The shock of seeing Evangelos Marinakis’ perceived outburst at Nuno Espirito Santo is still attracting interest in the media, with Sam Allardyce now offering his perspective.
Despite Espirito Santo explaining Marinakis’ actions after the Leicester City draw as genuine concern for Taiwo Awoniyi, the conversation has continued to rumble on.
Forest released a statement about Awoniyi after the Nigerian had emergency surgery on a ruptured intestine, with space in the statement dedicated to asking media personalities to scale back the speculation on Marinakis’ interaction with the Forest manager.
Still, it was revealed that Marinakis’ outburst continued in the tunnel, leading to ex-Premier League boss Sam Allardyce to discuss how he would deal with the Greek businessman.
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
How Sam Allardyce would deal with Evangelos Marinakis
Simon Jordan slammed Gary Neville for his involvement in escalating the situation, but regardless of how you look at it, Espirito Santo was put in an uncomfortable position on the pitch on Sunday.
So much so that Allardyce, on his No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, discussed how he would’ve handled the situation if he were in the Forest dugout.
He said: “As best as I can, I’d try to stay as calm as I can and let him blow the top. It can carry on and on if you start answering back, so you’ve got to take it on the chin and just let it calm down.
“You maybe then have a discussion about it a day or two later. […] You just have to take it sometimes when it’s really disappointing on the pitch.”
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It’s fair to say then that the former England manager would’ve handled the scenario very similarly to Espirito Santo, who remained remarkably calm both on the pitch and in the reaction to it all. Regardless of this particular moment, though, it seems that Allardyce was already a fan of the Portuguese boss.
Sam Allardyce is a big fan of Nuno Espirito Santo
Arne Slot will likely pip Espirito Santo to the top manager award, but the 51-year-old has earned great respect for what he has achieved at Forest this season.
Allardyce has echoed this sentiment, saying: “Contrary to what everybody else talks about, he plays deep-lying football, counterattacking, quick breaks, through the lines and has less possession than the opposition normally.
“It’s been a very effective season, and he’s also got great credit when I saw the stats on the fact that he keeps his players fitter than anybody else. […] Wherever Nuno finishes this season, it’s been a fantastic season and he has overachieved.”
Overachievement has been the word of the season in many aspects, as the Forest squad secured European qualification for the first time in 30 years. Espirito Santo will get his credit for this, and with Forest set to spend serious money in the summer, he could even better it next season.