Gary Neville has claimed Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo should quit the club after owner Evangelos Marinakis bizarrely remonstrated with him after his side’s 2-2 draw with Leicester.
An animated Marinakis walked onto the pitch after the match and appeared less than happy with something that happened during the game.
But after walking past Nuno, he turned back towards his manager after seeing him embrace Leicester’s Oliver Skipp.
The Portuguese boss managed Skipp at Tottenham and the pair were seen in discussion on the pitch at the City Ground.
Marinakis then began to remonstrate with his manager, who confirmed European qualification for Forest despite dropping points to the Foxes.
It is unclear whether those remonstrations were related to the moment with Skipp.
The incident shocked pundits Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards in the Sky Sports studio, while Neville – unprompted – aired his views before Liverpool’s clash with Arsenal.
He said: “I was going to talk about the [Liverpool] full-backs, but I feel compelled to mention that I think what the Forest owner’s just done on the pitch at the City Ground is ridiculous.
“If I was Nuno, I’d be having very strong words with him, because that’s an absolute scandal.
“They’ve just qualified for a European competition, from where that club’s been, and to remonstrate on that pitch in front of the club’s fans is an absolute joke.”
Minutes prior, Neville had also taken to Twitter to post: “Scandalous from that Forest owner. Nuno should go and negotiate his exit tonight with him! The Forest fans, players and manager do not deserve that.”
Gary Neville reacts to Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis (Image: Twitter)
It is not the first time Marinakis has been embroiled in controversy in English football.
Back in October, he was given a five-match stadium ban by the FA for spitting on the floor in front of the match officials following Nottingham Forest’s Premier League clash against Fulham.
An appeal against the sanction was dismissed the following month, with the FA stating that he ‘significantly undermine[d] respect for the game of football’ with his actions.
More to follow…
