Nottingham Forest were reportedly ‘rejected’ by ‘one of their most popular’ candidates to replace Nuno Espirito Santo before landing Ange Postecoglou.
It has been a busy couple of days at Nottm Forest, who have sacked Nuno and appointed former Tottenham Hotspur boss Postecoglou as his replacement.
Nuno has done a great job at Nottm Forest since succeeding Steve Cooper at the end of 2023, as he massively surpassed expectations.
The former Spurs and Wolves boss guided Nottm Forest to Premier League safety in 2023/24, while in 2024/25, he helped the club finish seventh and qualify for Europe.
Despite this, it has emerged at the start of this campaign that he has fallen out with Nottm Forest chiefs Evangelos Marinakis and Edu, so it was only ever going to be a matter of time before he was shown the door.
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This came on Monday night as Nottm Forest confirmed reports that they have sacked Nuno, while they have moved quickly to secure his replacement.
In recent weeks, Forest have been linked with Jose Mourinho, Marco Silva and Oliver Glaser, though they have landed Postecoglou, who has penned a two-year contract.
Nottm Forest were reportedly turned down en route to appointing Postecoglou, though. Spanish outlet AS claims Rayo Vallecano boss Inigo Perez, who was ‘among the three finalists’, ‘rejected’ the Premier League side.
‘With Inigo Perez, the feeling is that he’ll also have the opportunity to make the jump to the Premier League at some point.
‘It won’t be now, as the timing and conditions under which Forest’s offer was made don’t fit the Navarrese manager’s current plans.’
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Upon confirming Postecoglou’s appointment, Marinakis has explained why he has opted to bring in the recently dismissed head coach.
Marinakis explained: “We are bringing a coach to the Club who has a proven and consistent record of winning trophies.
“His experience of coaching teams at the highest level, along with his desire to build something special with us at Forest, makes him a fantastic person to help us on our journey and achieve consistently all our ambitions.
“After gaining promotion to the Premier League, then building consistently season after season to secure European football, we now must take the right step to compete with the very best and challenge for trophies.
“Ange has the credentials and the track-record to do this, and we are excited he is joining us on our ambitious journey.”
