Nottingham Forest warned after major Evangelos Marinakis decision - 'It was terrible'
by Sarah Clapson · NottinghamshireLiveAppointing Ange Postecoglou as head coach is a ‘massive risk’ for Nottingham Forest, according to pundit Jamie O’Hara.
The former Tottenham Hotspur boss’ first game in charge of the Reds ended in defeat as they fell 3-0 to Arsenal on Saturday. But Postecoglou has pledged it will be an altogether different story on Wednesday night.
Forest head to Swansea City for a third-round Carabao Cup tie, and that is when the new man expects to embed his attacking principles in the team. But ex-Spurs midfielder O’Hara has suggested a change in style of play will not work at the City Ground.
"No, it won't work. Absolutely not,” he told Sky Sports. “The only way it's going to work at Nottingham Forest is if he's learnt from his huge mistakes tactically that he played at Tottenham.
"It was a disaster at Tottenham. The football in the end was tepid; it was awful to watch.
"Alright, we won the Europa League, but that is because we played a terrible Man United side and managed to beat the best of a bad bunch. We finished 17th.
"He's gone in at Nottingham Forest, who were a really stable football club, they had an identity and you knew what you were getting. Nuno Espirito Santo had them organised, hard to beat, hit you on the counterattack, but he would also change it up. They could go and attack and play some decent football.”
Nuno was axed last week after a fallout behind the scenes with global head of football Edu. The Portuguese had also suggested his relationship with owner Evangelos Marinakis had changed.
Get breaking Forest news sent direct to your phone
Join our Nottingham Forest WhatsApp group and get the latest breaking news, interviews and opinion sent straight to your phone, plus matchday team news and live updates of all the action. Just click here and select ‘Join Community’ to get started. The only proviso is that you must have WhatsApp on your phone to participate. No one will be able to see your personal information and you will only receive messages from the NottinghamshireLive Reds writers.
We will not spam your WhatsApp feed with constant messages, but you will receive updates from us daily with the latest Reds stories. If you later decide to opt out, just go to the name at the top of your screen and click 'Exit Group'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you are curious, you can click here to read our Privacy Notice.
"I'm amazed at this decision from Marinakis to bring him in,” O’Hara said. “I don't know why it's happened. I don't know what's happened between them and why they've all fallen out, but this is a huge risk. A massive risk bringing in Postecoglou. Massive risk. I don't think he deserves the job at Nottingham Forest.
"The only reason I can think is Marinakis believes he's got a squad of players that can play attacking football. Nuno was a different type of manager - he was organised and resilient, and then they'd go and attack.
"I think he wants to watch this brand of football that everyone seems to want these days. He thinks that Ange Postecoglou is going to bring that. But Nottingham Forest are not Man City - they need to defend. They have got to be hard to beat.
"If you think Ange Postecoglou is going to come in and you're going to play this glorious football... I watched it last season at Tottenham and it was terrible. It was all over the place.”