Nottingham Forest’s Premier League Rise: From Controlled Chaos To Outright Mayhem | OneFootball

In 2024/25, Nottingham Forest set a blueprint for how ambitious teams rising to the Premier League from the Championship could kick on.

Under Nuno Espirito Santo, Forest finished seventh in the Premier League and haggled their way into the Europa League after a contentious legal battle involving Crystal Palace.

But in a dramatic shift, owner Evangelos Marinakis has gone from one extreme to another in replacing the pragmatic Nuno with philosophical coach Ange Postecoglou.

After seven games, Ange is already facing the sack, his lined-up replacement is astounding, and Forest in general are in a state of disarray.

How has it got to this, and why?

nOTTINGHAM FOREST’S RISE

When getting promoted from the Championship, Forest’s identity and plan became clear: recruit well to absorb pressure when without the ball, and make their time in possession count.

The first instalment of this plan was backing Steve Cooper, much-loved Welshman who guided Nottingham Forest to the Premier League for the first time in 23 years. Cooper was supported with £140m worth of signings, and a massive squad overhaul of 22 new players – a British record.

What seemed like reckless spending ended up justified – Forest finished 16th and assured themselves of a place in the 2023/24 Premier League.

Cooper’s Premier League management was summed up by his side’s defensive approach, which involved a back five at times, resulting in just 19% possession against Arsenal on one occasion, yet securing a crucial 1-0 win against the title contenders. This exemplified their direct, counter-attacking success.

In 2023/24, the situation in Nottingham became slightly more perilous. Cooper was sacked with Forest five points above the relegation zone after picking up just one win in 13 matches. He left as a hero, but it was clearly time for somebody new to push Forest on…

In steps Nuno Espirito Santo.

nuno

Nuno kept Nottingham Forest afloat after coming in in December. Nottingham Forest scrambled about and found 32 points, finishing one place above the relegation zone, ahead of Luton Town.

NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND – AUGUST 09: Nuno Espirito Santo, Manager of Nottingham Forest looks on during the pre-season friendly match between Nottingham Forest v Al Qadsiah at City Ground on August 09, 2025 in Nottingham, England. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

It was all about coming in and finding results to keep them in the division, nothing else, and that they did. But expectations from owner Evangelos Marinakis were much higher for the following season.

In the summer of 2024, signings at the back were made – Morato and Nikola Milenkovic showed Nuno’s continued intent on compromising space in Forest’s own half by sitting deep.

This too was predecessor Steve Cooper’s method, but Nuno furthered it by adding goals to Forest’s game. Elliot Anderson was signed for a then club-record fee, a player who became key to their rise under Espirito Santo.

Chris Wood, a player who had spent much of his career around the Premier League, was optimised by being fed perfect crosses. Wood finished as fourth-top scorer in the league, on an impressive 20 goal tally.

Simply, Nuno had the perfect profiles to play his system effectively. Tight at the back, and the electricity of various players such as Anthony Elanga going forwards all to aim at a target man with brilliant football IQ. Nuno and Forest were seemingly, a match made in heaven…

Unrest Behind The Scenes

Despite the club spending over £180m on incomings in the 2025 summer transfer window, a lot was left to be desired for Santo.

Pre-match before Nottingham Forest’s first game of the season, Nuno was critical of the senior figures overseeing Forest’s transfer strategy, saying his squad was “unbalanced” and “very, very far” from being ready.

Then, ahead of Forest’s next match, Nuno reiterated this, in saying that his relationship with owner Marinakis had deteriorated since the arrival of Edu as Marinakis’ head of global football.

When asked about the security of his job (which had began to come into question): Nuno said

Nuno statements about his relationship with Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis before being sacked.

After just three Premier League games, Nuno Espirito Santo was sacked by Nottingham Forest.

ANGE-BALL

Nottingham Forest were swift in bringing in their replacement.

Life under Nuno in a sensible style of play, that suited the squad and where the club was at had been going well. So surely Marinakis and Edu would want to bring in somebody with similar philosophies, right?

Quite the opposite. Former-Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou was announced as successor. Ange, a man who wants to play high-tempo football, brought new, contrasting ideas to Nottinghamshire.

Ange arrived and suggested that the players would play the way he wanted almost immediately. When asked in his first post-match press conference when there’d be change, Postecoglou replied, “you’ll see it on Wednesday.”

Just weeks into his tenure, Ange took charge of Forest’s first European game at the City Ground for 29 years. It ended in a 3-1 loss, and the blame was pointed at him before the final whistle had blown, with fans chanting ‘sacked in the morning.’

“The fans are disappointed. They are allowed to have an opinion on it. I heard their opinion,” said a downcast Postecoglou, who was also jeered as he walked down the tunnel at full-time.

“Nothing surprises me in football. It’s the climate we’re in. It seems that’s the way things are going. It’s nothing I can control.”

Ange Postecoglou became the first permanent Nottingham Forest manager for 100 years to fail to win any of his first six games in charge of the club.

FROM BAD TO WORSE

Nottingham Forest are now reportedly considering their options, and whether to cut their losses on Postecoglou early or not.

If Ange was to be sacked, Sean Dyche would be considered to take his place.

This would be yet another baffling decision from the Forest hierarchy, switching managers with differing identities faster than even Watford could dream of.

Appointing Sean Dyche would be an admittance of failure, and show that Marinakis and Edu do not have a set strategy in their overseeing of the football club.

Nottingham Forest sit 17th in the Premier League table, with just one league win this season, that came in the opener under Nuno.

It remains to be seen how long Ange Postecoglou will be given as manager, but is Forest’s scattergun approach that worked so well in their favour when first promoted starting to show major flaws?