A shock exit at the City Ground
Three games into a new Premier League season, and a manager who delivered seventh place and Europe is out. On September 8, 2025, Nottingham Forest dismissed Nuno Espirito Santo after months of strain with owner Evangelos Marinakis finally boiled over. The timing is stark: the club is days away from a Europa League campaign, its first continental run in three decades, and staring at a daunting trip to Arsenal on September 13.
Nuno’s work last season earned him genuine credit. He came in after Steve Cooper in December 2023, steadied a shaky side, and then drove them to a remarkable seventh-place finish in 2024/25. That surge secured European football and, in an unusual twist, a Europa League spot that saw Forest replace Crystal Palace in the competition. The momentum felt real. So did the goodwill.
That made June’s three-year contract extension feel like a natural step. Instead, it proved to be a pause before a collapse. By late August, the manager had gone public with comments that he and Marinakis were “not close” and that their relationship had changed. He made clear he understood the noise that would follow. The owner, according to people close to him, took the remarks as a direct challenge.
On the pitch, the start was mixed. Forest drew 1-1 at Crystal Palace and then were beaten 3-0 at home by West Ham before the international break. Performances weren’t the point, though. The fracture off the field was. A planned clear-the-air meeting during the break never happened. The board moved instead.
The tipping point tracks back to the summer restructure. In June, Forest hired Edu as global head of football. For Nuno, that changed the chemistry at the top. He had grown used to dealing directly with Marinakis. An intermediary, however qualified, felt like a barrier. While Nuno didn’t control transfers before, he sensed his influence had shrunk further under the new setup.
Inside the club, the new role was meant to professionalize decision-making across recruitment, analytics, and long-term planning. But new structures can bruise egos and blur lines. Nuno, a coach who prizes clarity and authority, bristled at the shift. Once he voiced those concerns in public, the relationship with the owner slipped beyond repair.
Forest’s statement kept it warm and brief, thanking Nuno for leading a historic season and acknowledging he’ll be remembered well at the City Ground. Behind that polite curtain sits a different reality: trust had eroded, and the hierarchy felt they had to act fast with Europe and a key league stretch ahead.
This is the hard edge of modern football governance. Owners want a repeatable process and clear accountability; coaches want space to run the dressing room and a proper say in the squad. When those lines cross, personality matters as much as policy. Here, both clashed at the worst possible time.
The context matters. Marinakis has put serious ambition behind Forest since promotion, and he is not afraid of big decisions. Last season’s surge under Nuno validated that drive. It also raised expectations for what comes next: a competitive European campaign and a domestic push for trophies. The owner’s view now is simple—reset quickly and keep the project moving.
Nuno leaves a complex legacy despite the short span. His teams were organized, compact, and dangerous in transition. He powered a united dressing room through a high-pressure spring. He also stepped into a club that changes quickly and speaks loudly. The match worked—until it didn’t.
What comes next for Forest
The next step looks lined up already. Ange Postecoglou has emerged as the leading candidate and, per multiple reports, is understood to have agreed to take the job on a deal running through the end of the 2026/27 season. Coming off a Europa League triumph in 2025, he brings a very different profile: front-foot football, high defensive lines, and aggressive pressing. If confirmed, that would be a sharp tactical pivot from the compact style Forest played under Nuno.
Postecoglou’s fit would hinge on how quickly Forest can adjust. A smoother build-up and bolder pressing can electrify the City Ground, but they also demand brave defenders and midfielders who can handle the ball under pressure. The squad was built for balance and counter-punching last year. A tweak becomes a full rebuild if the new coach wants his trademark approach right away.
There are other names in the frame if the Postecoglou deal hits a snag. Several coaches have been sounded out or at least mentioned in conversations around the role:
- Jose Mourinho — serial winner, immediate authority, short-term shock factor.
- Marco Silva — progressive structure, Premier League savvy.
- Oliver Glasner — tactically flexible, strong with in-possession patterns.
- Brendan Rodgers — possession-heavy approach, track record across leagues.
- Sean Dyche — defensive solidity, firefighting credibility.
Forest’s timeline is tight. The new head coach is expected to be in place for the Arsenal game right after the international break. Europa League registration deadlines and early group fixtures add pressure. The club can’t drift for two weeks and hope it clicks; they need a plan on the grass immediately.
The rebuild on the touchline will also force choices upstairs. Edu’s role, by design, touches recruitment and long-term structures. Any new coach will need a clear working pact: who decides what, how fast decisions are made, and how disagreements are settled. After the Nuno split, those ground rules must be simple and written in bold.
There’s also the chemistry question. Marinakis wants a direct line to his head coach. Edu sits between owner and technical departments. That triangle can hum if each piece respects the lanes. It can also jam if meetings feel like arbitration. Forest’s leadership will know this. They’ve just seen what happens when the lines blur.
Supporters will have mixed emotions. They watched Nuno deliver nights the club had waited 30 years to feel again, and they’ll remember that surge. They also understand the stakes in the Premier League. You either ride momentum or you lose it. The club is betting that a clean break now protects the season later.
On a football level, the squad isn’t broken. Defensive lapses hurt against West Ham, yes, but the core that pushed to seventh is still there. The next coach inherits energy at the top end, athleticism in midfield, and a back line that can look solid with the right shape. Training-ground work and a couple of smart January calls could tilt things back up.
Nuno’s departure also puts the spotlight on player leadership. The dressing room leaned on strong voices last spring. Those same players will shape the mood through a quick reset. If the new man is Postecoglou, expect him to empower those voices early and then layer in his demands day by day.
The Premier League calendar won’t wait. Arsenal away is a harsh test for any new boss, let alone one trying to change patterns on the fly. But early adversity can unify a group. A clear plan and a couple of brave choices can turn pressure into belief.
In Europe, Forest have a chance to make noise. Group-stage draws can be forgiving or nasty, but continental football rewards teams that know exactly who they are. The sooner Forest settle on an identity under the new coach, the better their odds of turning the return to Europe into more than a cameo.
For Nuno, there will be options. His reputation took a hit with the exit, but the bigger picture shows a coach who lifted a club, connected with a crowd, and hit targets most thought were out of reach. That plays well in boardrooms across Europe.
For Marinakis, this is the wager: change the voice now and keep the trajectory pointing up. He believes the right appointment can unlock another gear, not just preserve last year’s high. With the stadium buzzing and European nights back, the owner wants to move from a good story to silverware talk.
Forest need alignment more than anything. A head coach with authority, a football leader with a clear plan, an owner who gives both room to work—and one shared calendar. When that clicks, results usually follow. When it doesn’t, weeks like this happen.
Three games in, one big call made, and a whole season in front of them. The City Ground has lived through chaos and glory. It now gets both at once. The next few days will tell us which side wins out.
