Jamie O'Hara names exact moment he knew Nottingham Forest were going to sack Ange Postecoglou, notes similar Tottenham failure
Ange Postecoglou finds himself back on the managerial scrapheap just four months on from departing Tottenham.
Triumph in continental competition was not enough to save the Australian after Tottenham endured a miserable Premier League campaign, which saw them finish 17th last season.
Postecoglou was afforded an opportunity by Nottingham Forest back in September but it proved an unmitigated disaster.
Nottingham Forest sacked Postecoglou after just 39 days following Saturday's 3-0 defeat to Chelsea at the City Ground, after a reign that lasted just eight games and yielded no victories.
Jamie O'Hara knew Postecoglou writing was on the wall after what he saw
Noted Tottenham supporter Jamie O'Hara was discussing events at the City Ground with co-host Jason Cundy on their Saturday evening phone-in show on talkSPORT.
The pair said the writing was on the wall for Postecoglou as soon as Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis was seen leaving his seat in the directors' box around the hour mark.
Postecoglou was sacked before even getting to do media duties after the game.
Cundy said: "The biggest surprise is that it happened literally before he got back in the dressing room."
O'Hara replied: "Marinakis left mate, I think it was 60th minute he left his seat and didn't come back you knew that was trouble there. Soon as Ange walked off the pitch mate, sacked. He's gone. I feel for him a bit on a personal level."
Former Spurs midfielder O'Hara went on to note a similar failure he saw from Forest that he had witnessed from Tottenham when playing under Postecoglou, with Forest having wasted a host of first-half chances.
"That's just Ange, where he was at, you know? Do alright, but then just lose. It's what I saw at Tottenham, do alright, should score, get beat, get beat, get beat. In the end…"
Ange Postecoglou fails to fix Tottenham failures at Nottingham Forest
Postecoglou ended Tottenham's 17-year trophy drought, but it came as a surprise to no one when his two-year spell as manager was ended shortly after the end of the 2024-25 campaign.
He made a promising start to life at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but Spurs fell away in his first campaign before managing to secure a fifth-place finish.
- Forest conceded 18 goals in the eight matches they played under Postecoglou.
- They took just one point from the five Premier League games he oversaw.
- His 39-day reign is the shortest permanent stint as a manager in the Premier League.
Tottenham were badly damaged by injuries last term, there is no denying that, but a stubbornness to stick with his high-line system saw Spurs undone on the counter-attack time after time.
It was a familiar failing at Forest, though you do have to question the thinking behind moving from a pragmatic boss in former Spurs manager to Nuno Espirito Santo, to an attack-minded coach like Postecoglou.
Ultimately, though, you have to be able to adapt to win matches in the Premier League and, not for the first time, Postecoglou has simply failed to do that.
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