The demand Sean Dyche made “clear” in talks to take over as Nottingham Forest manager has now been revealed, as the Englishman closes in on a City Ground move.
Dyche agrees to take over as Nottingham Forest boss
Evangelos Marinakis has moved swiftly to replace Ange Postecoglou, who lost his job after the 3-0 defeat against Chelsea on Sunday, with it recently emerging that Dyche is set to take over as manager after holding positive talks.
The former Everton manager has a big job on his hands, given that he will be tasked with bringing a ten-game winless run in all competitions to an end, but the 54-year-old is used to working under pressure, having spent nearly two years working under difficult conditions at Goodison Park.
The Toffees had to deal with point deductions and a relegation battle during the Kettering-born manager’s stint on Merseyside, but he ultimately achieved his main goal, which was keeping the club in the Premier League.
That said, Everton ended up deciding the ex-Burnley boss wasn’t the right long-term fit, replacing him with David Moyes earlier this year, at which point his side were the second-lowest scorers in the top flight.
As such, there was uncertainty about whether Forest were targeting Dyche as part of a long-term project, or merely to guide them to safety, but Ben Jacobs has now revealed the Englishman requested it be the former before he agreed to join.
“Dyche made it clear in talks he would only take on the Forest role on a long-term contract. Forest view his style as a strong fit. Ian Woan and Steve Stone likely to form part of Dyche’s backroom staff.”
Dyche needs to make instant impact at the City Ground
It is a little early for Forest fans to be panicking, but there will certainly be a great deal of concern about the way in which they have started the season, having collected just five points from their opening eight Premier League games.
After securing a long-awaited return to Europe last term, the Tricky Trees spent heavily in the summer, so Marinakis would’ve been hoping to kick on, but it has been nothing short of a shambles so far, with Nuno’s departure proving to be a real blow.
The Forest owner’s decision to sack Ange after just 39 days has received criticism, with Jamie Redknapp and Steve Sidwell discussing the move on Sky Sports, but any manager who fails to win any of his first eight games is likely to find himself under pressure.
With Dyche well-known for a more pragmatic style of play, Nottingham Forest will be hoping to get back to basics and start grinding out more results, starting against FC Porto in the Europa League on Thursday.