‘Would not go down well’ – Nottingham Forest warned against making controversial decision after shock report

Nottingham Forest have been warned that sacking Nuno Espirito Santo would cause unrest amongst the fans and squad.

Surprise reports emerged on Friday claiming Forest are considering alternative managers amid tensions with Espirito Santo – which club sources strongly denied when approached by talkSPORT.

During a recent interview with Sky Sports, the Forest boss said: “We are very far – very, very far – from where we should be.”

“I am concerned, we are short on options, having solutions the game might need is a major concern,” he also said.

The comments came before Forest signed England U21 duo Omari Hutchinson and James McAtee, as well as Arnaud Kalimuendo.

And when reacting to the speculation on talkSPORT, transfer reporter Alex Crook dismissed the prospect of Espirito Santo being dismissed.

“It’s a story that’s emanated from Italy, originally saying that [owner Evangelos] Marinakis is considering a change of manager,” Crook said.

“It seemed a bit strange bearing in mind their success last season, qualified for Europe, started this season with a good victory [3-1 vs Brentford] last weekend as well.

“Nottingham Forest sources have shot it down, they’ve described it to me this morning as nonsense.

“But, sometimes there’s no smoke without fire, is there? I think it’s definitely one we’ll keep an eye on.

“We know that both Marinakis and Nuno can be quite volatile, sometimes that will work in Forest’s favour because I think Marinakis doesn’t necessarily want a yes man working underneath him.

“But it also means there are going to be clashes in personality along the way.”

Watford legend Troy Deeney then commented on the impact that such a decision would have on the Forest squad at the beginning of the season.

“That would not go down will with the Forest fanbase,” said Sam Matterface, and Deeney replied: “And the players, it wouldn’t at all.

“You’ve been very, very successful, you’ve won the first game of the season, everyone’s on a high. Even these rumours coming out now start to be like… ‘What’s going on?’

“I think some of the senior players like your Chris Woods would certainly be in a position where he can say to the gaffer walking off the training pitch today, ‘Any truth in this, what’s happening?’

“If the gaffer says, ‘Yeah, maybe’, or something, then that could be a real difficult situation.

“But you’d expect it to hopefully blow over and this is just a bit of emotional chatter over the disagreement.”

Espirito Santo’s success at Forest

After spells with Wolves and Tottenham, Espirito Santo returned to the Premier League with Forest in December 2023.

He replaced fan-favourite Steve Cooper, who guided the club to a long-awaited return to the top flight of English football.

Espirito Santo won three of his opening five games in charge, which included a 2-1 home victory against Manchester United.

Forest finished 17th and avoided relegation before a 1-0 win against eventual champions Liverpool early on in the 2024/25 campaign.

Qualification for the Champions League was within reach, but a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea on the final day saw them fall out of the top five.

Forest finished seventh and qualified for the Conference League, but will now play in the Europa League this season.

This comes after the Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS] dismissed an appeal from FA Cup winners Crystal Palace over their relegation.

Palace fell foul of UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules because former stakeholder John Textor also owns French side Lyon.

Towards the end of June, Espirito Santo signed a new contract at Forest until 2028.