Ange Postecoglou delivered a defiant Nottingham Forest press conference speech which included an indirect reference to his Celtic success.
Hoops hero Postecoglou was appointed Forest manager after the sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo in September.
But he is under severe pressure to deliver results having failed to win any of his first seven matches in charge of the former European champions.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 14 |  FulhamFulham | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 11 | -3 | 8 |
| 15 |  LeedsLeeds | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 11 | -4 | 8 |
| 16 |  BrentfordBrentford | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 12 | -3 | 7 |
| 17 |  Nottingham ForestNottingham Forest | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 12 | -7 | 5 |
| 18 |  BurnleyBurnley | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 15 | -8 | 4 |
| 19 |  West HamWest Ham | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 16 | -10 | 4 |
| 20 |  WolvesWolves | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 14 | -9 | 2 |
Forest face Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday and at his pre-match presser, the ex-Celtic boss was on top form.
Postecoglou says his story at every club ‘always ends the same’
He launched a stunning defence of his time at Tottenham Hotspur, where he led the club to 5th in the Premier League and won the Europa League in May.
Postecoglou insists he is not a failed manager, a tag he claims has been thrown at him, and that if given time, he will succeed and win a trophy with Forest.
Here is the full transcript of his pre-Chelsea speech: “I guess from my perspective, I just don’t fit. Not here (at Forest), just in general.
“If you look at things through the prism that I am a failed manager who is lucky to get this job, I know you’re smirking at me, but that’s what’s been said, then of course these first five weeks looks like this guy is under pressure. But there is an alternative story…
“I came to the Premier League two years ago and I took over at Tottenham. I was told by the chairman [Daniel Levy] that this club has to win a trophy.
“He said we’ve tried to bring winners in: Jose [Mourinho], Antonio Conte, and it hasn’t worked. We need something different. I was slightly offended by that because I see myself as winner.
“I took over Spurs who finished eighth. Massive club, but no European football, and one that can’t go two years without European football.
“We finished fifth in my first year and every time Harry Kane scores a goal [for Bayern after leaving Spurs] I go, ‘I wish he stayed just one more year’. It would have been handy to have him after finishing fifth.
“But somehow that [first] year has disappeared from the record books. It was even used as a reason for me losing my job because even Tottenham decided to exclude the first ten games. Yet the first ten games here [at Forest] are important apparently.
“But anyway, we finished fifth. I got them back into European football, which is where a club like Tottenham should be. Then I was in [post-season] meetings and was told we need a trophy because it will mean everything to the football club. That’s fine.
“We win a trophy. We shed the tag of being ‘Spursy’. [We get] Champions League football, which brings some rewards and the opportunity to bring greater players. But all I have heard since I finished at Tottenham is that we finished 17th last year.
“So if you look at it through the prism of finishing 17th, then I am a failed manager who is lucky to get another opportunity. But again, if I have to explain why we finished 17th, it’s really basic. It doesn’t have to be too in-depth.
“Just look at the last five or six team sheets of last season to see what I prioritised [the Europa League], and who was on the bench. And the last game against Brighton, the players were out partying for two days, which I sanctioned because I felt they deserved to.
“So yes we finished 17th. But if people think that’s a reflection of me and my coaching then again, I think they are looking at it through the prism of I just don’t fit.
“So we get to the current space [at Forest] where there is a different story to tell, that maybe I am not a failed manager who was lucky to get this job and instead maybe I am a manager who, if you give him time, the story always ends the same.
“At all my previous clubs, [it ends] with me and a trophy.”
Postecoglou’s trophy record with Celtic
It’s definitely going to be a huge challenge for Postecoglou to turn his bad start at Forest around and win a trophy in the longer term.
At Tottenham, he had the budget and the infrastructure, but he was the first Spurs gaffer since 2008 to lift major silverware.
With Celtic, it looked like Ange was going to struggle early on. He didn’t win any of his first three competitive games, losing to Hearts on the opening day of the 2021/22 Scottish Premiership season.
But given some time, he went on to utterly dominate Scottish football for two years. He won the Double in his opening season and then a Treble in his last.
Five major trophies out of six were won, which earned him his Premier League chance with Spurs.
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