‘I didn’t see that coming’ – Nuno Espirito Santo’s final decision before sack was ‘surprising’
Nuno Espirito Santo’s final decision at Nottingham Forest before he was sacked by Evangelos Marinakis was “surprising”.
Nuno was dismissed by Marinakis early on Tuesday (9 September) morning, with Ange Postecoglou being announced as his replacement later that day.
The Portuguese manager publicly criticised the Forest owner, as well as recruitment chief Edu Gaspar, which ultimately led to his downfall.
Just before his departure, Nuno left new signing Omari Hutchinson out of his Europa League squad, with the club allowed to register just 22 players.
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that something else must have gone on behind the scenes, as the decision didn’t make footballing sense.
Omari Hutchinson omission hints at discontent
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness insisted that there was clearly some discontent away from the public eye, which led to Hutchinson’s surprise omission.
The former Ipswich man played just nine minutes of Premier League football under Nuno and will hope that the appointment of Postecoglou yields more game time.
Wyness added that after bringing in a player of that quality, it would have made sense for Forest to give him European experience.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “Yes, it was a surprise. I didn’t see that coming at all. I thought if they’re going to bring a player in of that quality, you’d want to give him European experience because then he’s more valuable if you want to sell him on going forward.
“I don’t understand the reason. I don’t know if it was a fitness issue at the start of the season. But certainly, in the Europa League, you need a deeper squad, and you need to score goals. So I would have thought they’d have kept him in.
“This must have been something that’s gone on that has not been made public yet. It could be fitness because I know that Hutchinson, when he was dropped, responded with a post on his Instagram showing that he was doing double training.
“So it could have been a fitness question mark. But still, that could have been solved before the European games, so I’m really not sure. It doesn’t make football sense to me, so something else has gone on.”
Arsenal eye Nottingham Forest star
Meanwhile, Arsenal are reportedly among a number of clubs keeping an eye on “fantastic” Nottingham Forest star Murillo as they eye further improvements to their squad depth.
That is according to former Man United and Blackburn chief scout Mick Brown, who claims that the 23-year-old has emerged as a name on Mikel Arteta‘s shortlist.
Nottingham Forest placed a “huge” asking price on Murillo in the summer as they were reluctant to lose key players following Anthony Elanga’s move to Newcastle.
However, the Gunners are now believed to be tracking the Brazil defender’s situation as they have been long-term admirers of his abilities.
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