NOTTINGHAM FOREST star Callum Hudson-Odoi lifted the lid on new manager Ange Postecoglou’s first training session.
Postecoglou, 60, replaced former Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo, who was dismissed on Tuesday after a falling out with owner Evangelos Marinakis.
The Aussie tactician joined the Tricky Trees immediately after Nuno’s sacking and took charge of his maiden training session that same day.
And Nottingham star Hudson-Odoi, 24, revealed he and his team-mates are already feeling the difference in styles as the former Tottenham manager put them through quite a session.
Forest players were used to a more defensive style of play based on counter-attacks under Nuno but Postecoglou is known for his attacking philosophy that includes a high line.
Hudson-Odoi told talkSPORT: “Yeah that was a session! I can’t even lie to you.
“For us, it’s building that relationship with him early and getting ideas of what he wants to bring into the team.
“When the manager comes in, you have to make sure that you get that quickly because games happen fast and there’s one coming on Saturday [away at Arsenal].
“So for us, it’s just making sure we’re ready, we’re prepared and make sure that everyone just knows what he wants us to do, and hopefully apply it in the game.”
Meanwhile, Postecoglou has said he wants trophies at Forest.
This comes after Marinakis said they must “make the next step to compete with the very best and challenge” for cups.
Asked about the sky-high ambitions, Big Ange said: “It’s where I want to be. I’ve worked myself into this position over the last 28 years because I never put any limits on what I wanted to achieve.
“Everywhere I’ve been I’ve been fortunate to have success which has allowed me to take the next step.
“You look at what Nottingham Forest have achieved in recent times, it’s actually an outstanding feat to be where they are right now — because when you look in recent times at clubs that have been promoted, it’s been a real struggle just to stay in the league.
“But in a very short space of time, they’re back in Europe, competing for honours. That’s a credit to everyone involved — the players, the managers, the owner, the management of the club.
“I get the sense they want more. It’s certainly what I want. It’s exciting times.”
Postecoglou guided Tottenham to the Europa League title in May but was sacked 16 days later because of an awful Premier League campaign which saw the team finish 17th.
He could win the same European competition for the second season running if he goes all the way in it this campaign.
Postecoglou explains philosophy
And he hit out at claims he only plays one way – insisting he just wants to win.
Asked about his football philosophy, Postecoglou said: “I’ve got to be careful what I say because everyone has pigeonholed me my whole career.
“I love winning, I love winning things — it’s what I’ve done. I want the fans to be excited about watching the team play.
“There’s already an existing mentality within the group of working hard for one another and I just want to tap into that.
“It’s no secret that I love my teams to attack, I love my teams to score goals — sometimes that’s misconstrued as me just playing one way.
“But the reason I want my team to play that way is because I love winning things and that’s what I want to do here.”
Nuno fall-out timeline
SUNSPORT take you through the key dates that led to Nuno Espirito Santo’s dismissal as Nottingham Forest manager:
May 11: Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis storms the pitch at City Ground and confronts manager Nuno Espirito Santo after dropping points to Leicester.
May 17: Sources tell SunSport Forest are considering sacking Nuno – the club strongly deny those claims
July 7: Edu Gaspar links up with Marinakis as Global Head of Football overlooking all of the Greek businessman’s clubs; including Forest, Olympiacos and Rio Ave
August 15: Nuno expresses frustration regarding Forest’s lack of signings insisting the squad is “very, very far” off where it needs to be
August 20: Forest are ready to sign Douglas Luiz with reports suggesting Nuno and Edu fell out over transfer disagreements, with the manager preferring other players over the ex-Aston Villa star
August 21: An explosive report suggests Forest are planning to sack Nuno due to tensions between him and the ownership stemming from the club’s transfer activity. Sources tell SunSport that’s not the case
August 22: Nuno issues an explosive press conference claiming his relationship with Marinakis is no longer close and things are “not good” before stating “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” when asked about rumours of his dismissal
August 23: SunSport learn that club officials were left evidently stunned during Nuno’s presser and Marinakis was “baffled” by the manager’s comments as there was legitimately no intention of sacking him.
August 24: Nuno downplays his recent comments during his pre-match interview at Crystal Palace insisting he wants to stay and describes chatter that he is trying to engineer a move away from Forest as “nonsense”
August 29: Marinakis addresses Nuno’s statements after the Europa League draw by stating “everything is solid” between the two and insists he wants the manager to stay
August 30: Sources echo Marinakis’ statements to SunSport and are adamant there is no interest in other managers, such as Jose Mourinho who had just been sacked by Fenerbahce
September 4: Forest leave record £37.5million signing Omari Hutchinson out of Europa League squad
September 9: Forest sack Nuno and replace him with Ange Postecoglou
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