Shortly after Nottingham Forest’s promotion to the Premier League, Evangelos Marinakis vowed to provide “ammunition” to make the club a force in English football.
While no fan could question his ambition, Marinakis’ big plans always ran the risk of having ammunition fired at them.
30 transfers took place at a cost of around £150 million, following an unprecedented transfer blitz that led to the club being accused of breaching financial regulations.
Do the rules need to change? Definitely. This is an uneven playing field and stifles competitiveness.
Forest will argue the rules restrict billionaire owners such as Marinakis from investing properly and that the current process puts the onus on the ‘big six’, who can rely on far more commercial and matchday income.
Frustrated by the restrictions in the Championship, Marinakis was never going to waste the opportunity to maintain Forest’s momentum.
He is an owner who transformed Forest and raised expectations. cleared its debt and provided millions for upgrades to facilities and the matchday experience. Club staff often comment that he is willing to help in any way he can and is fully focused on the pursuit of improvement.
PSR though [Profit and Sustainability Rules] There is a reason for this and all clubs have signed up to it at some stage.
Forest are alleged to have broken these rules in their first season in the top division in 23 years.
Many other clubs, including Manchester United, Newcastle, Wolves and Aston Villa, have reluctantly had to revamp their entire transfer strategies to suit the PSR.
Last season, Leicester were so fearful of future breaches that they reined in spending so much that a reasonable argument could be made that it would have resulted in relegation.
Forest now face an anxious wait to find out whether they will face transfer bans or sanctions, which could range from fines to points deductions, later this season.
Nuno Espirito Santo has made a bright start since replacing the popular Steve Cooper but taking points could send the club into a relegation battle.
There was always a fear that Forest was sailing too close to the wind. Once promoted, they had no choice but to form a new team, but not to such crazy levels.
Alongside the impressive signings such as Morgan Gibbs-White, Taiwo Awoniyi and Danilo, there were also weak and/or unnecessary signings such as Jesse Lingard, Emmanuel Dennis and Jonjo Shelvey. Some transfers have yet to benefit the club.
As the wage bill soared, players were added before a massive sell-off went awry.
So what’s the next step?
Their main defense will focus on the sale of Brennan Johnson to Tottenham on deadline day, as we first reported on January 2.
They pursued what Profit and Sustainability was supposed to be about, turning down bids of £30 million and £35 million from Brentford in June and July, eventually securing £47.5 million.
This is a completely different situation for Everton, where the alleged breaches were spread over a longer period of time, suffering financial losses for five years and being assessed as persistent overspending.
There will also be a review of Manchester City and their 115 allegations, which they vehemently deny. While the investigation appears to be progressing slowly, this is a much more complex matter.
Forest have a trump card in ‘super silk’ Nick De Marco KC, known as the Lionel Messi of sports lawyers.
De Marco will represent Forest before an independent commission and has an outstanding track record in Financial Fair Play cases.
Earlier this season he also successfully defended Harry Toffolo against a long-term ban following the Forest left-back’s historic 375 punting offence.
It will be fully ready and Forest also aim to maintain transparent dialogue with the Premier League.
Everton’s response to the accusations last year was defiant; He insisted they would “strongly dispute” the allegations and that Forest would refuse to go down a similar path, pleading their case while continuing to co-operate with the Premier League.
Marinakis is likely to adopt a siege mentality and implore the club to circle the wagons and use that attack as fuel to boost his hopes of winning a third successive season in the Premier League.
Lessons must be learned and while their financial support and motivation is admirable, Forest need to avoid this happening again.
While the rules will always be up for debate, this accusation is a wound that seems entirely self-inflicted.