Ange Postecoglou brutally sacked by Nottingham Forest MINUTES after full-time in Chelsea defeat as ruthless owner Evangelos Marinakis swings the axe after just eight games

Forest’s loss at the hands of Chelsea proved to be Postecoglou’s final match in a tumultuous spell in charge of the club. Despite calving out goalscoring opportunities through Elliot Anderson and Morgan Gibbs-White, with substitute Igor Jesus later hitting the crossbar, the hosts were punished for their profligacy in front of goal by Chelsea trio Josh Acheampong, Pedro Neto and Reece James. The result meant Forest failed to taste victory in any of their eight games in all competitions under Postecoglou, having also suffered defeats against Arsenal, Swansea City, Sunderland, Midtjylland and Newcastle. The club also earned two draws under Postecoglou - against Burnley and Real Betis - in a 39-day tenure which saw the 60-year-old manager face chants of "you're getting sacked in the morning" from Forest supporters following the 3-2 Europa League defeat by Midtjylland.

And with owner Marinakis having left in the middle of the second half against Chelsea, Postecoglou has now been relieved of his duties. In a statement released in the immediate aftermath of Forest’s latest defeat, the club said: “Nottingham Forest Football Club can confirm that after a series of disappointing results and performances, Ange Postecoglou has been relieved of his duties as head coach with immediate effect. The Club will make no further comment at this time.”

According to TNT Sports, Postecoglou spoke to the Forest players for the final time after the Chelsea game, delivering his post-match team talk before leaving the City Ground carrying a bag. The players were then escorted out of the dressing room and up to the boardroom as they were told the news that the former Tottenham manager had been relieved of his duties. Before learning that Postecoglou had been sacked, midfielder Gibbs-White - speaking to TNT Sports shortly after the final whistle - had said the Forest squad were all behind the embattled head coach, despite the club's poor run of results.

In an impassioned defence of his managerial record, citing how he ended Tottenham’s 17-year drought with victory in last season’s Europa League before being dismissed in June, Postecoglou was positive about his chances of keeping his Forest post in the build up to the Chelsea game.

"The flip side is I'm really still excited about the opportunity here,” said Postecoglou in a pre-match press conference. “That's how I'm embracing it. I have a group of young players who are willing to change, that's the first thing. I'm heading down that road. The rest of it? I'm not going to waste my time or my energy worrying about that. Whether it's internal or external I couldn't care less. At the end of the day, I will do what I think is the right thing to do to bring success to this football club and that's what I'm focused on. Of course there's pressure. 

"There's pressure anyway. So if we win on the weekend, the pressure is there. There's always pressure. There's a difference between pressure and saying that somebody should lose their job after five weeks. I mean, I only just found an apartment to move into, which may be a bad decision on my behalf. I should have stayed in temporary digs. That's how early it is. So there's a difference."

It remains to be seen who Forest will now turn to as they look to replace Postecoglou. In a season which promised so much following the club’s return to European football after a 30-year absence, engineered after a seventh-place finish under Postecoglou’s predecessor Nuno, former Everton and Burnley boss Sean Dyche has been linked with a move to the City Ground. Dyche, a former Forest academy graduate, has been out of work since being sacked as Everton manager in January following a bad run of results. Meanwhile, Nuno was relieved of his Forest duties on 9 September after 21 months at the helm. The Portuguese had reportedly clashed with sporting director Edu over the club's summer transfer business, while he also revealed his relationship with Marinakis had "changed."

"I always had a very good relationship with the owner - last season we were very close and spoke on a daily basis,” Nuno said in August. “This season it is not so well (between us) but I always believe that dialogue is important because my concern is the squad and the season we have ahead of us. Our relationship has changed and we are not as close. I think everyone at the club should be together but this is not the reality."