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IT CAN’T BE HIM! BUT IT IS!

Arguably the least favored Aussie to show up in the Nottingham area since a sinister lodging owner from a long-running series took part in a Mansfield panto 20 years back, the Greek-Australian’s reign at the club’s home could begun in the worst possible way. While the heckling and shouts that actor the Neighbours star was subjected to during Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood were mostly in fun, the hostility of the invective hurled at the Australian coach during the team’s Bigger Vase defeat by their Scandinavian opponents on last Thursday was so severe that it is hard to believe the coach who has been in charge for just six matches will still be around to hear the Christmas jeers this Christmas. Repeatedly the veteran manager’s shouts of “There’s someone there!” went ignored by his hapless players, especially when the Danish side scored their first two goals from poorly handled set-pieces. A long way from the celebratory mood they’d anticipated, Forest’s first UEFA fixture on home soil in almost 30 seasons ended in rancour with the crowd telling the manager he’d be “sacked in the morning”, before serenading his favored, newly sacked predecessor, Nuno Espírito Santo.

“I realize the environment is negative, I understand people’s attitude, particularly towards me, but I don’t fret over it, it’s not unfamiliar territory for me,” Postecoglou growled in response, while aiming the area at his feet to the typical intense glare. “Football holds no surprises for me, it’s the climate we’re in. It seems that’s the way things are going. It’s beyond my influence. The fans are disappointed, they have every right to their view. I listened to what they said.” And while those followers are free to express anger, it could be argued that they might be more sensible picking a more appropriate target for their frustration. Ultimately, it was the Greek businessman who sacked a beloved manager to appoint the new boss, who was always going to start under pressure. Observing from the owners’ area as he went through a repertoire of surly, dark scowls last witnessed during that period he heard Tottenham had triggered the midfielder’s release clause, the wealthy owner has so far escaped any kind of serious criticism from the crowd, a sizable group of whom remain certain the sun shines out of his generously upholstered nether regions.

As the clock ticked past noon on Friday, rumours of Postecoglou getting sacked in the morning proved to be unfounded and it appears his job remains protected until such time as … well, it isn’t. Although the club boss can offer a partial defense that he has had very few sessions on the practice field to instil the philosophy and tactical nuance that caused Spurs dropping a majority of their Premier League fixtures last season, his side’s schedule remains forbidding and relentless. Facing the Magpies, the Blues, the Portuguese giants and the Cherries on the horizon it is difficult to see from where a first Postecoglou win will come before what could surely be the mother of all El Sackicos against the Old Trafford side.

COVERAGE ON MAJOR SITE

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TOP STATEMENT

“I steer clear of heated debates, who points fingers, actually, I won’t mention anyone’s name here. But I think there was a bit of a lack of respect there, plus some impoliteness, and not a single hello or hi” – Antony slams the Red Devils over the frosty environment at the Theatre of Dreams, where conviviality has seemingly headed south like the side’s performance.

FAN MAILBAG

Is it true the coach has promised Forest fans he guarantees victory in his following term?” – a reader.

I wouldn’t normally to seek to emphasize the trope that Arsenal supporters are football’s whiniest fans, but Thabo Caves (the previous day’s mailbag) does make you ponder. Highlighting that rather than two games a week, the North London side are having to play more than two fixtures each week (wow, 30 additional minutes!) over a certain trio of weeks (for a squad with two good options for every position to additionally) is not the debate-ender he might think. Rather it’s just going to have the orchestra of the world’s smallest violins getting ready once more, while the wider sport roll their collective eyes” – another reader.

I’m puzzled whether your current contributors (on two or three games a week) are intentionally, sarcastically mimicking one of the high points of online debate (safe for work), or unconsciously proving the philosopher’s saying about history repeating first as tragedy, then as farce” – a respondent.

For what it’s worth, the previous correspondent (the last mailbag), I’ve long felt that way [wanting affluent UK clubs to be defeated abroad]. Since Forest lost the ability to negotiate Europe, continental matches for me has led to a state of frustrated anger, interrupted now and then by the Romanian side and, at a push, Zaragoza. I don’t give a hoot for Liverpool’s exploits from the 1980s right up to the Champions League win. I am unmoved by {‘that