Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis dislikes iconic manager who was 'given 19 games and dumped'

Martin O'Neill says Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is not his “favourite person” after being sacked after just 19 games at the club.

The 72-year-old is a Forest legend and played a key role in the club's golden era as a player, helping them to the First Division title in 1978, as well as two European Cups in the following years.

After a successful career in management, O'Neill returned to the City Ground in January 2019 with the club playing in the Championship.

But despite leading the club to ninth place that season, he was sacked that summer by Marinakis and replaced by Sabri Lamouchi.

Forest are currently doing very well in the Premier League and sit in fifth position after 11 games, far exceeding expectations after being embroiled in a relegation battle last season.

Responding to Jim White saying O'Neill would love to see Forest succeed but not Marinakis, the former boss jokingly told talkSPORT: “What would my favorite person be if he gave me 19 games and then got rid of my services ?

“How could he be my favorite person?”

O'Neill added: “I'm going to have a private chat with the bosses at talkSPORT and see how Jim White would feel if his job was threatened every week!”

The 72-year-old joined Nottingham Forest where he spent ten years as a player in January 2019 as a coach.

They won eight, drew three and lost eight, finishing the season in ninth place.

A decent record, but not enough to secure his position for the next campaign.

Sabri Lamouchi was the next signing and became the first Forest manager to complete a full season in over nine years.

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After Forest's 1-0 defeat to Newcastle, O'Neill denied that the bubble had burst.

“I think, yes, it was a disappointing result in the sense that they were on a very good run and, as you mentioned, if they had won, their points tally at this point in the season would have been huge.

But they are still in a great position. They have a lot of good players on the team, they looked strong defensively and can advance.

“They have a bit of rhythm in the team, they score some goals.

“I'm actually a little surprised that the centre-forward (Chris Wood) has done so well, I have to admit. He's the same age as me, but he's done remarkably well!

“They lost to Newcastle, but it's just a blip here.

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“If you had asked Forest fans at the start of the season if they wouldn't have relegation problems they probably would have accepted it, but expectations have risen so let's see how it goes, but it's been a great start.”

Nuno Holy Spirit is performing well above expectations, as fans had become accustomed to battles to avoid relegation, similar to what they did towards the end of last season.

They currently occupy fifth place with five victories, one of them against first place. Liverpool who have yet to lose against another team despite playing tough competition like Arsenal.

And as O'Neill said, Wood is on fire, scoring eight goals in eleven league games, surpassing Cole Palmer and be at the level of Mohamed Salah.

There is a good atmosphere in the team, but with a trip to Arsenal approaching, things are not going to be easier for the Espirito Santo team.