How Ange Postecoglou's eight-game Forest nightmare unfolded

Thirty-nine days and eight matches after being appointed, Ange Postecoglou's Nottingham Forest reign has come to an end.

Saturday's 3-0 defeat by Chelsea proved the final straw after an eight-game winless run and owner Evangelos Marinakis saw fit to dismiss the Australian just minutes after the full-time whistle at the City Ground.

It came off the back of a long international break in which Postecoglou survived the axe but saw a host of managers linked with his position.

Postecoglou's tenure ranks among the shortest in Premier League history.

Technically, Sam Allardyce's 30 days in charge of Leeds United in 2023 is the record holder -- he was brought in on May 3 in a last-ditch attempt to keep Leeds up, but after he failed to do so, his contract came to an end on June 2. Les Reed is next on the list (40 days). Reed was sacked 40 days after taking over at Charlton in 2006.

As well as failing to recoup three points from a single match, Postecoglou saw his team score just seven goals while conceding 18. Coincidentally, Forest are in the same position as Tottenham Hotspur where when Postecoglou left the north London club four months ago: 17th.

Sept. 13: Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham Forest

When Postecoglou was appointed, Forest had earned four points from their first three games. Postecoglou's first game was a return to north London and a familiar foe in the shape of Arsenal.

The bunched nature of the early weeks of the season meant that Forest weren't far off the pace at the top. In fact, as the teams walked out, Arsenal's in-house commentator said, "A win for Nottingham Forest would see them climb above Arsenal into third place..."

What followed, though, was a Noni Madueke-inspired hammering that began Forest's slide.

The Arsenal winger ran riot even if he didn't get on the scoresheet. That came via a Martín Zubimendi thunderbolt from distance, a Viktor Gyökeres tap-in, and a Zubimendi header from close range.

The lone Forest chance on the day came off a Dan Ndoye cross that slammed into Chris Wood's chest and incredibly onto (and off) the Arsenal crossbar.

The stats underlined a story that was already well-told by the 3-0 scoreline: 1.84 xG vs 0.20, 16 shots vs 5. Postecoglou, though, was upbeat, and insisted he would make his mark at Forest by midweek, when they would come up against Swansea.

Sept. 17: Swansea 3-2 Nottingham Forest

The Carabao Cup offered Postecoglou and his team an opportunity to rediscover their winning touch, and travelling to midtable Championship side Swansea, they started like the team drilled in the ways of "Ange-ball."

Igor Jesus gave them the lead in the 15th minute and made it two with a tap-in after a sublime move in first half stoppage time.

But in the second half, Forest didn't slow down the tempo, allowing the game to become end-to-end and a header from Cameron Burgess gave Swansea hope in in the 68th minute.

Forest squandered at least three great chances right after that, before Swansea struck twice in stoppage time -- a clever Zan Vipotnik finish in the 93rd minute, and a superb Burgess volley four minutes later giving them a stunning win.

Sept. 20: Burnley 1-1 Nottingham Forest

Neco Williams gave Forest a flying start away at Turf Moor with a deflected hit before Jaidon Anthony capitalised on some shaky Forest defending to make it 1-1.

Both teams had chances to take the three points, but good goalkeeping and some woodwork-related hard luck meant it stayed 1-1.

What that meant, though, was that Postecoglou had earned his first point as Forest head coach.

Sept. 24: Real Betis 2-2 Nottingham Forest

The two-time European Cup winners' first European game in 30 years came against Real Betis in the Europa League.

Postecoglou had every reason to feel confident given he was only a matter of months removed from winning the tournament with Spurs.

Cédric Bakambu gave Betis an early lead in Seville before Jesus swiftly equalised with another of his tap-ins at the end of a flowing move.

Jesus then made it two inside the first half with a header and the score remained 2-1 in Forest's favour until the 85th minute.

That's when ex-Manchester United winger Antony equalised to keep Postecoglou waiting for his first win as Forest manager while ruing his side's inability to close another game out.

Sept. 27: Nottingham Forest 0-1 Sunderland

Postecoglou's first home game in charge offered Forest a real route to positivity.

They outplayed the newly-promoted side thoroughly, earning 65% possession and accumulating 1.68 xG to the visitor's 1.19. Forest also out-passed them 521 to 258 and had 22 shots on goal vs. Sunderland's 11.

However, the one stat that mattered read in Sunderland's favour.

For all of Forest's chances -- and there were plenty -- the only goal came via a cleverly worked Omar Alderete header. The result saw Forest drop to 17th in the league.

Postecoglou said they were "dominating in every aspect" but just not winning.

Oct. 2: Nottingham Forest 2-3 FC Midtjylland

The City Ground welcomed back European football with a classic against Danish side FC Midtjylland.

In the space of a wild six minutes in the first half, Ousmane Diao opened the scoring for the visitors, Ndoye equalised for Forest, and Mads Bech Sørensen scored a scrappy rebound to make it 2-1 to Midtjylland.

With Forest pushing for an equaliser from minute 24 on, they were susceptible to Midtjylland counters, and a particularly incisive one late in the second half saw substitute Valdemar Byskov make it 3-1.

Wood scored a stoppage-time penalty for the hosts but that would prove just a consolation.

By the end of the game, Forest fans were directing "sacked in the morning" chants at their head coach as he became the first in 100 years to fail to win any of his first six games.

Forest fell to 25th with just one point from two games in the Europa League group phase.

Oct. 5: Newcastle United 2-0 Nottingham Forest

Heading to St. James Park without a win, Forest desperately needed an inspired performance but despite showing improved resilience, the result was all too familiar.

After some committed Forest defending, Bruno Guimarães' sensational curler from distance in the second half opened the game up and paved the way for Nick Woltemade penalty to seal Newcastle's deserved win.

Newcastle generated 3.45 xG to Forest's 0.30 and had 18 shots to the visitors' five.

It left Postecoglou's position vulnerable heading into the international break with many expecting his time at the club to come to an early end.

Oct. 18: Nottingham Forest 0-3 Chelsea

Postecoglou surprised many onlookers by surviving the two-week October international break.

He had previously said he was up for the fight at Forest and he backed that up by defending his Premier League record at Spurs during an extraordinary news conference the day before welcoming Chelsea to the City Ground.

An encouraging first 45 minutes in which the hosts were more than a match for Enzo Maresca's Club World Cup winners raised hopes of a much-needed result, but a triple halftime change from the Chelsea boss transformed the contest.

It only took until the 49th minute for Maresca's switch to pay dividends as Josh Acheampong nodded Pedro Neto's cross past a helpless Matz Sels.

The Forest goalkeeper did his manager no favours three minutes later, though, as he failed to keep out a fairly tame Neto free kick that duly prompted the television cameras to focus on a seething Marinakis high in the stands at the City Ground.

Around 15 minutes later, after Forest had fluffed a host of chances, the cameras panned up to Marinakis' seat to find it left ominously vacant.

Reece James put some gloss on the result after he punished Sels' weak punch out from a corner.

Minutes after the full-time whistle sounded at the City Ground, Forest confirmed that Postecoglou was out of work once again.

Click here to read article