Gary Neville urges Nottingham Forest manager to quit after heated clash with owner during Leicester draw

WATCH NOW: Nuno Espirito Santo press conference after Nottingham Forest and Leicester draw

Fintan Starkey

By Fintan Starkey


Published: 12/05/2025

- 08:56

Updated: 12/05/2025

- 08:57

The Sky Sports pundit has had his say on Sunday's controversial incident

Gary Neville has weighed in after Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis marched onto the pitch after the final whistle against Leicester and seemed to confront his manager, Nuno Espírito Santo.

Forest conceded in the final ten minutes to draw 2-2 with Leicester, damaging their Champions League chances in the process.


After the match, Marinakis entered the field of play as the players, coaches, and officials went through their usual post-match handshakes.

The Forest owner appeared to walk past Nuno originally, but he turned back and spoke to the boss after he had finished his interaction with Oliver Skipp.

Nuno Espirito Santo and Evangelos Marinakis

Nuno Espirito Santo and Evangelos Marinakis exchange words after a 2-2 draw with Leicester

Getty

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

Nuno appeared resigned at what he was being told, and appeared to almost shrug in response.

After a few words from the Forest boss, Marinakas stood, arms in the air, and walked away from the Portuguese manager

Gary Neville was appalled by the behaviour of the Nottingham Forest owner and hit back on X.

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He tweeted: “ Scandalous from that Forest owner.

“Nuno should go and negotiate his exit tonight from him! The Forest fans, players and manager do not deserve that.”

The former Manchester United star later emphasised his views 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.”

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Nuno Espirito Santo and Evangelos Marinakis

The Nottingham Forest owner and manager had a heated conversation post-match

Getty

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

Awoniyi was asked if he needed to be brought off, but said no, so Nuno used his final substitute elsewhere, however, Awoniyi was actually hurt and struggled to perform for the final 10 minutes of the game.

The Portuguese manager 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.”

When asked if Awoniyi was the cause of the dispute, Nuno confirmed: “Yes, it was because of that. It was a misunderstanding, a miscommunication. I’m sorry, I cannot go much further.

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“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.”

Marinakis later addressed the issue in a statement, which read: "Today is a day for celebration, because after 30 years Nottingham Forest is now guaranteed to be competing on the European stage once again – a promise I made to our supporters when we achieved promotion.

"With two more games to go in the Premier League, we must keep believing and keep dreaming, right to the final kick in the final game.

"We are extremely proud and close to Nuno and the team, and we must all celebrate the historic achievements of this season.

Nuno Espirito Santo

Nottingham Forest currently sit 7th in the Premier League

PA Images

"Everybody – coaching staff, players, supporters and including myself – we were frustrated around the injury of Taiwo and the medical staff’s misjudgement on Taiwo’s ability to continue the game.

"This is natural, this is a demonstration of the passion we feel for our club. Let’s all be grateful, passionate and keep on dreaming."

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

After Liverpool scored a last-gasp winner, he stormed onto the pitch to confront officials after the Reds were able to take advantage of nine minutes of stoppage time to score earlier this season.