Postecoglou 'expects' talks with Forest owner and vows to 'fight'

There was no escape for Ange Postecoglou.

After watching Nick Woltemade put Newcastle United 2-0 up from the spot, the Nottingham Forest manager was informed he was going to be "sacked in the morning" by home fans at St James' Park.

Postecoglou has now failed to win any of his first seven games in all competitions since taking charge last month.

Forest have conceded an average of more than two goals per match in that time.

Though it is still early days of the campaign, the club - who qualified for Europe last season - are just a point above the relegation zone.

Perhaps, then, it is not a surprise that Postecoglou "expects" to have a discussion with owner Evangelos Marinakis and the Forest hierarchy about "what we have embarked on here, where we are at and what we are going to do".

"If people want to make an assessment after three and a half weeks, after we have had seven games, there's nothing I can do about that," he said.

"At the same time, there's nothing wrong with things being tough. I did have an option - I could have been sitting on the couch watching the game and not be in the middle of it.

"I'd much rather be here. I love a fight."

A shift in approach

Something had to change.

Forest had looked so vulnerable defensively that Postecoglou's side even conceded on a counter-attack from their own corner kick in a 3-2 defeat by Midtjylland at the City Ground on Thursday.

It was a night where a section of fans turned on their manager.

A shift to a more pragmatic approach brought back memories of what proved to be Postecoglou's finest hour - Tottenham's Europa League final win against Manchester United in May, when the usually front-footed Australian went back to basics.

Fast forward a few months, and this time three of the four changes Postecoglou made to his side were at the back - as he handed captain Ryan Yates and fellow defenders Nicolo Savona and Jair Cunha their first league starts of the season.

And the visitors defended resolutely for large periods as Newcastle struggled to fire.

Indeed, aside from one save to claw away Joelinton's header, goalkeeper Matz Sels had little to do against his former side in the first 50 minutes with centre-back Morato among those to make huge blocks.

That did not go unnoticed by Danny Murphy, who is a pundit on Sunday's Match of the Day.

"I actually think [Postecoglou] set them up in the right way because they have been conceding a lot of goals," said the ex-England midfielder.

"It was actually quite a pragmatic performance, and they were not run ragged. They were maybe too defensive at times, but they were nice and compact, worked hard and were in the game at half-time."

However, once Bruno Guimaraes opened the scoring with a curling effort, leaving Postecoglou staring into the distance as he shook his head on the touchline, Forest never looked like getting back into this game.

Newcastle ended with18 shots, 33 touches in the box and eight corners. Woltemade hit the crossbar. And Sels made big saves to deny Joelinton, Sandro Tonali and Harvey Barnes late on before Woltemade doubled his side's lead from the spot.

Forest, by contrast, had an xG of just 0.29.

'It's a struggle? So what?'

So can Postecoglou turn it around and mould a winning side in his image?

The Forest manager and his staff, like other top-flight bosses competing in European competitions, have had little time to work with players on the training pitches given the relentless nature of the schedule.

Douglas Luiz, Murillo and Oleksandr Zinchenko are among those players Postecoglou feels need training time.

He has identified the upcoming two-week international break as an "important" period for those who are not travelling to play for their countries.

Such time is precious, but it is particularly crucial when shifting from one style to another - as Joe Hart knows well after their time together at Celtic.

"We were probably five, six or seven games into the season - having had a pre-season - before we were really flowing, understanding what he wants us to do and had confidence in it," the former goalkeeper told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"Ange is a big man and he understands what he was walking into."

Postecoglou certainly did not appear crestfallen after Forest's latest defeat.

After staying out to applaud the away end at full-time, he deadpanned that his situation was "a lost cause" when asked if he could turn things around with time.

"It's a fight, it's a struggle?" he said. "So what? That's OK. If people outside or even internally don't think I'm the right person, it makes no difference for me.

"I took this role on knowing it would be a massive challenge with what we were trying to do in terms of changing the direction of the club. Nothing I've seen in the last three and a half weeks has changed my view on that.

"I love the challenge of taking this club to where it needs to be and I'm very confident of getting there."