‘Scandalous’ – Gary Neville tells Nuno to QUIT Forest tonight after furious owner Marinakis storms onto pitch

NOTTINGHAM FOREST owner Evangelos Marinakis charged on to the pitch and appeared to confront his manager Nuno Espirito Santo at the final whistle against Leicester.

Forest conceded in the last ten minutes to draw 2-2 with the Foxes – denting their Champions League aspirations.

Owner Evangelos Marinakis entered the pitch at full-timeAFP

AFP

He appeared to be arguing with Nuno Espirito Santo[/caption]

AFP

The owner seemed frustrated following the 2-2 draw with Leicester[/caption]

Getty

Gary Neville was critical of Marinakis’ actions[/caption]

Reuters

Marinakis was frustrated that Taiwo Awoniyi decided to continue playing despite being hurt[/caption]

AFP

Awoniyi collided with the post as he tried to score[/caption]

That led Marinakis to enter the field of play as players, coaches and officials went through their post-match handshakes.

The Greek appeared as if he would walk past Nuno initially, but he turned around and spoke to the Forest boss after he had finished his interaction with Oliver Skipp, whom he worked with at Tottenham.

Marinakis began gesticulating and appeared frustrated as he spoke to Nuno in what seemed a forceful manner.

Nuno looked a bit resigned to what he was being told, and stretched out his arms in an almost shrug.

He said a few words back to boss Marinakis, who threw his arms in the air before walking away from the Portuguese.

Gary Neville was dismayed by the behaviour, and hit out at Marinakis.

He tweeted: “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.”

BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS

Neville later emphasised his view again on Sky Sports, saying: “I feel compelled just to mention what the Forest owner has just done on the pitch over at the City Ground is absolutely scandalous.

“If I was Nuno I’d be going and having a strong word with him because that is an absolute scandal.

“He’s just qualified for European competition and where that club’s been, and to be remonstrated with on the pitch in front of their own fans is an absolute joke.”

Nuno explained Marinakis was frustrated over Taiwo Awoniyi, who played on despite being hurt after colliding with the post.

Awoniyi was asked if he needed to be brought off but he said no, so Nuno took off Jota Silva instead.

However Awoniyi was actually hurt and was not able to perform to the levels required for the last ten minutes, provoking Marinakis’ irritation.

Nuno said post-match: “Football is emotions. Today there were more than 30,000 people in the ground with their own emotions. It was a tough moment, after the situation with [Taiwo Awoniyi] we had one man less after a misunderstanding.

“It’s difficult to control emotions when we had so much expectation on a day like this.”

Asked if the Awoniyi situation sparked Marinakis’ reaction, Nuno confirmed: “Yes, it was because of that. It was a misunderstanding, a miscommunication. I’m sorry, I cannot go much further.

“It’s based on emotions, you cannot make a big deal out of it. It happens and it will happen again. With the emotions today, it’s understandable.”

It is not the first time Marinakis has stormed the pitch following the final whistle.

In March last year he entered the pitch to speak to officials after Darwin Nunez snatched a last-gasp winner for Liverpool at the City Ground.

He was left fuming after the Reds took advantage of nine minutes stoppage time to score.

Referee Paul Tierney also stopped a Forest attack after Ibrahima Konate went down with an apparent head injury.

Marinakis was allegedly removed by security after chasing Tierney down the tunnel.