You see that Bum?
That's Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis. Now as owner of Nottingham Forest, he's done a pretty shitty job, his team came within a whisker of being relegated last year.
But in his defense, he did cheat really bad in order to keep his team in the Premier League.
And to call him a cheater really isn't fair, because he didn't cheat as bad as Everton or Manchester City.
This year, though, Evangelos Marinakis won't be able to buy himself out of trouble.
Last year we made Premier League predictions and they actually came out fairly close.
Fred's 2023 -2024 Premier League Predictions - With Actual Places in Bold
Man City - Man City
Liverpool - Arsenal
Man United - Liverpool
Arsenal - Aston Villa
Newcastle - Tottenham
Chelsea - Chelsea
Tottenham - Newcastle
West Ham - Man United
Crystal Palace - West Ham
Wolverhampton - Crystal Palace
Brighton - Brighton
Fulham - Bournemouth
Brentford - Fulham
Nottingham Forest - Wolverhampton
Bournemouth - Everton
Burnley - Brentford
Aston Villa - Nottingham Forrest
Sheffield United - Luton Town
Everton - Burnley
Luton Town - Sheffield United
I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I picked the Premier League Champion, 3 of the top 4, and 2 of the bottom 3.
The only team that I really, really missed on was Aston Villa.
So let's have some more fun. Here's my predictions for 2024-2025:
Man City
Newcastle
Arsenal
Man United
Chelsea
Liverpool
Tottenham
Aston Villa
West Ham
Bournemouth
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Brentford
Southampton
Brighton
Leicester City
Wolverhampton
Nottingham Forest
Ipswich Town
19th in the Premier League gets you demoted, you say? Yes, I know.
Now it's not very smart of me to question one of the richest men in Greece, but there's a big difference between being rich in Greece and being rich in the World.
The Premier League is the playground of multi-billionaires, and the net worth of the Nottingham owner actually ranks 19th in the Premier League.
If the Nottingham group was the Little Engine That Could, maybe, maybe they would have a chance. If they had a scrappy core group of guys that pulled together through thick and thin, whatever analogy you wanted to use, maybe. But Marinakis has gutted the entire team and front office. Only Joe Worrall and Ryan Yates have been there longer than 2 years. If Joe Worrall isn't on the roster and back to form by the end of the first week, that will be your first indication of trouble.
I have faith in American goalkeeper Matt Turner, but he was benched in favor of Matz Sels, and then Sels proceeded to put up similar numbers as Turner.
Nottingham has a relatively easy schedule out of the gate. If they struggle early and fire manager Nuno Espirito Santo, by the time the meatgrinder of December approaches, the fate of the team will be like an avalanche, coming down the mountain.
Why so negative? Because Marinakis is used to throwing money at problems in order to solve them. Since Nottingham is still stinging from their Financial Fair Play ruling earlier this year, they cannot dig themselves out of deep holes, so to speak.
You say it's not fair to blame Marinakis? He's the only one left to blame.
You want me to end on a note of positivity? If Matt Turner wins back his job and the team coalesces, their ceiling is 13th. That's if everything goes perfect. Going into a season hoping for 13th and already looking toward 2025-2026?
uh....
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