Marinakis: “I have the biggest team in Greece – I don’t want to learn from defeats, I want to win”

A long interview with the Daily Mail was given by Vangelis Marinakis talking about nottingham. His strong man Olympiakou posed for the camera showing off the tattoo on his arm that reads (in English) “Dream, Love, Create, Fight, Survive, Conquer” and referred to what led him to invest in this particular team. At the same time, he mentioned the complaints his team has from the referee, his reactions to the match with Liverpool, the announcement about the referee that led him to break with Sky Sports and Gary Neville, and also his plans for the future. “People say you learn from your losses, but I want wins, not losses“, he says, among other things.

In detail, Vangelis Marinakis spoke about:

-the decision to acquire Nottingham: “Brian Clough, John Robertson, Stuart Pearce, Roy Keane, Trevor Francis, the European Cups, I know the history… For me, having the biggest team in Greece, if I invested in England, I wanted to invest in an equally big team. A team that has a large fan base. But I’ve also always liked Forrest. When I first came to the UK I was 15 years old, I always remember it was when Liverpool and Forest were doing great. I don’t see it as money or as one transaction. For me it is our duty to revive our history. I have attended over 100 games at the City Ground or away from home and we have never had an incident.

-the mentality of a winner who has: “People say you learn from your losses, but I want wins, not losses. I don’t want to learn from defeats. I want to keep winning.”

-his entrance to the pitch after the game against Liverpool, where his team had complaints from the referee: “I didn’t go onto the pitch to ask the referee for change, that was all in the imagination of Sky Sports and others who said that. I was there to show solidarity with the team, as I have done many times before, after a bad refereeing decision. I just stood outside the whistle, the referee went by and I didn’t even look at him. That’s why the Premier League never questioned me about it. We’ve won games and we’ve lost games – big games – but we’ve always had a great reputation. Even the relevant committee admits that we had seven wrong decisions against us, while another nine were not even considered.”

– the accusations against the referee Atwell, who was in the VAR of the match against Everton, that he is a Luton fan and should have been excluded from the game: “You have the right to ask me that. The truth is that this particular referee is known to be a Luton fan – and has no doubt declared this to the relevant refereeing committee (PGMOL), as everyone should. In my opinion, PGMOL should not have picked him for this match. Luton were just below Forest in 18th place and in the relegation zone. The game against Everton was extremely important for the club’s stay in the Premier League. PGMOL should not have risked even the suspicion of any bias, even unconscious. To be clear, we do not expect to dictate or force a change in PGMOL or the Premier League, but it is our duty to warn of a situation and prevent situations. If that is a crime… There were three undisputed penalties – not one. We have the analysis from trusted experts to prove it.

-the “mafia” rant from Gary Neville after Nottingham’s anti-referee announcement: “We made this announcement because we tried to protect ourselves and then there was a big fuss – but that was made by Sky Sports and certain people. I can give you 100 examples of cases where they exaggerated, did not tell the truth and humiliated people. Neville is also subject to FA rules, sure – he’s in Salford management. His comment about the club was outrageous but the FA did nothing. I have to be careful – because our lawyers have already contacted Sky about Neville and this is not over yet. The comments and words he used were inappropriate, untrue and hurtful to people.”

– the treatment of Nottingham by the referee and whether it has played a role in its course: “Certainly these have affected our position in the standings. I am very concerned about this and am still considering and discussing with the board what the appropriate course of action would be, including legal action.”

-the deduction of points due to the breach of the Premier League’s sustainability rules: “The current PSR I consider to be an unfair system that does not match the reality of global standards in football. It’s a system that over the years has allowed changes in ownership to make significant increases in spending, not reflected in revenue statements and without being penalized. I led Forest back to the Premier League after 23 years and had to invest to create a competitive and sustainable club. This was to the benefit of the Premier League. I did it in a transparent way, without trying to inflate our income. I did this by investing in players whose values ​​would increase in the future. This was the only way to create a fully financially viable club – which is supposed to be the aim of PSR. We did not hide our finances or seek to inflate our income. We were transparent and fair. Our only problem was that we weren’t able to complete the sale of a key player (re: Brennan Johnson) until a few weeks later than the rules required. This was a technical violation, not a substantive violation. The club made the sale, at the right value – almost exactly in line with our strategy, but later than the PSR deadline predicted. In my opinion the Premier League was too strict on us and deducting points was something that could lead to relegation. This was the first time any club had been sanctioned in the same season as the offense and without being given any extension of time to achieve compliance. I personally believe that the Premier League’s handling of our case was not the same, not consistent with their practice in previous years. I think what we’ve done, and what people don’t realize, is the selection of players, the majority of them, that we’ve signed in the last two or three years – they’re young, extremely talented players. Murillo, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Ondoi, Elanga, Danilo, Williams, Avonigi, Dominguez, Sangare, Omobamidele… We also got Abi for Olympiakos. They are all young, talented players who have great value. They will ensure that the club’s assets climb higher and higher. The reality is that this was a wise decision, a smart decision, and we’re seeing the benefits.”

-the plans for improvements on the field and the training ground: “The stadium and the training ground do not suit the status and ambitions of the club. For the first time in history, there is a real opportunity to elevate the club to the next level of success on and off the pitch. The new stadium will change the history in the coming years of the region and the team for our fans. It will be difficult to leave the City Ground, but at a time when revenue streams dictate success on the pitch, there is no doubt that a move to a bigger facility will put the club on the right track. Over the past 10 years the city of Nottingham has lacked the confidence and ambition of the other major regional cities of Manchester and Birmingham. Nottingham needed a new leader to be brave, ambitious, invest and honest. There is no one in the history of the area who has invested more than £250 million of their private wealth here. When I see decisions or actions against us that are not justified, it is my character that I come back even stronger. I am not discouraged. It makes me stronger. At the end of the day we are winners. It is something that has accompanied me in business, art, sports, everyday life. I enjoy. I enjoy the uphill, not when it’s easy. The Match. The most fun is the chase, the way we create. I like travel. Enjoying a win is only for a few seconds, but the journey is what matters to me.”