Gary Neville told ‘apologise to Evangelos Marinakis’ after Nottingham Forest incident
Gary Neville has been told to apologise to Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis following his comments last season.
Neville was denied access to the City Ground for Forest’s final game of the campaign against Chelsea on 25 May, with Sky Sports instead deciding to present the coverage from its London studio.
It comes after the pundit slammed the “scandalous” behaviour of Marinakis, who entered the pitch to remonstrate with Nuno Espirito Santo after his side’s draw with Leicester City on 11 May.
Forest claimed the clash came about due to Marinakis’s concern over an abdominal injury suffered by Taiwo Awoniyi during the game.
After receiving news of his access being denied, Neville said: “Personally, I think it’s disappointing that a great club like Nottingham Forest have been reduced to making such a decision.”
Gary Neville should meet Evangelos Marinkis in London
This article contains exclusive comment from Keith Wyness, former Everton, Aston Villa and Aberdeen CEO.
The Guardian reported on 13 August Forest have not resolved their dispute with Neville and want assurances from Sky Sports before welcoming the pundit back to the City Ground.
Nuno’s side claimed a 3-1 victory over Brentford in their opening game of the season on Sunday (17 August).
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness said: “As I understand it right now, Marinakis has asked for Sky to give undertakings that Neville will not be saying similar things again.
“Gary Neville’s got himself into a bit of a difficult position because I think some of his comments were ill-advised about this situation last year and were proven to be incorrect in the way it appeared.
“I know how he could have made them because it looked like a certain thing at the start, but it didn’t quite work out that way when the facts came out.
“I think that it’s going to have to be Sky coming with Neville and saying ‘Look, we’re going to come and see you. Let’s have a talk around the table. We’ll give you undertakings that he understands that these sort of things will not be said again’.
“And I think that will be it. I think that should clear it all up, but they should be men about it. They should be able to sit around a table, have half an hour at Marinakis’s office in London, and it should be all resolved.
“I think that’s the best way, rather than letting this fester because things can get worse and worse the longer it goes on. And then all of a sudden, it becomes a major issue. It doesn’t need to be.
“This is something that should be a storm in a teacup and I think Neville should apologise for what he said.”
Liverpool plan to accept Kostas Tsimikas offer after Nottingham Forest swoop
In terms of transfer activity, recruitment expert Mick Brown told Football Insider Liverpool are planning to sell Kostas Tsimikas after Forest have shown an interest in signing him this summer.
Arne Slot made a clear statement about the 29-year-old’s position in the team after he was left out of the squad for the Community Shield and the opening-day victory over Bournemouth.
It comes after Liverpool have signed Milos Kerkez to rival Andy Robertson for the left-back spot at Anfield.
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