Ange Postecoglou Regrets Nottingham Forest Move, Rules Out Celtic Return

Ex-Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou reflects on failed Forest tenure 

Ange Postecoglou says joining Nottingham Forest was 'a bad decision' and rules out Celtic return. Postecoglou's 39-day Forest stint ends as he admits over-eagerness led to troubles.

“I should never have gone in there. That was on me...”

Ange Postecoglou isn't sugarcoating it – joining Nottingham Forest was a mistake. The Aussie coach took full responsibility for his short stint at the club.

Postecoglou, 60, lasted just 49 days in charge, and has ruled out a return to Celtic. 

Postecoglou's Nottingham Forest stint was short-lived, lasting just 39 days. He took over after his departure from Tottenham but was sacked after losing six of eight games.

The experienced manager admitted his own over-eagerness to get back into management led to his downfall. 

“There's no point me blaming it on 'I didn't get time' or anything,” said Postecoglou. “I should never have gone in there. That was on me. That was a bad decision by me to go in there. I've got to take ownership of that.

“It was too soon after Tottenham. I was taking over at a time where they were kind of used to doing things a certain way and I'm obviously going to do things differently. I've got to cop that, that was my mistake. It's no one else's fault.“

Postecoglou's focusing on his next move, but Celtic's off the table. He had a solid run there from 2021-23, but now he's eyeing other options. Martin O'Neill's currently holding the fort at Celtic till season's end. 

“I loved Celtic, it's a wonderful football club,“ said Postecoglou, who left the Glasgow giants to join Spurs. “If I was younger, I probably would have stayed there longer. I probably would have stayed there three, four years.”

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“I think I could have made progress with them in Europe but at the time, it had taken me a long time to get to this sort of space, and the opportunity to join Tottenham was too good.

“In terms of going back, I don't go back. I just don't think that's kind of been my career. Whatever the next step is, it'll be something new, somewhere I can make an impact in, somewhere I can win things, but it doesn't diminish the affection I have for Celtic.”