Ange Postecoglou sacked: How Nottingham Forest boss came to a lonely end after 39 days

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Sadly, Ange Postecoglou managed to achieve something truly noteworthy towards the end of his 39 days in charge of Nottingham Forest. Amongst 30,495 people, he looked alone. And after the final whistle, he WAS alone, the stands were almost empty and no-one on the field consoled him.

No-one consoled him, even though everyone knew. When Evangelos Marinakis left his throne during the second half of this Forest defeat, everyone knew.

When the home side capitulated in a few dreadful second half minutes, everyone knew. When Forest missed a collection of presentable chances, everyone knew.

When there was a deathly silence after the Josh Acheampong opener, everyone knew. Everyone knew that Postecoglou’s 39th day as manager of this great club would be his last.

Fittingly, confirmation came in a 39-word statement, published barely 20 minutes after the final whistle. This was a very modern sacking yet a very old-school sacking.

Modern in the sense that less than six weeks is hardly a reasonable period to be judged on, old-school in that Marinakis is not interested in employment niceties. Let’s face it, Postecoglou was sacked the moment Pedro Neto doubled Chelsea’s lead.

And as likeable a guy as Postecoglou is, the sacking will surprise no-one. In fact, considering the amount of games he lost with Spurs last season, there was certainly more surprise at his appointment than there will be at his dismissal.

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As likeable a guy as Postecoglou is, he has developed an uncanny knack of losing football matches - and that is not ideal for a Premier League manager. To lose this game so dismally took some doing because Chelsea were far from impressive.

There are, of course, some things a manager - any manager - simply cannot legislate for. And most of them happened to Postecoglou in his eight and final game with Forest.

He could not legislate for Elliot Anderson failing to unpack the form he took to Latvia when presented with an early sitter. He could not legislate for Morgan Gibbs-White snap-hooking an equally good chance midway through the first half.

He could not legislate for Igor Jesus contriving to hit the bar and post with an effort from what should have been formality range. He could not legislate for Matz Sels helping home Neto’s free-kick and punching an assist to Reece James for Chelsea’s third.

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And, equally, sometimes things can just go right for a manager.

Maresca - who made three half-time substitutions - managed to get a note out to James during the second half. James read it and, a few minutes later, had written his name on the scoresheet for the first time this season.

Perhaps the note was instructing James to tell his team-mates to avoid a fifth red card in six games. Alas, if it was, the instruction was ignored. And Maresca was rightly unimpressed with Malo Gusto’s stupidity in collecting a second yellow card when Chelsea were on a victory lap.

For Postecoglou and Forest, though, the late red was an irrelevance because well before then, Marinakis was getting Postecolglou’s cards ready. Knowing the temperament of the owner, perhaps the decision was inevitable.

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But although winless in his time in charge, was eight matches really enough for Postecoglou to try and change the style and approach of this Forest side? Surely Marinakis knew that is what Postecoglou would try to do. And had Forest capitalised on their first half superiority against Chelsea, Ange would no doubt have remained in his post.

And the nature of the actual deed does not sit well within such a lovely club. While it might have been predictable, it was still brutal.

For Postecoglou, it will not be the end of the managerial road, and a second pay-off in the space of a few months will cushion the blow. But as he stood alone a few yards away from Marinakis’s empty seat, it was hard not to feel sorry for a decent guy.