Ange Postecoglou was subjected to chants of ‘you’re being sacked in the morning’ by his own supporters as Nottingham Forest succumbed to a 3-2 home defeat to FC Midtjylland on their European return.
In front of an expectant crowd of 29,323, there were also chants for Nuno Espirito Santo, the man Postecoglou replaced as Forest boss six winless games ago. The Midlands club face Newcastle away from home live on Sky Sports this Sunday.
After being undone by the Danish side at the City Ground, Postecoglou might not have many more chances to get that first win if the Forest fans’ reaction to Valdemar Andreasen’s third goal is any indicator.
The last time that the City Ground hosted European football was when competing for this same trophy 29 years ago in a quarter-final defeat to Bayern Munich. Jurgen Klinsmann and Jean-Pierre Papin did for Forest that night. This needed less quality.
Two crosses from set-pieces cut through Forest in the first half. Ousmane Diao turned in the first at the far post and though Dan Ndoyle levelled, it was not long before Mads Bech restored Midtjylland’s advantage, stabbing the ball home from close range.
The Danish side have long been considered set-piece specialists but that only made Forest’s inability to make the first contact less excusable – the threat was obvious. There were ironic cheers when the home side finally did head a corner away.
An injury to Murillo, only returning to the team for the first time since leaving the field 37 minutes into Postecoglou’s first game in charge against Arsenal, added to the sense that this has been a particularly awkward start for a coach questioned from the outset.
Chris Wood did briefly threaten an equaliser in the second half, coming off the bench to put the ball in the net twice only to see the flag go up. When he did score from the spot in stoppage time, it was too late – Andreasen having already scored on the breakaway.
More to follow…