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NO WAY! ABSOLUTELY YES!

Quite possibly the most unpopular Australian to arrive in this part of England since a villainous hotelier from a long-running series starred in a Mansfield panto two decades ago, Forest’s new boss’s tenure at the club’s home could scarcely have got off to a more inauspicious start. Although the jeers and taunts that performer Stefan Dennis was faced during Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood were generally lighthearted, the toxicity of the criticism aimed at the Forest manager during the team’s Europa League loss by Midtjylland on Thursday was so severe that it is hard to believe the manager who has been in charge for a mere handful of fixtures will remain in post to hear the festive cat-calls this holiday season. Repeatedly the veteran manager’s shouts of “He’s behind you!” went disregarded by his struggling players, not least when the opposition scored their opening pair from atrociously defended set-pieces. A long way from the celebratory mood they’d anticipated, the team’s first continental match at home in almost 30 seasons ended in rancour with home fans telling the manager he’d be “dismissed soon”, before praising his favored, recently dismissed previous manager, the Portuguese tactician.

“I get the mood around the place isn’t going to be great, I grasp the public’s opinion, chiefly directed at me, but that doesn’t concern me, I’ve been here before,” the manager snapped in answer, while aiming the area at his feet to the typical death-stare. “Football holds no surprises for me, it’s the climate we’re in. That appears to be the trend. It’s nothing I can control. The fans are disappointed, they are allowed to have an opinion on it. I heard their opinion.” Although those supporters are entitled to vent, it could be contended that they might be more sensible picking a more fitting focus for their frustration. After all, it was the club owner who sacked a popular figure to bring in Postecoglou, who was always going to face a tough task from day one. Looking on from the owners’ area as he went through a series of angry, grim faces not seen since that occasion he learned Spurs had activated the player’s buyout option, the wealthy owner has up to now dodged any kind of harsh judgement from fans, a sizable group of whom remain convinced the sun shines out of his generously upholstered nether regions.

As the clock ticked past noon on Friday, rumours of the manager being fired overnight proved to be unfounded and sources indicate his job remains safe until such time as … actually, it’s not. Even though the team manager can argue with some mitigation that he has had little or no time on the training ground to instil the style and strategic detail that caused Tottenham Hotspur failing to win a majority of their Premier League fixtures last season, his side’s schedule remains tough and continuous. With the Magpies, the London club, Porto and the Cherries on the horizon it is hard to predict from where a initial success under the new boss will come before what could likely be the ultimate sack-race clash against Manchester United.

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BEST REMARK

“I steer clear of heated debates, who names people, actually, I won’t mention anyone’s name here. Yet I believe there was some disrespect, along with some incivility, and not a single hello or hi” – the Brazilian winger takes a pop at his club over the frosty environment at Old Trafford, where warmth has apparently declined like the side’s performance.

READER COMMENTS

Is there truth the coach has vowed supporters he guarantees victory in his second season?” – a fan.

It’s not my place to seek to emphasize the trope that the Emirates faithful are the game’s biggest moaners, but a correspondent (the previous day’s mailbag) does make you think. Noting that rather than two games a week, Arsenal are having to play more than two fixtures each week (oh, a half-hour more!) over a particular 21-day span (for a squad with double coverage in all roles to additionally) is not the argument-settler he might imagine. On the contrary it’s just going to have the orchestra of the world’s smallest violins getting ready once more, while the wider sport roll their collective eyes” – Andrew Parker.

I’m puzzled whether your current contributors (on two or three games a week) are deliberately, mockingly repeating one of the high points of internet discourse (safe for work), or unconsciously proving the philosopher’s saying about history repeating first as tragedy, then as farce” – Nick Wiltsher.

If it’s any solace, yesterday’s letter-writer (yesterday’s letters), I’ve always been like that [hoping affluent UK clubs to fail on the continent]. From the time Forest stopped competing in Europe, European competition for me has caused a state of helpless fury, punctuated only occasionally by Steaua Bucharest and, maybe, the La Liga outfit. I couldn’t care less for the Reds’ achievements from the eighties right up to the 2005 final. I’m indifferent to {‘that