Nuno Espirito Santo is doing his level best to be shown the door by Evangelos Marinakis, and the eccentric owner’s push for Ange Postecoglou as his replacement suggests Nottingham Forest’s best manager in living memory is absolutely right to seek the sack.

Having defended Marinakis at the end of last season when he stormed the pitch to remonstrate with him following Taiwo Awoniyi’s injury, brushing the incident off as a display of great “emotion”, Nuno revealed the increased tension between the two in his press conference on Friday.

“I always had a very good relationship with the owner. Last season, we were very close and spoke on a daily basis,” he explained.

“This season it is not so well [between us], but I always believe that dialogue is important because my concern is the squad and the season we have ahead of us. Our relationship has changed, and we are not as close.”

Rumours of Nuno’s sacking emerged on Friday morning, with him leading Forest to seventh last season and into European competition rendered insignificant in comparison to his public swipe at the club’s transfer dealings this summer and a reported clash over style with Marinakis.

“We are very far off in terms of the squad,” Nuno said last week. “The plans we had didn’t work out. The preparation in terms of the squad was not ideal. We don’t know what squad we have. We have players working here who know they are going out on loan. We have a big problem.”

A quick glance at the summer’s biggest spenders would suggest the leg Nuno is standing on is at best unsteady, with Douglas Luiz joining on loan since that press conference slam, which appears to have been taken as a declaration of war by Marinakis, who’s now considering his options, as confirmed by Ben Jacobs.

Jacobs wrote on X: ‘Understand Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis held meetings this afternoon to discuss the future of Nuno Espirito Santo. Tension between owner and manager, with Marinakis unimpressed by Nuno’s presser. Nuno by no means safe.’

The journalist later revealed that Nuno ‘has been considering his future long before the dramatic press conference’, with the Forest boss said to have been ‘fuming when Edu blocked a move for Adama Traore earlier this summer’.

READ MORE: Nuno odds-on to be first Premier League manager sacked

Nuno must be well aware of the likely outcome of his comments. He will know the fiery nature of the man he reports to better than anyone. A man who spits at the feet of a referee and sanctions social media posts accusing VAR officials of being Luton fans isn’t about to sleep on a manager breaking ranks as Nuno has done.

But the Portuguese boss would be leaving not just with his reputation intact but arguably at its greatest ever level. After taking Forest from 17th to seventh having been in the running for Champions League qualification for much of last season, they started the current campaign with a dominant 3-1 win over Brentford.

He won’t be short of offers and Forest will surely miss him far more than he will miss them. Particularly, we would suggest, if Marinakis hires his old pal Postecoglou to take the reins.

He’s a ‘huge admirer of his daring style of football’, according to TBR Football, with Nuno’s more conservative style thought to be another sticking point between manager and owner.

That’s all very well but to break from a philosophy that’s led to your best Premier League finish since the mid-90s would be strange, while replacing Nuno with a manager whose style is the absolute antithesis, particularly given all the money spent this summer on players suited to the sitting boss, would be tantamount to madness.

Madness Nuno would clearly be very happy to see the back of.