Nottingham Forest have parted company with their head coach, Nuno Espírito Santo, after a year and eight months, with Ange Postecoglou strongly linked to the vacant position. Nuno’s departure just three games into the season comes after the emergence of tensions with the owner, Evangelos Marinakis, over the past fortnight.
“Nottingham Forest Football Club confirms that, following recent circumstances, Nuno Espírito Santo has today been relieved of his duties as head coach,” said a club statement in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
“The club thanks Nuno for his contribution during a very successful era at the City Ground, in particular his role in the 2024-25 season, which will forever be remembered fondly in the history of the club.
“As someone who played a pivotal role in our success last season, he will always hold a special place in our journey.”
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Nuno confirmed before August’s Premier League match at Crystal Palace, that his relationship with Marinakis had deteriorated over the summer. “I cannot say that is the same, because it’s not the same,” Nuno said. “The reason behind it, I don’t know … I think everybody at the club should be together but it’s not the reality.”
Nuno’s tenure at the City Ground was highly successful, the Portuguese steering Forest to safety in his first season after replacing Steve Cooper in December 2023. The following season, he led the team on an unexpected push for Champions League qualification, spending much of the campaign in the top four.
Forest finished seventh, securing a Conference League spot which became a Europa League place when Crystal Palace were demoted by Uefa.
The former Tottenham manager Postecoglou is reportedly a frontrunner to succeed Nuno. The Australian has been out of work since being sacked in June after overseeing a 17th-place finish in the Premier League last season, despite ending the club’s trophy drought with success in the Europa League.
Ange Postecoglou has been linked with the newly vacant Nottingham Forest job. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
While Nuno’s relationship with Marinakis proved the Portuguese’s undoing, the Greek businessman has in the past expressed his admiration for Postecoglou, who is of Greek heritage.
“What he achieved, he did with a team that has not won any titles, it has had a very difficult time in recent years. In this huge success that the whole world saw, he promoted Greece,” Marinakis said when presenting him with an award in Greece following his Europa League triumph.
“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.”
Having led the club into Europe, Nuno departs the City Ground as the club’s most successful manager since Frank Clark, and they sit 10th in the Premier League table.
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