Nottingham Forest miracle worker Nuno Espirito Santo on the hot seat: 'Where there's smoke, there's fire'

Nottingham Forest are three months removed from their best league finish in 30 years. The City Ground is a month out from its first season of European football since the days of Stuart Pearce, Bryan Roy and a Haaland (no, not that one). Last season their head coach masterminded a top division winning streak longer than even Brian Clough's best. They currently sit fifth in the most formative of Premier League tables.

They are not, in short, in a position in which the manager of almost any other club would be addressing questions over his future. And yet that is exactly what Nuno Espirito Santo found himself doing on Friday, responding to reports that owner Evangelos Marinakis might be considering sacking him by saying "when there's smoke, there's fire." And he's just lobbed a cigarette into the smouldering bushes. Soon the whole Forest will be ablaze.

"Where there's smoke, there's fire, so I know how things work," said the 51-year-old when asked about reports he might be leaving. "But I'm here to do my job. I understand, because I'm worried. I'm the first one to be worried. I'm the first one to be concerned."

Directly addressing his connection with Marinakis, who ranks among European football's most combustible and tempestuous owners (no small feat), Nuno added: "I always had a very good relationship with the owner, last season was very, very, very close, almost daily basis.

"This season, not so well, but I always believe that dialogue and what you what you say or your opinion, is always valid, because my concern is the squad and the season that we have ahead of us. But our relationship has changed."

This extraordinary outburst against ownership is not even the first time in a two week old season that Nuno has turned fire on those above him. Last week the former Wolves and Tottenham boss bemoaned a failure to strengthen his squad, this time out he seemed to be complaining both about the additions made and the club hierarchy's inability to move out those who are not in his plans. 

In the past week alone, Forest have spent around $125 million on English attacking midfielders Omari Hutchison and James McAtee and France forward Arnaud Kalimuendo. Veteran midfielder Douglas Luiz has also arrived from Juventus on loan and they are expected to strengthen at right back, where Aston Villa's Matty Cash has been linked with a return to the club where he made his professional debut.

Asked what had changed in his relationship with ownership, Nuno said: "I don't know exactly, but I'm being honest with you. I cannot say that is the same, because it's not the same. The reason behind it, I don't know.

"What I said last week or two weeks ago, was my concern and why I was worried. Because my job is always to try anticipate what's coming ahead of us, and that's what I said, what I said with respect."

Nuno may not have been minded to go into specifics about when the relationship changed, but for many outside the club the flashpoint moment was last May when Marinakis appeared to confront his manager following a 2-2 draw with Leicester. It was subsequently dismissed as "fake news" by the club, who insisted the owner had entered the pitch to offer support to injured striker Taiwo Awoniyi. That did not explain why he was evidently remonstrating with Nuno. That draw would prove to be critical in Forest's late drop down the table, one which saw them miss out on Champions League qualification.

Since then Forest have appointed Edu Gaspar to a new Global Head of Football that places him between Nuno and Marinakis, a role in which it would be up to him to decide whether the head coach stayed in the role. A fortnight ago such circumstances would have seemed unimaginable, even at a club as notoriously combustible as this. Now, a change seems inevitable.