Ange Postecoglou’s hasty dismissal by Nottingham Forest is ‘ridiculous,’ according to Micah Richards.
And the laugh-a-minute pundit was plunged into an unusual state of despair as he admitted he doesn’t like the path modern football is going down.
Postecoglou was sacked by Forest on Saturday within 20 minutes of their 3-0 defeat by Chelsea, with the Australian-Greek gaffer given just five Premier League games in the job.
All in all, he had 39 days and eight games in all competitions, losing six and drawing two. Those draws came against Burnley and Real Betis. The losses included shock defeats by Swansea City and Midtjylland.
Evangelos Marinakis decision to sack Nuno Espirito Santo, who had led the club to the Europa Conference League, and appoint Postecoglou in his stead, with his completely different style, had always looked a confusing one. Now it has met its bitter end.
‘I think it was [inevitable] for the owner in terms of his standards for the club,’ Richards said on the BBC’s Match of the Day.
Ange Postecoglou’s sacking by Nottingham Forest is ‘ridiculous,’ says Micah Richards
Evangelos Marinakis gave Postecoglou just five Premier League games and 39 days
Richards fears for where football is going and wants to see managers given more time
‘I remember last season, he thought they were going into the Champions League, didn’t work out, got into Europe, wasn’t good enough. Obviously, Nuno gets sacked after that.
‘But in terms of football – five games, 39 days in the Premier League, and you’re getting sacked. It’s just ridiculous to me.
‘I don’t know where they’re going as football. I understand the results haven’t been great, but in terms of a manager trying to get his philosophy over… we knew with Nuno it was a defensive-style team, now we know Ange likes to go on the front foot.
‘We always talk about giving managers time to put their input on what the team wants to do. And for him to get five games in the Premier League…’
Alan Shearer added: ‘I do have sympathy for him. The owner has to accept his share of the blame. He went out and chose this manager knowing he had a completely different system to what the previous manager had got.
‘Five Premier League games, you absolutely have sympathy for him. But [Enzo] Maresca said it, you know the rules in football: if you don’t get results immediately, unfortunately you’re going to lose your job.’
Postecoglou’s reign is the shortest of any permanent manager in Premier League history.
Sam Allardyce lasted just 30 days and four games at Leeds in 2023, though he had only been appointed for the final four games of the season. Frank de Boer managed just four matches at Palace, too, but lasted 77 days by grace of joining in the summer of 2017.
Postecoglou had a different philosophy to his predecessor Nuno Espirito Santo
Nuno was harshly sacked after leading Forest into the Europa Conference League
Richards’ suspicion that the game is more brutal nowadays is right. Of the 10 managers with the shortest reigns in Premier League history, eight have come in the last 12 years.
It was always going to be an uphill battle for Postecoglou, taking over from the popular Nuno and inheriting a side used to a defensive, counter-attacking, direct style of play.
He was hired after winning the Europa League with Tottenham, but had also led them to 17th last campaign – thus appearing a high-ceiling, low-floor appointment.
The 60-year-old has lost 31 of his last 50 Premier League games, winning only 13 – a win rate of 26 per cent.
Roberto Mancini, Sean Dyche, and former Olympiacos manager Pedro Martins are thought to be among the options to replace him.
