Nottingham Forest fans call for Postecoglou axe after 23 days following European defeat

Ange Postecoglou finds himself in an ominously tight spot after 23 days in the job. As Midtjylland streamed forward on the counterattack in the 88th minute, the Nottingham Forest manager rested his hands on his head, convinced how the next few seconds would play out. Forest, as he feared, would concede for a third time but, presumably, he did not anticipate the vociferous and vicious backlash that followed.

The scenes were close to extraordinary on a sobering evening, thousands of home supporters singing: “You’re getting sacked in the morning.” Then the same fans twisted the knife a little deeper, singing the name of his predecessor Nuno Espírito Santo, with several turning towards Evangelos Marinakis, the owner watching on with his own giant private television in the directors’ box. This made for grim viewing.

It is now six games without victory for Postecoglou, whose side travel to Newcastle on Sunday before hosting Chelsea two weeks on Saturday. Then it is Porto at home in this competition, Bournemouth away and Manchester United to kick-off November. After this defeat by Danish opposition, there are doubts about whether the Australian will make it that far. The inquest in the stands began at half-time, at which point Forest trailed to set-piece goals from Ousmane Diao and Mads Bech Sørensen, formerly of Brentford, and afterwards Postecoglou faced some tough questions.

Asked if he still believed positive results are on the horizon, the 60-year-old replied: “Yes, I do, and nothing I saw tonight changes any of that. I get the mood around the place isn’t going to be great, I understand people’s attitude, particularly towards me, but I never worry about that, it’s not unfamiliar territory for me. I really believe that we’re on the right track and when we get through this period of uncertainty that we’ll be on a good path. If we start winning games, the atmosphere will improve.”

A week on from the optimism that accompanied Forest’s trip to Seville, where they were held to a draw against Real Betis after squandering the lead late on, the mood has shifted significantly. “I guess it’s the accumulation of things,” Postecoglou said. “It’s not like our goalkeeper is having to make multiple saves, but every time they get near our goal they [the players] get really nervous. If you allow the opposition to score just about every time they get near your goal, it’s going to be very hard to win games.”

Postecoglou is the first Forest manager for 100 years to fail to win any of his first six matches, though perhaps he will take encouragement that John Baynes, who did not win any of his first seven in 1925, ended up sticking around for four years. These are different days, though, as Postecoglou acknowledged. “Nothing surprises me in football, it’s the climate we’re in,” he said, when asked about the chants aimed at him. “It seems that’s the way things are going. It’s nothing I can control. The fans are disappointed, they are allowed to have an opinion on it. I heard their opinion.”

Postecoglou insisted his players did their homework and knew to expect an awkward assignment but the visitors’ direct “vertical football” proved Forest’s undoing, Midtjylland twice scoring from set pieces before Valdemar Byskov Andreasen capped the scoring after Dario Osorio pinched possession from Callum Hudson-Odoi deep in the Danish side’s half. Chris Wood’s stoppage-time penalty after Elliot Anderson, Forest’s best player, was fouled proved merely a consolation.

Postecoglou’s Tottenham were vulnerable from set pieces last season – only Arsenal, Southampton and Wolves conceded more from set plays in the Premier League – and it was a recurring problem here. Things got worse when Murillo, back in the starting lineup after injury, limped off before the half-hour mark. There was further alarm for Forest in the first half when Diao comfortably peeled off his man at another corner and directed a header wide of goal.

Before kick-off at least, this was another moment to cherish for Forest, as they staged their first European home fixture since Bayern Munich’s 5-1 triumph here in March 1996. At which point Midtjylland had not even been formed, that coming three years later when Herning, the 55,000-population town in central Denmark where they play home games, and Ikast, where they now train, merged. Marinakis, the night after watching his first club, Olympiakos, fall to a Champions League defeat at the Emirates Stadium, sauntered on to the pitch before the warmups to survey the scene.

Everything was in place for the occasion: the pyrotechnics as the players emerged, the Europa League-branded tunnel arch and a sellout crowd. The tifo in the Trent End was typically brilliant, an image of a Forest campervan with Postecoglou at the wheel and the words: “For a new generation our time has come”. Everything was primed for Postecoglou to register that elusive first win. Perhaps Forest were guilty of viewing this game as a gimme. Regardless, it was not supposed to be like this.

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