After a busy summer transfer window, with 13 arrivals and 8 departures, the Nottingham Forrest board have given Nuno Espirito Santo only 1-2 weeks with his new players before giving him his marching orders earlier this week.

Nuno’s relationship with Forest’s board has been tumultuous at best. His highly publicized feud with new global head of football Edu, and his public remarks about the tension has only put more fire to the flame. Last season, Nuno guided Forest to their first European spot since the 1995-96 season. Their play, although defensive, was compelling to watch and made them one of the hardest teams to beat in the Premier League. During the summer, they signed some very interesting and exciting players, like Kalimuendo, McAtee, Ndoye, etc… Interestingly, what these signings had in common is that they were highly technical and press oriented players, not the type of players Nuno uses in his system. I thought, perhaps, Nuno was going to play a different system, but, as the first three Gameweeks highlighted, Nuno was not switching tactics. However, everything became clear earlier this week, when Forrest hired Postecoglou as their new manager. What if all their signings were not meant for Nuno but for his successor? Which means Forest planned to fire Nuno this early in the season and replace him with Postecoglou?.

When you look at the incomings it makes sense. Kalimendo is high pressing, strong, makes runs in behind, good hold up play just like Solanke. Ndoye is a direst, right footed winger, like Son. McAtee and Hutchison are good in the half spaces, creative and hard workers just like Maddison. But the most glaring signings are Zinchenko and Savona. Both of these players are known for their capacity to invert into the midfield from a wing back position. A role which Nuno doesn’t use but Postecoglou uses. Yes, this could be considered as a huge accusation, but it is known that Marinakis isn’t scared to ruffle a few feathers.

Moreover, the timing makes this even more glaring. At the moment, we are during the international break, which means club managers have the time to instill or refine their tactics without the distraction of weekend games. Historically, manager switches tend to happen during these breaks. So what if Marinakis had planned to fire Nuno and replace him with Postecoglou this entire time and was just waiting for the international break to announce it?

If you have any thoughts on this subject matter, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you think about this.