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This time the story will have a different ending. Ange Postecoglou repeated on Friday that he always wins a trophy in his second season yet not even his most devoted fan expected that to happen at Nottingham Forest. His fate was confirmed just 19 minutes after full-time when Forest announced his sacking.
When a manager loses six of his first eight matches, owners do not tend to be thinking about what might happen at the end of the second season, and Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis’ decision to leave his seat in the stand after an hour of Chelsea’s win here made Postecoglou’s prospects look even more grim, before the axe was wielded.
When Reece James scored Chelsea’s third, hundreds of Forest fans made for the exits and Postecoglou might not be too far behind. Many did not see Malo Gusto’s sending-off for a second yellow card – an astonishing fifth in six games for the Blues.
Forest’s next game is against Porto here in the Europa League on Thursday and the Australian’s chances of being in charge for that one have suffered a possibly fatal blow. As for Chelsea, they were far from convincing. But with boss Enzo Maresca banned from the touchline, they rode their luck when they needed to and when their chances came, they took them.
This was Postecoglou's 39th day in charge at the City Ground. That is one day shorter than Les Reed’s reign at Charlton in 2006, which was previously the shortest tenure in Premier League history.
His last game was certainly a memorable team selection. Taiwo Awoniyi was brought in for his first start since April and high-profile summer signings were left out of the starting XI, with Dilane Bakwa, Arnaud Kalimuendo and James McAtee not even in the squad.
Nottingham Forest were beaten 3-0 by Chelsea after which Ange Postecoglou was sacked
The loss was Forest's sixth in eight games since Postecoglou took charge just 39 days ago
Before the end of the game, Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis decided to leave his seat
The frustration for Postecoglou is that his team did not play too badly here. They wasted excellent chances in the first half and Igor Jesus hit the underside of the bar in the second. That was desperately unlucky – but by then Chelsea were two up. After a promising first half, Forest lost their focus early in the second, allowing Josh Acheampong and Pedro Neto to score. By the time James scored
Daily Mail Sport revealed on October 3 that Postecoglou was already under pressure and since then, possible replacements have been assessed, Sean Dyche among them. Whoever comes next would be Forest’s third manager of the season, all before the clocks go back.
Nuno Espirito Santo was sacked during the first international break, leading to Postecoglou’s appointment on September 9. Postecoglou at least survived the October break but won't still be in place when the next one comes around.
The support was notably muted when the teams walked out yet Forest could have taken the lead inside a minute.
In his first appearance since May, Awoniyi found himself charging towards goal after Malo Gusto’s misdirected pass had fallen for him perfectly but the Nigerian showed understandable rustiness in firing wide weakly.
Despite some chaotic defending at a corner that almost let in Chelsea, Forest were growing in confidence. Morgan Gibbs-White found Elliot Anderson with a pass that was screaming to be fired goalwards immediately. Instead the midfielder cut inside on his right foot and trod on the ball.
Perhaps irritated at that, Anderson shouted back at Postecoglou as his manager tried to shout instructions. Postecoglou’s opposite number Enzo Maresca was allowed no such interaction, with his red card against Liverpool before the international break forcing him to watch his one from the stands.
Despite their troubling start to the season, Forest continued to look the more dangerous side, with Chelsea missing the midfield influence Moises Caicedo in the first period. When Caicedo came on for the second half, they looked more secure.
After an impressive first half from Forest, Chelsea scored three goals in the second period
Blues boss Enzo Maresca was forced to watch from the stands after his recent red card
The defeat proved to be fatal for Postecoglou's hopes of keeping his job at the City Ground
Two errors in a minute from young Chelsea defender Josh Acheampong went unpunished. His misplaced pass was intercepted by Awoniyi and when Gibbs-White collected it, he fired wide. Then Acheampong misjudged a bouncing ball allowed Awoniyi and Douglas Luiz to set up Gibbs-White, who hooked a difficult chance high and wide.
Chelsea did not look quite so ragged as the half drew towards its close and they might have taken the lead in the 42nd minute. Joao Pedro lifted a clever pass over the top and Andrey Santos – who was on loan at Forest briefly in the 2023-24 season – let fly from the edge of the box only for the effort to creep wide.
Forest fans feared during the interval that they would be punished for their poor finishing and so it proved just four minutes after the break. Maresca had made three changes for the second half but one of those who stayed on, Pedro Neto, produced a superb cross and Acheampong drifted between two markers to head home from six yards. Postecoglou clapped in frustration and it got worse three minutes later as Matz Sels could not keep Neto’s effort out of the bottom corner after a short free-kick.
‘Sacked in the morning’ chanted the Chelsea fans at Postecoglou, whose decision to replace Luiz with Callum Hudson-Odoi was met with boos - before boos also rang out at full-time.
Marinakis remained impassive but when Neco Williams volleyed over Oleksandr Zinchenko’s cross over from six yards, the Forest owner left his seat in the stands and headed into the depths of the stadium.
If he saw substitute Igor Jesus volley fellow substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi’s cross against the underside of the bar from point-blank range, Marinakis would have understood this was not to be Forest’s day. James’ third confirmed it and Chelsea’s fifth red card in six games did not hurt them.
