FOREST SQUAD OPENS UP ON SHOCKING ANGE POSTECOGLOU DEPARTURE
Inside story on Ange Postecoglou's 39-day Forest reign reveals player friction over his intense training, a dressing room rant, and his swift sacking after the Chelsea loss. Murillo even liked the dismissal post.
Following the firing, the team's candid opinions on now-former head coach Ange Postecoglou have surfaced.
Postecoglou was sacked from his duties shortly after Forest's 3-0 home loss to Chelsea on Saturday. Since taking Nuno Espirito Santo's place at the City Ground last month, Forest has lost eight games without a victory.
Before Forest's most recent setback, the writing seemed to be done, as Ange said in a fiery press conference earlier this week that "the story always ends the same… me with a trophy."
Josh Acheampong, Pedro Neto, and Reece James all scored goals to end Ange's tenure, which lasted just 40 days and was the shortest managerial tenure in Premier League history.
As usual, several candidates have been proposed to fill the vacancy, with Sean Dyche seemingly the front-runner.
However, where did Postecoglou's situation go so wrong in such a short period of time?
According to a Mail story, some players "raised a few eyebrows" since Ange's workouts were more intensive than Nuno's, while others were "excited" by the Australian's tactics and philosophy of playing in a free-flowing offensive style.
Additionally, it is alleged that Postecoglou was "dismissive" of the team's accomplishments from the previous campaign, in which Forest qualified for European competition and finished seventh. Under Nuno, the Reds advanced to the FA Cup semifinals in 2024–2025 as well.
When Forest lost 3-2 to Swansea City of the Championship, who scored twice in stoppage time in the Carabao Cup match, cracks began to show up in Ange's second game as manager. The former Spurs manager then yelled at his players in the away dressing room.
Despite signing a new three-year contract with the team in July, The Mail also claims that there have been concerns regarding important player Morgan Gibbs-White's mentality due to rumours of a summer transfer to Manchester City and Spurs.
Centre-back Murillo even approved of Forest's official statement confirming the 60-year-old's dismissal, which only served to further aggravate the feelings of the outgoing Postecoglou.
Minutes after the Chelsea game, the coach was told he was fired, according to a story from The Guardian. He then said the players' farewell and wished them well in the future.
Jules Breach, a reporter for TNT Sports, clarified that Ange went out alone with a knapsack on his back.
Breach stated, "Based on our observations in the tunnel, Ange Postecoglou entered the home dressing room, talked to the players, and then actually descended to the opposite side of the tunnel area before that interview took place. We watched him leave, and Edu was in the hallway at the time.
"Ange Postecoglou headed out toward the parking lot while carrying a bag. Although it appeared that the writing was on the wall at that point, the news was not confirmed until a few minutes later. As far as we know, Ange Postecoglou has already left the stadium, but her backroom crew is still present."
Postecoglou's brief tenure at Forest will undoubtedly be the subject of more discussion, but for the time being, one thing is certain: he will not remember his time in Nottingham with nostalgia.
AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY
Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.
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Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.
Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.
Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.
Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.
West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.
Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.
Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.
CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH
As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.
Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.
After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.
He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.
Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.
“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”
Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.
Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.
He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.
Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.
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