Nottingham Forest to rapidly replace Nuno Espirito Santo with former Premier League boss

Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is making a swift appointment (Picture: Getty Images)

Nuno Espirito Santo was dismissed as manager of Nottingham Forest late on Monday night and Ange Postecoglou is already lined up to replace him.

The 51-year-old enjoyed a brilliant season with the club last time round, competing in the upper echelons of the Premier League and eventually finishing seventh.

That was a big surprise as most onlookers expected Forest to be scrapping to avoid relegation but instead secured European football for this campaign.

However, the Portuguese boss made some public statements ahead of the current season seemingly criticising the club’s hierarchy and the state of his squad.

Forest beat Brentford on the opening weekend and then drew with Crystal Palace but were stunned by West Ham last time out, losing 3-0 at home to the Hammers, who had lost their first two league games.

That proved to be Espirito Santo’s final game in charge, after taking over in December 2023, with his dismissal confirmed late on Monday night.

A club statement read: ‘Nottingham Forest Football Club confirms that, following recent circumstances, Nuno Espírito Santo has today been relieved of his duties as Head Coach.

Nuno Espirito Santo left his role at Nottingham Forest on Monday (Picture: Getty Images)

‘The Club thanks Nuno for his contribution during a very successful era at the City Ground, in particular his role in the 2024/25 season, which will forever be remembered fondly in the history of the Club.

‘As someone who played a pivotal role in our success last season, he will always hold a special place in our journey.’

The Athletic report that Forest will have a new manager in place when they take on Arsenal this weekend, with Postecoglou lined up to replace Espirito Santo.

Ange Postecoglou lifted the Europa League trophy in May (Picture: Getty Images)

The Australian, won the Europa League with Tottenham last season but was dismissed at the end of the campaign after finishing 17th in the Premier League table.

The 60-year-old has will be making a swift return to the Premier League, for just his second job in English football, having previously managed the likes of Celtic, Yokohama F Marinos and Australia.

Despite the sour end for Espirito Santo at the City Ground, Nottingham Forest is an attractive proposition for an incoming boss as they have a Europa League campaign coming up and made some exciting signings over the summer transfer window.

The likes of Dan Ndoye, James McAtee, Omari Hutchinson and Brazil international Igor Jesus, with the only significant loss being Anthony Elanga who left for Newcastle.

The signings of McAtee and Hutchinson were done late in the window, though, with Espirito Santo bemoaning the make-up of his squad ahead of the season starting.

‘We are very far – very, very far – from where we should be,’ Espirito Santo told Sky just before the Premier League season began . ‘We are very far in terms of preparation, in terms of planning, in terms of the squad.

‘So we are all very worried that in two or three days time we are playing for the Premier League, the most demanding competition in the world. And we are very far. Very, very far.

‘The plans that we had didn’t come through. The preparation in terms of squad was not ideal. We didn’t have a chance to create the bond – and this is what I think is more important.

The relationship between Evangelos Marinakis and Nuno Espirito Santo broke down (Picture: Getty Images)

‘Because we don’t know which squad we have. We have players working here that know they’re going to leave on loan. We have a major problem.’