Nottingham Forest Owner, Evangelos Marinakis, has defended his decision to face the Manager Nuno Esperito Santo on the pitch after the Sunday 2-2 draw with Leicester City, describing his frustrations as “natural”.
Forest was late against the already relegated foxes and now faces an upward battle to qualify for the Champions league. The draw said they will play European football of some kind next season, but Nuno’s side will now stand in seventh place Premier League classification That there are two games left to play.
The disappointment of the team’s performance saw that Marinakis left the stands and entering the pitch after the final whistle for an uncomfortable exchange with Nuno, a movement that has attracted significant criticism from social media fans.
With the intention of defending his actions, Marinakis suggested confusion around an injury in the striker Taiwo Awoniyi, who became a late substitute, but soon collected a problem that effectively turned him into a passenger for the rest of the party, he was behind his frustrated decision.
“Today is a day to celebrate -because after 30 years Nottingham Forest It is now guaranteed that it will compete on the European stage once again: a promise that I made to our followers when we got the promotion! “, Said Marinakis.
“With two more games to enter the Premier LeagueWe must continue to believe and continue dreaming, until the end of the final game. We are extremely proud and close to Nuno and the team, and we all have to celebrate the historical success of this season.
“Everyone, technical staff, players, supporters and including myself, we felt frustrated by the Taiwo injury and the discomfort of medical staff on Taiwo’s ability to continue the game.
“This is natural, this is a demonstration of the passion we feel for our club. We are all grateful, passionate and we continue to dream!”
Instead of replacing Awoniyi in the dying embers, Forest made a different change when Jota Silva reached Elliot Anderson in the 91st minute, despite the striker almost could not run after a collision with the post.
“He was disappointing for everyone. Unfortunately, we had to play the last ten minutes with a less man. T (Awoniyi) he took a look, but it was too painful to him to push and help the team,” said Nuno.
“There was a misunderstanding between the technical staff and the medical department. We had the heads to make a sub -sub, then he didn’t try, but he couldn’t.”
In the reaction of Marinakis, Nuno added: “(there was) disappointment and frustration, of course. But it is because of the owner and his passion that we grow as a club. He pushes us. He wants us to be better. It is his passion and his desire to be a great club: 30,000 people today feel the same. Of course, many of them would go to the step and shake us.
“We as a club, we owe a lot to the Marinakis family. I have been to football so many years as a player and as a coach. It is passion and desire. Players feel it, we feel it and the fans are sorry. We have to do it today. Today, it was our obligation to do it better.”
