Nottingham Forest co-owner Evangelos Marinakis’ extraordinary on-field meltdown after his side’s 2-2 draw at home to Leicester at the weekend has mirrored that of his team in the run-in.
The Greek billionaire was pictured expressing his “frustration” to manager Nuno Espirito Santo after the stalemate that took their Uefa Champions League fate for next season out of their hands.
“Football, football is emotions. It’s difficult to control, especially when we had so much expectation today,” Marinakis told Sky Sports of the incident.
He said it had centred on the mix-up that left forward Taiwo Awoniyi on the pitch despite clearly struggling after he had collided with the frame of the goal.
Nuno backed up his boss’s explanation for the exchange that made headlines. The Forest owner paid tribute to the club’s feat in securing its first European season in three decades. Yet his actions on the field told another story.
Bitter pill to swallow
“It was a day for celebration, because after 30 years Nottingham Forest is now guaranteed to be competing on the European stage once again, a promise I made to our supporters when we achieved promotion,” he said.
“With two more games to go in the Premier League, we must keep believing and keep dreaming, right to the final kick in the final game. We are extremely proud and close to Nuno and the team, and we must all celebrate the historic achievements of this season.”
For the majority of the campaign, it looked like Forest would be celebrating a place at Europe’s top table next season. They were third, 10 points clear of sixth place at the start of April, but are now one point off fifth spot and have dropped to seventh, behind Chelsea, Aston Villa and Newcastle after a run of one win from seven games.
They fell off a cliff and will now need results elsewhere to go their way, with fixtures away against West Ham United and at home to Chelsea to come.
Baffled by slump
And Nuno has struggled to explain the drop-off in form.
“I don’t know the reason,” he told Sky Sports after Sunday’s defeat to the Foxes, who have already been relegated.
“We can easily say it’s because of anxiety or nerves, but the players don’t transmit that. We feel it is about us, it was in our hands and it isn’t now. We will try to manage the situation but we’re not playing good.
“I wish I could tell you why. Our main focus is to give solutions, but we’re not able to do it. That’s frustrating for us.”
It is stark admission from a manager whose never-say-die attitude, and technical acumen, won him many admirers in the English top flight this season. He seemed to have all the answers.
Yet, no matter where Forest eventually end up, it will have been a fairytale season. If only Marinakis would see the forest for the trees.
