Nottingham Forest fans' treatment of Ange Postecoglou sees Martin O'Neill fire telling message

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Nottingham Forest legend Martin O'Neill has leapt to the defence of Ange Postecoglou , branding it "unfortunate" and "disappointing" that supporters jeered the Aussie during the Europa League defeat to FC Midtjylland.

Postecoglou has endured a torrid beginning to his tenure at The City Ground following his appointment as successor to Nuno Espirito Santo as head coach last month. The former Celtic and Tottenham manager has yet to taste victory since taking the reins, recording two draws and five defeats from his opening seven fixtures.

Despite only being in post for six weeks, patience amongst the Forest faithful has worn thin with Postecoglou, with some fans calling on owner Evangelos Marinakis to wield the axe once again.

When Midtjylland netted their third in a 3-2 triumph for the Danish side on Trentside earlier this month, Postecoglou was met with a chorus of boos and jeers from the Forest supporters in attendance.

Whilst Postecoglou has clearly failed to win over the Forest fanbase thus far, former Reds player and boss O'Neill is backing the embattled manager to silence his critics.

Sharing his thoughts on the hostile reception Postecoglou received from the crowd, ex-Forest chief O'Neill told OLBG : "Well, it's ironic you should ask me this question because I was there the other evening when they played Midtjylland and the atmosphere to begin with was very, very good.

"Obviously, first time back since I think 1996, so you've been waiting a long time. Younger fans had never seen this before. The older fans may be harking back to our day, way back under Brian Clough, with European Cups in the reckoning.

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"So there was a collection of younger fans who had not seen European football and the older fans. And the atmosphere, to begin with, was really terrific. But by half-time, the atmosphere had changed greatly. And unfortunately, the manager, Ange, was getting some abuse.

"Again, I'm looking at this here from a managerial viewpoint because quite some years ago, in 1996, in fact, I went to Leicester City and couldn't win a game early on. There was lots of criticism when you had to accept and lots of booing and things like this here. So you have to try and turn it around.

"Now, I think all of this here stems from the fact that Nuno became very popular as a manager. He replaced a popular manager in Steve Cooper and then became popular himself by winning.

"And that last season, I know they dropped off at the end to a major disappointment, but overall to qualify for European football was terrific. And the fans had taken to him.

"Now all of that has changed and now Ange has to win them over. That, so when I saw that, it was really unfortunate and disappointing for a crowd to come with all expectation and then because Midtjylland were doing so well in the game, the manager gets it in the ear.

"So difficult, but at the end of it all, as managers we know this, we're in the business of winning football matches and it's just a matter of fighting through. And Ange, whatever you say, he won the competition last year with Tottenham Hotspur, so that's in his favour."

Despite the growing rumours about Postecoglou's future during the international break, he remains at the helm for Forest's upcoming Premier League match against Chelsea on Saturday.

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