Martin O’Neill is the new manager of Nottingham Forest, heading into the job after the shock departure of Aitor Karanka, a man who was incredibly popular with the Forest faithful. However, O’Neill made 285 appearances for the club and could not be a more popular appointment amongst Forest fans.
Now O’Neill returns to club management for the first time since 2013 after spending five years in charge of the Republic of Ireland with Roy Keane. He has been out of a job since November as he parted company with the FAI after a succession of poor results which resulted in Ireland being relegated from their Nations League group.
He is set to take charge of Forest who currently lie two points off the play-offs in ninth position in the Championship. Despite the club beating Leeds 4-2 in a thriller on New Year’s Day, the Forest board ran out of ‘patience’ with Aitor Karanka.
Since 2011 a whopping ten permanent managers have been appointed at Forest and O’Neill would be the 11th. Something must change behind the scenes at the City Ground as this constant chopping and changing does not bring any stability to the club and it is impossible to build success on unsteady ground.
Fans may have been gutted to see Karanka go but they will welcome club legend O’Neill with open arms as they look to mount a promotion charge once more. Forest host Bristol City at home on Saturday which will be O’Neill’s first game in charge.
As a player at Forest, he won the First Division and the European Cup in the club's most successful period. This would be one of the stories of the year if he could lead them to the Premier League.
#NFFC are delighted to confirm the appointment of Martin O'Neill as the club's new manager.
