Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis sacked George Syrianos after Taiwo Awoniyi struggled for form earlier in the season.
The man who arrived at Forest from Stuttgart was dismissed along with Andy Scott back in October.
Now, The Athletic has suggested that Syrianos received his papers largely because the club’s number one striker target was struggling for goals.
He carried the can for some pretty ordinary recruitment, with Awoniyi looking out of sorts early into his career at the City Ground.
Syrianos did bring some decent players to the club. He was responsible for Orel Mangala in the summer; whilst Awoniyi has now also come good.
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The 25-year-old player has scored four goals in his last two outings and hopefully, he can bag a few more in the final two games.
Forest now have their Premier League destiny in their own hands. One more point should do the trick, with Arsenal and Crystal Palace left to play.
It won’t be easy but the pressure is firmly on Leicester, Leeds and Everton too in the race to avoid relegation.
Awoniyi has scored nine goals in his maiden campaign playing Premier League football which isn’t a bad return at all.
There is more to come from him but at 25-years-old, he is yet to reach the peak of his powers and hopefully, he can do that with Forest.
Syrianos sacked after Awoniyi struggled for Forest form
With Awoniyi it’s definitely been a case of you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.
When the player was injured in January, Forest’s form began to stutter and ultimately it saw them slip back into the relegation zone.
Now, with Awoniyi back in the team, they’ve found the way to goal once more.
Forest might not stay up this season but they have put themselves in the very best position to try and edge towards Premier League survival.
There is certainly more to come from Awoniyi but he’s been a vitally important player for the Reds over the last month or so.