Nuno Espirito Santo’s reign at Nottingham Forest ended in slow motion. <\/p>\n
After a series of surprise outbursts from the usually guarded Portuguese, and almost a month of doubt, his 21-month City Ground reign finished abruptly with an early morning statement<\/a>. <\/p>\n When it came to his replacement, there was no waiting as Forest moved quickly and Ange Postecoglou was appointed within 13 hours. <\/p>\n Nuno lit a flame when he criticised the slow pace of Forest’s transfer business<\/a>, before revealing his relationship with owner Evangelos Marinakis had changed from last season. <\/p>\n A summer spend of around \u00a3180m on 11 players would not likely initiate complaints but Nuno was unhappy they had not arrived quickly enough to integrate them into the squad and his methods.<\/p>\n “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire<\/a>,” he said, when asked if his job was on the line before the 1-1 Premier League draw at Crystal Palace last month, likely creating a deeper rift. <\/p>\n In August, BBC Sport was told Postecoglou – sacked by Tottenham in June despite leading them to Europa League success – was a likely candidate to replace Nuno, who had already gone public with his frustrations. <\/p>\n Discussions with the Australian had accelerated over the last two-and-a-half weeks as Nuno’s position became increasingly unstable and ultimately untenable. <\/p>\n The trust was eroded between owner and head coach after his public comments and once that had gone it was very difficult to repair. <\/p>\n There was also friction between Nuno and global sporting director Edu, but the head coach could have stayed silent and worked the issues out privately. <\/p>\n The outbursts, though, were ultimately viewed as creating noise and disruption that was unnecessary, rocking the boat as Forest planned for the new season and a first European campaign for 30 years after a dream previous campaign.<\/p>\n Internally, there was sadness at how it ended. Nuno was well liked and it had been an almost perfect relationship for 18 months, taking them from battling relegation to the Europa League, only missing out on the Champions League on the final day. <\/p>\n Amid the backdrop of a four-point deduction for breaching Profit and Sustainability rules<\/a>, Nuno led Forest away from relegation danger, before last season’s surprise seventh-placed finish.<\/p>\n