LONDON: Ange Postecoglou has said he has only himself to blame for an extraordinarily brief reign as Nottingham Forest manager, with the Australian accepting he made “a bad decision” taking on the job with the Premier League strugglers.
Postecoglou, 60, was appointed as Nuno Espirito Santo’s successor in September.
But infamously impatient Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis sacked Postecoglou just 39 days later, after the experienced manager lost six of his eight games in charge.
Postecoglou, reflecting on his time at Forest for the Overlap podcast, said an over-eagerness to get back into management after his departure from Tottenham Hotspur three months earlier, had been the root cause of his troubles at the City Ground.
“There’s no point me blaming it on ‘I didn’t get time’ or anything,” said Postecoglou. “I should never have gone in there. That was on me. That was a bad decision by me to go in there. I’ve got to take ownership of that.
“It was too soon after Tottenham. I was taking over at a time where they were kind of used to doing things a certain way and I’m obviously going to do things differently. I’ve got to cop that, that was my mistake. It’s no-one else’s fault.”
Postecoglou remains without a club but he has ruled out returning to Celtic, where he enjoyed a successful two-year stint from 2021-23, with the 73-year-old Martin O’Neill currently in caretaker charge of the Scottish champions until the end of the season.
“I loved Celtic, it’s a wonderful football club,” said Postecoglou, who left the Glasgow giants to join Spurs. “If I was younger, I probably would have stayed there longer. I probably would have stayed there three, four years.
“I think I could have made progress with them in Europe but at the time, it had taken me a long time to get to this sort of space, and the opportunity to join Tottenham was too good.
“In terms of going back, I don’t go back. I just don’t think that’s kind of been my career.
“Whatever the next step is, it’ll be something new, somewhere I can make an impact in, somewhere I can win things, but it doesn’t diminish the affection I have for Celtic.”
Postecoglou admits taking Nottingham Forest post a ‘bad decision’
https://arab.news/rwt59
Postecoglou admits taking Nottingham Forest post a ‘bad decision’
- Postecoglou, 60, was appointed as Nuno Espirito Santo’s successor in September
- “There’s no point me blaming it on ‘I didn’t get time’ or anything,” said Postecoglou
Hungry South Africa ‘want more’ after statement T20 win over India
- South Africa play the West Indies on Thursday in Ahmedabad where Markram’s side could put one foot firmly in the semifinals with another win
AHMEDABAD: A hungry South Africa will “keep wanting more” after their statement victory over co-hosts India at the T20 World Cup earmarked Aiden Markram’s side as serious title contenders.
India were swept aside by 76 runs as 80,000 fans in Ahmedabad were silenced on Sunday and their 12-match win streak at the T20 World Cup, stretching back to 2022, came to a crashing halt.
India, batting second for the first time in the tournament, collapsed to 111 all out in their Super Eights opener after South Africa posted 187-7.
David Miller showed India’s much-vaunted lineup how to bat on a slow Ahmedabad pitch, building an innings after South Africa lost early wickets and were 20-3 in the power play.
Miller put on 97 for the fourth wicket with Dewald Brevis (45) on his way to 63 off 35 balls in a perfectly paced knock.
It set the platform for Tristan Stubbs to launch a late assault with 44 off 24 balls, including a crucial 20 from the final over.
Miller said that India’s cloak of invincibility had been removed and now South Africa knew “that they are beatable.”
“It wasn’t easy. Playing against India is always really difficult and they’ve got some incredible team and players,” Miller told reporters.
“For us in a tournament like this, it’s about making sure that we do keep going back to the simple things, making sure that we stay in our lane as a player, get the job done and keep wanting more.
“We’re a mature team. A lot of guys have played together and a lot of cricket for South Africa and that goes a long way under pressure,” said Miller.
Quick bowler Marco Jansen took 4-22, ably supported by left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj (3-24) and fellow quick Lungi Ngidi (0-15) in a rematch of the 2024 final, won by India.
“Look I don’t think anyone was thinking of revenge. It was a big game,” Ngidi told reporters.
“But if we lift the trophy, that’s proper revenge — if you want to call it that.
“But tonight was just another game we needed to win to put ourselves in a better position to challenge for the trophy.”
The West Indies face Zimbabwe on Monday night in Mumbai in their Super Eights opener in the same group.
South Africa play the West Indies on Thursday in Ahmedabad where Markram’s side could put one foot firmly in the semifinals with another win.
On the same day in Chennai, India face giant-killers Zimbabwe, who have already beaten Australia and Sri Lanka, and must win convincingly.
Anything less and India will need to beat the West Indies in their final match rely on a combination of other results going their way.
