Ange Postecoglou ‘getting sacked in the morning’ the only option for faltering Forest

Crystal Palace and Aston Villa had positive evenings in Europe, but their fellow Brits did not, with Ange Postecoglou staring down the barrel at Nottingham Forest.

It’s becoming very toxic very quickly at the City Ground and it feels like Mr Marinakis will be making another managerial change very soon after Forest’s Europa League defeat on Thursday night.

Elsewhere, Rangers are also in desperate need of a managerial change, Celtic are losing their identity, Palace are just brilliant and it’s lovely, and Villa are turning things around…

Nottingham Forest should sack Ange Postecoglou before it’s too late

Nottingham Forest and Ange Postecoglou are doing a spectacular job of ripping up all of Nuno Espirito Santo’s good work.

We all know that sacking Nuno was a bonkers decision, but it was a political decision, not a football one.

Bringing in Big Ange was very bold considering he’d just led Tottenham Hotspur to a 17th-place finish in the Premier League. Yes, he won the Europa League, but…come on.

After failing to win any of his first five games in charge, Postecoglou was given a decent opportunity to break his duck when Danish side FC Midtjylland came to the City Ground on Thursday.

Alas, it’s now six games, zero wins for Forest under Postecoglou.

We always felt it would be a decision that came back to bite Forest on the arse, but not this soon.

Evangelos Marinakis is not a man who shies away from making big, controversial decisions. Sacking Postecoglou after only six games would certainly be big. It most certainly would not be controversial.

Forest conceded two set-piece goals – a notable Achilles’ heel in Postecoglou’s Spurs side – in their 3-2 home defeat to Midtjylland. With Marinakis in attendance as the home fans chanted “you’re getting sacked in the morning” to their head coach, it does feel like the Forest owner has little choice but to admit he c*cked up and show Big Ange the door.

There won’t be any grovelling to Nuno, though, after he joined West Ham.

Newcastle, who just won 4-0 in the Champions League, are up next for Forest, who sit 17th in the Premier League with one win from six. It’s not going to get any better. There’s only one option, Mr Marinakis…

Crystal Palace mark historic European bow by making it 19 unbeaten

Oliver Glasner is setting records for fun as Crystal Palace head coach.

In guiding the Eagles to their first major trophy by winning the FA Cup in May, he took the club into Europe for the first time and qualified for a major European competition for the first time.

He has done all of this while keeping Palace unbeaten for 19 games across all competitions — the club’s longest run without losing in their history.

You can see why Manchester United are being linked with Glasner, but he’d honestly be mad to go there. Nothing or no one can fix that club.

He previously won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt, knocking out Barcelona en route to beating Rangers in the final.

There is no reason why he can’t win the Conference League with Crystal Palace.

The club’s European bow came against Dynamo Kyiv on Thursday night as Palace became the 37th different English side to play in a major European competition.

Their first goal in a major European competition was scored superbly by Daniel Munoz 14 minutes before half-time, before Eddie Nketiah struck 13 minutes after half-time.

Just to add some drama, Borna Sosa received a red card with 14 minutes left. Dynamo couldn’t make the player advantage count and were deservedly beaten as they failed to muster a single shot on target.

Yeremy Pino impressed as he assisted both goals. Munoz will go down in history as Palace’s first ever scorer in major European competition and has now been involved in more goals (11) than any other Premier League defender in all competitions in 2025.

The Eagles are soaring. Next up: Everton away in the Premier League.

It’s already too late, but Rangers should still sack Russell Martin

Rangers’ season might already be over. It’s literally the start of October, but that’s how poorly new boss Russell Martin is doing.

It’s not a crazy concept that someone who accumulated five points from a possible 48 in the Premier League last season, before being sacked in time for Christmas, isn’t actually very good at football management. How he got the Ibrox gig has quickly become one of the biggest mysteries of 2025/26.

Johnny Nic wrote more about the shambles of Martin’s reign here, so I won’t ramble on too much about what’s gone on before that was published.

After it was published, Martin earned his first win in the Scottish Premiership thanks to an injury-time winner from Max Aarons against an awful Livingston side. It was a win that did nothing but paper over the cracks. Aarons’ last-gasp goal — a moment that should fill fans with pure joy — was instead met by chants for the Rangers board to sack Martin by the travelling supporters. If that’s not a message to the board, we’re not sure what is.

Martin couldn’t mastermind back-to-back wins, though, as Rangers were beaten 2-1 by Austrian side Sturm Graz in the Europa League — a competition they’re going to finish bottom of the league phase in if there isn’t a change of manager before the New Year.

That’s defeats at home to Genk and away to Graz in the Gers’ opening two fixtures, two matches they would’ve won under their previous underachieving managers like Philippe Clement.

It was clear Martin had to go before September, which is absolutely astonishing to say. Back then, there was still a season to salvage. A month on, we’re genuinely not sure. It’s probably just about salvageable. Thursday’s defeat should be the final straw, but considering losing 6-0 away to Club Brugge wasn’t, the defeat to Hearts at home wasn’t, and the defeat to Genk wasn’t, we’re not quite sure what is.

Aston Villa man continues to take his second chance under Unai Emery

Unai Emery found Emi Buendia down the back of the couch, and he’s turning out to be a crisp £20 note, not a copper coin.

Seeing Buendia back in the Aston Villa team was not just a reminder that he still exists, but also that Emery might be getting a little desperate.

The Argentine playmaker didn’t come off the bench against Newcastle United on matchday one in the Premier League and made his first start against Everton on matchday four after two consecutive substitute appearances. He was Villa’s highest-rated attacker on Sofascore that day, started again against Sunderland, and then at home to Bologna in the Europa League, but didn’t do much and was benched again.

Drawing at half-time against Fulham, Emery made the bold call to replace summer signing Harvey Elliott with Buendia, and the Argentine fully took his second chance after being loaned out to Bayer Leverkusen last season.

Four minutes after coming on, he assisted John McGinn’s go-ahead goal. Two minutes later, he scored to make it 3-1. Impact.

And Buendia again started, this time at Feyenoord in the Europa League. He registered 46 touches, made one key pass, won 50% of his ground duels, and scored a crucial goal to put Villa 1-0 up in the 61st minute.

Feyenoord away is a very tricky fixture on paper, so a 2-0 win is a huge result for Emery’s men. After waiting so long for their first win of the season, they’ve now won three on the spin.

The difference? Emi Buendia. Who’d have thought it, huh? Not us.

Celtic shocking in Braga defeat; Rodgers, the board under pressure

The Celtic board have been coasting for too long, and the fans are letting them know about it.

They have dominated domestically, but not because they’re brilliant — because Rangers have been a complete and utter shambles.

Winning the Scottish Premiership title every year has become enough for the Celtic hierarchy to sit on their hands and refuse to spend proper money in the transfer market.

This has massively hindered Brendan Rodgers in Europe. Failing to score in 210+ minutes against Kairat in their Champions League play-off was the clearest of signs that Rodgers needs much more backing. He’s destined to return to the Premier League the way things are going in Glasgow.

After a humiliating penalty shootout defeat to Kairat, the Hoops found themselves in the Europa League, which is not enough for the fans, and reflects very poorly on Scottish football.

An underwhelming 1-1 draw against Crvena zvezda on matchday one summed up where Celtic are right now, and limping to a 2-0 home defeat to Braga on Thursday was a worrying sign as they missed everything they’re known for in European competition.

Perhaps the 17:45 kick-off played into Braga’s hands. Were the supporters not drunk enough? Is Parkhead only special ‘under the lights’?

On first viewing, Ricardo Horta’s long-range strike was a moment of magic, but Kasper Schmeichel’s attempt to stop it was abysmal.

That dampened the mood in the stands and on the pitch as Celtic showed a lack of intensity. Kelechi Iheanacho’s disallowed equaliser was a baffling one, to be fair, but Celtic couldn’t use that as a shot in the arm and conceded again in the 85th minute to lose 2-0 at home.

The Celtic fans had planned a silent protest against the board on Thursday night, but postponed doing so after the Parkhead bosses agreed to have talks. Everyone thinks Rangers are f***ed (and they are), but their arch rivals are not in a good place either.