Former Nottingham Forest midfielder Roy Keane has slammed the club’s current squad as “idiots” and blamed them for their part in Ange Postecoglou’s downfall as manager. Postecoglou’s reign lasted a mere 39 days, with the Australian unable to secure a single victory after taking over from Nuno Espirito Santo.
Forest have now turned to their third permanent manager of the campaign, with Sean Dyche stepping into the hot seat. The former Everton boss will oversee his debut match when Porto arrive at the City Ground for their Europa League clash. Dyche becomes the ninth permanent manager since owner Evangelos Marinakis assumed control in 2017. Just one of those appointments, Steve Cooper, managed to stay in post for more than 100 fixtures.
Keane – who made 150 appearances for the club in the early 90s – told Stick to Football: “You look at the Forest players and the chances they had. What chance has he [Postecoglou] got? Did they really want to score?
“Did they want to keep them in the job? I’m on about good players not even hitting the target. Then the manager loses his job, you look at these Forest players, and they’re like, ‘oh well, another manager has gone, a new one comes in, you know’. Idiots, honestly.”
Forest secured their opening victory of the campaign under Nuno but have failed to taste success in league or cups since. Their most recent outing saw them crumble to a 3-0 home defeat against Chelsea, a result that sealed Postecoglou’s fate.
Less than 20 minutes after the final whistle, Forest confirmed the manager had been dismissed. His successor, Dyche, was appointed within 72 hours, and has been thrown right in at the deep end.
Keane’s fellow pundit Micah Richards had issues with the sacking of Postecoglou, suggesting he needed more time considering the difference between his and Nuno’s styles of play. “It was inevitable but I don’t think it’s right,” Richards told BBC Sport on Saturday.
“He was only given eight games and a contrast of styles was always going to be a factor. Forest went from one of the best counter-attacking managers to one who wanted to be more expansive – it was never going to work straight away.
“Ange Postecoglou is a good manager but it’s possible his media outbursts haven’t helped. It looked like he could have been the right fit but more time was needed.
“The interesting thing now is – will the next manager be short term or long term? What are Forest trying to be – was last season a one-off?”
After starting with a European encounter, new boss Dyche will face a hectic couple of weeks in the league. Sunday brings a trip to high-flying Bournemouth, with Forest also playing at home to Manchester United and Leeds before the November international break.