Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has dismissed reports of a rift between him and Nuno Espirito Santo with the pair expected to hold talks soon.
Despite bringing huge success on the pitch for the Tricky Trees, Marinakis and Espirito Santo certainly haven’t always seen eye-to-eye.
Such was plainly obvious as early as last season when the Forest owner stormed onto the City Ground pitch to berate his coach following a 2-2 draw with Leicester City.
And they are evidently yet to put their differences aside, with Espirito Santo making the incredibly honest revelation in a press conference last week that their relationship is ‘not so good’.
The comment sparked speculation that Marinakis could sack the former Wolves boss amid links to Ange Postecoglou, or even that Espirito Santo could resign – something he strongly denied.
Marinakis has now broken his silence about the drama surrounding the club, claiming he and his manager maintain a ‘strong relationship’.
Speaking to TNT Sports from the Europa League draw in Monaco on Friday, the 57-year-old said: ‘Yes [Nuno can lead Forest forward], he has been successful and we have done things we have enjoyed. Now we can afford to do things that we enjoy.
‘Everything is solid. We all want Nottingham to succeed. We are here in the good days but we are even closer in the difficult days, so personally I don’t see a problem.
‘We are all together, united, and we’ll make some corrective actions and everything will be smooth and ready to go.
‘We have a solid relationship. Of course, sometimes we can be nervous, say one thing, say another, but what counts at the end of the day is the real relationship between me and Nuno, between Nuno and the players and between the players and ourselves.’
Forest’s long-awaited return to Europe will see them play Porto, Real Betis and Malmo amongst others in fixtures beginning late next month.
It did indeed seem unlikely this time last week that Espirito Santo, having secured the Reds a European finish last season, would be the one leading them into the competition come its beginning.
The former Porto boss however dismissed reports claiming he was considering resigning as ‘nonsense’ after his side’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace on Sunday.
‘It is absurd, never,’ he told reporters.
When asked whether he’ll be in charge beyond the international break, Nuno replied: ‘Yes, I think so. I don’t know how to answer that but I think so.
‘I’m totally relaxed in that sense. We need to have a talk about the future of the club and what is the commitment to the club. We want the same thing, we want the best for Forest, that’s for sure.
‘We have to talk. These kinds of things should be done in the right moment, and the right moment is after the game. Now we are focused on West Ham, then we have the international break and I think that is the right moment.’
So far this summer Forest have recruited Jair Cunha, Igor Jesus, James McAtee, Arnaud Kalimuendo, Dan Ndoye, Omari Hutchinson and Douglas Luiz in deals totalling around £140million.
They host Graham Potter’s struggling West Ham United at the City Ground on Sunday.
