Archive August 31, 2025

Fans erupted into brief applause as Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis gave a thumbs up to the City Ground.

The Greek businessman will now try to resolve any potential rifts with Nuno Espirito Santo after a surprise 3-0 defeat to West Ham on Sunday.

Despite Nuno’s frustrations, the owner who bankrolled Forest back to Europe has received a lot of respect and reverence, and it demonstrated that no one is siding with the owner or manager.

After his outbursts over the club’s slow-moving transfer business and the revelation their relationship had changed this summer, Nuno will meet with Marinakis to talk about the club’s future during the international break.

After the loss, Nuno remarked, “It’s not the best day to speak.” We must address the circumstances at hand. I’m worried about the team because it was shocking, so the job is now more about the team.

Everyone is very depressed, and “it]defeat] doesn’t help. However, there isn’t any connection between the discussions. We must separate it and proceed in the right direction.

Nuno has no regrets about making the Portuguese’ comments public after what has been a troubling summer for him, despite the fact that they came as a surprise over the past two weeks.

Forest had a strong start to the season, winning both at Brentford and drawing at Crystal Palace, only to be easily overtaken by West Ham, who were both unlucky to come away with.

After attending the Europa League draw at Real Betis on September 25, Marinakis was in the stands as he would have done before the match.

That European comeback was spearheaded by Nuno, who placed them seventh in the Premier League last season and only missed out on the Champions League on the final day.

Since Forest was last removed from the Premier League in 1999, the pair have successfully brought them back to where many have failed.

Nuno’s complaints stemmed from Forest’s inability to piece together the squad quickly enough, a factor that underscores the importance of his pre-season preparations.

Omari Hutchinson joined from Ipswich for a record fee, James McAtee joined Manchester City, and Douglas Luiz joined on loan from Juventus, spending around £150m.

Before Monday’s transfer deadline, they still need another goalkeeper and left-back, with expected arrivals for Botafogo goalkeeper John Victor and defender Cuiabano.

Nuno should ultimately receive what he desired, but not when he desired it. The head coach will now have to make changes because he had previously preferred to work with smaller squads.

Running a small squad would have been impossible and foolish with Forest in Europe, on top of their domestic responsibilities in the league and cup.

However, there will be a movement out before the 19:00 BST deadline on Monday, because Nuno doesn’t want to have players who aren’t going to play.

He said, “I believe we must do it.” We want to inspire the squad’s entire motivational makeup. That is what the club is trying to accomplish. We will see a picture of our squad after one day has passed.

But is he content with the team?

He said, “Let’s see when it’s finished how we can respond to the question better.” We have a few good options, but we can make better decisions when the squad is finished.

In contrast to his irate stance before games against Brentford and Crystal Palace, he was much more at ease during his pre-game press conference on Friday.

He claimed he still anticipated taking over after Forest’s international break when Forest travels to Arsenal, but that despite speculations of a breakup with Edu’s international sporting director, his position was still in charge.

Senior Forest sources claim they had no idea about Nuno’s unhappiness when the former Arsenal sporting director was appointed in July, but Nuno only responded briefly when questioned about Edu on Friday when questioned about it.

Marinakis himself anticipates fixing any issues.

He stated to TNT during their Europa League draw that “everything is solid.” We all want the success of Nottingham. I don’t see a problem because we are here in the good times but also in the difficult ones.

“We are all together, united, and will take some corrective actions,” he declares. Everything will go smoothly and quickly.

Even if the City Ground was largely deserted by West Ham in the final whistle, Nuno’s standing among the fans will never be harmed by one defeat.

Although Matz Sels and Forest were sloppy and lacked integrity, defeat was unavoidable.

Only Dan Ndoye, a £34 million signing from Bologna, made a summer arrivals debut, with Igor Jesus, Hutchinson, McAtee, and Arnaud Kalimuendo missing out on the bench.

It strengthens Nuno’s claim that Forest needed more depth and recruits because its new recruits are yet to have an immediate impact.

He makes the argument that they need to get used to the squad, get used to it, and get their philosophy and method of working understood.

In Nuno’s opinion, that time was lost earlier in the summer. A costly delay for someone who contributed so much to the squad dynamic.

As Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis flashed a thumbs up to the City Ground, supporters broke into brief applause.

The Greek businessman was briefly pitchside before Sunday’s surprise 3-0 loss to West Ham and will now look to patch up any potential rift with boss Nuno Espirito Santo.

There is great respect and reverence for an owner who has bankrolled Forest back to Europe and it showed no-one is taking sides between owner and manager, despite Nuno’s frustrations.

Nuno will meet with Marinakis to discuss the club’s future during the international break after his outbursts over the club’s slow-moving transfer business and revelation their relationship had changed this summer.

“It’s not the best day to speak,” said Nuno after the loss. “We have to address what is happening. The job now is more about the team, I’m worried about the team because it was shocking.

“It [defeat] doesn’t help, everyone is very sad. But there is no connection [for the talks]. We have to separate it and move forward in the right direction.”

The Portuguese’s comments over the past two weeks have come as a surprise but Nuno has no regrets about his honesty, going public with his concerns following what has clearly been a worrying summer for him.

Forest started the season well enough with a thumping win over Brentford and a draw at Crystal Palace, only to be well beaten by West Ham – a defeat which came from nowhere.

Marinakis flew into the UK on Friday after attending the Europa League draw – with Forest opening their first European campaign for 30 years at Real Betis on 25 September – and was in the stands in his usual seat to watch.

Nuno was the driving force of that European comeback, guiding them to seventh in the Premier League last season and only missing out on the Champions League on the final day.

Together, the pair have restored Forest to where many have failed since they were last relegated from the Premier League in 1999.

The root of Nuno’s complaints was that Forest had been unable to pull the squad together quickly enough, such importance he puts on pre-season preparations.

The club have still spent around £150m, with Omari Hutchinson joining from Ipswich for a record fee, James McAtee signing from Manchester City and bringing in Douglas Luiz on loan from Juventus.

They still want another goalkeeper and left-back before Monday’s transfer deadline with Botafogo defender Cuiabano and goalkeeper John Victor expected arrivals.

Nuno should ultimately get what he wants, just not when he wanted it, and it will now be up to the head coach to adapt having previously preferred to work with smaller squads.

With Forest in Europe, on top of their domestic duties in league and cup, running a small squad would have been impossible and foolish.

There will be movement out before Monday’s 19:00 BST deadline though, Nuno not wanting to have players hanging around who simply are not going to play.

He said: “I think we have to do it. We want to have all the players in the squad motivated. The club is trying to do that. There’s still one day to go and after that we will see the picture of our squad.”

But is he happy with the squad?

“Let’s see when it’s complete we can answer the question better,” he said. “We have good options but when the squad is totally complete we can make a better judgement.”

He was far more relaxed in his pre-match press conference on Friday, in contrast to his frustrated stance before games with Brentford and Crystal Palace.

He said he expected to still be in charge at the end of the international break, when Forest go to Arsenal, yet BBC Sport had been told his position was uncertain, amid suggestions of a breakdown of relations with global sporting director Edu.

The former Arsenal sporting director was officially appointed in July, and senior Forest sources have said they had been unaware of Nuno’s unhappiness, although Nuno gave noticeably short answers when asked about Edu on Friday.

Marinakis himself expects to smooth over any problems.

He told TNT while in Monaco for the Europa League draw: “Everything is solid. We all want Nottingham to succeed. We are here in the good days but we are even closer in the difficult days, so personally I don’t see a problem.

“We are all together, united, and we’ll make some corrective actions and everything will be smooth and ready to go.

Nuno’s standing among the fans is never going to be damaged in one defeat, even if the City Ground was virtually empty by the final whistle against West Ham.

Defeat was unexpected but Forest were sloppy and, but for Matz Sels, it would have been worse.

Only Dan Ndoye – a £34m signing from Bologna – of the summer arrivals started while Igor Jesus, Hutchinson, McAtee and Arnaud Kalimuendo made little impact coming off the bench.

It strengthens Nuno’s argument Forest needed more recruits and depth earlier as those who have joined are yet to make an immediate impact.

His point is they need time to adapt, to bed into the squad and understand the philosophy and way of working.

That time was lost earlier in the summer, in Nuno’s view. A costly delay for someone who put so much into the squad dynamic.

As Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis flashed a thumbs up to the City Ground, supporters broke into brief applause.

The Greek businessman was briefly pitchside before Sunday’s surprise 3-0 loss to West Ham and will now look to patch up any potential rift with boss Nuno Espirito Santo.

There is great respect and reverence for an owner who has bankrolled Forest back to Europe and it showed no-one is taking sides between owner and manager, despite Nuno’s frustrations.

Nuno will meet with Marinakis to discuss the club’s future during the international break after his outbursts over the club’s slow-moving transfer business and revelation their relationship had changed this summer.

“It’s not the best day to speak,” said Nuno after the loss. “We have to address what is happening. The job now is more about the team, I’m worried about the team because it was shocking.

“It [defeat] doesn’t help, everyone is very sad. But there is no connection [for the talks]. We have to separate it and move forward in the right direction.”

The Portuguese’s comments over the past two weeks have come as a surprise but Nuno has no regrets about his honesty, going public with his concerns following what has clearly been a worrying summer for him.

Forest started the season well enough with a thumping win over Brentford and a draw at Crystal Palace, only to be well beaten by West Ham – a defeat which came from nowhere.

Marinakis flew into the UK on Friday after attending the Europa League draw – with Forest opening their first European campaign for 30 years at Real Betis on 25 September – and was in the stands in his usual seat to watch.

Nuno was the driving force of that European comeback, guiding them to seventh in the Premier League last season and only missing out on the Champions League on the final day.

Together, the pair have restored Forest to where many have failed since they were last relegated from the Premier League in 1999.

The root of Nuno’s complaints was that Forest had been unable to pull the squad together quickly enough, such importance he puts on pre-season preparations.

The club have still spent around £150m, with Omari Hutchinson joining from Ipswich for a record fee, James McAtee signing from Manchester City and bringing in Douglas Luiz on loan from Juventus.

They still want another goalkeeper and left-back before Monday’s transfer deadline with Botafogo defender Cuiabano and goalkeeper John Victor expected arrivals.

Nuno should ultimately get what he wants, just not when he wanted it, and it will now be up to the head coach to adapt having previously preferred to work with smaller squads.

With Forest in Europe, on top of their domestic duties in league and cup, running a small squad would have been impossible and foolish.

There will be movement out before Monday’s 19:00 BST deadline though, Nuno not wanting to have players hanging around who simply are not going to play.

He said: “I think we have to do it. We want to have all the players in the squad motivated. The club is trying to do that. There’s still one day to go and after that we will see the picture of our squad.”

But is he happy with the squad?

“Let’s see when it’s complete we can answer the question better,” he said. “We have good options but when the squad is totally complete we can make a better judgement.”

He was far more relaxed in his pre-match press conference on Friday, in contrast to his frustrated stance before games with Brentford and Crystal Palace.

He said he expected to still be in charge at the end of the international break, when Forest go to Arsenal, yet BBC Sport had been told his position was uncertain, amid suggestions of a breakdown of relations with global sporting director Edu.

The former Arsenal sporting director was officially appointed in July, and senior Forest sources have said they had been unaware of Nuno’s unhappiness, although Nuno gave noticeably short answers when asked about Edu on Friday.

Marinakis himself expects to smooth over any problems.

He told TNT while in Monaco for the Europa League draw: “Everything is solid. We all want Nottingham to succeed. We are here in the good days but we are even closer in the difficult days, so personally I don’t see a problem.

“We are all together, united, and we’ll make some corrective actions and everything will be smooth and ready to go.

Nuno’s standing among the fans is never going to be damaged in one defeat, even if the City Ground was virtually empty by the final whistle against West Ham.

Defeat was unexpected but Forest were sloppy and, but for Matz Sels, it would have been worse.

Only Dan Ndoye – a £34m signing from Bologna – of the summer arrivals started while Igor Jesus, Hutchinson, McAtee and Arnaud Kalimuendo made little impact coming off the bench.

It strengthens Nuno’s argument Forest needed more recruits and depth earlier as those who have joined are yet to make an immediate impact.

His point is they need time to adapt, to bed into the squad and understand the philosophy and way of working.

That time was lost earlier in the summer, in Nuno’s view. A costly delay for someone who put so much into the squad dynamic.

US Open 2025

Dates: August 24 through September 7 in Flushing Meadows, New York

American Jessica Pegula made the most of compatriot Ann Li’s early jitters and cruised to a comfortable victory in the US Open quarter-finals.

Fourth seed Pegula needed only 54 minutes to defeat Li 6-1, 6-2, to maintain her hopes of winning her first career Grand Slam.

The 31-year-old has not played her best tennis this summer since suffering a humiliating first-round exit at Wimbledon, according to her own admission.

Pegula, who won the championship at Flushing Meadows 12 months ago, looked much more in tune with her best on Sunday, breaking Li six times to win.

Pegula compared Li to Li, who she defeated in a much tighter match at the French Open back in May, saying, “I know when she’s serving well and has confidence she’s really dangerous.”

Despite having 58 aces in her first three matches and having 22 in her second, Li represented a potentially difficult opponent.

After winning the coin toss, the 25-year-old appeared confident, but Pegula quickly broke.

After making 10 unforced errors in the first set and winning just 8% of her second serves in the second set, Pegula appeared to have raised her game in response.

Pegula made a conscious effort to move to the net as well as always, even as she did on the baseline. In contrast, Li frequently avoided Pegula’s potent strokes in an effort to keep up.

“I felt really at ease moving in today and entering at the right times; it didn’t always feel that way,” Pegula said. “I wanted to carry that forward until the last game.

“It’s a component of my game that I can really use as a weapon. I occasionally get stuck at the back because of how well I perform there, but our coaches are pleased when I finish my overhead and volleys.

US Open 2025

Dates: August 24 through September 7 in Flushing Meadows, New York

American Jessica Pegula made the most of compatriot Ann Li’s early jitters and cruised to a comfortable victory in the US Open quarter-finals.

Fourth seed Pegula needed only 54 minutes to defeat Li 6-1, 6-2, to maintain her hopes of winning her first career Grand Slam.

The 31-year-old has not played her best tennis this summer since suffering a humiliating first-round exit at Wimbledon, according to her own admission.

Pegula, who won the championship at Flushing Meadows 12 months ago, looked much more in tune with her best on Sunday, breaking Li six times to win.

Pegula compared Li to Li, who she defeated in a much tighter match at the French Open back in May, saying, “I know when she’s serving well and has confidence she’s really dangerous.”

Despite having 58 aces in her first three matches and having 22 in her second, Li represented a potentially difficult opponent.

After winning the coin toss, the 25-year-old appeared confident, but Pegula quickly broke.

After making 10 unforced errors in the first set and winning just 8% of her second serves in the second set, Pegula appeared to have raised her game in response.

Pegula made a conscious effort to move to the net as well as always, even as she did on the baseline. In contrast, Li frequently avoided Pegula’s potent strokes in an effort to keep up.

“I felt really at ease moving in today and entering at the right times; it didn’t always feel that way,” Pegula said. “I wanted to carry that forward until the last game.

“It’s a component of my game that I can really use as a weapon. I occasionally get stuck at the back because of how well I perform there, but our coaches are pleased when I finish my overhead and volleys.

US Open 2025

Dates: August 24 through September 7 in Flushing Meadows, New York

American Jessica Pegula made the most of compatriot Ann Li’s early jitters and cruised to a comfortable victory in the US Open quarter-finals.

Fourth seed Pegula needed only 54 minutes to defeat Li 6-1, 6-2, to maintain her hopes of winning her first career Grand Slam.

The 31-year-old has not played her best tennis this summer since suffering a humiliating first-round exit at Wimbledon, according to her own admission.

Pegula, who won the championship at Flushing Meadows 12 months ago, looked much more in tune with her best on Sunday, breaking Li six times to win.

Pegula compared Li to Li, who she defeated in a much tighter match at the French Open back in May, saying, “I know when she’s serving well and has confidence she’s really dangerous.”

Despite having 58 aces in her first three matches and having 22 in her second, Li represented a potentially difficult opponent.

After winning the coin toss, the 25-year-old appeared confident, but Pegula quickly broke.

After making 10 unforced errors in the first set and winning just 8% of her second serves in the second set, Pegula appeared to have raised her game in response.

Pegula made a conscious effort to move to the net as well as always, even as she did on the baseline. In contrast, Li frequently avoided Pegula’s potent strokes in an effort to keep up.

“I felt really at ease moving in today and entering at the right times; it didn’t always feel that way,” Pegula said. “I wanted to carry that forward until the last game.

“It’s a component of my game that I can really use as a weapon. I occasionally get stuck at the back because of how well I perform there, but our coaches are pleased when I finish my overhead and volleys.