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Meet the ‘Greek oligarch’ who could bring Ange Postecoglou back to the Premier League
By Vince Rugari
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It’s not just you – sacking season seems to come earlier every year.
Just two rounds into the new Premier League campaign, it’s almost here again – and that means it’s time to engage in feverish speculation about where Ange Postecoglou could go next.
First up, it’s poor old Nuno Espirito Santo. The Nottingham Forest manager has fallen out with the club’s owner, Greek billionaire Evangelos Marinakis, over the club’s transfer policy. Last week, he confirmed that his relationship with Marinakis, who he’d previously spoken to daily, had suddenly changed for the worse.
Is Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo on the outer at the club?Credit: Getty Images
“It is not so close [now],” he said.
On reports that he could be sacked, he conceded: “There’s no smoke without fire.”
Having poured fuel on said fire himself, Espirito Santo tried to reel in what he described as an “absurd” narrative after Forest’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace on Sunday, and foreshadowed a meeting that would take place between him and a reportedly angry Marinakis this week to sort out their differences. But he acknowledged that there was no guarantee he’d still be in the job by the end of the transfer window, despite having just steered them to their best league finish in 30 years.
As one of the best credentialed out-of-work managers in Europe, fresh off ending Tottenham Hotspur’s 17-year trophy drought in the Europa League, it’s natural that Postecoglou’s name was immediately thrown into the mix – as it will be for any vacancies that pop up anywhere.
Ange Postecoglou and Evangelos Marinakis in July.
But it’s not just smoke. Something’s burning in this Forest.
Marinakis is also the owner of Greek club Olympiacos, president of Super League 1, Greece’s top division, and, evidently, an Ange-phile.
Last month, Postecoglou was the guest of honour at the league’s annual draw event, and Marinakis presented him with an award recognising him for being the first Greek to win the Europa League, praising not only his achievement with Spurs but also the fact that he has “promoted Greece” by speaking so often, and with such pride, about his origins.
“We must thank him especially for this, and we wish him well, although we are sure that he will do well as he has the ability,” Marinakis said.
Evangelos Marinakis watches Nottingham Forest play.Credit: Getty Images
“Wherever he goes, the successes will come.”
Postecoglou has been keeping his head down since being sacked by Tottenham, popping up only to eat some expensive steak off the knife of a celebrity chef in Athens, as per a recent viral TikTok video. He is said to be building a house in Greece, where he plans to spend his retirement, while awaiting his next opportunity in coaching to present itself.
He is, reportedly, keen on Forest, and they’ve reportedly tossed around his name should they decide to punt Espirito Santo. Forest is one of England’s most historic clubs – a two-time European Cup winner under the great Brian Clough – and taking them to the next level is the sort of project that might appeal to Postecoglou. But it’s worth pointing out the potential potholes ahead.
For one, their squad would need to be drastically retooled to suit his possession-based style of football, which is almost the polar opposite of Espirito Santo’s defensively minded, highly pragmatic counter-attacking approach.
Fans of Crystal Palace hold up a banner on Sunday protesting against Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis.Credit: Getty Images
Working under Marinakis would appear to be another obstacle, in and of itself.
With interests in football, media and shipping, and increasing influence in all three industries, Marinakis has been described as a Greek oligarch. He has been separately accused of match-fixing and drug trafficking, allegations he has strenuously denied and been subsequently cleared of. Last year, he was handed a five-match stadium ban for spitting at the floor as match officials walked past him, after unsuccessfully arguing he had developed a cough from smoking too many cigars.
Marinakis is an imposing figure, and not just physically: when Morgan Gibbs-White re-signed with the club after the confusion of Tottenham Hotspur’s failed attempt to land him, Marinakis stood by his side throughout a bizarre minute-long video released by the club, in which the player mentioned “Mr Marinakis” three times, basically crediting him for everything good that was happening at Forest.
As a club owner, he is notoriously hands-on, and not afraid to let his short temper flare in public, as he did towards the end of last season when he stormed onto the pitch and remonstrated with Espirito Santo in full view of everyone. That was after a 2-2 draw that sealed Forest’s return to European competition after 29 years. Imagine what he’s like in private after a loss.
Marinakis is also trigger-happy: Espirito Santo is his seventh manager since becoming Forest’s majority shareholder in 2017. At Olympiacos, he’s gone through 16 permanent managers in his 14 years as owner.
Perhaps Postecoglou knows him better than we do. Perhaps he experienced life under Daniel Levy at Spurs and is eager for another stint under a difficult boss. There’s a lot of unknowns here, but one thing’s for sure: Ange has unfinished business in the Premier League, and a reputation that needs restoring.
An unfavourable narrative is emerging among some Spurs fans and the more sceptical sections of the English football commentariat about how they now have a “proper manager” in his successor Thomas Frank, who uses “proper tactics”, unlike Postecoglou, and so everything’s sweet now that they’re rid of him.
Postecoglou’s achievements in north London – finishing fifth in the league in 2023-24, winning the Europa League in 2024-25, laying the foundations that Frank is now building on – are being forgotten or talked down, as if literally anyone could have done those things. Doubts remain whether Angeball is compatible with the Premier League, or if he is even worthy of another job in it. Some alarmed Forest fans fear that he could drag them into the relegation fight, such are the dark memories of Tottenham’s 17th-placed finish last term, which have been evidently shorn of all context.
Having made a career out of proving his doubters wrong, the contours of Postecoglou’s next challenge are beginning to form.
There is one other Premier League manager in early trouble, aside from Espirito Santo: West Ham’s Graham Potter, who has overseen a 3-0 defeat to newly promoted Sunderland and a 5-1 loss to Chelsea in his first two games. And it’s worth remembering that before Postecoglou came to Tottenham, West Ham’s vice-chair Karren Brady talked him up, raving about him and his work with Celtic in a column for The Sun in which she tipped he would make a huge impact in England.
Postecoglou said it himself, after receiving that honorary award from Marinakis: “I’m not done yet.” It’s just a matter of where and when.
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