One of the Chelsea defenders, Josh Acheampong, scored his first goal for the team in the Premier League, while Reece James scored the third goal toward the end of the match.
Postecoglou had been on notice at Nottingham after the club had drawn three games and lost four since his appointment last month, which meant there was little surprise when he was removed after the eighth game in a row without a victory.
Ange Postecoglou applauds Nottingham Forest fans following the team’s defeat against Chelsea.Credit: Getty Images
The decision came four months after he was sacked from Tottenham Hotspur despite delivering a rare trophy for the club when it won the Europa League in May – ending 17 years of club history without a trophy.
Postecoglou arrived at Nottingham with high hopes last month and told the media he wanted to bring exciting football to the competition.
“It’s about bringing joy to the people who are the lifeblood of this game. That’s all I care about,” he told reporters at his first press conference as Nottingham manager.
“I guarantee you I can win things here and people will still have doubts about me because of who I am.”
The appointment at Nottingham came after the Australian was seen with Marinakis in Greece in July, when the club owner appearing to be souring on the club’s manager at the time, Nuno Espirito Santo.
Weeks before he was removed, Espirito Santo said he had a good relationship with Marinakis and spoke to him almost daily last year but that things had changed this year.
“It’s not so close,” he said on August 11. He was removed on August 9.
Marinakis is estimated to have spent £400 million ($815 million) on 100 players over the past eight years – while recouping some of this in transfer deals, according to The New York Times.
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Postecoglou was philosophical about his removal at Tottenham when asked on his first day at Nottingham.
“I don’t think it’s about being treated unfairly,” he said. “It’s just that people make decisions, you’ve got to accept that decision, it’s out of my hands, whether I think it’s the right decision or not becomes irrelevant.
“But it was never going to, sort of, derail me and what I achieve in the game.”
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