Ange Postecoglou has been unveiled as the new Nottingham Forest manager.
The former Celtic boss, whose departure from Celtic Park led to Brendan Rodgers‘ return, is already preparing for his first game in charge against Arsenal in Saturday’s early kick-off in the Premier League.
He takes over from Nuno Espirito Santo, who was controversially sacked after leading Forest to their best league finish of the century so far.
But Postecoglou’s well-known style of play has attracted the attention of Evangelos Marinakis, who has mighty ambitions to win trophies at the City Ground.
Speaking at his first Forest press conference in his new role, Postecoglou has addressed his relationship with the club’s owner, including a picture which surfaced during his time in Glasgow.
Ange Postecoglou says he doesn’t know Evangelos Marinakis well
Marinakis’ relationship with Postecoglou has been speculated on, particularly after the former Hoops boss was presented with an award by the Forest owner for his contributions to Greek football this summer.
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Whilst at Celtic, Ange was spotted next to Steve Cooper and Marinakis on holiday, intriguing supporters of both clubs.
But the former Parkhead hero has now addressed the image which first surfaced in 2022, saying that their meeting was coincidental – as well as downplaying his relationship with Marinakis as a whole.
He said: “Look, I’ve been in his company three or four times. I don’t know him well. We were in Athens, because he presented me an award – so I had a brief interaction with him there.
“One [interaction] was two or three years ago when Coops was the manager, and we happened to be in Athens at the same time. But I haven’t spent a lot of time with him.
“From afar, you’ve just got to admire his ambition. I’ve only been with him a few times, and I just said yes to him.
His ambitions have led him to Ange, whose record of winning trophies is impossible to deny.
Can Ange Postecoglou replicate what Brendan Rodgers did at Leicester?
If Tottenham was Postecoglou’s Liverpool spell, then Forest will be his Leicester spell. Rodgers left Glasgow for the Foxes in 2019, despite being on-course for a historic treble-treble.
Kasper Schmeichel and, more recently, Kelechi Iheanacho have both reunited with Rodgers at Celtic following their time with him at the King Power.
Rodgers delivered silverware just over two years into his time at Leicester with a historic FA Cup triumph – he also had the side regularly competing for the top-four places in the table.
A dramatic downturn in form in his final season, and their subsequent relegation, left Rodgers leaving the club under a cloud – but if Postecoglou can replicate the highs that Rodgers brought to the Midlands, he will be a happy man.
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