More details have emerged about Nuno Espirito Santo's "spectacular fallout" with Edu at Nottingham Forest. After a season that saw the Tricky Trees qualify for the Europa League just 12 months after flirting with relegation - albeit partly thanks to Crystal Palace's multi-club ownership structure - the club’s hierarchy is now embroiled in a schism of epic proportions.
Rumours swirled that Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis was planning to sack Nuno, with former Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglu among the early frontrunners for the role. In a no-smoke-without-fire interview (watch below), the Portuguese coach revealed that relations between him and the owner had soured. Marinakis, however, responded by saying he was baffled by such claims, and his words raised serious questions about Nuno's commitment to the job.
Marinakis has never been short of controversy during his time as Forest’s benefactor, and it is now circulating that Nuno may not survive long enough to lead the team against Crystal Palace in the Premier League this Sunday. While much of the spotlight falls on the club’s owner, though, details of Nuno’s fallout with the club’s new global head of football reveal another side of the story.
Nuno Espirito Santo's Fallout With Edu At Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo
As per The Athletic, it isn’t just the relationship Nuno has with Marinakis that is on its last legs. His rapport with the club’s new global head of football, Edu - plucked from Arsenal back in July - is apparently being perceived at the City Ground as “potentially irreparable.”
“It is personal, deeply personal, between himself and Edu,” the report states, “and perhaps the most worrying aspect for Forest fans is that, as things stand, it is difficult to see the two men making up.” It also labels the manager, who led Forest back to Europe for the first time in 30 years, as the perpetrator, whose outspoken, aggressive manner has forced Edu to stay away from the training ground over the last two months. See below:
This has, without a doubt, put Marinakis in a difficult position, to say the least, with two of the most important people at the club not even on speaking terms. On one hand, he can stick with the mastermind behind Forest’s tough-to-play-against tactical style, which showed its success again in the opening Premier League weekend with a 3-1 win against Brentford.
Edu and Mikel Arteta
But doing so risks losing someone crucial to the transfer side of things, which could have a greater influence on the future of the club. Edu - formerly the Gunners’ sporting director - runs the recruitment business for all three of Marinakis’ clubs: Forest, Greek side Olympiacos, and Portuguese team Rio Ave.
It’s safe to say that Marinakis and Nuno aren’t - and arguably never have been - a match made in heaven after ugly scenes at the end of the 2024/25 campaign showed them at loggerheads on the pitch after letting a rwo-goal lead slip against Leicester City. Indeed, they represent a powder keg of personalities that go together like oil and water. Heads are expected to roll in the coming weeks, but which way they may fall remains to be seen.