NOTTINGHAM FOREST have dismissed Nuno Espirito Santo as manager following months of uncertainty regarding his position at the club.
Forest confirmed Nuno’s departure in the early hours of Tuesday with a blunt statement where they attributed their decision to “recent circumstances”.
Nottingham Forest have sacked Nuno Espirito SantoJohn Walton/PA
Nuno claimed his relationship with Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis was no longer closeJUSTIN TALLIS / AFP
Marinakis was left ‘baffled’ by Nuno’s statements in a recent press conferenceCrystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images
Nuno had a falling out with Forest’s Head of Global Football Edu GasparCrystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images
And there were indeed a series of events that have taken place since May that led the Portuguese tactician towards the exit door at City Ground.
SunSport became aware of uncertainty surrounding the 51-year-old head coach’s future four months ago after Nottingham’s hopes of Champions League qualification went up in flames.
The Tricky Trees were on their way to a top-five finish but a late collapse that saw them losing to Brentford and Chelsea as well as dropping points to Crystal Palace and Leicester condemned them to seventh place.
Questions regarding the manager’s future were first raised after club owner Evangelos Marinakis stormed the pitch at City Ground following a heartbreaking 2-2 draw with Leicester.
Marinakis had a heated conversation with the coach in front of the cameras but the club claimed the owner was frustrated with the way Taiwo Awoniyi’s injury was handled by the medical team.
That was still Forest‘s best Premier League finish in 30 years but a source told us at the time there was frustration with the team’s slump and thus the manager’s future was already up in the air.
After all, Marinakis had moved a lot of things around to accommodate both Nottingham and his other club Olympiacos for this season’s Champions League to comply with Uefa’s multi-club ownership rules.
Club sources denied that was the case and insisted Nuno was staying put.
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But then an explosive report in August suggested Forest were planning to sack Nuno due to tensions between him and the ownership stemming from the club’s transfer activity.
That was after an interview the ex-Tottenham boss gave expressing frustration regarding the club’s lack of signings insisting the squad was “very, very far” off where it needed to be as there were also a number of fringe players still training with the rest of the team.
Sources told SunSport there was no truth in reports suggesting Nuno would be removed.
But then the Portuguese gaffer cast his future into doubt with an explosive press conference, which was completely uncharacteristic of his usually calm and collected demeanour.
So much so that sources told SunSport that club officials were left evidently stunned during the presser.
Nuno claimed that his relationship with Marinakis was no longer close and things were “not good” before stating “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” when asked about rumours of his dismissal.
Sources told SunSport later on that it was still “business as usual” and Nuno would lead Forest against the Eagles.
However, Marinakis is understood to have been “baffled” by the manager’s comments, and there was legitimately no intention of sacking him.
And Nuno was quick to downplay those comments during his pre-match interview before the clash with Palace at Selhurst Park insisting he wanted to stay and described chatter that he was trying to engineer a move away from the club as “nonsense”.
Nuno’s rift with Edu
Marinakis then addressed the manager’s statements after the Europa League draw by stating “everything is solid” between the two and insisted he wants the coach to stay in charge.
SunSport then spoke to sources who echoed the Greek businessman’s statements and were adamant there was no interest in other managers, such as Jose Mourinho who had just been sacked by Fenerbahce.
But it is now being claimed that there was more than meets the eye behind the scenes.
It is understood that a falling out started taking place upon the arrival of former Arsenal sporting director Edu Gaspar as Global Head of Football overseeing all of Marinakis’ clubs, including Olympiacos and Rio Ave.
Nuno and Edu disagreed on transfers, with the former wanting to sign Fulham star Adama Traore and not being keen on Douglas Luiz before his arrival.
And the Portuguese manager went on to leave Forest’s record £37.5million signing Omari Hutchinson out of his Europa League squad.
Damage was done
That was not considered to be a swipe at Edu as it came down to the sheer volume of players in the team, but it did little to calm an already tense situation down.
By the time Forest got thrashed by West Ham at home two weeks ago, the situation appeared irreparable and Marinakis had decided Nuno couldn’t continue in charge of the new set up.
The Greek chief has a reputation of a “trigger-happy” owner, but just like with Steve Cooper he opted for unity and patience.
But as the season progressed it was apparent the events that preceded it had already cast a shadow that was too large to restore stability.
Forest will now move on with Ange Postecoglou just three months after his dismissal by Tottenham despite becoming the man that ended their 17-year wait for a trophy by winning the Europa League.
Postecoglou and Marinakis had formed a close relationship the last few months and that saw the Greek-Australian tactician receiving an honorary award in Greece that was handed out by the Forest owner.
Nottingham chiefs do see Nuno as a massive chapter in the club’s history that brought back success after almost 30 years in the wilderness and his two years at the helm will always be remembered.
But it became evident the club had to move on following the new set up from which much is expected amid Marinakis’ vision of success involving all three of his clubs.
Forest will move on with Ange Postecoglou as managerBradley Collyer/PA
Forest are recognising Nuno’s immense success at City GroundJohn Walton/PA Wire
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