‘Nuno has put himself at risk of Nottingham Forest sack despite contract news’
Nuno Espirito Santo has likely to have unwittingly put himself under greater threat of losing his job at Nottingham Forest.
The Tricky Trees were tipped to be relegation candidates before the season had begun, after finishing 17th in the 2023/24 season.
But brilliant performances from Man City target Morgan Gibbs-White, Murillo, Chris Wood, and Matz Sels spurred Nuno’s side on to a seventh-placed finish.
However, despite massively overachieving in comparison to pre-season expectations, the Midlands side will be feeling a sense of disappointment after tumbling out of the Champions League places in the final few weeks of the season.
That was on show when owner Evangelos Marinakis stormed onto the pitch to confront Nuno after his side were held to a 2-2 draw with already relegated Leicester in May.
And according to former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan, the Forest manager finds himself in a tricky position, despite only recently signing a new three-year deal [The Guardian].
Nuno Espirito Santo has made a ‘rod for his back’
Former Forest player and manager Martin O’Neill highlighted how positive last season was for the Tricky Trees on talkSPORT, before mentioning the “wee bit of disappointment” that was felt for failing to qualify for the Champions League.
Jordan then interjected and said: “He’s made a rod for his back, Nuno. He’s made a rod for his back.”
O’Neill replied: “But that’s okay, that’s absolutely okay.”
Jordan continued: “That’s absolutely okay, but that’s the sod’s law of it all.
“Because ultimately, If you’ve got an owner that now looks and says, ‘well you’ve done it before, you can do it again’.
“Now, everybody in this room really knows that Nottingham Forest’s players were operating at a hundred per cent level, the chance to conversion ratio was out of this world, Chris Wood has never had a season like that before, unlikely to have one again like that.”
The former Palace chairman explained more about the astounding levels Forest had reached statistically and that players such as Morgan Gibbs-White were now likely to have transfer interest in the summer, and then said: “All of this means for Nuno Espirito Santo, is that he’s rewarded in one hand, and judged in the other.”
Nottingham Forest could be heading for lengthy court proceedings
Football Insider Verdict
Near the beginning of June, Forest wrote to UEFA to express their concern about Palace’s participation in the Europa League, due to John Textor’s majority shareholding in both the Eagles and French side Lyon.
The two clubs have qualified for Europe’s second-tier competition, which violates UEFA’s rules on multi-club ownerhship.
If Palace were to be expelled, Forest would likely take their place in the competition due to finishing seventh in the Premier League last season.
But after Textor agreed to sell his stake in the club to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, it seems likely the Eagles will be allowed to compete after all.
Given Forest’s initial decision to write to UEFA, it seems highly likely they will challenge any decision that goes against them in the Court of Sports Arbitration (CAS), and will fight tooth and nail to take Palace’s place in the Europa League.