Postecoglou Admits Forest Blunder: "I Was Lost Without Work"

Ange Postecoglou has owned up to making a poor choice in accepting the Nottingham Forest job, revealing he took the role while wrestling with the unfamiliar sensation of being unemployed.

The Australian's catastrophic stint lasted just 39 days. He departed the City Ground without a single victory across eight matches, getting the chop a mere 19 minutes after full-time in his final outing.

Speaking candidly on Stick to Football, Postecoglou pulled no punches when assessing the decision. "That was a bad decision by me to go in there," he explained. "I've got to take ownership. There's no point blaming anyone else."

He went on to suggest the timing was fundamentally wrong. "I should never have gone in there. It was too soon after Tottenham," he said. "I was taking over at a time when I was obviously going to do things differently. They were used to doing things a certain way, and I've got to cop that. That was my mistake. It's no one else's fault."

The crux of the matter, according to Postecoglou, was his psychological state at the time. "Did I have anyone saying anything to me? Yeah, everyone around me. But it was the first time I wasn't working in 20-odd years, and I was lost. In the off-season, I was lost."

He contrasted his usual routine with the emptiness he felt. "Usually you go away with your family, but there are transfers, there's pre-season, so your mind's on that. This time, I was just lost."

Postecoglou also offered his perspective on the broader situation at Forest. He believes the club harboured reservations about moving on from Nuno Espírito Santo, only doing so following some sort of behind-the-scenes disagreement with the ownership.

"Most of the time when you go into a club, that club wants change," he noted. "The reality of it is, I think they were reluctant to get rid of Nuno. It was only because of, I don't know what happened behind the scenes, but there was no way they would have sacked Nuno after last year."

This meant he was stepping into an environment lacking genuine appetite for a fresh direction. "You're not walking into a playing group where they're really looking for change," he reflected. "So from that point of view, I was thinking to myself 'well, yeah, but with that group of players, I reckon I can turn them around pretty quickly.' And we had a couple of games that could have gone our way."

Ultimately, Postecoglou acknowledged his misjudgement. "I'm the worst decision maker, sort of in terms of that time around for my career," he admitted. The fixture scheduling didn't help matters either. "We had four away games, my first four were away. I think I had three at home, like we just never got any traction and it's no wonder the supporters never took to me."