Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is being praised for publicly backing manager Steve Cooper in a rare post-match interview after the club secured their Premier League status.
It has been a tough campaign for the Reds, who have been involved in a relegation scrap for large spells.
But on Saturday afternoon Forest produced one of their best performances of the season against Arsenal, as a first-half goal from in-form striker Taiwo Awoniyi sealed a deserved 1-0 win.
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After the full-time whistle, owner Marinakis could be seen embracing manager Steve Cooper, who was reportedly fighting for his job in March. In fact, he even held 'crisis talks' over his future at the City Ground.
Two months later and the decision to back Cooper has paid off massively. In fact, in his post-match interview, Greek owner Marinakis spoke about the situation in front of the Sky Sports cameras.
“All the teams, without exception, other than Nottingham Forest, that were not doing well changed their coaches, even twice,” Marinakis said. “It’s a very serious decision to change a coach.
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“I think that I supported him as much as I could and also, let’s be honest, to change a coach you need to bring someone better. You need to bring someone better and to be available at the time.
“I think I took a wise decision and I supported Steve even though, of course, a lot of times you might agree, you might disagree.
“We are happy, we celebrate and now we have time to schedule again seriously and at the end of the day we are winners.”
You can watch the post-match interview in full below:
After his gesture was broadcast, many fans praised Marinakis on social media.
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One fan said: "Fair play to him for not panicking and being realistic about the club and situation Forest were in. They were always competing to survive, he didn’t panic and sack the manager like the rest, he backed Cooper and got the reward."
Another wrote: "I’ve probably had alternative views about both Steve Cooper & Forest following a failed transfer earlier this year, but this is good. It’s not everyday the owner of a football club comes out and backs their manager, let alone give an interview. Actually quite refreshing."
A third commented: "What a guy! Could see at times he was fighting the urge to make a change. But, he trusted the Forest faithful and the unity Cooper had created. It paid off and we're more together than we've ever been."
A fourth added: "This is an owner that backs the team and sees the longer term vision. Very refreshing to have one that isn’t quick to pull the trigger to sack. We now have time to prepare. Belief we deserve to be in this division and we just might carve a stable place in the division."
Jamie Carragher even got involved in the conversation, saying: "Delighted for Steve Cooper and Nottingham Forest that they’ve secured Premier League football for another year. Great atmosphere at the City ground which has helped keep them up.
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"Also well done to the owner for not finding anyone to replace the manager!!!!!!!"
Thoughts on Marinakis' interview?
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Featured Image Credit: Twitter/Sky Sports Premier LeagueTopics: Nottingham Forest, Premier League, Fan Reactions
