Nottingham Forest Manager Ange Postecoglou Defiant As Fans Demand Sacking

Ange Postecoglou remained defiant despite furious calls from Nottingham Forest supporters for him to be sacked, as the Australian’s winless run stretched to six games with a 3-2 Europa League defeat to Midtjylland at the City Ground.

The result leaves Forest still searching for a first victory under Postecoglou, who was appointed on 9 September to replace Nuno Espirito Santo. It also marks the first time in a century that a permanent Forest manager has failed to win any of his opening six matches.

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The mood inside the stadium turned toxic after Valdemar Byskov struck a late winner for the visitors, sparking chants of “You’re getting sacked in the morning” from the home supporters, while some even sang in praise of Nuno.

“The fans are disappointed. They are allowed to have an opinion on it. I heard their opinion,” said a downcast Postecoglou, who was jeered as he walked down the tunnel at full-time.

“Nothing surprises me in football. It's the climate we're in. It seems that's the way things are going. It's nothing I can control.”

The Europa League defeat came just days after Forest’s 1-0 home loss to Sunderland in the Premier League, and supporters’ frustration has quickly boiled over. 

The European tie had been billed as a landmark night – Forest’s first home match in continental competition for 29 years – but instead ended in bitter disappointment and heavy criticism of the new boss.

It was only four months ago that Postecoglou was celebrating lifting the Europa League trophy with Tottenham, but he was dismissed 16 days later after a poor domestic season. Now, history is threatening to repeat itself, with his tenure at Forest under immediate scrutiny.

"My responsibility is to make sure we get some wins for this football club and progress it," Postecoglou said. 

"I would prefer if people were optimistic in their outlook of what I'm doing. I can only change that by winning games of football."

Despite Forest’s summer spending spree of around £180m, results have nosedived, and owner Evangelos Marinakis – known for making swift managerial changes – is facing questions of his own. Nuno, who led Forest to seventh in the Premier League last season, was dismissed after his relationship with Marinakis broke down.

Postecoglou, however, insists his project is not far from clicking into place.

“I really believe in the process of what we're doing and I don't think we're far away from being the team that can eradicate the situation we're in at the moment and get the results,” he said.

"Yes I do, nothing I saw tonight changes any of that. I get the mood around the place isn't going to be great, and I understand people's attitude at the moment, particularly towards me, but it's not unfamiliar territory for me.”

Forest’s European hopes now hang in the balance, with Chris Wood’s stoppage-time penalty offering little consolation after Ousmane Diao and Mads Bech had struck for Midtjylland. Dan Ndoye’s equaliser briefly raised spirits, but defensive lapses left Forest with nothing to show.

"It's a really poor outcome from us,” Postecoglou admitted.

“It was an important night for many reasons and [a] similar tale, us letting ourselves down in key moments and having a mountain to climb.”

The Australian will hope Sunday’s Premier League clash with Newcastle can halt the slide before the international break, though Forest fans have already turned on him.

Former striker Michail Antonio believes Marinakis may hold off for now: “I feel he will get extra time because he was appointed by the owner. He will give him extra time to get his philosophy going, because right now it feels he is struggling to get his tactics across to the players.”

Ex-Forest and Leicester boss Martin O’Neill added a blunt assessment: “Wins are the name of the game - it is as simple as that. The crowd were already against him in many aspects, but we are six games in, you'd hardly know the name of the tea lady after that amount of time.”

On the growing unrest, O’Neill concluded: “You have to deal with all the noise around you. You can't allow it to dictate everything, but you can't avoid it.”