Nottingham Forest chief Evangelos Marinakis is set for crunch talks with under-fire boss Ange Postecoglou over the tactician’s long-term future, coming after a dismal start to life for Nuno Espirito Santo’s replacement at the City Ground.
Ange Postecoglou's job under threat after 2-0 Newcastle defeat
Reports in the build up to their 2-0 loss to Newcastle United at St. James’ Park claimed that Postecoglou’s job could be under threat if Forest tasted defeat up north, and this could now be realised.
Second-half goals from Bruno Guimaraes and Nick Woltemade slapped Postecoglou with his fifth loss from seven games in charge, and the Australian remains winless after making the worst start of any Forest manager for 100 years.
Arsenal 3-0 Forest
Premier League
Swansea 3-2 Forest
Carabao Cup
Burnley 1-1 Forest
Premier League
Real Betis 2-2 Forest
Europa League
Forest 0-1 Sunderland
Premier League
Forest 2-3 FC Midtjylland
Europa League
Newcastle 2-0 Forest
Premier League
The pressure is well and truly on Forest’s new manager after stepping into the shoes of fan favourite Nuno, who guided the Tricky Trees back to Europe for the first time since 1995 last season.
Since Nuno’s departure, Forest have been on a downward trajectory, with Postecoglou confirming that he’s set for crunch Marinakis talks over the international break.
“I expect to have a discussion with the owner and everyone else at the football club about what we’ve embarked on here, where we’re at and what we need to do for sure,” said Postecoglou said after their loss at Newcastle.
“If people want to make an assessment of me after three and a half weeks, which we’ve had six or seven games in a row, then there’s nothing I can do about that.”
It is believed that Marinakis already has potential replacements in mind for Postecoglou, who could become the shortest-reigning manager in Premier League history if Forest decide to take action immediately after Newcastle.
Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner is emerging as a “prime candidate” to succeed the 60-year-old, according to TEAMtalk, but it is very debatable whether the Austrian would leave Selhurst Park midway through 2025/2026 for what appears to be a volatile project.
Glasner is out of contract at the end of this season, as is Fulham’s Marco Silva, and The Mail’s Tom Collomosse also reports that the latter is a long-term target for Forest.
However, any approach for Silva is apparently unlikely to happen before the conclusion of 2025/2026.
Marinakis pictured close to Benitez amid Nottingham Forest manager search
That being said, another coach who’s readily available now and wants a return to England is former Liverpool, Newcastle and Everton boss Rafael Benitez.
As reported by Collomosse, Marinakis was spotted in “close proximity” to Benitez during Arsenal’s 2-0 win over OIympiacos last week, and while the Spaniard was there in his role as a technical observer for UEFA, he’s apparently keen on coming back to Britain for work.
Clubs
Tenure
Matches in charge
Titles/achievements
Real Valladolid
1995-96
25
Osasuna
1996
9
Extremadura
1997-99
92
Segunda promotion
Tenerife
2000-01
46
Segunda promotion
Valencia
2001-04
162
La Liga X2
UEFA Cup
Liverpool
2004-12
350
Champions League
FA Cup
UEFA Super Cup
Internazionale
2010
25
FIFA Club World Cup
Supercoppa Italiana
Chelsea
2012-13
48
Europa League
Napoli
2013-15
112
Coppa Italia
Supercoppa Italiana
Real Madrid
2015-16
25
Newcastle United
2016-19
146
EFL Championship
Dalian Professional
2019-21
38
Everton
2021-22
22
Celta de Vigo
2023-24
33
Benitez also has good relations with the Marinakis family, so this could be one to watch, even if the Champions League-winning boss hasn’t worked in management since leaving Celta Vigo in 2024.
His last job in the Premier League was also his disastrous spell at Everton, though you can make a case that it was always doomed to fail given Benitez’s ties to Liverpool.
Benitez, after a glittering career at some of Europe’s top clubs, is regarded as a “world-class manager” by his peers, but he’d be taking on an almighty task to steer Forest back up the table amid the toxicity right now.