Nottingham Forest legend Martin O’Neill has garnered headlines in recent days after numerous media appearances, with some of his comments causing debate amongst fans.
Usually, if O’Neill is speaking negatively about Nottingham Forest, it will have something to do with owner Evangelos Marinakis.
It’s fair to say that the Northern Irishman isn’t the biggest fan of the Forest owner, made clear when O’Neill ranted about Marinakis on talkSPORT in November, with the hatred spawning from his brief time as Reds manager in 2019.
He clearly still feels hard done by as O’Neill again criticised Marinakis on The Overlap, alongside Roy Keane, who was his assistant coach during the reign.
It was no surprise then that when the cameras were fixed on him as a pundit for Forest’s draw with Arsenal, the former manager landed a dig, but O’Neill did credit Marinakis’ ambition to qualify for European football to his credit.
However, in a further appearance the following day after the Arsenal match, O’Neill’s harsh criticism of Lewis Grabban seems to have rubbed some Forest fams the wrong way.
Nottingham Forest fans react to Martin O’Neill’s criticism of Lewis Grabban
O’Neill said that he wished that he could’ve sold Grabban almost immediately after taking the Forest job, in what seemed an unnecessary swipe at a player that Forest fans still regard fondly.
Grabban has even taken up a role in the Forest academy since retiring, so Reds fans were quick to jump to the defense of the ex-striker on social media.
One fan said: “The effort Martin O’Neill is going to, to remove his legend status at Forest is quite something.” Another said: “Awful take on Grabban, too. Say what you like about him on a personal level, what he gave our club was excellent.”
Another Forest fan said: “He’ll do well to remember there’s an entire generation of Forest fans that see Lewis Grabban as a far more important Forest figure than he is.” One more added: “Grabban was captain when we got promoted at 23 years. Legend in my eyes for my generation.”
Another fan added: “Lewis Grabban is one of the reasons we are where we are,” with one saying: “All the respect in the world for Martin O’Neill, but he’s just so obviously bitter.”
Lewis Grabban was involved in a training ground dispute under Martin O’Neill
Ryan Yates was delighted to see Grabban back at Forest when he joined the academy staff, but rewind back to 2019, and the Forest training ground was not a happy place for the striker.
According to the Daily Mail, Grabban was involved in a dispute over the severity of his Achilles injury at the time, leading to distress within the club.
The report said: “Grabban is said to be taking the advice of his personal fitness coach, which has at times run counter to the opinion of Forest physios.
“The issue became contentious during training the week before the match against Derby […], when Forest officials are believed to have questioned the extent of Grabban’s Achilles problem. Sources say Grabban took exception and left the Nigel Doughty Academy visibly irritated.”
Potentially the reason why O’Neill has held a grudge about Grabban since his dismissal, the goals that the 37-year-old striker went on to score for the Reds should surely outweigh this issue in the wider Forest history, rather than being the sole way he is remembered.
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