Nottingham Forest have just made huge appointment that will delight Marinakis

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Nottingham Forest have this afternoon made an off-field appointment that will delight Evangelos Marinakis. The Reds have announced Simon Rusk as their first-ever specialist set-piece coach.

Forest have been on the lookout for a candidate to fulfil this role that is very rife in modern-day football. Earlier this month it’d been claimed that Marinakis was disgruntled that one hadn’t been sorted out.

Forest have won just one game out of their last 12. As a result, Steve Cooper had seen the pressure crank up on his position at the club, although a sacking is no longer imminent.

John Percy has confirmed this exciting piece of news on X, formerly known as Twitter, earlier this afternoon.

Who is new Forest set-piece coach Simon Rusk?

The man who played for Peterborough, Boston, York and Crawley has most recently been in charge of the England under-19 ranks. It seems certain that he will now give up that role.

Rusk has also managed Stockport County and Brighton’s under-23s, whilst he’s held a position as the assistant manager at Dundee United.

At 41-years-old, Rusk fits in nicely with Cooper’s other coaches and this looks like a decent appointment from a Forest perspective.

Forest have been on the lookout for a new set-piece coach for some time. The Telegraph claimed that a lack of one had left Marinakis increasingly frustrated behind the scenes.

Rusk has work to do at the City Ground

Forest have conceded 11 goals from set pieces this season and that simply won’t do. During a recent game against West Ham, it was intensified that the Hammers looked dangerous from every set-piece, whilst Morgan Gibbs-White was off-colour with Forest’s.

Forest haven’t scored from a set-piece since August when Willy Boly scored against Manchester United. Again, that simply won’t do and Rusk will have to get to work with the Forest squad.

Given the talk over Cooper’s future, this does feel like an intriguing time to appoint a set-piece coach. Forest will face Tottenham on Friday and it will be interesting to see if anything appears to have changed when it comes to set-pieces.