Ex-Liverpool boss ‘keen’ on Nottm Forest job after Postecoglou ‘dead man walking’ verdict

Former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez wants the Nottingham Forest job if “dead man walking” Ange Postecoglou is sacked, according to reports.

The Reds sacked Nuno Espirito Santo in the September international break after getting four points from their opening three Premier League matches.

Nuno got Nottingham Forest into the Europa League by finishing seventh in the Premier League last season and the sacking was seen as very harsh by many.

Postecoglou was the man appointed to implement a different style at the City Ground but the Australian has taken one more Premier League point in the four matches since his appointment.

Nottingham Forest have also taken just one point from their two Europa League fixtures under Postecoglou, while they have been knocked out of the League Cup by Championship side Swansea.

That has seen pressure already build on Postecoglou, who won the Europa League last season at Tottenham but led them to a 15th-place finish in the Premier League, and now there are a number of managers being linked to his job.

READ: Premier League CRISIS Rankings: Forest 2nd, West Ham 3rd, but what of Liverpool and Man Utd?

And now GiveMeSport insists that former Liverpool boss Benitez would be ‘keen’ on the Nottingham Forest if Evangelos Marinakis chooses to sack Postecoglou.

The Spaniard ‘will be under serious consideration’ if Forest ‘pull the trigger’ on Postecoglou and the Champions League-winning manager ‘would pay due attention to any approach’.

Benitez is ‘among a list of candidates being discussed should Postecoglou not arrest a slide since his appointment’ although there is no indication how long the Australian will get to turn things around.

Manchester United and Nottingham Forest legend Roy Keane reckons Postecoglou is a “dead man walking” at the City Ground as he expects Nottingham Forest to lose to Chelsea when they resume Premier League action after the international break.

MORE NOTTINGHAM FOREST COVERAGE ON F365…
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Keane said on The Overlap podcast: “Listen, he’s a dead man walking, as they say. We sit here and comment on clubs and you’re always looking at the next game.

“Who have they got next? Chelsea? Just say Chelsea go and win 2-0, we’ll all be thinking he’ll be gone.

“Owners then have had two weeks to sit during the international break, if they don’t do it before then. We are talking about whether managers have got two or three months, no, they’ve got two or three games, that’s it.

“If you go: ‘Ange, you know if you don’t get a good start you could be gone after two months?’ He would say he knows that.

“I think they (managers) know that. You shake hands with the devil. I’m not saying it’s right, it’s absolutely wrong.”

Jill Scott added: “I was thinking about this. I was thinking, when they (managers) sign a contract, should they be given a season because it stops all that speculation.”

Keane replied: “I don’t know about a season. A season is long if you’re teams who are panicking. Just say, for example, Forest couldn’t get away from the bottom and they’re panicking about relegation, I don’t think you should be guaranteed a year. But obviously, seven games is not right either, is it?”

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher added: “The thing with Ange is, it’s not coming from the media who are on his back. It’s his own supporters. We’re only commenting on it, it’s the supporters who are going for him. I think he’ll get to the next international break.”