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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Barry Glendenning

‘He’s behind you!’ Is Postecoglou the real villain in Nottingham Forest’s panto?

Ange Postecoglou watches on as Nottingham Forest fans vent their fury
Ange Postecoglou stares hard into the middle distance. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

OH NO HE ISN’T! OH YES HE IS!

Arguably the most unpopular Australian to pitch up in Nottinghamshire since villainous hotelier Paul Robinson from Neighbours starred in a Mansfield panto 20 years ago, Ange Postecoglou’s reign at the City Ground could scarcely have got off to a more inauspicious start. While the boos and catcalls that actor Stefan Dennis was subjected to during Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood were largely good-natured, such was the toxicity of the invective aimed at Postecoglou during Nottingham Forest’s Bigger Vase defeat by Midtjylland on Thursday, that it is difficult to imagine the man who has been in charge for just six matches will still be around to hear the festive cat-calls this Christmas. On more than one occasion the 60-year-old’s shouts of “He’s behind you!” went ignored by his hapless players, not least when the Danish side scored their first two goals from atrociously defended set-pieces. Far from the celebratory mood they’d hoped for, Forest’s first European home game in 29 years ended in rancour with home fans telling Postecoglou he’d be “sacked in the morning”, before serenading his popular, recently dismissed predecessor, Nuno Espírito Santo.

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