Chaos, Crisis and a Chairman Out of Control
A club with proud history now looks rudderless under Evangelos Marinakis as another manager walks the plank after only 39 days!
The Shortest Reign in Premier League History
It takes a lot to shock modern football, but even by the Premier League’s relentless standards, what unfolded at the City Ground earlier today bordered on farce. Ange Postecoglou, barely six weeks into the Nottingham Forest job, was dismissed in the tunnel moments after his side’s 3-0 home defeat to Chelsea. Nineteen minutes after the final whistle, the club confirmed the news, ending a 39 day reign that will go down as the shortest for a permanent manager in Premier League history.
The scene told its own story. Forest’s owner Evangelos Marinakis had left his seat on the hour mark, long before Chelsea’s third goal hit the net, and the writing was on the wall. Postecoglou was reportedly informed of his fate before he even reached the dressing room. One last team talk, one brief handshake with staff, then gone. He was pictured minutes later in the car park, a bag over his shoulder, smiling wryly as he posed for a final photograph with a supporter.
A club that once prided itself on tradition, respect and patience now resembles a footballing funfair where the rides change faster than the customers.
Marinakis and the Madness
Let us get straight to the point. The problem at Nottingham Forest is not just on the pitch. It lies in the boardroom, or more precisely, in the office of Evangelos Marinakis. The Greek shipping magnate runs Forest like a personal toy box, impatiently changing managers whenever a gust of wind blows in the wrong direction.
This season alone, he has sacked two head coaches before October. First Nuno Espirito Santo, who guided the club to an impressive seventh place finish last term, was shown the door. Then came Postecoglou, heralded as a bold new appointment, a man who would bring attacking football and fresh ideas. Eight games later, Marinakis pulled the trigger again.
There is no sense of structure, no long term vision, no trust in the football people tasked with building something meaningful. Marinakis has now made more managerial changes in three years than Forest have had clean sheets this season. The club’s leadership is reactionary, scattergun and utterly devoid of self awareness.
Forest are not a circus because of their results, they are a circus because of how they are run.
Postecoglou’s Brief and Brutal Tenure
Ange Postecoglou is a man who carries himself with dignity and conviction. His football has always been about bravery and belief, built on attacking intent and hard work. But he never stood a chance at Forest.
When he arrived on 9 September, the club was already in disarray. Players were confused, recruitment was rushed, and the atmosphere was fragile. Postecoglou spoke passionately about changing the culture, about bringing consistency and style to a side that had lost its way. But consistency was impossible when the floor kept shifting beneath his feet.
Eight games, no wins, six defeats. The statistics were grim, but there were glimpses of something taking shape. Forest played with more possession, pressed higher, created more chances. What they lacked was cutting edge and composure. Their finishing was wasteful, their defending from set pieces woeful. Yet no manager can fix such ingrained issues in a matter of weeks.
For Marinakis to dismiss him after such a short period was not footballing logic, it was vanity. It was an owner who cannot stand seeing his own impatience reflected in poor results.
Players Left Bewildered
Forest’s players were said to be stunned when the news filtered through after the Chelsea match. Morgan Gibbs-White, one of the few consistent performers this season, spoke on television moments before the announcement, praising Postecoglou’s ideas and insisting the squad still believed in him.
They were summoned upstairs after the match and informed their manager was gone. No explanations, no dialogue, just another name erased from the office door. For a young squad already struggling for confidence, it was another emotional jolt they did not need.
This is what happens when leadership lacks direction. Players lose trust, fans lose faith, and the club loses its soul.
Marinakis: A Serial Culprit
Marinakis’ track record is a warning sign for any manager brave enough to take the Forest job. Since taking ownership, he has presided over a constant churn of coaches and executives, often dismissing them without warning or logic. The pattern is always the same: promise of support, a flurry of signings, a few bad results, and then the axe.
He has spent hundreds of millions on transfers, yet Forest’s squad still feels mismatched and unbalanced. Managers are left to make sense of other people’s recruitment decisions, with no clear footballing philosophy linking one era to the next.
A club that once stood for unity and vision under Brian Clough is now a case study in dysfunction. Marinakis may see himself as ambitious, but in truth he is reckless. His ego burns hotter than any plan for progress.
Until he learns that success in English football requires patience, collaboration and respect for expertise, Forest will remain trapped in this self inflicted cycle of failure.
Who Could Possibly Be Next?
The rumour mill has already gone into overdrive. Roberto Mancini, the former Manchester City and Italy boss, is believed to have been contacted within hours of Postecoglou’s sacking. Mancini’s pedigree speaks for itself, but would a man of his stature really want to step into this chaos?
Sean Dyche, out of work and well versed in firefighting, is another name being floated. Marco Silva has also been mentioned, though it is hard to imagine him swapping the relative calm of Fulham for the madness of Marinakis’ empire.
Whoever accepts the job must be part manager, part diplomat and part magician. They will inherit a fractured squad, a furious fanbase and an owner whose patience can be measured in days rather than months.
It is not an appointment to envy. It is a challenge to survive.
The Cost of Constant Upheaval
Forest’s managerial turnover has become a punchline. Even Liz Truss, as some fans joked, lasted longer in office than their last two head coaches combined. But behind the humour lies real damage.
Every time a manager changes, the club’s identity resets. Training routines change, tactics change, relationships break down. Players recruited for one system are cast aside for another. The result is a dressing room in permanent flux, never quite knowing what tomorrow looks like.
Fans have seen it all before and are tired of it. The City Ground faithful have passion and loyalty in abundance, but patience has its limits. They deserve better than this circus act masquerading as a football project.
What Forest Need Now
It sounds simple, but Nottingham Forest need stability more than anything else. They need a chairman who trusts his managers and stops treating each defeat like a national crisis. They need a sporting director empowered to build long term plans, not a puppet whose strings are cut at the first setback.
The next appointment must come with a promise of time. Whoever takes charge, whether Mancini, Dyche or someone else, must be allowed to build, not just survive.
Forest’s story should not be defined by sackings and statements. It should be defined by progress, patience and pride. Until Evangelos Marinakis realises that, the club will remain stuck in this revolving door of disappointment.
A Final Word
Ange Postecoglou deserved better. Nottingham Forest deserve better. But until the man at the top changes his ways, nothing else will.
Football clubs rise and fall on leadership. Right now, Forest’s leadership is dragging them towards the abyss. Whoever walks into the manager’s office next will need not only tactical acumen but nerves of steel. Because at Nottingham Forest, it seems the stopwatch starts ticking the moment the ink dries on the contract.
And as for Marinakis? He might want to remember that great clubs are not built in boardrooms or tunnels. They are built through trust, patience and belief…three things that, right now, seem entirely foreign at the City Ground.