Postecoglou's Forest reign comes to an end after 39-day nightmare

Ange Postecoglou's miserable reign at Nottingham Forest came to a swift and brutal end on Saturday 39 days after his appointment, making him the shortest-serving permanent Premier League manager to be sacked mid-season.

Twenty minutes after a chorus of boos met the full-time whistle following Forest's 3-0 home loss to Chelsea, the club wielded the axe on the Australian - the first Forest boss to go winless in his opening eight games in charge.

"Nottingham Forest Football Club can confirm that after a series of disappointing results and performances, Ange Postecoglou has been relieved of his duties as head coach with immediate effect," the club said in a statement.

The post had gone viral before Postecoglou could even ready himself for post-match media duties, which the Australian never had the opportunity to fulfil.

He gave a grimace at the full-time whistle and the 60-year-old cut a lone figure near the centre circle as he quietly applauded the handful of loyal Forest fans who had stayed behind following a mass exodus after Chelsea's third goal.

INHERITING ESPIRITO SANTO'S SQUAD

Postecoglou had inherited a side that had worked wonders under Nuno Espirito Santo and was reshaped by a 200 million pounds ($268.48 million) close-season splurge to reinforce the squad as they competed on a new front in the Europa League.

However, after Portuguese coach Nuno was sacked last month, Postecoglou never got the team going again, kicking off the new era with a 3-0 loss at Arsenal before they were knocked out of the League Cup away to second-tier Swansea City.

The winless run continued when they failed to beat promoted sides Burnley and Sunderland while even Danish team Midtjylland beat them in the Europa League.

Dreams of playing on Thursday