Everyone has an opinion on Evangelos Marinakis, but what can never be questioned is his ambition for Nottingham Forest.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Martin O’Neill doesn’t like Marinakis after he felt that he was dismissed unfairly as Forest manager in the summer of 2019, despite only taking the job in January the same year.
He’s not exactly popular with the governing bodies of the sport, either, after Marinakis went on a critical rant about VAR in which he called out the likes of the FA and the Premier League to improve the officiating system.
Marinakis has been a success at the City Ground, though, evidenced most obviously by the promotion and subsequent consolidation in the Premier League, but also with Forest delivering a net spend of just £16m this season highlighting the Greek businessman’s clever financial restraint.
With the Forest squad in good shape and Nuno Espirito Santo guiding the team into European contention, all is good surrounding Marinakis at the moment, which has led to pundit Jim White reminiscing about what the Forest owner once told him in a memorable interview.
What Evangelos Marinakis told Jim White after the Championship playoff triumph
White had O’Neill on his talkSPORT morning show so the conversation naturally flowed towards Forest, leading to O’Neill revealing his dislike for Lewis Grabban in a surprising rant.
Given O’Neill’s particular opinion on Marinakis, though, attention soon turned back to him, with White revealing details of a chat he had with the Forest chief after the playoff final win, which emphasised his ambitions.
White said: “I’ll never forget the experience of interviewing him [Marinakis] after they went up, when they won the Championship play-off final at Wembley
“Marinakis […] he was literally bouncing off walls, trying to tell me ‘it’s trophies now, it’s about winning, winning!’”
With Forest currently third in the Premier League table, it’s clear that this mission statement about “winning” is coming to fruition, even if the trophies haven’t yet come.
The comments may have come as a surprise to White, but Reds fans with strong memories will know how much Marinakis promised when he initially took the club over.
Evangelos Marinakis promised to return the ‘glory days’ to Nottingham Forest
Marinakis delivered an impassioned first interview as Forest owner, which would’ve been music to the ears of Forest fans at the time as his appetite for success was unavoidable.
Marinakis said: “What we have achieved in national and European football with Olympiacos FC, we want to duplicate with Nottingham Forest. Forest is one of England’s oldest clubs and one with a proud history of national and international excellence. Our objective is to bring back the glory days.
“We want to rekindle Forest’s past success, and we are committed to the club for the long-term. What the club needs is a solid and time-tested management, a professional board, and above all, the best possible football management and players.”
With the likes of Murillo signing a new Forest contract, this ambition is rubbing off on everyone at Wilford Lane, showing that both his comments to White and in that initial interview weren’t as far-fetched as they maybe seemed at the time.
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