‘I spoke to him’: Pundit shares what Roberto Martinez has now told him about Orel Mangala

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TNT Sports commentator Darren Fletcher has explained what Roberto Martinez told him about Nottingham Forest star Orel Mangala. The player got off the mark for the season in Sunday’s win over Aston Villa.

Mangala checked in at Forest from Stuttgart during the summer of 2022 for £12.7 million. He has slowly but surely started to prove himself as a Premier League football and he’s been among the better Forest players this season.

The Reds player has been instrumental in the Forest midfield. On Sunday, he lined up alongside Nicolas Dominguez and Ibrahim Sangare once again as they won the battle against Villa.

Fletcher raves about Forest star Mangala

The main commentator on TNT Sports has actually been covering Forest since 1990. He used to cover the club for the old Century FM and now covers football across the world.

Speaking after Forest had beaten Villa he was keen to praise Mangala for his efforts. He was also privy to some information that Martinez had given him after managing him for Belgium.

He told The Garibaldi Red Podcast: “I spoke to Roberto Martinez when he first came because I’d not come across him and he’d played for Roberto with Belgium. He said he’s a wonderful game manager, technically very good and he’s the kind of player you can put into any situation and he’s fine.

“You can see by his personality that he never gets flustered. He’s got the game-face all the time and he’s ice-cool in any situation. If you speak to managers they will say that if they’ve got a midfielder who will take the ball in any situation, in any area, they will pick them 10 times out of 10.”

Mangala now integral part of Steve Cooper’s team

What a player. Mangala has been so impressive this season and Forest fans are in no doubt as to what sort of player the 25-year-old is.

Last season he was suffering from a bit of an identity crisis. Some Forest supporters didn’t really know what type of midfielder Mangala was but that’s all changed now.

Mangala never shirks his responsibilities and clearly, Cooper values his input. There is more to come from the midfielder at City Ground and he could seriously flourish this season.