Big Ange joins Forest after Nuno becomes first EPL manager to get sacked this season

Nuno Espirito Santo became the first coaching casualty of the English Premiership season, and was replaced by former Spurs boss Ange Postecogclu after his sacking on Monday night, according to Sky Sports News.

The Portuguese manager was relieved of his duties after publicly falling out with Greek club owner Evangelos Marinakis.

It seemed like not too long ago that the former Wolves manager was feted at Forest, after leading the club on a surprise run in the league that almost took them into the Champions League. 

The 51-year-old was given a new contract in June after guiding Forest into the Europa League, their first European qualification since 1995, but cracks were beginning to show behind the scenes.

He questioned the club’s transfer business ahead of the new season and prospects for success. Forest did eventually get going in the transfer market, buoyed no doubt by confirmation of their Europa League status.

Their signings included Omari Hutchinson, Arnaud Kalimuendo-Muinga, Dan Ndoye, Dilane Bakwa and exciting Manchester City prospect James McAtee. The Tricky Trees also secured shrewd loan deals for Douglas Luis and Aleksondr Zinchenko.

Forest’s transfer window will probably be remembered more for the saga involving star midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White, though. He eventually pledged his future to the club, amid threats of legal action, after Spurs thought they had activated the player’s buyout clause.

There was no salvaging Nuno’s relationship with the Greek billionaire, it would seem. 

There were signs of an earlier rift between manager and owner when Marinakis walked onto the field to confront Nuno after Forest drew with Leicester as their Champions League push began to unravel towards the end of last season.

Forest said in a statement: “Nottingham Forest Football Club confirms that, following recent circumstances, Nuno Espirito Santo has today been relieved of his duties as head coach.

“The club thanks Nuno for his contribution during a very successful era at the City Ground, in particular his role in the 2024/25 season, which will forever be remembered fondly in the history of the club.

“As someone who played a pivotal role in our success last season, he will always hold a special place in our journey.”

Nuno struggled to explain just what went wrong with their relationship.

“I always had a very good relationship with the owner, last season was very close,” the Portuguese said in a recent media conference. “This season, not so well. No, it’s not (good).”

Postecoglou had been out of work since leaving Spurs in June. The 60-year-old Australian was sacked by the club just 16 days after leading them to Europa League glory with victory over Manchester United in the final that also secured a Champions League spot for the club this season.

However, the former Celtic manager paid the price for a dismal league campaign where they finished 17th. "Big Ange" was duly replaced by Thomas Frank of Brentford, the highly rated manager who has made a decent start to life in north London this season, with Spurs sitting in fourth place.

Forest are currently in 10th spot in the table, with a win, loss and draw in their first three matches under Nuno.

Postecoglu’s first match in charge of Forest is a tricky encounter against Spurs’ arch-rivals Arsenal this weekend.