Latest Nottingham Forest news as Reds aim to continue making progress in Premier League and Europa League
Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis(Image: Getty)
Ambitious owner Evangelos Marinakis ‘won’t stop’ pushing Nottingham Forest forward until they are challenging for silverware, according to Jermaine Jenas.
Greek businessman Marinakis has been clear about his desire to bring trophies to the City Ground. He has already got the Reds back in the Premier League and back in Europe but always has his eye on reaching the next level.
Forest are in the Europa League this term courtesy of last season’s impressive seventh-placed finish under Nuno Espirito Santo. The aim was to build on that platform but the current campaign didn’t quite get off to the start the Reds’ had hoped for.
Sean Dyche is the club’s third head coach of the season, following on from Nuno and the short tenure of Ange Postecoglou. But ex-Red Jenas is certain the early off-field disruption was only as a result of Marinakis wanting what is best for Forest.
Asked if there is a danger the owner can throw a spanner in the works regardless of on-pitch success, Jenas said in an interview with 10bet: “No, definitely not. You know, Mr. Marinakis, his heart’s in the right place.
“I’m from that city and since they’ve been promoted into the Premier League, it’s a completely different city. The excitement around the place, the optimism in the city now, he’s brought all that to the table.
“Granted, the Nuno situation was not ideal, at best, but he’s doing what he thinks is best for the football club. Again, I think that things are done differently in Europe, on the continent, to how they’re done in England, in the Premier League, especially when it comes to how owners express themselves publicly.
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“From a public point of view, I think we love him because he offers us so much to just entertain us, but from a club point of view, I ain’t got a bad word to say about him. His heart’s in the right place.
“He wants Forest in the Champions League. He wants Forest to be challenging for titles, and he doesn’t seem to want to stop until he gets there. So that’s a good thing.”
The Reds claimed their first away win in Europe for 30 years when they beat Utrecht in the Netherlands last week. Qualifying for the knockout stages of the Europa League is the goal for Dyche’s charges, and Jenas has backed them to at least get to the last four of the competition.
“I don’t see why not,” he said when quizzed on whether his former club are Europa League contenders. “I think we’ve seen with the competition over the last few years now that because we don’t have the teams dropping in from the Champions League, it allows those teams, especially those Premier League teams, the Spanish teams, to really go and have a good run.
“I think Forest have had a decent start in the Europa League and the players they’ve got will probably be added to in January as well. I don’t see why they can’t get themselves at least to a semi-final. At that point it’s luck of the draw.”
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