Gary Lineker comes clean on the reason he picked Nottingham Forest to be relegated

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Nottingham Forest have proved a lot of people wrong this season, and Gary Lineker is one of them.

Nuno Espirito Santo continues to defy expectations at Nottingham Forest, as he looks to take the Reds into Europe in his second season.

Forest find themselves in fifth position after 15 games in the Premier League.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
3	ArsenalArsenal	15	8	5	2	29	15	14	29
4	Man CityManchester City	15	8	3	4	27	21	6	27
5	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	15	7	4	4	19	18	1	25
6	Aston VillaAston Villa	15	7	4	4	23	23	0	25
7	BrightonBrighton	15	6	6	3	25	22	3	24

Sam Matterface predicted Forest to be relegated, but quickly backtracked after less than a quarter of the season, and many followed suit.

Gary Lineker has come out and admitted fault over his prediction for Forest to be relegated at the start of the season, giving his reasoning behind the call.

• READ MORE: The 114 year record Nuno Espirtio Santo has just broken at Nottingham Forest

Gary Lineker reveals why he picked Nottingham Forest to be relegated

Of course, no one would have expected Forest to be where they are right now, but to have picked them for relegation seems a little crazy when you consider the signings they made.

Elliot Anderson was an incredible pick-up from Newcastle. The fact Newcastle didn’t want him to leave shows how good that pieces of business was, as PSR issues helped make it possible.

Gary Lineker dismissed all of this and is now full of regret for his prediction.

Speaking on The Rest is Football, he claims he only put Nottingham Forest in the bottom three as a joke because he didn’t want Leicester to be there.

“Fifth in the table, Nottingham Forest. I mean, Nuno Espirito Santo has done an extraordinary job, really; I mean, nobody could have… I picked them to go down only because I didn’t want to put Leicester in.

“I suddenly just thought and there obviously a rival so it’s a little bit of a joke, but how foolish of me. What an idiot.”

READ MORE: Nottingham Forest send scouts to watch ‘dangerous’ five-goal EFL midfielder

Gary Lineker has already owned up to his mistake

Gary Lineker made an apology to Nottingham Forest last month for his prediction, only last time he seemed to admit it was an honest prediction.

“They deserve a lot of praise and what a job Nuno has done since he’s been there.

“It’s refreshing to see a club like Forest flying like that, hopefully, I say through clenched teeth, they continue to do well.

“I can’t believe I tipped them to go down. What an idiot! Apologies to all Nottingham Forest fans, I’m a fool!”