Martin O’Neill says he’s heard something completely false about his time at Forest

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Martin O’Neill has taken offence to something that he’s heard about his time as manager of Nottingham Forest. He believes that he’s been painted in a bad light and that some false reports have done the rounds.

O’Neill lasted just 19 games in charge of Forest. He admits that he’s very bitter over his time in charge of the club and has once again been discussing his tenure.

O’Neill unhappy at false Forest claims

Here we go again. Another Monday and another O’Neill rant that mentions the fact that he only managed Forest for 19 games before he was sacked by Evangelos Marinakis.

This morning, talk on the Jim White Show on TalkSPORT turned to player power in football. O’Neill resents that this aspect was the reason for his sacking at the City Ground.

He said live on TalkSPORT: “There was this idea that there was player power when I was at Nottingham Forest. And please do me a favour, I was there 19 games and player power, there wasn’t a player strong enough or with the personality to usurp me. It was just ridiculous to talk about it.

“Players didn’t get me out in the end. I believe a couple of players, non-descript players, sent their agents up to talk to the CEO bigger fool him for listening to them if that’s the case.

“I can only run the football club the way I wanted to run the football club. If it’s not the way that (Evangelos) Marinakis wants me to run the football club then that’s fine but please don’t give me this here about player power. It was a nice little narrative for the local journalists.

“If I’d got Chris Sutton, or Henrik Larsson, or Neil Lennon coming up to me at Celtic, I’d dismiss them but I might think about it. When I’ve got a bunch of non-descripts doing it at Nottingham Forest, please, give me a break honestly.

“I got 19 games. Am I bitter about it? Absolutely. I am but this idea about player power please do me a favour.

O’Neill really has to let things go

It’s hard not to have some sympathy with O’Neill at this stage. In fairness to him he probably did deserve a little better as a club legend but ultimately, the chairman acted with aplomb.

Forest won promotion in 2022 with Steve Cooper at the helm. It almost seems as though O’Neill who served the club with distinction as a player didn’t even celebrate such a success.

O’Neill often talks about his 40% win ratio from his 19 games in charge. On the face of things that doesn’t look bad but three of the eight wins he claimed came after the Reds had seen their play-off aspirations extinguish.

It’s such a shame that a player who won two European Cup titles with Forest feels so much animosity towards the club. He must have understood the cut-throat nature of management and this bitterness needs to cease.