‘Didn’t blink’ – Roy Keane issues fresh take on Nottingham Forest controversy
Roy Keane has revealed that he wasn’t surprised by the fact that Nottingham Forest sacked Nuno Espirito Santo.
After sacking Espirito Santo, Forest appointed former Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou, who endured a rollercoaster of a season last term.
Intriguingly, Postecoglou’s first game in charge of the City Ground outfit sees him come up against Spurs’ rivals Arsenal on Saturday, 13 September.
Meanwhile, Espirito Santo’s final straw at Nottingham Forest was that he failed to bring on summer signing Douglas Luiz in their 3-0 defeat to West Ham United, after disagreeing with his former club’s hierarchy over recruitment.
Roy Keane admits lack of surprise as Nottingham Forest sack Nuno Espirito Santo
Despite Espirito Santo’s recent disagreements with the City Ground club’s board, Forest signed James McAtee amid a busy transfer window.
Most importantly, the East Midlands outfit retained Morgan Gibbs-White, even though there were strong advances for his services from Tottenham.
But keeping hold of the England international was not enough to prevent Nottingham Forest replacing Espirito Santo with Postecoglou.
Speaking on The Overlap on Thursday, 11 September, Keane said: “The hardest part of management is managing up. He’s obviously not lost his job on the back of football results.
“He’s obviously had a good season last year. I still think the owner would have been pretty fed up with him last year, thinking you should have got in the Champions League.
“They ended up having a good season and getting into Europe, but managing upwards if a director of football does come in, you’d think their main job is to help the manager. Some managers see him as he’s not going to help, he’s going to be a hindrance, whether that’s recruitment or just personality clashes.
“If that owner’s brought him in, unfortunately the owner’s probably going to back the director of football. Particularly in this case, particularly with the owner of Forest.
“We’ve seen it before with Steve Cooper. I didn’t blink an eyelid, it’s how it works.”
Ange Postecoglou must have a strong start at Forest
Espirito Santo has raised expectations at the City Ground by steering his former club from a previous relegation to European football.
Furthermore, Forest reached the FA Cup semi-finals last term, as the ex-Wolves boss took them close to winning silverware.
Consequently, to prove that his club were right to sack Espirito Santo, Postecoglou needs to enjoy a strong start to life in his new role.
Although the Australian won the Europa League with Tottenham last term, he was sacked by the North Londoners due to a poor Premier League season.
Nottingham Forest face a tough test on 13 September, as they travel to title challengers Arsenal, who beat Leeds United 5-0 in their last home game.
Furthermore, the Gunners will be keen to get back to winning ways after suffering a 1-0 defeat to defending Premier League champions Liverpool on 31 August.
Meanwhile, Forest begin their Europa League campaign when they head to Spain and take on Real Betis on 24 September.