Gary Lineker tells Ange Postecoglou the one thing he should have done against Arsenal
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Credit: Imago/Getty
Alex Oakhill
Mon 15 September 2025 10:04, UK
Ange Postecoglou took charge of his first game as Nottingham Forest manager at the weekend, but he has been told that he should’ve gone about things differently by Gary Lineker.
Postecoglou replaced Nuno Espirito Santo at the City Ground, following the Portuguese manager’s public falling out with owner Evangelos Marinakis.
For his first game in the dugout, the Australian was handed the tough task of travelling to North London to face Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.
Forest put up a spirited display at the Emirates, but the Gunners’ superiority eventually shone through, with the home side cruising to a 3-0 win.
Credit: Imago
Postecoglou was only appointed on Tuesday (9 September), so had very little time to prepare his side for a daunting trip to the Emirates.
To make matters worse, Nottingham Forest had been beaten 3-0 by West Ham United before the international break, so were going into the game off the back of a very disappointing defeat.
Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, former Tottenham and England striker Lineker questioned whether Postecoglou could’ve done more to protect himself.
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He said: “I wonder whether Ange Postecoglou missed a trick.
You know the old thing when a new manager comes in and says, I’ll watch the first one from the stands and let the number two take charge, Arsenal away.
“Obviously, it didn’t bother him, and he just wanted to get in.
I think he only had one day’s training with them, so certainly not the game to judge him.”
Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest could come up against Espirito Santo very soon as Premier League clubs add him to their managerial shortlists, sources have told Football Insider.
Credit: Hasan Karim, Breaking Media
Marinakis and Nuno held “crisis talks” at the City Ground in the hours before his sacking, and the 51-year-old won’t be short of offers for a quick return to the top-flight.
Sources say that clubs across the Premier League and Europe have placed Nuno high on the lists of replacements for their own managers, several of whom are already under pressure in the early stages of the campaign.
It means that Forest could realistically come up against their former boss at some point this season.
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