SUNDERLAND 0-5 NOTTINGHAM FOREST | HUGE MASSIVE WIN! | POST MATCH ANALYSIS

 

ANGE POSTECOGLOU AFTER BEING SACKED BY NOTTINGHAM

 

ANGE POSTECOGLOU SACKED BY NOTTINGHAM FOREST 20 MINUTES AFTER CHELSEA DEFEAT

Nottingham Forest have sacked head coach Ange Postecoglou after eight winless games in charge. The Australian manager lasted just 39 days at the club. The decision comes following a 3-0 home defeat to Chelsea.

Ange Postecoglou has been sacked just 39 days after being appointed the coach of Forest. Image: Reuters

Nottingham Forest have sacked head coach Ange Postecoglou after he failed to win any of his eight games in charge of the club. The decision came just 20 minutes after Forest’s 3-0 home defeat to Chelsea on Saturday, October 18.

In an official statement, the club said: “Nottingham Forest Football Club can confirm that after a series of disappointing results and performances, Ange Postecoglou has been relieved of his duties as head coach with immediate effect.”

Postecoglou fails to turn things around

Postecoglou was appointed as Forest’s coach on September 9 after the departure of Nuno Espirito Santo. However, his time at the club lasted only 39 days, during which Forest lost six matches and drew two.

The Australian coach faced criticism from fans after a string of poor performances, including a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United and a loss to Danish club FC Midtjylland, where supporters chanted “sacked in the morning.”

After the Chelsea defeat, Postecoglou left the ground immediately, skipping media duties. Within 20 minutes, the club confirmed his dismissal through a statement. The club is yet to announce who will replace Postecoglou.

It was Postecoglou's first job since being fired by Tottenham at the end of last season despite leading Spurs to the Europa League title to break their 17-year trophy drought.

Forest lost six and drew the other two of its eight games under Postecoglou. That included four losses from five in the league, scoring just one goal in the process, to leave Forest hovering just above the bottom three.

Nuno was fired despite leading Forest into Europe following a very public falling-out with owner Evangelos Marinakis, reportedly stemming from a breakdown in relations with the club’s recently hired global head of football, Edu Gaspar.

Postecoglou seemed an odd choice as the replacement, given his preferred style of play — on the front foot and attacking — differed to Nuno’s and the squad in place at the City Ground.

If the idea was for Postecoglou to bring a more expansive approach to Forest, it didn’t materialize. In five league games under the Australian, the team scored one goal.

There were loud jeers at the fulltime whistle at the Chelsea game.

There was no immediate word of a replacement but British media has already reported that Sean Dyche, the former Burnley and Everton manager, was in line to take over should Forest fire Postecoglou.

Dyche was sacked by Everton in January. He was a youth-team player at Forest before a career spent at lower-league clubs.

His direct and pragmatic playing style is more similar to Nuno’s than Postecoglou’s.

- FP Sports Desk

FOREST SHOULD HAVE HAD ONE PENALTY AT EVERTON - PANEL

Anthony Taylor waved away three Nottingham Forest penalty appeals at Everton

 

 Nottingham Forest should have been awarded one penalty from their three unsuccessful appeals against Everton, an independent panel has said.

Claims for penalties after Ashley Young's challenge on Gio Reyna, his handball and then an attempted tackle on Callum Hudson-Odoi were all turned down by Anthony Taylor on the pitch, with video assistant referee Stuart Attwell not intervening.

Forest lost the Premier League game 2-0 at Goodison Park on 21 April.

Minutes after full-time the club posted on social media, alleging Attwell was a fan of relegation rivals Luton - a statement which has been seen more than 45 million times.

Forest's post said: "Three extremely poor decisions - three penalties not given - which we simply cannot accept.

"We warned the PGMOL that the VAR is a Luton fan... NFFC will now consider its options."

What did the panel say?

The Key Match Incident Panel is independent and made up of three former players or coaches, one Premier League representative and one from the Professional Game Match Officials Board, the referees' body.

It reviews the big refereeing decisions from each Premier League round of fixtures and unanimously agreed Forest should have been given a penalty when Young brought down Hudson-Odoi in the 55th minute.

"Young inherits the risk by going to ground from the wrong side and Hudson-Odoi beats him to the ball. It is a foul," the panel wrote in their decisions, seen by BBC Sport.

"It was felt unanimously that a penalty should have been awarded and VAR should have intervened on the basis that Young doesn't make any contact on the ball and that there is evidence that his contact with Hudson-Odoi has the consequence of tripping the attacker."

They also voted 5-0 that VAR should have intervened.

The panel was split 3-2 over the on-pitch decision over whether Forest should have been awarded a spot-kick when the ball hit Young's arm in the 44th minute, but all agreed VAR was correct not to intervene.

They argued it was a subjective call but "the majority considered this a dynamic situation where the arm was in a justifiable position, and with no clear action to deliberately handle the ball. In addition the close proximity from which the ball was played by the attacker was taken into account."

They also agreed, in a 5-0 decision, that Young's 24th-minute challenge on Reyna did not warrant a penalty and that VAR was correct not to step in.

The panel wrote: "The ball isn't played, there is contact by the defender on the attacker but any contact is minimal and is exaggerated by the attacker, and falls below the high threshold for a penalty."

 What is the background?

Forest are expected to face charges from the Premier League and Football Association following their social media post.

Last week the FA formally asked for observations from Forest, boss Nuno Espirito Santo, defender Neco Williams and Mark Clattenburg, the club's referee analysist, following their comments.

The Premier League is also investigating, saying it was "never appropriate to improperly question the integrity of match officials".

Forest have been allowed to listen to the audio recording of the officials' discussions after the incidents.

It follows Liverpool’s similar request when Luis Diaz’s goal was incorrectly disallowed in their 2-1 defeat at Tottenham in September.

Forest are one point above the Premier League's bottom three after Sunday's 2-0 defeat by Manchester City and travel to relegated Sheffield United on Saturday.

 .

SOCCER: HAALAND, SPURS' SON SCORE HAT-TRICKS, CHELSEA LOSE TO FOREST

Reuters 

Manchester City goal-machine Erling Haaland bagged his fifth Premier League hat-trick as the champions maintained their 100% start with a 5-1 defeat of Fulham and Son Heung-min grabbed three for Tottenham Hotspur in a 5-2 win at Burnley on Saturday.

Brighton & Hove Albion also had a treble from teenage striker Evan Ferguson as they outclassed visiting Newcastle United 3-1 in the late kick-off.

Haaland, who scored four league hat-tricks in a record-shattering first season with City, is already in the groove and his triple against Fulham took his season's goal tally to six.

Julian Alvarez and Nathan Ake were also on target for City in the first half with Tim Ream equalising for Fulham but Haaland then grabbed centre stage as the hosts cut loose.

City, bidding to win an unprecedented fourth successive English league title, have a maximum 12 points with Spurs on 10 after they demolished Burnley 5-2 at Turf Moor.

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