BILBAO, SPAIN – MAY 21: Ange Postecoglou, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur, celebrates with the UEFA Europa League trophy after his team’s victory in the UEFA Europa League Final 2025 between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at Estadio de San Mames on May 21, 2025 in Bilbao, Spain. (Photo by Alex Pantling – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
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The first international break of the season delivered the first managerial casualty of this Premier League campaign with Nuno Espirito Santo fired by Nottingham Forest.
The Portuguese left his position at the City Ground late on Monday night, with his team 10th on the table with four points from their opening three matches.
Nuno will be replaced by Ange Postecoglou, who was relieved of his duties by Tottenham Hotspur in June, just weeks after ending the club’s 17-year wait for a major trophy by lifting the Europa League.
“We are bringing a coach to the club who has a proven and consistent record of winning trophies,” Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis said of Postecoglou.
“His experience of coaching teams at the highest level, along with his desire to build something special with us at Forest, makes him a fantastic person to help us on our journey and achieve consistently all our ambitions.
“After gaining promotion to the Premier League, then building consistently season after season to secure European football, we now must take the right step to compete with the very best and challenge for trophies.
“Ange has the credentials and the track-record to do this, and we are excited he is joining us on our ambitious journey.”
Marinakis’ warm welcome to Postecoglou, with whom he shares Greek heritage, was in stark contrast with the statement announcing Nuno’s departure, which did not contain a word from the Forest owner.
That may sound surprising, but it shouldn’t.
How Nuno’s relationship with Forest unravelled
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 24: Nuno Espirito Santo, Manager of Nottingham Forest, reacts prior to the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest at Selhurst Park on August 24, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)
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Marinakis and Nuno had been at loggerheads for months, with the latter telling Sky Sports in August that he was “very worried” about the state of his squad.
Forest reacted by signing Omari Hutchinson for a club record £37.5m ($51.2m), along with Douglas Luiz from Juventus, Rennes forward Arnaud Kalimuendo and England Under-21 star James McAtee from Manchester City.
It brought Forest’s overall spending in the transfer window, which also included the arrival of Dan Ndoye from Italian side Bologna, to just north of £205m ($278m).
But Nuno doubled down on his comments a week later, admitting his relationship with Marinakis had changed.
“I have always had a very good relationship with the owner, last season was very, very close, almost on a daily basis,” he said on August 22 ahead of his side’s visit to Crystal Palace.
“This season, not so well. I always believed that dialogue and what you say, or your opinions, are always valid. Because my concern is the squad and the season that we have ahead of us.
“Our relationship has changed. It’s not so close. It’s not on a daily basis. It’s not good, everyone at the club should be together but it’s not the reality.”
Nuno’s remarks came after The Athletic reported a row with Edu, the club’s transfer guru and Arsenal’s former sporting director, was at the heart of his disillusionment.
The Portuguese was reportedly less than enamoured with Edu’s appointent in July and the relationship between the pair deteriorated swiftly.
Crucially, Marinakis sided with Edu, which prompted Nuno to admit he was fearing for his job.
“And where there’s smoke, there’s fire, so I know how things work, but I’m here to do my job,” he said late in August.
“I understand, because I’m worried. I’m the first one to be worried. I’m the first one to be concerned.”
Those fears proved prescient as the Portuguese was told his services were no longer required, three months removed from what it would have been his second anniversary in charge of Forest.
And yet, for all of the issues surrounding Nuno’s relationship with Marinakis and Edu, Forest’s decision to part ways with their manager feels unnecessary and rushed.
Since replacing Steve Cooper in charge 21 months ago, Nuno took Forest back into Europe for the first time in three decades.
If his first half season in charge was characterized by attritional football and a safety-first approach designed to stave off the threat of relegation, Forest cut loose last term.
They were the only side to win away against Liverpool in the Premier League, recording their first win at Anfield since 1969 in the process, and followed that up with a first win away against Manchester United since 1994.
Forest were third as late as the beginning of April and while they tailed off badly in the final six games they still qualified for Europe after finishing seventh and reached the FA Cup semi-final.
Is Ange Postecoglou the right man for Forest?
BILBAO, SPAIN – MAY 21: Ange Postecoglou manager / head coach of Tottenham Hotspur kisses the UEFA Europa League trophy during the UEFA Europa League Final 2025 between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at San Mames Stadium on May 21, 2025 in Bilbao, Spain. (Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)
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It is a tough act to follow for Postecoglou, who led Spurs to a 17th place finish last season after coming fifth in his first campaign in charge.
Tottenham’s 17th-place finish was their lowest in 48 years and their 38 points was the club’s lowest tally in a Premier League season.
But the Australian went out on a high, beating United 1-0 in the Europa League final in Bilbao to lift Tottenham’s first European trophy in 41 years.
Significantly, Postecoglou’s football vision differs greatly from Nuno’s.
In his first season in north London, the 60-year-old won the Premier League manager of the month award in the first three months of the campaign after Spurs won eight and drew two of his first 10 games in charge.
Tottenham scored two or more goals in each of Postecoglou’s first seven games as manager, earning plaudits for their swashbuckling brand of football.
Conversely, he came under intense scrutiny last season for his dogmatic approach, which resulted in Spurs conceding 65 goals, the fifth-highest tally in the Premier League.
Tottenham were particularly susceptible to concede from set pieces and Postecoglou’s penchant for playing a high defensive line did little to ease their problems.
And yet, the Australian belatedly showed a pragmatic side, abandoning his principles in favour of an ultimately successful safety-first approach in the Europa League final.
Postecoglou will make his debut away at Arsenal on Saturday, when his team travel to the Emirates Stadium for the early kick-off at 12:30pm BST (7:30am EST).
Forest are looking to bounce back after crashing to a 3-0 defeat at home against West Ham before the international break, before they face second division side Swansea away from home in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.