Ange Postecoglou has been sacked by Nottingham Forest immediately following their 3-0 defeat by Chelsea.
Forest confirmed their second head coach dismissal of the season by mid-October in a short statement released around 18 minutes after the full-time whistle in Saturday’s latest Premier League loss at the City Ground.
Postecoglou was reportedly told of the decision straight after the game and said goodbye to the players in the dressing room before departing.
“Nottingham Forest Football Club can confirm that after a series of disappointing results and performances, Ange Postecoglou has been relieved of his duties as head coach with immediate effect,” Forest’s statement read.
Nottingham Forest Football Club can confirm that after a series of disappointing results and performances, Ange Postecoglou has been relieved of his duties as head coach with immediate effect.
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) October 18, 2025
The Club will make no further comment at this time.
“The club will make no further comment at this time.”
The attention now quickly turns to who Forest - who dismissed Nuno Espirito Santo last month before the Portuguese took the reins at fellow strugglers West Ham - will appoint as their third head coach of the season already as they bid to arrest their alarming slump and move away from the relegation zone, with out-of-work former Burnley and Everton boss Sean Dyche having been heavily linked with the role in recent weeks.
The Athletic report that Forest have made contact with Roberto Mancini, the former Manchester City and Italy manager who left his job as Saudi Arabia coach a year ago and has this week been linked with Manchester United.
Fulham’s Marco Silva is another coach to have been mentioned in connection with the Forest post.
Forest’s 39-word statement confirming his exit matched the number of days that Postecoglou was in charge in the East Midlands, marking the shortest full-time managerial reign in Premier League history - the Australian taking the unwanted record from Les Reed, who was sacked after only 40 days at Charlton between November and December 2006.
Owner Evangelos Marinakis - who left his seat midway through the second half against Chelsea, having evidently seen enough - wasted no time after goals from Josh Acheampong, Pedro Neto and Reece James condemned free-falling Forest to their fourth consecutive defeat across all competitions and sixth in just eight games under Postecoglou, who did not manage a single win in his short-lived stint at the helm.
In addition to losing to Chelsea, Forest were also beaten by Newcastle, Sunderland and Arsenal in the Premier League under Postecoglou, who picked up a solitary point away at promoted Burnley last month.
They also lost at home to FC Midtjylland and drew with Real Betis in the Europa League, after blowing a 2-0 half-time lead away at Championship side Swansea in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
Forest conceded 18 goals in total during Postecoglou’s eight matches, scoring seven.
"I didn’t speak with Ange. I didn’t see him, but I feel very sorry for him,” Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca said in his post-match press conference at the City Ground after Postecoglou’s swift sacking.
"But this is a business where if you don’t win games, the consequences for all of us are exactly the same. Sorry for him."
Postecoglou had taken aim at his critics and launched a staunch defence of his record in a defiant five-minute monologue delivered at an extraordinary Forest press conference on Friday, in which he said that he “just doesn’t fit” and again underlined his habit of always winning a trophy at his previous managerial stops.
He previously left a hugely successful spell at Celtic to join Tottenham in 2023 and spent two seasons in north London, delivering their first major silverware for 17 years in last season’s Europa League before being sacked 16 days later, having finished 17th in the Premier League.
