Forest have no plans to sack Postecoglou; Alisson out; England squad news: football – live

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Ben Fisher has been speaking to a key summer signing for Bournemouth, who appear to be even better than last season.

Arne Slot has admitted: “We need to do better.”

He’s been speaking about Alexander Isak: “I said to him when he started, the difficult thing will be you will have the appearances, but if you add the minutes together he will only have two or three appearances. That’s a situation we had from him, not training at Newcastle. But he still has a goal. The main thing is him adjusting to his new team-mates and his new team-mates adjusting to him.”

Postecoglou safe - for now

Will Unwin

As of 9am this morning, Nottingham Forest had no plans to sack Ange Postecoglou but the unpredictable nature of the club and its owner Evangelos Marinakis means that things can change quickly. The fans made their voices known on Thursday, calling for the exit of the man who replaced an East Midlands hero and it is difficult to turn the tide once that happens.

Postecoglou is Marinakis’ man, the owner having lined him up long before Nuno Espirito Santo was sent packing. Everyone at Forest expected a period of transition but to be winless in six matches and losing at home to Sunderland and Midtjylland were not part of the thoughts when he arrived last month. The Australian was always going to change the style but he has his way of playing, which is very different to his predecessor, so there is an acceptance that these things take time. Patience, however, is not a trait often seen at Forest. The next three Premier League games are against Newcastle, Chelsea and Bournemouth, so things are not going to get easier for Postecoglou.

Alisson out for Liverpool

Arne Slot has been speaking to the media:

“Alisson is not part of the squad tomorrow and he won’t travel to Brazil for the national team. Hugo [Ekitike] is going to train again today, let’s see where he is. The same can be said for Frederico [Chiesa]. It depends on how fast the recovery goes.

“I will be surprised if he [Alisson] will be there for the first game after the international break. From there on things can go a bit faster a bit slower. It’s difficult to say. I’m not a doctor so I cannot tell you if it is the same injury.”

Giorgi Mamardashvili will play instead of Alisson.

“I think we’ve seen against Southampton how well he’s adjusted. We knew we were bringing in a very good goalkeeper. When he plays his first game that’s a way of seeing he’s adjusted really well to our club. It’s not a surprise because he’s a quality goalkeeper. Now he can do what we’ve had to do so many times in the past replacing Alisson, like we’ve done so many times before.”

Here’s our usual lookahead, including to tonight’s game at Bournemouth.

Unbeaten in the league since their Friday night opener at Anfield, Bournemouth’s early momentum has been stalled by consecutive draws: at home to Newcastle and at Leeds last week. Fulham visit the Vitality on Friday, offering Andoni Iraola’s side a presentable chance of recapturing winning ways and going second in the table. After a turbulent summer, Iraola has sought consistency in his team selection. Trailing 2-1 at Leeds, the Bournemouth manager made a triple change to restore three usual starters – David Brooks, Alex Scott and Marcus Tavernier – to his XI and was rewarded with a late leveller. Bournemouth have also maintained defensive stability, conceding just once in four games between the trips to Liverpool and Leeds. Marcos Senesi, often playing in an otherwise brand-new back five, has been key to the team’s continuity. The centre-back earned praise from Iraola for his defensive work and threat at attacking set-pieces – as evidenced by his headed assist for Eli Junior Kroupi’s equaliser at Elland Road. Niall McVeigh

It was a good night for the other English clubs in Europe. And a bad night for the Scottish clubs.

Ben Fisher was at the City Ground last night to see the fans turn on Big Ange.

The scenes were close to extraordinary on a sobering evening, thousands of home supporters singing: “You’re getting sacked in the morning.” Then the same fans twisted the knife a little deeper, singing the name of his predecessor Nuno Espírito Santo, with several turning towards Evangelos Marinakis, the owner watching on with his own giant private television in the directors’ box. This made for grim viewing.

Preamble

All is not well at Nottingham Forest. In fact, it’s not working out at all for Ange Postecoglou. Being barracked after six games is going some. Such is the wisdom of sacking a folk hero in Nuno. We’ll have reaction to that, and the rest of the Europa action ahead of a full Premier League weekend.

Friday