taking the job.

“In the end, I have to take ownership. I made a decision based on not working and seeing a group of players I thought I could improve. That blinded me to the reality — it was never going to work long-term,” Postecoglou added.

“Even if I’d won a few games, it wouldn’t have lasted.

“And the owner [Marinakis] just wants to win — however that happens. You can say what you want about him, but they probably wouldn’t even be in the Premier League without him. But he wants results immediately.

“But every manager needs to go through a sticky patch. That’s how you learn about people — players, staff, fans. You need to live through it. At Spurs, we did that. We went through the tough period and got the reward. I had those players in the palm of my hand after that.

“Looking back, I don’t know what I was thinking. I should’ve had more extensive discussions before taking the job. But I’ve always been the type to say: Get me in there and I’ll show you.”