Nottingham Forest hedged bets to beat Crystal Palace: ‘Really tricky’ – Expert
Nottingham Forest could stand to benefit after being forced by UEFA to “hedge their bets” in March, according to Dan Plumley.
The football finance expert told Football Insider exclusively that a decision from the European governing body could change the outcome of which clubs play in European competitions next season.
Crystal Palace are facing expulsion from the Europa League, due to John Textor’s shareholdings in both the South London club, and French side Lyon.
Both teams have qualified for the competition and due to UEFA’s rules on multi-club ownership, they cannot compete in Europe’s second-tier competition at the same time.
Nottingham Forest are now in line to receive an upgrade from the Conference League to the Europa League, netting them a tidy financial bonus to boot, Plumley told Football Insider.
If Palace were to be removed, the Tricky Trees are most likely to be given their place in the competition, due to finishing seventh in the Premier League.
The whole debacle stems from a deadline that passed on 1 March, and Forest have their ownership to thank for their potential upgrade.
UEFA change deadline for declaring multi-club ownership
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, finance expert Plumley explained that UEFA had changed the deadline to declare that multi-club ownership criteria were being met [UEFA].
Thanks to Forest being in a position to qualify for Europe at the time, owner Evangelos Marinakis, who also owns Greek side Olympiacos, put his shares in the club into a blind trust.
However, with Palace trailing the hunting pack for European football, Textor failed to do so, and Plumley explained that was likely due to the deadline being moved from June to March.
He said: “If you look back again at a bit of the backstory here and why this is happening, UEFA moved the deadline to declare this kind of multi-club ownership position, and they gave clubs an opportunity to change the paperwork in terms of what Forest have done for receding some of that control.
“But they moved it to the first of March, where historically, it’s been the first of June, and it did force clubs to hedge their bets a little bit.
“Forest, at that time, did that because of where they were in the league table. Crystal Palace were in the FA Cup, but there were still some big teams in that competition as well.
“If you look at Palace, that was a decision that was taken at the time, and it’s really tricky because UEFA moved that deadline forward.”
According to The Telegraph, Textor is now considering three separate bids, including one from Donald Trump ally and New York Jets owner, Woody Johnson.
The American businessman is reportedly “conscious of the club’s need to now secure a quick transaction to guarantee European competition next season.”
Chelsea interested in Morgan Gibbs-White as European chaos continues
Mick Brown revealed to Football Insider that with Man City cooling their interest in Morgan Gibbs-White, Chelsea may make a move for the midfielder.
The ex-Wolves man was integral to Forest’s run to European football last season, and his incredible form has not gone unnoticed.
Gibbs-White’s near telepathic understanding with Chris Wood saw the Kiwi striker finish with 20 Premier League goals.
Despite having Cole Palmer, the Blues could do with an attacking midfielder who excels in boosting his striker’s goal tally.
Chelsea have signed Liam Delap in an attempt to fix their woes at the number nine position, and Gibbs-White would be a major help for the former Ipswich striker.