Big Ange's Premier League Return

Karan Ahgun

— 3 min read
Big Ange's Premier League Return

Ange Postecoglou is back managing in the Premier League after replacing Nuno Espirito Santo at Nottingham Forest. The former Spurs manager has already said that he doesn't have "anything to prove" but will he enforce the same gung-ho brand of football which ultimately lost him his previous job. Whatever way you look at it, this could be an entertaining ride for Nottingham Forest fans, especially with the prominent character of Evangelos Marinakis overseeing everything.

Prior to Forest's game against Crystal Palace, fans could already see that the relationship between Nuno and Marinakis was strained. In his pre-match press conference, Nuno claimed that the relationship between the pair was "not the same" and insinuated that he knew of the threat to his position. A few days later, Marinakis said that everything between him and Nuno was "solid" and that the Portuguese was the "right man for the job". But fans would have taken these comments with a pinch of salt, and it only seemed like a matter of time before a change would happen. Adding to this sense of instability was the appointment of Edu Gaspar as "Head of Global Football". There is a sort of unwritten rule in football that sporting directors will want to bring in their own managers, which would explain why the relationship with Nuno broke down. In the end, Nuno was sacked on Monday and Postecoglou was unveiled the next day.

The appointment of Postecoglou was not really a surprise. Both him and Marinakis were together in July, when the latter presented Ange with an award for being the first coach of Greek origin to win a major European trophy. During the awards ceremony, Marinakis' admiration for Ange was very visible saying that "wherever he goes, the successes will come". Some sceptics could say that Forest's owner already knew that Ange's next destination would be at the City Ground. Ange's first game will be away to Arsenal, and it could be an opportunity for a fantastic welcome should Forest win. However, if Ange was to employ his "high line" tactics straight away, it could get messy for him like it did at Tottenham. A gradual transition from counter-attacking football to the way Ange wants to play would be the best strategy, especially as we've seen how many injuries Ange's style of play can cause.

Postecoglou's pedigree of winning trophies at Celtic and Spurs must have been one of the defining reasons as to why Marinakis turned to the Aussie-Greek manager. The owner will also be setting expectations to win some silverware soon with there being 3 possible routes this season. But the question is, will Ange be afforded the time to achieve this objective?

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