Ange Postecoglou has been sacked. Where does he go from here?

Written by Lachlan Sherriff

Ange Postecoglou watched on in dismay as Nottingham Forest lost 3-0 to Chelsea. (Reuters: Peter Cziborra)

"I always win things in my second year"

It's a quote that will go down in history. Ange Postecoglou struggled in his second season as manager of Tottenham Hotspur, finishing seventeenth in the league. But when Tottenham won the Europa League, it felt like none of that mattered. Ange Postecoglou had snapped Tottenham's seventeen year trophy drought, and backed up his words from earlier in the season.

It was why, despite the poor league form, that it came as a surprise to a few people that Postecoglou didn't get a third season at Tottenham.

On the contrary, Postecoglou didn't even get a third Europa League game at Nottingham Forest. And this time, no one can complain.

Ange Postecoglou following defeat to Midtjylland in his second and final Europa League game with Nottingham Forest. (Joe Giddens/PA)

You can argue that Ange wasn't given any time, or that he didn't have players who suited his system. But simply put, eight games and no wins with a squad that nearly made the Champions League last season was never going to cut it.

A 3-0 loss away to Arsenal in Postecoglou's first game as Forest boss was bad, but expected. But when his second game saw Nottingham Forest lose 3-2 to Swansea in the league cup, despite Forest leading 2-1 with minutes left, alarm bells rang.

It never got better. Only one point from a possible six against two recently promoted opponents in Burnley and Sunderland wasn't good enough, and neither was one from six in his two Europa League games against Real Betis and Midtjylland.

Many were surprised Postecoglou survived after a 2-0 loss to Newcastle, with the former Tottenham manager hanging onto his job by a thread over the international break. But when Forest lost 3-0 to Chelsea at home, the writing was on the wall. Postecoglou was sacked before he even left the stadium.

Eight games. Two draws, six losses and zero wins. Only 39 days in charge, which is the shortest managerial tenure in Premier League history (excluding Sam Allardyce, who left Leeds after thirty days when his contract expired, as opposed to being sacked).

For other managers who suffered similar short tenures, their careers never truly recovered. Allardyce hasn't managed since leaving Leeds. Les Reed was sacked from his first ever job in managment at Charlton Athletic after 40 days. It would end up being his only job in management.

Other managers to be sacked in the Premier League after less then 100 days include Javi Gracia, Rene Meulensteen, Frank de Boer, Quique Sánchez Flores, Bob Bradley, Nathan Jones and Colin Todd. Their next jobs in management were Watford, Maccabi Haifa, Atlanta United, Getafe, Los Angeles FC, Charlton Athletic and Bradford City.

It's really not pretty reading. Aside from Getafe, all of these clubs would be significant downgrades if Postecoglou was to join them tomorrow morning.

The question is, what top club would want to take a chance on him?

Only five months after winning the Europa League, Ange Postecoglou's stock has never looked lower. (Getty Images)

The Europa League run with Tottenham was great. But top clubs are going to look at Postecoglou's league form with both Tottenham last season and Forest this season, and you can't imagine they'll be impressed.

Unfortunately, it's hard to see Postecoglou managing in the Premier League again. It's just as hard to see him attracting a top club in Italy, Germany, Spain or France.

Postecoglou has versatility on his side. He's succeeded in Australia, Japan and Scotland. With that, it's not hard to see him succeeding with a club outside of the top five leagues, such as his birth country of Greece. It's not the flashy job people want to see him in, but it might be the perfect way to pick up the pieces of his career.

If it was a return to Scotland, it'd be hard to see him managing anyone other then Celtic. With Celtic knocked out of the Champions League and currently behind Hearts in the league, perhaps there'd be a job waiting for Postecoglou if Brendan Rodgers was to leave. After all, Rodgers himself is in his second stint at the club.

It's nothing more then a dream right now, but you can't rule out an Old Firm with two Aussies standing in the dugout, with Postecoglou managing Celtic and Kevin Muscat - who looks set to take the Rangers job - standing ten feet away from him.

Celtic fans were very fond of Ange Postecoglou during his time at Celtic Park. (Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)

It still feels too early for Postecoglou to return to an A-League club, or his beloved South Melbourne. If the Socceroos' dugout was vacant, he'd be a shoo-in, but Tony Popovic has that job until the end of the 2026 World Cup at minimum.

But perhaps international management could be where Postecoglou thrives. We've seen him do it for Australia before, and his differing success with Tottenham in the Europa League compared to the Premier League suggests that maybe international football could be Postecoglou's calling now.

Of course, it would sting a little to see Postecoglou manage a country that wasn't Australia. But fellow former Socceroos manager Graham Arnold has recently reinvented himself as manager of Iraq. Could Postecoglou do the same?

Then again, sometimes in management the best way to fix your career is to take a step back. From arriving at Whittlesea Zebras in 2009 to leaving Tottenham in June, Postecoglou had never spent more then three months out of a job. That's sixteen years of more or less constant work, and it can take a toll on you.

It almost felt like Ange jumped into the Forest job too soon, and was burnt out while managing at the City Ground. Now that he's been sacked, I don't think it'd be a surprise at all to see him take the rest of the season off, and perhaps longer after that.

Of course, he is sixty, and most managers call it quits around seventy. But ten years is a long time in football. Maybe a year or two off is exactly what Postecoglou needs before getting back into the job and leading some lucky club to the same heights he led South Melbourne, Brisbane Roar, Yokohoma Marinos, Celtic and Tottenham to.

Ange's eight game stint at Nottingham Forest is a stain on his legacy. But it doesn't define him. Whatever happens next, I doubt this will be the last we see of Postecoglou in a dugout.

Maybe he'll even win another trophy in his second season.