Does he still ‘believe in fairies’ at Forest? We’re about to find out

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Ange Postecoglou is not a clown. We know this. But he is a little bit stupid.

We mean that only in the best possible sense – which is to say, exactly how the late Brian Clough meant it when he famously self-reported as such in 1974, in a televised interview on Yorkshire Television, the night he was sacked by Leeds United after just 44 days in the job.

“That might be aiming for utopia. And that might mean being a little bit stupid,” Clough said.

Don Revie, his highly-successful predecessor at Leeds who had left the club to coach England, was there too, and Clough was telling him that he believed the game could – should – be played a different way to him. (If you’ve seen The Damned United, you will have seen this interview re-enacted with Michael Sheen playing Clough).

“But that is the way I am,” Clough continued.

“I am a little bit stupid regarding this type of thing. I am a bit of an idealist. I do believe in fairies. And that is my outlook.”

Every manager at Nottingham Forest operates in the legendary shadow of Clough, whose bronze statue stands proudly within the city centre, just off Old Market Square. He took over the club, then in England’s second division, just four months after that interview, his reputation tarnished. Supporters didn’t want him. Within three years, he transformed them from a middling provincial outfit into English champions – and then, miraculously, back-to-back European Cup winners in 1979 and 1980, racking up a 42-match unbeaten streak in the league along the way.

Sounds familiar.

Postecoglou and Clough are very different blokes, of course, but are kindred spirits, personally and philosophically. They’re both good for a quote. They’re both combative, possibly too much so. They’re both deep believers in the inherent romance of the game and recognise their role in delivering it to fans by playing romantic football. They’re both magnetic characters who can convince a group of men to buy into a vision and give their all for it.

A keen student of football history, there’s little doubt that Postecoglou – now that he has been confirmed as Forest’s new manager – has been not only inspired by Clough on his coaching journey, but will be determined to reach for the stars at the same club, in the same way.

Before we get too positive, it’s worth pointing out the potholes ahead for Postecoglou in his Premier League return.

There’s one big one in particular.

Evangelos Marinakis, Forest’s owner, seems like a pretty combustible guy. There are, let’s say, some ethical concerns when it comes to his background. He fell out publicly with Postecoglou’s predecessor, Nuno Espirito Santo, and has a track record at both Forest and Olympiacos (one of the other clubs he owns), which suggests a shortage of patience.

There’s a bit of Trump-Musk about this union, an unholy alliance between two powerful, larger-than-life characters. This, too, could blow up as spectacularly. The early predictions are that this will end in tears – but don’t discount the possibility that they might be happy tears.

Let’s give them both a bit of credit here. Marinakis isn’t blind; he saw everything Tottenham Hotspur did in Postecoglou’s two-year stint, from his spectacular start to last season’s 22 league defeats and 17th-placed league finish, from which the most reactionary sections of the British press have entirely separated from any sense of context (ie. injuries! They’re a thing!).

He saw the “suicidal” high defensive line against Chelsea. He also saw that they finished fifth in 2023-24. Yes, their last league campaign fizzled, but Postecoglou left Spurs with their first European trophy in decades, and a platform that Thomas Frank is now building on.

Marinakis will have had personal explanations from Postecoglou about all the extenuating circumstances. He knows exactly what kind of manager he has just appointed, and we presume he has done so because he likes everything he brings to the table, and wants that for his club.

And Postecoglou should know the bloke better than most. Famous last words, perhaps, but if anyone can tame the wild beast that is Marinakis, it might be him. They seem to have a close personal relationship. Both are proud Greeks who hung out in Greece during the off-season; it would be zero surprise if this move has actually been many weeks in the making, and that some of Forest’s recent transfer dealings were made with a view to him being involved at some stage this term.

That’d partly explain why Postecoglou so quickly turned down approaches from Brentford, Saudi Arabian side Al-Ahli, Los Angeles FC, Fenerbahce and Bayer Leverkusen in recent weeks.

Forest are a club on the up, which is new territory for Postecoglou; usually he takes over teams in decline. Last season, they placed seventh, their best finish in 30 years, and will play in the Europa League despite qualifying for the Conference League due to a convoluted ruling around Crystal Palace and multi-club ownership.

But there’s work ahead that fits his brief.

Marinakis says he wants Postecoglou’s help to “build something special”, to take Forest from just another Premier League club into one that wins things, and does so in style. Postecoglou, like Clough, offers something different: the courage to be stupid.

The difficulty will be the abrupt shift from Espirito Santo’s conservative, ball-allergic counter-attacking style towards Postecoglou’s expansive, attacking modus operandi. But that’s not exactly an unfamiliar challenge; Espirito Santo was one of the succession of unsuccessful Spurs managers whose templates Postecoglou was brought in to rip apart.

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Forest’s squad, while largely geared towards Nunoball, has plenty of talent capable of playing on the front foot, like Morgan Gibbs-White, the English international who Spurs somehow failed to sign; Callum Hudson-Odoi, Omari Hutchinson and Dan Ndoye, three exciting, explosive wingers; new signing Douglas Luiz, an all-round excellent midfielder; and full-backs Ola Aina and Neco Williams, who look like perfect fits for a system that asks them to invert.

There are certainly some pieces that might not fit as perfectly. Kiwi striker Chris Wood, for instance, might not have it in him to press as incessantly as Postecoglou likes his forwards to do. Defenders Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic might not enjoy walking the tightrope on the halfway line. Though the transfer window has just shut, there’s scope to make any necessary changes in January and beyond. Unlike former Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, Marinakis doesn’t dilly-dally on the transfer market. If there’s a player he wants, he goes and gets them.

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Forest’s squad is big, too, with second and in some instances third-choice options available in almost every position, which makes them better prepared to compete in multiple competitions than Spurs were last season.

The jokes at Postecoglou’s expense were being cracked before his announcement was even confirmed. He always wins things in his second season – so he’ll get them relegated and win next season’s English Championship title, then. When Aina went off hurt after just 10 minutes of action for Nigeria on Wednesday morning (AEST), Postecoglou was instantly blamed, and the myth of his apparently hapless training methods was immediately raised.

The doubters are out in force already, the narrative arc set. However, what they overlook is that Postecoglou will be a better manager due to his Tottenham experience. He says he takes away something new from every training session, much less every job. Those who say he can’t “adapt” overlook that not only has he successfully adapted to football in four different countries now, but he even adapted at Spurs; the way they played in the Europa League was almost the antithesis of the singular way he is alleged to be dogmatically wedded to.

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