Five months on from coming within a point of Champions League football, Nottingham Forest are in a relegation fight
Hand the keys back, pack the suitcase, take down the pictures, terminate the lease. Ange Postecoglou really should have never left temporary digs for a Nottingham apartment during the international break. Football moves fast, the Australian sacked after just 40 days and eight games in charge.
One hundred and sixty-four days ago, Chelsea’s previous visit to the City Ground on a sunny May afternoon, the complexion was different. At kick-off there was a contrasting kind of jeopardy in the air. It was the final game of the season, qualifying for the Champions League still a distinct possibility.
What has unravelled in the five months since has been almost entirely disastrous for Forest. The writing was on the wall for Postecoglou the moment Evangelos Marinakis departed his seat in the directors’ box just after the hour, at which point Forest trailed 2-0, decision made.
Marinakis left the stadium altogether. Eighteen minutes after the final whistle, Forest confirmed Postecoglou’s exit. His removal is in effect Marinakis acknowledging both his mistake and the reality Forest, five months on from coming within a point of reaching the game’s grandest club stage, are in a relegation fight.
