Martin O’Neill has replaced Aitor Karanka in the Nottingham Forest dugout.
Stuart Pearce has backed the ‘outstanding’ Martin O’Neill to be a success at Nottingham Forest but did agree that Aitor Karanka will feel disgruntled.
Forest confirmed on their official website that two-time European Cup winning player O’Neill has replaced Karanka in the City Ground dugout.
Club legend Pearce offered his honest views on the O’Neill appointment and explained why his predecessor is ‘unfortunate’ to have lost his job.
“For me, he is an outstanding manager,” Pearce told Sky Sports’ The Debate show on 15/01/2019 at 10:35 pm. “He’s a clever manager as well. I think he is the fit Forest need at the moment.
“Aitor Karanka I think is very, very unfortunate to lose his job.”
When asked by presenter Geoff Shreeves whether Karanka would feel slightly disgruntled, Pearce issued a simple response:
“Without a doubt,” Pearce stated. “Before the weekend, they lost at Reading, before that I think they were hovering a couple of points away from the playoff situation.”
O’Neill was recently sacked as the Republic of Ireland manager where he failed to guide them to last summer’s World Cup in Russia.
On the club stage, O’Neill has managed the likes of Celtic, Leicester City and Aston Villa as he will be looking to bring success to Forest.
The Midlands outfit are currently sitting four points outside of the playoff places as they have suffered back-to-back defeats in recent weeks.
O’Neill’s first game as Forest manager will be against in-form Bristol City on home soil, with the club’s last win coming against Championship leaders Leeds United at the start of the year.
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