Nottingham Forest enjoyed one of their best seasons in recent memory last season. Nottingham Forest is one of those clubs in England who have a remarkable history and can boast of a league title, 2 European Cups, one Super Cup, 4 League Cups and 2 FA Cups.
In the Premier League last season, Forest scored an impressive 58 goals, conceded 46, won 50% of their games and finished 7th. Despite Crystal Palace winning the FA Cup and qualifying for the Europa League, they have been demoted to the Conference League.
Their appeal to CAS to reverse the decision was dismissed. Palace were found in breach of multi-club ownership rules since their majority owner John Textor also had stakes in Lyon, who would be competing with Palace in the Europa League.
As a result of this breach, Forest replaced Palace in the Europa League. Forest won their first Premier League game last week, beating Brentford 3-1 at the City Ground. You would think everything was fine, right?
As Nottingham Forest prepare to take on, funnily enough, Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, manager Nuno Espírito Santo has shed some light on his relationship with club owner Evangelos Marinakis.
After an explosive confrontation on the pitch following a 2-2 draw with relegation-bound Leicester last season, not many anticipated their relationship would improve. At his Crystal Palace pre-match presser, Nuno opened up on the relationship, saying:
“Look, I always had a very good relationship with the owner. Last season it was very, very, very close, almost on a daily basis. This season, not so well. But I always believe that dialogue and what you say, or your opinion, is always valid, because my concern is the squad and the season that we have ahead of us. But our relationship has changed. Yeah, it’s not so close. It is not on a daily basis. So yeah.”
When asked if that could be good since it meant less interference, he replied:
“No, it’s not good. I think everybody at the club should be together, but it is not the reality.”
When asked if the recent arrival of Arsenal director Edu was causing this rift due to differences of opinion, Nuno said he couldn’t tell but stood firm on his views about transfers in the team.
Nuno doubled down on his belief that the club needed to be better prepared for the season ahead. Though he felt he expressed those views respectfully, he still maintained that his relationship with the club owner had taken a downward turn from what it used to be — respectful and based on trust and sharing opinions.
Related Posts
Nuno did, however, express hope that the relationship would eventually heal and that he was doing all he could to improve it. When asked if he felt his job was at risk, Nuno said:
“We know each other very well and we have all been in the industry for a while now. And where there’s smoke there’s fire, so I know how things work. But I’m here to do my job.”
When pressed on the subject he doubled down and said:
“Like I said, I have been around. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. I was on the other side without a job and knowing what’s happening.”
This looks like the beginning of a long goodbye for the manager. Many believe Marinakis’s past behaviour has left a lot to be desired. His constant need to be front and centre has led to questions over whether Nuno gets the respect and freedom he needs to do the job.
Gary Neville’s critique of the owner after his rather public and embarrassing confrontation with Nuno following the Leicester game — in which he suggested the manager quit — led to Neville being banned from the City Ground.
Other behaviour, such as allegedly spitting in the direction of match officials and receiving a five-match ban, has left the controversial owner with very few admirers. It remains to be seen what happens from here on out, but many experts and pundits believe Nuno is already sick and tired of Evangelos’s antics and may be angling for a P45.
Whilst he is not coming out and saying it outright, he may be nudging the owner in that direction. Others believe that the owner should stick to other things he is good at and leave football to professionals who know what they are doing.
Whatever happens, many suspect Nuno’s time at Forest may be coming to an end very soon — despite delivering a stellar season which has seen them, perhaps fortuitously, end up playing Europa League football.
