Martin O’Neill tends to work effectively with target men and that bodes well for Vellios’s future at Championship outfit Nottingham Forest.
Martin O’Neill is a manager who has always been able to get the best out of physical, old-school centre-forwards.
Chris Sutton was a revelation at Celtic alongside the skilful Henrik Larsson, Emile Heskey made his name under O’Neill at Leicester City while John Carew was a big hit under the 66-year-old at Aston Villa.
With that in mind, it is little surprise that the 6ft 2ins centre-forward Daryl Murphy has started four Championship games since O’Neill was appointed by Nottingham Forest in mid-January.
So this bodes well for Apostalos Vellios if he wants a second chance at the City Ground.
The Greek striker fell out of favour under both Mark Warburton and Aitor Karanka and was farmed out to Belgium last August, joining Waasland-Beveren on loan for the 2018/19 season.
Vellios has hardly been a roaring success in the Jupiler League, scoring four goals in 16 games.
But the former Everton striker, who has represented Greece at international level, is exactly the sort of player who tends to thrive under O’Neill with his ability to hold the ball up and link with Joe Lolley, Matty Cash and co boding well for his future in the East Midlands.
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