Another big payday would soften the blow, but it’s hard not to feel sorry for Ange Postecoglou, who was sacked by Nottingham Forest bosses after just eight games.
Andy Dunn is the Mirror’s chief sportswriter.
Sadly, Ange Postecoglou could have achieved something truly remarkable towards the end of his 39 days in charge of Nottingham Forest. He was alone among 30,495 people watching. And after the final whistle, he was alone, the stands nearly empty and no one on the field to comfort him.
Even though everyone knew, no one comforted him. When Evangelos Marinakis left the throne in the second half of this Forest defeat, everyone knew.
Everyone knew it when the home team surrendered in a horrifying few minutes of the second half. Everyone knew it when Forest missed so many great chances.
Everyone knew it when there was a deadly silence after Josh Acheampong’s opening goal. Everyone knew that Postecoglou’s 39th day as manager of this great club would be his last.
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read more: Nottingham Forest’s brutal Ange Postecoglou releases full sacking statement after five minutes of abuse
Fittingly, confirmation was made in a 39-word statement released just 20 minutes after the final whistle. This was a very modern dismissal, yet a very old-fashioned one.
It is modern in the sense that less than six weeks is not a reasonable judgment period, but it is old-fashioned in that Mr. Marinakis is not interested in employment incentives. To be honest, Postecoglou was sacked the moment Pedro Neto doubled Chelsea’s lead.
As likable as Postecoglou is, no one will be surprised by his dismissal. In fact, given the number of games the Spurs lost last season, his appointment was probably more of a surprise than his firing.
Postecoglou is a likeable guy, but he has developed a strange trait of losing football matches, which is not ideal for a Premier League manager. Chelsea never impressed, so it took a lot of effort to lose this game so miserably.
Of course, there are some things that a business owner, no matter what business owner, cannot legally enact. And most of them happened in Postecoglou’s eighth and final game against Forest.
Elliott Anderson could not legally legislate for not unpacking the form he took when offered an early sitter to Latvia. He was unable to snap-hook a similar chance from Morgan Gibbs-White midway through the first half.
He could not legislate Igor Jesus, who strives within formalities to reach the bar and the post. He failed to legislate for Mats Sells to assist Neto’s free-kick and for Reece James to score Chelsea’s third goal.
And by the same token, sometimes things go well for managers.
Maresca, who made three substitutions at half-time, was able to pass a note to James during the second half. James read it and a few minutes later put his name on the scoresheet for the first time this season.
Perhaps the memo was to instruct James to avoid his teammates’ fifth red card in six games. Oh, if so, that instruction was ignored. And Maresca was understandably unimpressed by the stupidity of Maro Gusto, who received a second yellow card while Chelsea were winning.
But for Postecoglou and Forrest, late-game red was irrelevant because Marinakis had prepared Postecoglou’s card well in advance. Knowing the store owner’s temperament, this decision may have been unavoidable.
But were those eight games really enough for Postecoglou to try to change the Forest side’s style and approach, despite his lack of wins in his time as manager? I’m sure Marinakis knew that was what Coach Postecoglou was trying to do. And if Forest had taken advantage of their first-half advantage against Chelsea, Ange would definitely have stayed at his post.
And the nature of the actual act doesn’t sit well in a nice club like this. Although it was predictable, it was still brutal.
For Postecoglou, this is not the end of his career in management, and a second paycheck in the coming months will soften the blow. But as he stood alone a few yards from Marinakis’ empty seat, one could not help but feel pity for the decent man.
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