Nottingham Forest Q&A - YOUR questions answered: The manager Evangelos Marinakis has his eye on, the plan for Ange Postecoglou, why Edu move hasn't worked out, the mass boardroom overhaul and what's happened to Morgan Gibbs-White

This season promised so much, and after two months it has been a disappointment. 

After qualifying for their first European campaign in 30 years, Nottingham Forest have already sacked the manager that got them there and sit 17th in the Premier League, winless since the opening day.

New boss Ange Postecoglou has yet to taste victory in his six weeks as manager, and the heat is truly on over this international break.

We asked for your questions on all things Forest, and here our expert TOM COLLOMOSSE reveals everything you need to know...

Do you think Evangelos Marinakis and Edu had one eye on Postecoglou already in the summer? - Matt Ball 

Long before Nuno Espirito Santo gave his explosive television interview a few days before the start of the season, it had become clear to those at Forest that he was unhappy and that there were tensions in his relationship with 'global head of football' Edu.

That meant Marinakis needed to look at his options and he had admired Postecoglou for some time, particularly after he led Tottenham to the Europa League title.

I think Marco Silva has always been Marinakis’ ideal Forest manager but the Fulham boss has a huge release clause in his contract which makes him very difficult to hire. 

But that contract runs out at the end of the season – and Marinakis will be as aware of that as anyone.

Do the club accept they have made a huge mistake hiring Postecoglou? – Gareth

I think if they could have their time again, they’d certainly do things differently – but going for Postecoglou is not the biggest mistake.

The real rash move was bringing in Edu on a huge contract without determining first of all whether he could work successfully with Nuno, and how it would affect the existing recruitment structure: George Syrianos, Ross Wilson and Pedro Ferreira, with Marinakis leading from the front.

There is no suggestion that Wilson joined Newcastle because of Edu’s arrival. But he has gone, Ferreira may return to Benfica and Syrianos has admirers elsewhere. 

Regardless of whether Forest sack Postecoglou, they need to work out quickly how they move forward with Edu in such a key role.

Were the seeds of the current debacle sown when Edu resigned from his role at Arsenal? – Capernosity and Function

It didn’t need to be this way. When Forest brought in Edu, it was regarded by many as a coup.

Edu grew into his role at Arsenal and was a key figure at the training ground, providing links between the players, the coaching team and the owners. He is also known as a strong networker with excellent contacts across the world game.

But Arsenal are a very different club to Forest. Perhaps Edu is better suited to a club who are already among the elite, rather than with one striving to reach it.

Unless Marinakis writes off the Edu hire as a bad move, the Brazilian will have ample time to grow into the role. How well he does that may shape the short and medium-term future at Forest.

Did the club go for any other managers before Ange? – WJ

Postecoglou was always the first choice after Nuno departed and it always looked a risky selection.

Because he did not have pre-season to work with the players and was pitched immediately into a demanding run of fixtures, some at Forest expected Postecoglou to introduce his changes gradually. Instead, the Australian practically ripped up everything and started again and so far, it has not worked.

Surely he would have been better advised to move ahead steadily with the changes Nuno was already trying to implement, rather than asking the squad to play completely differently from the outset?

How many more games has Postecoglou been given? – Josh Smith

I don’t think it really works like that at Forest - a manager being given one or two games to save their job.

I am as sure as I can be that other bosses are being sounded out and if you look at Marinakis’ way of working at Forest, he prefers to leave a manager in place until he is certain he has a better replacement ready to go.

So I would be surprised if Postecoglou were sacked and then a caretaker took the team for two or three games until a permanent successor arrived.

That said, if Forest lose badly to Chelsea this weekend and the supporters respond as they did during the home defeat by Midtjylland, booing the team off, the club may be left with no alternative.

After this difficult start, what is the main objective of the season now? – Jordan Urquhart

Well, it's only 10 games old. All is not lost.

What attracted Marinakis to Postecoglou was his track record of winning trophies, and Forest view glory in the Europa League as a shortcut to joining the elite, given it brings automatic Champions League qualification.

Even though Forest have only one point from their first two games, they can still comfortably qualify for the last 16 with their remaining six league phase fixtures. Yet the consequences of relegation would be far worse than those of a failed Europa League campaign.

If Postecoglou is dismissed, the identity of the next appointment will tell us where Marinakis’ priorities lie. If it’s a candidate like Sean Dyche, he’s thinking mainly about survival. If it’s a candidate with extensive European experience, he is still optimistic about winning the Europa League.

Have the club lined up a replacement for Ross Wilson yet? – James Pollard

After looking so solid and settled, suddenly Forest’s recruitment structures are in flux. Wilson has gone to Newcastle and Ferreira may follow him out of the door, if Joao Noronha Lopes wins the presidential election at Benfica later this month.

Noronha wants Ferreira to become his director of football and expects to get that move done if he emerges victorious on October 25. Then Syrianos is also believed to have been sounded out by other clubs in Europe’s top-five leagues.

It is a time of significant change and important though he was, replacing Wilson may be the least of Marinakis’ worries right now.

What has happened to Morgan Gibbs-White? – Alex

It’s a simple loss of form. Every player, apart from the best in history, goes through periods like these. The question for Gibbs-White is whether there is more to it. 

Consider the details: for much of the first half of last year, the 25-year-old thought he would be on his way to Manchester City. When City’s interest cooled, Spurs thought they had activated a £60million release clause in Gibbs-White’s contract, but Forest refused to sell and instead made the playmaker the highest-paid player in the club’s history.

Nobody has questioned Gibbs-White’s attitude but here is a footballer who thought he would be playing in the Champions League this term, under Pep Guardiola.

He finds himself still at Forest and has been overtaken in the England pecking order by his younger team-mate Elliot Anderson. But Forest need to see the real Gibbs-White again – and quickly.

Is the dream over? – John

It depends what ‘the dream’ is, John.

If it is qualifying for the Champions League this season, then that is a tall order, though not impossible, and would involve winning the Europa League. If it is simply the dream of making Forest a club who can compete regularly in the top half of the Premier League, then that remains alive.

Progress is not always linear and depends on several factors. After a fabulous 2024-25 when it felt every cog in the machine was working as it should, Forest have juddered to a halt and are struggling to get moving again.

But get moving again they surely will. These may be tricky times but there is no need to lose heart completely.