Glenn Murray says Nottingham Forest figure deserves praise for one huge decision

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Former Nottingham Forest striker Glenn Murray has lauded Evangelos Marinakis on BBC Radio 5 Live over one decision he made earlier this season. The former player has been discussing club affairs and believes the owner deserves some credit.

Murray enjoyed a short spell at the City Ground at the end of the 2020/21 campaign. He didn’t get the chance to play in front of the Forest faithful and netted two goals during his time at the club.

Chris Hughton signed him as someone he could trust to grab some goals for the club. Forest were fighting against relegation at the time and Murray did contribute towards the team staying up.

He retired at the end of that particular campaign, however, and is now a pundit. Over the weekend he was discussing the fortunes of Forest and talk turned towards Steve Cooper.

Marinakis was reportedly considering sacking the Welshman back in October. The Greek businessman decided against that, however, and Murray believes he deserves credit for that.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “It was always going to take time for Steve Cooper and Nottingham Forest. It was always a question of how quickly he could get them to gel.

“There was always a question mark over how many of the players he wanted. You’ve got to shout out Evangelos Marinakis because it would have been really easy to pull the trigger but they were patient with him and are now getting their just rewards.”

Marinakis offered praise by Murray and he’s right

It would have been easy for the Reds to pull the trigger on Cooper earlier in the season. Although his achievements have defied the odds, football is ultimately a results-based business.

The Reds were on a woeful run of form and whatever Cooper tried, nothing seemed to click. A 4-0 defeat to rivals Leicester looked to have seen the axe drop on Cooper but Marinakis stood firm.

Talks of Rafa Benitez taking over sent the fan base into a meltdown – and rightly so. The archaic manager wouldn’t have been the man for the Reds and ultimately the club opted to throw their weight behind Cooper.

Murray has heaped praise on Marinakis for that decision. Although the owner still has his critics, that decision earlier this season is one that he got absolutely spot on and should be lauded for.