"Top 5 Contenders to Succeed Sean Dyche at Nottingham Forest: Featuring a Former Chelsea Chief and Manchester United Icon"

TO the surprise of nobody, Nottingham Forest are looking for another manager.

Owner Evangelos Marinakis and it’s not yet .

Sean Dyche has been sacked by Nottingham Forest, who are searching for their fourth manager of the seasonCredit: Shutterstock Editorial Former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca is one of those who could be consideredCredit: EPA Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is also available after missing out on the Manchester United interim gigCredit: Getty

There certainly won’t be much love lost with , the latest to go.

Neither party can be expecting a card this weekend after time was called on a dream spell at the City Ground just 25 games in.

Unfortunately for Dyche, a Nottingham boy, it only enhanced Forest’s relegation fears.

did keep three clear of after 24 hours later, but the battle for survival is on.

Forest (17th) are only two points off Tottenham (16th) and three from Leeds (15th), just four from Brighton (14th), but they are still

looking down more than up.

A run of two wins in 10 () was not enough to keep the boo boys away, especially after dropping points to their rivals in recent weeks.

Victory over at the start of January looks vital but drawing with and losing to Leeds has been terminal for Dyche.

There is irony that his team, in effect, got Dyche’d in his final game.

Forest took 35 shots and amassed 2.55xG (expected goals) across 90 minutes against Wolves, that was as many efforts as the previous four games combined.

The end product is still the same for Marinakis, but who does he turn to now?

Here, SunSport go through the potential candidates.

Vitor Pereira

If you can’t beat them, hire their previous manager?

but he did produce a fairly great escape 12 months previously.

It shouldn’t be forgotten that he inspired an insipid Wolves side to five wins in a row almost exactly this time last season to bring them safety.

and it wasn’t a fluke.

and it’s easy to see why.

His overall record is marred by the disaster of 2025-26, but there were clearly bigger issues at play and for three crucial months he managed to overcome them.

Right now, that’s all Forest need.

Vitor Pereira is the favourite to walk in at the City Ground

Enzo Maresca

Having already tried one stubborn manager who is set in his tactical ways and lifted a European trophy for a London club last season, why not try another?

Maresca, like everyone else on this list, .

Whether the Italian could bring solidity to Forest is another question.

His style looks more suited to teams trying to get on the front foot and challenge further up the table rather than beating the drop.

Would he have what it takes to get through a proper relegation scrap?

And how would a guy who fell out with those at fare under Marinakis, who is arguably even tougher to work with?

But Maresca is among the most high-profile candidates

Thomas Frank

There are probably Spurs fans who wouldn’t mind a short-term appointment of Dyche just to try and stay in the Premier League, and that is only partially a joke.

But in truth, Frank does have a lot going for him.

He wasn’t suited to a bigger club but thrived at , where he could play a more reactive style and get away with it.

Maybe the big question for Frank, as well as whether he is ready to dive straight back in so quickly , is if he would be able to operate in the crazy world of Forest.

Everything was tailored to him, eventually, at Brentford. The same was not true at Spurs.

Has he been a product of his environment as much as anything else? And what happens when the same structure is not in place?

These are genuine fears around Frank, who otherwise could do a good job at Forest.

, he did a great job of adapting Brentford to the situation and improved a whole host of players.

Forest could really do with that right now. A cool head for a tense time.

Thomas Frank is free after losing his job at Tottenham

Roberto De Zerbi

File this one firmly with Maresca in the combustible Italian part.

There is clearly a massive upside to De Zerbi, a coach capable of getting his teams playing some lovely, quick, easy-on-the-eye within a short space of time.

But whether that is what Forest really need right now is up for debate.

and failed spectacularly.

Forest surely can’t afford to take this sort of risk mid-season.

Maybe if they stay up with an interim then one of these guys could be proven right, but not with this much at stake.

And again, De Zerbi could get into a fight in a phone box on his own.

He falls out with people and that isn’t the assurance Forest need, even if his name would attract Marinakis.

Roberto De Zerbi also left Marseille this week

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Fresh from losing out to in the race to become ‘s head coach until the end of the season, might Ole be persuaded?

He has been at both the bottom and top of the league through United and Cardiff and is another readily available figure.

It would be quite the step down from where he could have been, though, and Solskjaer’s lack of recent experience in management might not set him up ideally for such an intense role at this point of a season.

Solskjaer has experience of playing on the break at the top and bottom of the Premier League