The Magpies' Guimarães Compounds Ange Postecoglou's Deepening Crisis at Nottingham Forest

Forest's manager walked for the exit deep in thought, his eyes downcast. After seven matches in charge and zero wins, his immediate future appeared as murky as thick mist over the river.

Although the home side were far from their ferocious level, second-half goals from the Brazilian midfielder and the German striker—Woltemade's a spot-kick—ultimately secured them a much-needed another top-flight victory this campaign.

From the start, Postecoglou's insulated jacket swaddled him similar to a blanket, but his restless body language suggested it offered no solace.

No coat could shield Postecoglou from the fear that his victory-less beginning at Forest—having arrived as the first manager in a century without a win in his first half-dozen fixtures—would extend before a possible dismissal over the upcoming pause.

However, his side did not do too badly during a tight at the back first half.

Although the young midfielder at times outshone even the Italian star in the center, reminding everyone why the Newcastle boss was so hesitant to let go of the homegrown talent, Nikola Milenkovic contained the striker out of the game, and the winger gave the full-back problems on the flank.

Credit to Woltemade, who received minimal service to his feet or head, his team's attacking play was not quite clicking.

True, it took a superb stop from the Forest goalkeeper—a former Newcastle goalkeeper—to deny Joelinton effort, and the player missed a couple opportunities, but generally, the visitors' defending was significantly better.

Considering it is barely a few weeks since the Australian succeeded his predecessor and matches have come in quick succession, leaving minimal time to put into practice his ideas on the practice field, all the talk of an impending sack seemed somewhat premature.

That was until Guimarães lifted a right-foot shot over the keeper and into the top corner from just outside the area.

That saw the manager shaking his head in clear frustration, wearing the anguished expression of a man who had misplaced his keys.

His players complained about a possible infraction on Morgan Gibbs-White by the scorer in the buildup, but their appeals fell on deaf ears by the referee.

With the Italian now dominant in the middle, the youngster was not the sole visiting player being put in his place.

By now, the coach had thrown off his coat and rolled up the arms of his sweater. With Forest rarely looking capable of finding the net and Newcastle threatening to shred their earlier improved backline, he was obviously under pressure.

There was a further fine save from Sels to keep out the midfielder's volleyed attempt, before the following set-piece prefaced the striker's half-volley crashing the bottom of the bar.

Sels then made an excellent double save from Malick Thiaw and Harvey Barnes before finally being beaten from the penalty spot by Woltemade.

That spot-kick was awarded when the midfielder's mistimed challenge brought the Brazilian tumbling to the ground.

Up stepped, the German forward to confound Sels by chipping a rather bold spot-kick into the upper left side.

That marked Woltemade's 4th goal for the club since his seventy-million-pound transfer from Stuttgart in the summer, making a mockery of comments from officials at the German giants that the Magpies were “idiots” to spend so much for the centre-forward.

It wasn't Woltemade's finest performance in black and white, but his ability to retain possession and use his sticky touch to link play is already well on the way to a cult hero on in Newcastle.

Benjamin Floyd
Benjamin Floyd

A passionate DIY enthusiast and home renovation expert with over a decade of experience in sustainable building practices.