Evangelos Marinakis is working to transform Nottingham Forest into a competitive team and holding onto Gibbs-White was a right step in that direction
It was in the spring of 2017 that Nottingham Forest narrowly escaped relegation to England’s third division. A 3-0 win over Ipswich Town allowed the club to remain in the Championship only on goal difference.
It was also that spring it was confirmed that Greek shipping magnate Evangelos Marinakis had completed his takeover of the club. Outlining his vision to the BBC at the time, Marinakis said Forest had “huge potential” and “belonged to the elite of the Premier League”.
While he stopped short of making any bold declarations, saying “I never give promises – I deliver”, his intent was very clear. Marinakis wants to compete, as close to the top as possible.
And why not? After all, Forest are two-time European champions. What precludes them from returning to the big stage?
Five years later, the club returned to the Premier League after a 21-year absence. They finished in seventh place last season, booking a spot in the Conference League. But tellingly, even that achievement felt like an anti-climax after Forest had spent a huge chunk of the season in third place.
Marinakis has always been a contentious fellow. He has been accused of running a criminal organisation. His purchase of Forest was controversial. And the highlight of last season was perhaps the Greek billionaire remonstrating on the pitch in what was initially construed as improper on-field frustration towards manager Nuno Espirito Santo.
Forest had surrendered a 2-0 lead to Leicester and disappointingly dropped points which would have taken them back into the top five. Afterwards, however, the club said the backlash directed at their owner was “baseless and ill-informed”, and that he had only been complaining about the poor medical attention given to injured striker Taiwo Awoniyi.
This combative aspect of Forest is a by-product of their intense eagerness to compete. In 2010, Marinakis took over Olympiakos and achieved monumental success. The Premier League is a much tougher battleground but it is clear he is building Forest around a group of people who are also desirous of success and will cut through situations a bit like Nuno’s team do with their counter-attacks.
So when Tottenham made a £60m bid for Morgan Gibbs-White, who could be characterised as their best player, Forest’s reaction was not all too surprising. The club fought back and appear to have now won the battle to keep the player after he signed a new three-year contract with the club.
If Marinakis is working to transform Nottingham Forest into a competitive team then holding onto Gibbs-White was a firm step in that direction. After all, Spurs finished 17th in the league last season, whereas Forest only just missed out on the Champions League with defeat to Chelsea on final day.
If they were to lose their best player, it should not have been to Spurs.
After the new contract was announced, Marinakis said Gibbs-White “represents everything we want this football club to be”, and then followed that up with a litany of adjectives for the player: talented, ambitious, fearless and proud.
Most of those could apply to the whole Forest hierarchy itself. Talent may be limited in some degree at the City Ground, but they certainly won’t get more of it by letting their gems leave – certainly not to Premier League rivals.
On the pitch, Nuno did an incredible job last season to turn the Garibaldis into a disciplined team that could frustrate and then compete against the top sides.
Of course a lot of that work was primarily playing with a low block and then hitting sides on the counter, so there is a lot of improvement needed. But it provides a ground to build on.
Meanwhile, Forest are also working on strengthening their squad. Bologna’s Dan Ndoye and Manchester City’s James McAtee are both among their current targets, and they hope to strengthen, not weaken, their midfield ahead of the new Premier League season.
There is more show of desire off the pitch as well. The Forest board are working on a major upgrade to the City Ground for the first time in 30 years. Capacity is expected to rise from 30,404 to around 35,000, which means added revenue.
A stadium upgrade will also further raise the profile of the club, not just to football viewers but to sponsors as well.
Forest fans have a reason to be excited. In a way, so too does the rest of the Premier League support base. Such ambition can only increase the competitive profile of the league and raise the excitement on show.
