A second Nottingham Forest star appeared to aim a thinly veiled dig at the now-sacked Ange Postecoglou following the Reds’ 2-0 win over Porto at the City Ground after Morgan Gibbs-White claimed he could “finally breathe” after a “difficult couple of months” under the Australian.
Sean Dyche’s first game in charge of the east Midlands outfit ended in victory thanks to penalties from Gibbs-White and Igor Jesus, which helped Forest register their first win in the Europa League this term.
The three points also marked Forest’s first win since August 17th under Nuno Espirito Santo before he was sacked and replaced by Postecoglou in September.
However, the Australian lasted just eight matches during which the side failed to secure a single win before Ange was dismissed last Saturday after just 39 days in charge.
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Despite links with former Manchester City and Italy head coach Roberto Mancini, ex-Everton, Burnley and Watford boss Dyche was appointed as manager earlier this week.
The 54-year-old signed a contract through to 2027 at the City Ground and will provide an entirely different philosophy to that of Ange, who encourages his sides to attack no matter what, while Dyche emphasises his defence and ability to make his teams hard to break down.
And despite the English manager having only been in the job for less than a week, Forest already claimed their first clean sheet since April in the win against Porto, which will no doubt please Dyche.
Meanwhile, several Forest players spoke on TNT Sports about last night’s victory, with goalscorer Gibbs-White explaining how he “can finally breathe” before he added: “You can feel the morale. It feels a lot more positive, and it needs to stay like that. That's a credit to the manager. He has instilled that in us, and we have to keep up that mentality."
While centre-back Nikola Milenkovic also appeared to aim a subtle dig at Postecoglou when describing the “positive energy” Dyche has brought with him.
"We had a tough period. It was important to win this game, and the clean sheet is important,” the Serbian said.
“We are so happy to give this victory to our fans.
"[Dyche] brought, for sure, positive energy. We did basic things and came back to being more confident on the pitch. We need to keep working and be ready for the next game.”
Forest return to action with a trip to Bournemouth on Sunday.
Topics: Nottingham Forest, Sean Dyche, Ange Postecoglou, Football, Europa League, Premier League
Luke Davies