Nottingham Forest have confirmed the appointment of Philippe Montanier as their new head coach. He joins the Championship club on a two-year contract.
The Frenchman’s most recent managerial role was with Ligue 1 side Rennes. He was sacked in January, but after six months out of the game he returns. Montanier has also managed La Liga side Real Sociedad.
Speculation has been rife for some time as to who would be the permanent successor to Dougie Freedman at the City Ground. Several names have been heavily linked. Oscar Garcia, Ryan Giggs, Miroslav Djukic, Michel, Marco Silva and Victor Sanchez were all short-priced favourites at one point or another.
Forest have turned to Montanier, who played over 300 times in his playing career as a goalkeeper. Most notably, he played for Caen and Toulouse in his native France.
He has a promotion on his CV and has taken a club from the second-tier into the top flight. He helped Boulogne reach Ligue 1 in 2004. At Sociedad, he also guided them into the Champions League after finishing fourth in La Liga.
With the season not too far away, the 51-year-old will need to be quick in assessing his squad. New transfer targets will also need to be identified. Evangelos Marinakis is hoping to officially purchase a majority stake in the football club soon. This looks like the start of a new era in the proud history of Nottingham Forest Football Club.