Forest's rocky road to Premier League charges after 44 signings in 18 months
Steve Cooper was the man to rescue Nottingham Forest and steer them out of the wilderness but now the Reds have veered off into more worrying territory after the Premier League’s latest bombshell.
Since earning an unlikely promotion to the top-flight under the transformative influence of the ever-popular Cooper, the Midlands side have spent huge amounts to keep themselves in the division. Adopting a scattergun approach, they have welcomed no fewer than 44 new faces to the City Ground.
Despite the riches they now find themselves soaking up as a member of the Premier League’s exclusive club, their reported £265m outlay is an unsustainable level of spending for any club outside of those select few who can boast eye-watering revenue streams.
It has all come to a head with the Premier League’s latest announcement. A statement read: “Everton FC and Nottingham Forest FC have each confirmed to the Premier League that they are in breach of the League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
“This is as a result of sustaining losses above the permitted thresholds for the assessment period ending Season 2022/23. In accordance with Premier League Rules, both cases have now been referred to the chair of the Judicial Panel, who will appoint separate Commissions to determine the appropriate sanction.”
Chelsea complete record-breaking Enzo Fernandez transfer after deadline day rush
Forest’s approach to the transfer market has smacked of desperation and poor planning. Big fees were spent on Emmanuel Dennis, Giulian Biancone, Jonjo Shelvey and Remo Freuler - none of whom remain at the club.
Jesse Lingard signed the most lucrative deal in Nottingham Forest's history (Getty Images)What was your response to the Premier League's announcement? Share your thoughts in the comments below
Elsewhere, the contributions of Ibrahim Sangare - the club’s record signing - Andrew Omobamidele and Neco Williams have been extremely limited. While there is still time for the trio to get their City Ground careers back on track, it seems more likely that they could go the same way as a host of their other signings and be sent out on loan before a sale at a loss.
Jesse Lingard, a free transfer upon his exit from Manchester United, was a disastrous signing after penning the most lucrative deal in Forest’s history. Fans will argue that the spending was needed given Forest lost the vast majority of their stars upon promotion.
Meanwhile, the club hierarchy might believe it was a gamble worth taking given Cooper managed to guide them to Premier League safety. And Forest’s defence to their supposed breach of the Premier League’s financial rules is that they held out for a bigger fee for Brennan Johnson, who moved to Tottenham for £47m, instead of accepting a lower offer from Brentford earlier in the transfer window which would have brought them up to scratch. It is black and white for Forest though - and they must have known this at the time - they still broke the rules.
There can be no blame levelled at the players themselves. They would have been silly to turn down lucrative moves to the City Ground.
The sheer blame lies behind the scenes. Owner Evangelos Marinakis has funded Forest’s 18-month splurge. His son Miltiadis also seemed to want to take the glory of the club’s heavy spending as he instructed the club to hold fire on the announcement of Lingard’s arrival as he wanted to do it via his own channels instead.
Evangelos Marinakis has funded Forest's huge spending in the transfer market (Getty Images)Away from the players, there has also been an overhaul among the club hierarchy. Former sporting director Filippo Giraldi left after just six months in the post and oversaw just one transfer window.
The baffling decisions don’t just end there. Ex-head of recruitment George Syrianos continues to advise the club despite being sacked by the Marinakis family in October 2022. Forest were always heading for a mess, it is now just a case of how they navigate this major speedbump.
Lessons appear to have been learnt given that Forest’s previous plans to spend heavily once more this month have already been abandoned. On the pitch at least, it is business as usual.
Everton chiefs face transfer backlash from fans after deadline day disaster
Cooper’s replacement Nuno Espirito Santo has had a positive impact in the dugout and insists he is solely focused on keeping the Reds in the Premier League regardless of any impending points deduction or not.
Speaking in a press conference, he said: “We are all concerned at the club, but me as a coach there’s nothing I have to think of, or to deal with with that. My job is clear, to prepare the team. We have a match tomorrow and that’s what we are focused on.”
The side currently have one fewer point than they had at the same stage last season, but a points deduction would land them in serious trouble once more. They need to rediscover the same attitude that they adopted to silence the doubters and earn promotion under Cooper to potentially stave off the threat of relegation again.
So while they might be lost in the mire of Premier League punishments that might not have been on their roadmap, they need to start finding a way out regardless of what lies ahead.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
