Olympiakos and Nottingham Forest: 

Two Sides of the Same Coin?

By Stephen Kountourou

Evangelos Marinakis has had a rollercoaster of a time as a multi-club owner this season. One team competed for the domestic league title and played in Europe, while the other experienced top-flight football for the first time in 26 years and survived the drop. But both Olympiakos and Nottingham Forest have had more comparative seasons than people think. It does not just end with just having the same owner. Both sides have gone through a metamorphosis in 2022/23, with some successes and some failures too.

Both clubs had extremely busy transfer windows throughout the new season.

For Olympiakos, it was a response to the transition the club was going through at the time. There was a massive overhaul of players, including the likes of Marcelo, James Rodriguez and Šime Vrsaljko just to name a few. All three failed to live up to expectations. Despite a fire sale in January a couple more reinforcements in Ramon, Rodenei, Sergi Canos and  Zymer Bytyqi were brought in. 

Forest likewise went above and beyond with signings, with a new name seemingly arriving daily. Morgan Gibbs White arrived for a club record fee. Taiwo Awoniyi, Nico Williams, Emmanuel Dennis and Orel Mangala to name a few all arrived during the summer. 

Even in January, the signings continued to come including the likes of Keylor Navas on loan, Jonjo Shelvey, Chris Wood and Andrew Ayew. It must be noted that there were a lot of departures from Forest after their promotion back to the Premier League, hence the need for reinforcements. 

Youtuber and Nottingham Forest supporter Ben Dore on the club's transfer window said: “At the start of the window, the enjoyment of new signings coming through the doors completely cloaked any thoughts of bad recruitment or potential impact. It was just exciting to see so many players at the club. On the other hand then came further down the line when we discovered certain players' qualities, many of them good enough, but some not having the impact expected. Thoughts vary depending on the period in the season when the question was asked - we did have to make lots of new signings given the majority of our first-team starters were loanees last season, but of course, there were/are reservations about some of the signings made.”

Throughout both transfer windows, Olympiakos and Nottingham Forest signed a total of 53 players. Both clubs also fielded a huge 94 players during their 22/23 campaigns.

Unsurprisingly the number of players at their disposal caused a lack of continuity in both squads. Olympiakos were left with a bloated squad made up of players from different coaches and lacking any kind of identity to their style of play. 

Nottingham Forest had a similar problem in the beginning too. The huge squad list meant that manager Steve Cooper struggled to find his best XI during the first half of the season and this at times impacted results. While they maintained a constantly decent record at home, on the road was where Forest struggled, only winning one match away all season against Southampton. 

Ben Dore on Forest's home for this season said: “Every single week, no matter what the circumstances of the team regarding league position, everybody comes together, and sings till they can no more. I well and truly believe that this fanbase is one of if not the best in the league - home & away - without them, I don't believe Forest would have stayed up. This club has the best fans, the ‘twelfth man’ should never be underestimated.”

While there are similarities to how both Marinakis' clubs have been run this season, both clubs' objectives and whether they met them are very different.

Forest can consider their campaign to be a huge success. At times throughout the campaign, the club looked as though they could face relegation and return to the Championship. 

But with an upturn in form in the last couple of months, Steve Cooper's men picked up enough points at The City Ground to maintain their Premier League status. This was confirmed with a 1-0 over Arsenal in their final home game of the season. 

Thrylos on the other hand would call their season a failure. With a poor showing in Europe and no trophies, going through three managers and missing out on the Champions League qualifiers, Olympiakos can consider this one of the worst showings in recent memory. There are positives, however. 

They were able to end the playoffs with victories over arch-rivals Panathinaikos and PAOK to secure 3rd place. This means the club will compete in next season's Europa League qualifiers with a chance to reach the group stages proper.   

Unlike at his boyhood club Olympiakos, Marinakis was much less cut-throat with the management situation at his Premier League side. While Sporting Director Filippo Giraldi was sacked in April, Marinakis held firm with Steve Cooper despite periods where the club looked like it would drop into the relegation zone. 

Even with rumours of the English coach being under pressure, he was instead given a new contract and a statement of support of Cooper was released by Marinakis to the media. It seems as though the uncharacteristic decision from the maritime shipping mogel paid off. 

Ben Dore on Steve Cooper’s rumoured exit throughout the seasons said: “Naturally when any team falls into a patch of bad form, there is concern amongst the fanbase as to whether a coach can turn their side's fortunes around, however, knowing Cooper, we always had the belief he could, or at least I did. He’s a young manager, and to be at such a top level is brilliant given his age and lack of experience managing clubs, is so commendable. I always believed he’d turn it round, Cooper is that kind of manager, he adapts, he learns.”

The former Greek champions, after four seasons with one manager, resorted back to what was more typical of a Greek side. First, long-standing coach Pedro Martins left after Olympiakos were knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers embarrassingly against Maccabi Haifa. 

His replacement Carlos Corberan was sacked after just seven weeks with only two wins in 11 games. Michel was able to steady the ship after the World Cup break and bring the club within three points of 1st place. However, after dropping points against Aris in the playoffs and pressure from the ultras and Marinakis, Michel resigned. 

Then Technical Director Jose Anigo took over as manager for the rest of the season. Defeats in the playoffs led to Olympiakos relinquishing the Super League title. But Anigo secured Europa League football and some decent wins over Panathinaikos and PAOK.   

Marinakis has a lot of work on his hands going into the 2023/24 season for both of his current clubs. 

For Olympiakos, a return to the top of Greek football, qualifying and competing for the Europa League and bringing in a top-level manager, as well as player sales and new arrivals to strengthen the team. 

As for Nottingham Forest, the club will want to build on their successful survival last season and look to properly cement themselves as a Premier League side again by looking at a potential downsizing of the squad before adding more quality. 

Ben Dore, when asked about what Steve Cooper needs to focus on next season said: “For me: The smaller things - giving away possession is a major flaw for Forest this season. While they have survived, on many occasions, they give the ball away in dangerous positions - Premier League sides thrive on these mistakes, the less we make, the more points we secure. I do feel Forest is getting better in that regard, however.”

Marinakis has proven to be a highly ambitious owner and he will do what it takes to make sure both of his football clubs achieve their goals.  

@SteveKountourou

Hellas Football