Nottingham Forest have sacked two managers in the space of 11 months, with Roy Keane and Gary Neville both criticizing the club.
Roy Keane has launched a scathing attack on his Nottingham Forest team, branding Nuno Espirito Santo and Ange Postecoglou’s behavior after their sackings as “stupid” and reigniting manager Gary Neville’s feud with owner Evangelos Marinakis.
Postecoglou’s tenure as Forest manager was short-lived, lasting just 39 days as he failed to win a single game in eight games after taking over from Nuno, who was forced to step down following bitter public disagreements with Marinakis. Sean Dyche has been called up as Forest’s third manager and will begin his role in Thursday night’s Europa League clash with Porto.
Keane, who wore the Forest jersey 148 times before winning seven Premier League titles with Manchester United, questioned the commitment of Forest players on his Stick to Football podcast. He asked: “Look at the Forest players and the chances they had. What chances does he (Postecoglou) have?”
He added: “Did they really want to score? Did they want to keep him in the job? What I’m saying is a good player didn’t even reach the goal.”
Under Postecoglou, Forest conceded 17 goals and scored just seven goals. Chelsea were thrashed 3-0 at home, during which Marinakis’ decisive strike was broadcast in the empty seats at the City Ground, marking the end of the Australian head coach’s time as he was given his marching orders immediately after the final whistle.
Keene doesn’t shy away from criticism, adding: “Then the manager loses his job. If you look at the players at Forest, they’ll be like, ‘Oh, another manager’s gone and a new one’s come in’. It’s stupid, to be honest.”
read more: Evangelos Marinakis’ nightmare four days, brutal Nottingham Forest dismissal and humiliating sending offread more: Sean Dyche’s telling comments give Bournemouth a warning ahead of their clash with Forest
Ian Wright, Paul Scholes, Jill Scott and Gary Neville joined Roy Keane’s podcast, where Neville criticized the lack of dignity in the way forest owners treated Postecoglou.
“I sacked four managers to their faces during my time at Salford,” Neville said. “Honestly, this is one of the worst things I’ve ever done as an owner of a football club.”
“I’m always thinking about the right time, but obviously I’m doing it for the sake of the club and ultimately because the club is not happy and I’m not happy as an owner, but what I’m always thinking about is how do I break that news and where do I break that news from a manager’s point of view.
“And it gave him integrity. When you get fired as manager, you feel paranoid, you feel like the whole world is watching you, you feel terrible, you feel like you let everyone down.”
“So we’re just trying to do it in the most classy way possible, trying to step away from the game a little bit and make sure he has the ability to talk to the staff and the players and has the time to put together a statement.
“To do that 15 or 20 minutes after the game! Jill (Scott) said it so well, to leave the stadium and do that 20 minutes after the game…”
Neville was banned from attending last season’s final game at the City Ground. The Reds were angered by the former Manchester United defender’s public criticism of owner Marinakis in May. As a result, he was unable to watch the club’s final game of last season, the home game against Chelsea, live.
Just over 90 minutes after the final whistle, Postecoglou was reportedly photographed leaving the ground with a big smile on his face as he posed for photos with young fans through his car window. Co-host and former United legend Keane jumped in again to slam Marinakis’ approach to the situation.
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“It’s you who’s crazy, not the owner! Why do you think the owner of this forest is trying to do something different?” he demanded again. “He did it with Martin O’Neill, he did it with other managers, Leopard, Spot. Why would he want to do it properly? Power, control, that’s how they do it.
“So when the manager quits…the manager has to be sacked, but try to do it with a little grace. And then the players come out and say, ‘Well, that’s football.’
“Sometimes you have owners who are worried about how they feel when they wake up in the morning. They’re timing it and they can do it during the international break. I don’t think they care. They just wake up and say, ‘It’s time to go, I’m gone for today.’
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