Nottingham Forest tipped to ‘kick on’ next season if stability returns under Evangelos Marinakis amid leadership changes
Nottingham Forest can progress on and off the pitch if owner Evangelos Marinakis brings stability to the club.
That is the view of former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking to Football Insider, as Nottingham Forest could make changes behind-the-scenes this summer.
Global Head of Football Edu is expected to leave the club, whilst Forest’s head of football development, Craig Mulholland, is to depart at the end of the season.
It has been a season of instability at the City Ground, with current manager Vitor Pereira their fourth of the campaign, with Forest fighting to preserve their Premier League status.
Marinakis recently stepped down as a person of significant control at Nottingham Forest, as the club look to comply with UEFA’s multi-club rules if they were to qualify for next season’s Champions League by winning the Europa League.
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VISIT THE FOREST FINANCE HUBEvangelos Marinakis backed to stabilise Nottingham Forest
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 it is “crucial” Nottingham Forest have stability on and off the pitch next season.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness thinks Marinakis can often be his “own worst enemy.”
| Revenue | £222m |
| Pre-Tax Loss | £71m |
| Wages | £167m |
| Commercial Revenue | £39m |
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “It’s absolutely crucial because when they did have some reasonable amount of stability, we saw that Forest kicked on and did reasonably well.
“They’ve got to get back to that balance and stability. It’s so important again for the club to have that level of security and stability at the football management level and at the board level. There’s no doubt Marinakis rules the place with an iron fist, so there’s stability there.
“There are no problems about lack of different communication tones. Marinakis is the one that has to be answered to, but they need stability on the day-to-day football side, and I’m sure they can get that, and I think Marinakis will get there in the end.
“I have faith that he gets there, he often goes about it in a very strange way, but I think they will get there and Forest can kick on again next year. They’ve still got some work to do though. If they went on a bad run they could still be in trouble yet, but I’m seeing enough signs there with Morgan Gibbs White kicking in a hat-trick against Burnley. All those sorts of things.
“You’ve got players on form, wanting to finish strongly, enjoy their summer and then come back with a really more balanced, stable group. Forest have got a chance to kick on. They’ve got stadium plans coming in as well.
“There’s a future there, but Marinakis has got to stop being his own worst enemy and get that stability.”
Nottingham Forest prepared for offers on star
Even if Forest remain in the top flight, and with the ambitions of Marinakis, the club may still struggle to retain their best players at the City Ground.
It seems that Champions League qualification, and the extra revenue that brings, would be the only way to keep stars at the club next season.
Elliot Anderson already looks set to leave, whilst former Manchester United chief scout Mick Brown told Football Insider that Morgan Gibbs-White is on the radar of multiple clubs this summer.
That includes Man United and Manchester City, who both have the financial power to sign the 26-year-old in the transfer market.
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