Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo defended Evangelos Marinakis after the owner stormed on to the pitch having watched his side fumble Champions League qualification.
Marinakis was seen emotionally remonstrating with Nuno after Facundo Buonanotte’s 81st-minute strike earned Leicester a 2-2 Premier League draw at the City Ground, inflicting a damaging blow to Forest’s hopes of finishing in the top five.
They were unsavoury scenes, especially as Forest confirmed they will at least be playing in the Europa Conference League next season, with Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville saying the Portuguese should “negotiate his exit tonight”.
It finishes level. pic.twitter.com/oNwd4BXW5C
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) May 11, 2025
Nuno laughed off those suggestions and insisted the Greek businessman’s frustrations came because of a miscommunication between the bench and medical staff after an injury to striker Taiwo Awoniyi in the dying stages of the match.
“It is because of the owner and his passion that we are growing as a club. He pushes us. He wants us to be better,” he said of Marinakis, who served a five-match stadium ban earlier this season.
“It is his passion and desire to be a big club – 30,000 people felt the same today. For sure, many of them would go on the pitch and shake us down.
“Us as a club, we owe a lot to the Marinakis family.”
Asked whether he was comfortable being spoken to like in such a way in a public arena, Nuno added: “I have been in football so many years as a player and as a coach.
“It is the passion and desire. The players feel it, we feel it and the fans feel it. We have to do better.”
Neville, working on Liverpool’s Premier League game with Arsenal, waded into the debate, by saying on X: “Scandalous from that Forest owner. Nuno should go and negotiate his exit tonight with him!
“The Forest fans, players and manager do not deserve that.”
But Nuno responded: “I am not going to comment too much. I have huge respect for Gary Neville, he is the coach who replaced me when I was sacked at Valencia. So he was a coach himself.
“He knows what it is like to be on the touchline. All the rest, please allow me… I do not want to proceed about (talks of) the future.”
Chris Wood’s 20th goal of the season had put Forest on course to beat their East Midlands rivals, after Morgan Gibbs-White earlier cancelled out Conor Coady’s opener.
But Buonanotte’s late strike means they are no longer in charge of their own destiny. Winning their final two games, including a final-day meeting with Chelsea, might not be enough to secure Champions League football unless Aston Villa, Manchester City or Newcastle drop points along the way.
They are confirmed, however, to be in at least the Europa Conference League and could be in the Europa League by the time they next play if Manchester City beat Crystal Palace in next week’s FA Cup final.
Despite an upturn in performances since relegation was confirmed, boss Ruud van Nistelrooy is no closer to knowing whether he will be in charge next season.
“No, for me it’s important that I connect with the players and vice-versa, that they are buying into the way of playing and performing as good as we can towards the end of the season,” he said.
“It’s from day-to-day and game-to-game. I spoke about initiative months and months ago in conversations with the ownership and leadership at the club.
“Now for weeks I don’t have news and my focus is on the next training session and the next game.
“In the interests of the club, it’s very important and the sooner the better, I said that as well.
Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder believes this is the year his side can “make history” by finally ending their play-off hoodoo at the 10th attempt.The Blades booked their place in the Championship final with a record-breaking semi-final demolition of Bristol City, with the 6-0 aggregate victory the biggest winning margin in play-off history.Goals from Kieffer Moore, Gus Hamer and Cal...
Sheffield United are one win away from ending their play-off hoodoo after booking their place in the Sky Bet Championship final with a record-breaking semi-final demolition of Bristol City.The Blades will meet Sunderland or Coventry at Wembley after a 6-0 aggregate victory over the Robins – the biggest winning margin in Championship play-off semi-final history.After doing the heavy lifting i...
Let's start our Daily Laugh today. Barca bounced back to produce an epic blow of their own to Madrid Which team will go to UCL next year? We still have the Emirates Cup Arteta and his 2nd place situation Hansi Flick VS Carlo Ancelotti Chelsea fans have really given up. OFFICIAL: CARLO ANCELOTTI WILL TAKE OVER AS BRAZIL NATIONAL TEAM COACH AT THE END OF MAY Please stay tuned on Daily L...
TELL ME MOREAl-Nassr's battle to finish third in the Saudi Pro League this season to secure AFC Champions League football has continued, with Al Qadsiyah and Al-Ahli within two points. After suffering defeat to Al-Ittihad, Faris Najd knew that they were in for any easy outing on Monday evening as they went up against 17th-placed Al-Akhdoud. Stefano Pioli decided to leave five-time Ballon d'Or winn...
It's the business end for Chelsea, as although the title race and relegation spots have been settled early, some huge games remain in the fight for Europe.All eyes will be on the battle for a Champions League place over the final two weekends of the season, as it currently looks like five teams will be battling it out for the three spots behind Liverpool and Arsenal.Chelsea are one of these sides ...
Harry Kane has brushed off the criticism he has received from rival fans during his long wait for the first trophy of his career, saying "we'll see what people talk about now."Kane, 32, won the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich on May 4 and lifted the Meisterschale on Saturday at the Allianz Arena following his team's win over Borussia Monchengladbach.The England captain's interminable wait for the fi...
Inter close in on bargain €6m transfer from Serie A rivalsInter Milan are closing in on the permanent acquisition of Nicola Zalewski from Roma following a successful loan spell at the San Siro.The 23-year-old has reportedly agreed to stay at Inter permanently, and the club is now working to seal a deal. The Champions League finalists signed the Polish defender on loan from Roma in the Januar...
Both Wycombe head coach Mike Dodds and Charlton manager Nathan Jones were complimentary of each other’s side following a goalless draw in the first leg of their League One play-off semi-final.In a game of few chances at Adams Park, Dan Udoh went the closest for the Chairboys after just five minutes, when his low fizzing shot was awkwardly saved by Will Mannion.For the visitors, Matty Godden ...
Wycombe and Charlton could not be separated as they played out a goalless draw in the first leg of their League One play-off semi-final at Adams Park.Despite Mike Dodds’ Chairboys being the out-of-form side out of all of the teams involved in the play-offs, they were superb in the opening 45 minutes.Jack Grimmer and Fred Onyedinma worked brilliantly down the right-hand side to cause the Addi...
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta expressed his anger after his side were forced to battle back from 2-0 down to claim a draw at Liverpool on Sunday.The Gunners paid the price for a lacklustre start as they conceded twice in quick succession early on to the newly-crowned Premier League champions at Anfield.They battled back to draw 2-2 with goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Mikel Merino – who was...
- 1 Albanian Laura Woods goes braless in pink top
- 2 Man Utd are losing the feeling of being a massive club – Ruben Amorim
- 3 Eddie Howe tells Newcastle to ‘drive forward’ and seal Champions League spot
- 4 Daily Laugh - Bye Arsenal, PSG to UCL Final
- 5 Ruben Amorim believes fighting spirit carried Man Utd to Europa League final
- 6 Rangers thump Aberdeen to end five-match winless streak at Ibrox
- 7 Onana ready to fight for his place
- 8 Chris Wilder thinks this could be the year Blades cut it in the play-offs
- 9 Liverpool want Julian Alvarez to replace Nunez
- 10 Real Madrid will try to sign Alexander-Arnold