Nuno Espirito Santo’s reign at Nottingham Forest ended in slow motion.
After a series of surprise outbursts from the usually guarded Portuguese, and almost a month of doubt, his 21-month City Ground reign finished abruptly with an early morning statement.
When it came to his replacement, there was no waiting as Forest moved quickly and Ange Postecoglou was appointed within 13 hours.
Nuno lit a flame when he criticised the slow pace of Forest’s transfer business, before revealing his relationship with owner Evangelos Marinakis had changed from last season.
A summer spend of around £180m on 11 players would not likely initiate complaints but Nuno was unhappy they had not arrived quickly enough to integrate them into the squad and his methods.
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” he said, when asked if his job was on the line before the 1-1 Premier League draw at Crystal Palace last month, likely creating a deeper rift.
In August, BBC Sport was told Postecoglou – sacked by Tottenham in June despite leading them to Europa League success – was a likely candidate to replace Nuno, who had already gone public with his frustrations.
Discussions with the Australian had accelerated over the last two-and-a-half weeks as Nuno’s position became increasingly unstable and ultimately untenable.
The trust was eroded between owner and head coach after his public comments and once that had gone it was very difficult to repair.
There was also friction between Nuno and global sporting director Edu, but the head coach could have stayed silent and worked the issues out privately.
The outbursts, though, were ultimately viewed as creating noise and disruption that was unnecessary, rocking the boat as Forest planned for the new season and a first European campaign for 30 years after a dream previous campaign.
Internally, there was sadness at how it ended. Nuno was well liked and it had been an almost perfect relationship for 18 months, taking them from battling relegation to the Europa League, only missing out on the Champions League on the final day.
Amid the backdrop of a four-point deduction for breaching Profit and Sustainability rules, Nuno led Forest away from relegation danger, before last season’s surprise seventh-placed finish.
But after discussions during the international break, and following the disappointing 3-0 home defeat by West Ham – the worst performance of Nuno’s reign – the axe fell.
The fact a statement announcing Nuno’s exit came out at such a strange time, 00:15 on Tuesday morning, was due to the news breaking in the manager’s native Portugal
Forest would have preferred not to have done it that late, out of respect to Nuno, but it was out of their control after leaks elsewhere.
The fact Postecoglou was available, the 60-year-old became an option given the existing good relationship between him and the Greek owner which stretches back a number of years.
They were together in July when Marinakis, president of Greece’s Super League, presented Greece-born Postecoglou with an award for becoming the first coach from the country to win a major European club trophy.
“What he achieved, he did with a team that has not won any titles – it has had a very difficult time in recent years,” said Marinakis at the time.
“In this huge success that the whole world saw, he promoted Greece. We must thank him especially for this and we wish him well, although we are sure that he will do well as he has the ability. Wherever he goes, the successes will come.”
As it turns out that is now at the City Ground.
Postecoglou arrives, having ended Tottenham’s 17-year trophy drought with their 1-0 triumph over Manchester United.
He paid the price, though, for finishing 17th in the Premier League, losing 22 of their 38 games and sitting 27 points adrift of Forest.
It will not have escaped attention in Forest’s statement welcoming the Australian to the club, that Marinakis was quoted as saying the new manager has the credentials to help them challenge for trophies.
The appointment must take the club forward after the rapid strides made under Nuno, building on his legacy and the foundations laid by Steve Cooper after he took the club back into the top flight in 2022.
