Nottingham Forest dropped more points in the race for the Champions League against already-relegated Leicester on Sunday afternoon - and the Forest owner was not happy.
Despite being tipped for a relegation dogfight this season, Nuno Espírito Santo’s men have been in European contention all year after impressing week after week.
However, in recent weeks their form has dropped off significantly, meaning they now find themselves in seventh. Despite this, they are still just one point away from Chelsea, who sit in fifth, the final Champions League spot.
Sunday’s match against Leicester was a must-win for Forest, who would have jumped to fifth place if they had won after Chelsea’s 2-0 loss at Newcastle earlier in the day.
Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis stormed onto the pitch to confront manager Nuno Espirito SantoSky SportsHowever, Nuno’s side could not take full advantage of the Blues’ dropped points, drawing 2-2 against Leicester courtesy of an 81st-minute equaliser from Facundo Buonanotte.
Tempers flared after the game, with club owner Evangelos Marinakis joining the pitch to lambast boss Nuno Espírito in front of the cameras.
Harry Redknapp has now had his say on the situation - and he did not hold back.
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The Nottingham Forest owner and manager had a heated conversation post-matchGetty “The less said about the incident with the owner the better, I’d have told him to get off the park!” he told BetVictor.
The comments come after Gary Neville said: “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."
Marinakis was quick to release a statement, claiming the conversation was due to frustration over striker Taiwo Awoniyi’s injury towards the end of the game, calling it a ‘misjudgement’ by the medical staff.
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He wrote: "Today is a day for celebration because after 30 years Nottingham Forest is 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 of the game.
"We are extremely proud of and close to Nuno and the team, and we must celebrate the historic achievements of this season.
"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.
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"This is natural, this is a demonstration of the passion we feel for our club."
Nuno was also quick to his employer’s defence, laughing off Neville’s suggestion while insisting Marinakis’ passion was the reason the club have had such a positive season.
He said: "It is because of the owner and his passion that we are growing as a club. He pushes us. He wants us to be better.
"It is his passion and desire to be a big club - 30,000 people felt the same today. For sure, many of them would go on the pitch and shake us down.
"Us as a club, we owe a lot to the Marinakis family.”
While the content of the conversation is still somewhat of a mystery, the outburst on the field is not something that will go down well with supporters, particularly after overachieving so significantly this campaign.
Forest travel to West Ham on Sunday May 18, before they host Chelsea on the final day of the season in a six-pointer at the Forest Ground.
The fixture could determine who claims the highly-contested final Champions League place, with all still to play for.
