Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis chuckled at clubs like Leeds United ‘twice’ sacking managers this season, whilst they kept faith in Steve Cooper and survived relegtion from the Premier League.
Before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, there was heavy pressure on Steve Cooper’s head and there were suggestions that he was going to get sacked.
But the man running Nottingham Forest’s ship, Evangelos Marinakis, stuck by his man and he has since said, after their 1-0 win over Arsenal on Saturday evening, that maintained their Premier League status, that it was a ‘wise’ move from him, as he told Sky Sports.
Weeks after the January transfer window shut, Leeds United booted out Jesse Marsch despite providing him with funds and players during the winter market.
Those in the Yorkshire boardroom then proceeded to take weeks to appoint a new face, in came Javi Gracia, but he was sacked after only two months.
Now it’s Sam Allardyce with the keys, the pressure is still on the Yorkshire club, as they sit in the relegation zone ahead of their trip to West Ham, but for the Forest owner, he is now resting easy.
“As you can see, there were only five teams in the Premier League that kept their manager,” said Evangelos Marinakis.
“Of course, all the teams, without exception, other than Nottingham Forest that they weren’t doing well and they changed their coach, even twice,” he chuckled.
“I think this is a very serious decision to change the coach. I think I supported him (Cooper) as much as I could.
“Also, let’s be honest, in order to change the coach. You need to bring in someone better. And you need to bring in someone better, who is available, at the time. I think I took a wise decision and I supported Steve, even though, of course, a lot of times, you might agree and you might disagree.
“But I think this is also helpful because out of these conversations, I think each party is correct. They lose ends. We are happy. We will celebrate. And now we have time to seriously schedule ahead.”
LEEDS UNITED RUN LIKE A CIRCUS
When Gracia was booted out, the club’s director of football, Victor Orta, followed suit and many felt it was a long time coming.
This time last season, those running the club’s ship made sure to the fans that they wouldn’t go to the final day of the season needing to survive relegation.
Well, fast forward to the present and the same is happening again. It has resulted in Andrea Radrizzani coming under some serious and rightful stick.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
