Nottingham Forest could remarkably find themselves on the lookout for a new manager in the near future.
Current Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo is apparently at loggerheads with owner Evangelos Marinakis, having slated him in the press two weeks on the trot.
It’s actually claimed that Espirito Santo has a gripe with Edu. The former Wolves boss wanted Adama Traore at the City Ground, but the new Head of Football Operations blocked the transfer.
Espirito Santo can hardly complain about the transfer business. Omari Hutchinson, James McAtee, Arnaud Kalimuendo and Douglas Luiz all feel like extremely useful additions to the squad.
Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo
Photo by Shaun Brooks – CameraSport via Getty Images
Nottingham Forest eye Brendan Rodgers
According to The Sun, Celtic boss Rodgers is on the radar of Marinakis should Espirito Santo be handed his papers after today’s game against Crystal Palace.
Ange Postecoglou would like the Forest job, but hopefully, Marinakis doesn’t go for that option and instead chooses to go down a different route should there be no way back for Espirito Santo.
Rodgers is hugely admired by Marinakis and the 52-year-old is firmly on the owner’s radar should there be no going back for the current head coach.
The Celtic boss is in the final year of his current contract and it’s anticipated that the compensation wouldn’t be an issue for Forest to address.
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Rodgers won the FA Cup with Leicester in 2021 and left the King Power Stadium with a 45% win ratio from 204 games in charge of the East Midlands-based outfit.
Rodgers praised by Jurgen Klopp
It was Klopp who replaced Rodgers at Liverpool and when arriving at Anfield, he was very complimentary about the work which he’d done.
Rodgers did a pretty reasonable job with Liverpool, despite failing to get them over the line in the Premier League title race, despite taking them tantalisingly close.
Klopp said on Rodgers’ impact at the club: “Brendan did a really good job here. We don’t have to show the players how football works – Brendan did that.”
Rodgers also has a pretty good record against Forest across his career, winning four of his nine games against the Reds during his time with Leicester and Swansea.
However, he was in charge of the Foxes when Forest beat them 4-1 in the FA Cup in 2022 and also when the Reds won 2-0 in the Premier League in January 2023.