Shortest manager reign in Premier League history: List of briefest spells in charge after Forest sack Postecoglou

Shortest manager reign in Premier League history: List of briefest spells in charge after Forest sack Postecoglou originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

As the most visible and renowned domestic league in global football, the Premier League has seen some of the greatest managers in the history of the game take charge of English clubs.

On the flip side, the competition has also proven cutthroat to those who do not have the goods.

Ange Postecoglou's unsuccessful time in charge of Nottingham Forest ranks amongst the most disappointing managerial reigns the Premier League has seen, thanks in large part to its swift nature.

Here is where Postecoglou ranks in terms of shortest manager stints in the league's history, sandwiched in between two infamous reigns that are notorious staples of English top-flight lore.

MORE:More facts and figures from Postecoglou's disastrous time in charge of Nottingham Forest

Shortest manager reign in Premier League history

Sam Allardyce has the record for the shortest managerial reign in the Premier League.

Postecoglou's time in charge of Nottingham Forest is the second-shortest in the competition's history in terms of days in the role.

In terms of matches in charge, he is third all-time in league history, just one game past Allardyce and Frank de Boer, the latter of whom only lasted 77 days because he was hired early in the 2017/18 offseason.

Postecoglou's time at Forest set a new Premier League record for the shortest tenure for a manager who left part way through a season. Allardyce technically left the Leeds role when 2022/23 had ended.

Shortest managerial tenures in Premier League history by days

Shortest managerial tenures in Premier League history by matches

List of briefest managerial spells in Premier League history

Sam Allardyce — Leeds United, 2022/23

The shortest managerial tenure, by both days and matches in charge, is that of Allardyce at Leeds United during the 2022/23 season. He lasted four games over the course of 30 days.

"Big Sam" had an illustrious managerial career in England that saw him take charge of 12 different clubs, but it was his final job that tops this list.

Hired by Leeds as a desperation swing to save the club from relegation at the end of the season, it went belly-up instead. With four matches remaining in the campaign, Leeds were 17th in the Premier League, just outside the relegation zone on goal difference.

By the end of it, they would be 19th, having picked up a single point from Allardyce's four games in charge. It was a brutal final schedule, in fairness: Leeds lost to title-winners Manchester City, drew with Newcastle United, and then suffered consecutive season-ending defeats to West Ham and Tottenham.

Ange Postecoglou — Nottingham Forest, 2025/26

After the power struggle at Nottingham Forest ended with owner Evangelos Marinakis firing Nuno Espirito Santo just two games into the 2025/26 season, the club's Greek owner hired Postecoglou to take over and lead them through a campaign that included a European journey.

It ended in disaster. Postecoglou was dismissed after only 39 days in charge of Nottingham Forest, becoming the first manager in club history to fail to secure a single victory through his first eight games in charge.

The axe dropped swiftly in the end, as he was sacked just 19 minutes after the final whistle of a 3-0 defeat to at Stamford Bridge, before he had even conducted a post-match press conference.

Les Reed — Charlton Athletic, 2006/07

For 17 years, the 40 days Les Reed spent in charge of Charlton Athletic stood as the shortest managerial stint in Premier League history.

An assistant manager at the club at the time of Iain Dowie's departure, Reed took over in his former boss's stead, but never had a chance.

Spending just six weeks in charge of the club, he would lose five of the seven Premier League matches he took charge of and departed after being knocked out of the League Cup by League Two side Wycombe Wanderers.

The media was relentless to Reed, calling his team "Les Miserables" while dubbing the manager himself as "Santa Clueless" as a nod to his timely departure from the club on Christmas Eve.

Javi Gracia — Leeds United, 2022/23

The man before Big Sam makes this list as well, as the attempt by Leeds United to stay afloat in the 2023/24 season was as desperate as they come.

Hired to replace American boss Jesse Marsch in late February, Gracia lasted 69 days in charge. He managed to pick up 11 points across his 11 matches, more than four other teams in the league across the same span (something Gracia himself made sure to point out), but it was only good enough to leave them out of the relegation zone on goal difference as they lost four of his last five matches in charge.

They would go down under Allardyce in the end, as Gracia would be sacked over the phone by owner Andrea Radrizanni, on his birthday, no less.

Rene Meulensteen — Fulham, 2013/14

Dutch coach Rene Meulensteen made a name for himself as a longtime assistant at Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson. It seemed reasonable to assume that Meulensteen himself was destined for at least a modest managerial career after working under the most successful coach in English top-flight history.

That all went belly-up almost immediately. Fulham dubiously hired Meulensteen after he was fired from the explosive, short-lived Anzhi Makhachkala experiment just 16 days into the job, and his lone Premier League stint hardly fared much better.

First hired as an assistant under Martin Jol, Meulensteen rose to the manager position upon Jol's dismissal less than three weeks after the Dutchman was brought aboard. His 75 days in charge brought just four wins in 17 total matches across all competitions before being let go. His successor Felix Magath hardly fared much better.

Frank de Boer — Crystal Palace, 2017/18

After enjoying a legendary playing career, Frank de Boer's time as a coach failed to come remotely close to the same level.

As a player, the Dutchman spent over a decade during the glory years at Ajax before moving to Barcelona where he would be equally as successful, all while earning 112 international caps for the Netherlands. It seemed that he could be on the same path as a manager, with a successful few seasons at Ajax to kick things off.

From there, however, it would nosedive in spectacular fashion. After being hired by Inter Milan to begin the 2016/17 season, replacing Roberto Mancini, De Boer would be out of a job after just 85 days, suffering four defeats in his final five Serie A matches.

Crystal Palace would take a chance on De Boer, and it would hardly go any better. The Eagles would lose all four of his Premier League matches, failing to score a single goal in any of them. In terms of minutes played, the 450 minutes of game action he spent in charge was the shortest in Premier League history at the time, and still stands today joint-level with Allardyce.

Infamously, after it was all over, Jose Mourinho dubbed De Boer "the worst manager in the history of the Premier League," adding insult to injury for the Dutchman. De Boer would fail at MLS side Atlanta United shortly after, and then spent a short time in charge of the Dutch national team, becoming the nation's first-ever manager to go his first four matches without victory and see himself sacked after a Round of 16 exit at Euro 2020.