NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) — Nottingham Forest coach Nuno Espirito Santo acknowledged Friday that he’s worried about his job security because of worsening relations with the club’s owner Evangelos Marinakis.
The Portuguese coach impressed last season in leading Forest to a seventh-place finish in the Premier League — with the club securing a place in Europe for the first time in 30 years — and opened this campaign with a win over Brentford.
Still his job is not safe despite signing an improved contract in June.
“I always had a very good relationship with the owner, last season (it) was very, very, very close,” Nuno said Friday during a news conference ahead of Sunday’s game against Crystal Palace. “This season, not so well. … And where there’s smoke, there’s fire, so I know how things work, but I’m here to do my job.”
He added that “I’m the first one to be worried” about the situation.
Marinakis, who also owns Greek champion Olympiakos, is known in soccer as a big personality with strong opinions on how his clubs are run.
Last week, Nuno criticized Forest’s offseason transfer activity, saying the club was wasting a good chance to develop. The team faces the extra demands of eight Europa Leauge games through January.
Forest has this week spent almost 100 million pounds ($135 million) to sign James McAtee, Omari Hutchinson, Arnaud Kalimuendo and Douglas Luiz.
“The reason behind it, I don’t know,” Nuno said of his relations with Marinakis. “The reality is that it’s not what it used to be. What it used to be was a good, respectful relationship, but was more based on trust and sharing opinions, and now it’s not so good.”
Forest is at Palace on Sunday after taking the London club’s place in the Europa League following a lengthy legal dispute with UEFA over rules on owners with stakes in multiple clubs.
Palace was demoted to the third-tier Conference League — which Forest had qualified for on merit.
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