Nuno Espirito Santo has seen the axe fall on his reign as the head coach of Nottingham Forest.
After almost two years in charge, time is up, and Evangelos Marinakis is now in search of a new head coach to lead the club forward.
Forest have been linked with three Premier League managers already this morning, and an appointment needs to be made as a matter of urgency.
The Reds travel to Arsenal on Saturday before big games in the Premier League, Europa League and Carabao Cup to come before the next international break.
Espirito Santo is said to have fallen out with Edu behind the scenes, and now it’s emerged what exactly has upset the Forest owner so much.
Nuno Espirito Santo looking worried on the pitch at the City Ground
Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
What pushed Marinakis to sack Espirito Santo
The writing has largely been on the wall for a number of weeks, with his final game in charge the disastrous 3-0 defeat to West Ham United at the City Ground.
Espirito Santo’s in-game management during that game was pretty drab and it’s hard to comprehend what he was thinking at that point.
Now, Rob Dorsett from Sky Sports has claimed that Marinakis was thought to be furious with Espirito Santo’s two outbursts in his press conferences before games with Brentford and Crystal Palace.
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Furthermore, the meeting between Marinakis and Espirito Santo never happened, with the owner simply deciding that the club needed a fresh start.
This feels like a huge decision and now Marinakis has to ensure that he gets the next appointment absolutely spot on.
Espirito Santo was never going to survive a public outburst
There’s an old saying that says you don’t bite the hand that feeds you.
Now, Espirito Santo has taken one too many nibbles at Marinakis, and the owner has reacted by enveloping his P45 and sending him on his way.
It’s a shame that Espirito Santo won’t be the man to lead Forest into Europe but it does mean the vacancy should be attractive for a number of bosses out there.
It’s perhaps telling that Marinakis never pushed for the meeting with Espirito Santo and now it remains to be seen who the next man up will be to steer the Reds into European football.