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The Australian manager is determined to persuade Nottingham Forest’s board to keep confidence in his coaching approach when he holds talks with the club’s owner Evangelos Marinakis this week.

Defiant Postecoglou detects signs of progress during poor results

The Australian was in defiant, almost jocular mood after the weekend loss at Newcastle. It extended his winless streak to seven games since he succeeded Nuno Espírito Santo last month. Yet Postecoglou, who surprisingly started with a back five, identified indications of improvement as he gets ready for crucial discussions with club officials.

"Yes, it’s a lost cause," he said, with irony. "I see it as an thrilling chance. One must be ready for the fight and the challenge. I’d be silly to be sitting here at the age of 60 if I was without self-belief or fight. Back in the schoolyard I picked fights with people that defeated me."

Top flight theater lightly criticized

Warming to his theme, Postecoglou lightly teased the drama of English top division that typically requires that at least one manager is always deemed 'in trouble'. "I get that this is part of the fanfare of the Premier League that it needs one manager to be in the limelight. If people want to assess me three and a half weeks into the job, there's no words or actions that will change that."

"But what I have seen and experienced in this timeframe is that we are moving in the path I want us to. The results will arrive. In the meantime it is a battle and a contest and there is nothing wrong with that. Life doesn't give things handed to us on a plate in life, we have to work hard. I have fought for things all my life. Why must everyone want everything neatly packaged? The attitude nowadays seems to be that, as quickly as something goes wrong, you change it."

Accepting the test at the club

Amid much hilarity, he suggested that one reporter might have been "a lost cause at some point but your parents didn't give up on you."

Postecoglou then reiterated that he had joined the Nottingham Forest with his full awareness and always understood that his attempt to change Forest’s playing style would not be easy. "I knew this was a big challenge," he said. "There's nothing wrong with that. I'm unsure why people think difficulties are a problem, I enjoy a challenge. The alternative is sitting at home viewing matches and I prefer not to do that. If you guys have great enjoyment around it I am unconcerned. I couldn't care less."