According to reports, Nottingham Forest ‘initially favoured’ one of Sean Dyche’s rivals in the race to replace Ange Postecoglou at the City Ground.

On Tuesday morning, Forestconfirmed the appointment of Dyche on a contract running until 2027.

In their announcement, Forest revealed who will be working with him and why they appointed him. A club statement read: ‘Dychewill be joined by his experienced coaching team of Ian Woan and Steve Stone — both former Nottingham Forest players who together made more than 400 appearances for the Reds during the 1990s.

‘A respected and experienced Premier League manager, Dyche brings the perfect blend of character, tactical acumen and proven achievement to guide the Club through its next chapter.’

This completes their search for their third permanent manager of the 2025/26 campaign after they parted company with Postecoglou over the weekend.

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Postecoglou had a disastrous reign at Nottm Forest since succeeding Nuno Espirito Santo, as he failed to win any of his eight games in charge across all competitions.

The final straw for the ex-Celtic and Spurs boss was Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Chelsea, with controversial owner?Evangelos Marinakis leaving the ground before the final whistle to formalise the head coach’s exit.

Following Postecoglou’s departure, it quickly became clear that Dyche, former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini and Fulham head coach Marco Silva are Forest’s favoured candidates.

Silva is known to have a strong relationship with Marinakis after they worked together at Olympiacos, though a report from The Athleticclaims ‘the ￡15m release clause in his contract was viewed as prohibitive’.

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Regarding Mancini, the report claims he was ‘the man they initially favoured in the aftermath of Postecoglou’s departure’.

It is noted that ‘contact was made’ with Mancini, with Forest?‘drawn by his track record of producing sides with a strong defensive, disciplined outlook’, while he would have been a ‘statement manager appointment capable of leading them to European success’.

However, Forest eventually performed a U-turn as ‘their research will also have revealed the challenges that can come with employing the 60-year-old Italian’, while it was ‘ultimately felt that Dyche, a man who more often puts an arm around the shoulder of his players, would be the best fit as they search for some much-needed stability’.

Dyche has also been given assurances that he has a long future at Forest, who see him as a ‘long-term appointment’, thus ‘dispelling any possibility of giving someone the job on a short-term basis before pursuing Silva next summer’.