Ange Postecoglou remains confident he can deliver trophies at Nottingham Forest

By Sunny Badwal, PA

Ange Postecoglou insists if he is given time at a club it always “ends the same – with me and a trophy” following a tough start to life at Nottingham Forest.

Postecoglou has failed to win any of his first seven games since taking charge at the club on September 9 and will hope to get over the line against Chelsea at the eighth time of asking.

The Australian has already faced criticism from fans but retained the support of Forest’s hierarchy before they suffered a third successive defeat against Newcastle ahead of the international break.

Questions have continued to surround Postecoglou and his future after just five weeks in the job but he delivered a lengthy speech in his defence which ended with him promising success at the City Ground.

He is confident his story at Forest will end in the same way as his previous jobs, by winning a trophy.

Postecoglou said: “If you look at it through the prism of I’m a failed manager who’s lucky to get this job, then of course these first five weeks look like ‘this guy is under pressure’.

“All I’ve heard since I’ve finished at Tottenham is that we finished 17th last year. So if you look at it from that prism of we finished 17th then yeah, I’m a failed manager who’s lucky to get another opportunity.

“But maybe I’m a manager that if you give them time, the story always ends the same. At all my previous clubs it ends the same – with me and a trophy.

“You can look at this first five weeks and say, ‘he’s under pressure because he was lucky to get this job’ or you can look at it and say, ‘well, there’s been a major change’.

“I am trying to change the way we play. The players are adapting, but there’s inconsistency in there.

“The flip side of that is that I’m still really excited about the opportunity here. I’ve got a group of young players who are willing to change, which is the first thing, and I’m heading down that road.”

Saturday’s meeting with Chelsea could be pivotal to the Forest boss who admitted he has just found somewhere to live in the city.

Postecoglou admitted he has not yet held talks with Evangelos Marinakis about his future and says the pressure is always there as a football manager.

He added: “Of course there’s pressure. But, there’s a difference between pressure and difference between saying that somebody should lose their job after five weeks.

“I mean I only just found an apartment to move into. Which may be a bad decision, it might be, I should have stayed in temporary digs, that’s how early it is, so there’s a difference.

“Pressure is part of managing at this level, and we’re all judged by our results. And at the moment, the results are suggesting I’m not doing a good job.”

Postecoglou has lost all four his meetings with Chelsea including a pair of defeats by Maresca’s team while he was in charge at Tottenham.

He said: “There’s context to all those games, and if you look at all those games, there was some pretty big moments in them.

“But, irrespective, like I said, they’re always a big challenge. They’re a very good side. They’ve got a lot of talent. They’ve got a strong squad. But I enjoy those games.”