Latest news with #NottinghamForest
BBC News
25 minutes ago
- Business
- BBC News
'Tuchel will want him in a Champions League team'
Former Nottingham Forest midfielder Steve Hodge believes that the Reds will struggle to hold on to their best players going into next season, particularly Morgan told BBC Radio Nottingham's Shut Up And Show More Football podcast that Gibbs-White needs to be in the Champions League in order to make a World Cup squad."It's a fact, it's the way of football," he said. "If he wants to go to a World Cup he'll probably believe that Thomas Tuchel wants him in a Champions League team, either in England or Europe somewhere."These players are here for their career, to enhance their career, and if they see a better opportunity elsewhere they will want to move on. I think that's genuinely how players should look at it."Opportunity comes along every now and then and the players will look at it and think: 'I want to be at the World Cup next year so I need to be playing in the Champions League.'"Thomas Tuchel and the like will say: 'You need to be with a team that's challenging with the pressure of having to go somewhere and win a game.' At Forest, it's a bit different."Listen to more from Hodge on the Shut Up And Show More Football podcast on BBC Sounds here
Sinar Daily
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Sinar Daily
Maresca blasts critics after Chelsea qualify for Champions League
The Blues finished fourth in the Premier League, shattering seventh-placed Forest's own bid for a top five berth. 26 May 2025 09:11am Chelsea's Italian head coach Enzo Maresca (R) reacts at Chelsea's English midfielder #20 Cole Palmer during the English Premier League football match between Nottingham Forest and Chelsea at The City Ground in Nottingham, central England, on May 25, 2025. (Photo by Ben STANSALL/AFP) NOTTINGHAM - Enzo Maresca launched a foul-mouthed rant at Chelsea's critics after his team qualified for the Champions League with a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest on Sunday. Levi Colwill's 50th-minute tap-in booked Chelsea's return to Europe's elite club competition after a two-year absence. Chelsea players celebrate after the English Premier League football match between Nottingham Forest and Chelsea at The City Ground in Nottingham, central England, on May 25, 2025. Chelsea won the match 1-0. (Photo by Ben STANSALL/AFP) The Blues finished fourth in the Premier League, shattering seventh-placed Forest's own bid for a top five berth. Chelsea can complete a memorable first season in charge for Maresca by beating Real Betis in Wednesday's UEFA Conference League final in Poland. They are aiming to become the first team to win all three UEFA competitions after their past success in the Champions League and Europa League. Despite Chelsea's relative success, criticism has never been far away for Maresca, whose conservative tactics have been jeered by frustrated fans at times. Having led the youngest team in Premier League history into the Champions League, Maresca was happy to shove the taunts back down his critics' throats. "I didn't have any doubt, to be honest, about the players, I said that the doubt was from outside," he said. "All the ones that think they are the answer, or all the ones that they are the truth, they were saying that we are too young, we are not good enough. "They were saying that we were not able to win on this pitch because we are too young, because we are not experienced. "Unfortunately for them, they'll be all wrong, the ones that think they are the truth and they have the answer for everything. "In English we say 'F Off' to all of them. The players, they deserve that, I have said before, they have been fantastic." 'It was not a disaster' The defiant Maresca, who was hired from Leicester after winning promotion last year and is in only his second season as a manager, maintained his combative blast as he demanded respect for Chelsea's top five finish. "Manchester City lost here. Arsenal drew here. Liverpool drew here. Chelsea won. It's not easy. The players, they show how good they are," he said. "We are in business where the people judge us because of the results, and today, in case we were not able to win the game, probably all of you judge this season a disaster, but it was not a disaster." Forest had to win and hope other results went their way to reach the Champions League for the first time since 1980-81. Despite Newcastle and Aston Villa losing, Forest will play in the third-tier UEFA Conference League next season. Nuno Espirito Santo's side were able to win only one of their last five games, but the Portuguese said the season was a success. "When you look back at all of the season, I think it's a good season. We have been able to improve many things in our team and we have a good platform," he said. "We should be proud of the way we have a group of people who want to help each other to improve, including through bad times like today. We stick together. "We are disappointed. But in a couple of hours you will look back and realise it's been good. "They gave it their all. That's why I say we should be proud. Now we have to rest, and deservedly so." - AFP More Like This
New York Times
3 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
Nottingham Forest Conference League explainer: Dates, potential opponents and prize money
Nottingham Forest will be playing in Europe next season for the first time since 1995-96. Though Nuno Espirito Santo's side narrowly missed out on the Champions League football they and the fans craved, their seventh-place finish confirms their spot in the final qualifying round for the league phase of the UEFA Conference League. Here, The Athletic gives you the lowdown on how that competition works, who Forest might face in that play-off and what the overall schedule looks like. The tournament has been running since the 2021-22 season, when it was introduced as UEFA's new third-tier European competition — below the Champions League and Europa League. Roma of Italy won the competition in its first season, to secure their only major UEFA trophy. This prompted the club's manager at the time, Jose Mourinho, to observe that they had 'made history'. David Moyes then led West Ham United to a nail-biting win in 2023, calling it one of the biggest moments of his long career. The following year, Forest's sister club Olympiacos became the first Greek side to win a major UEFA trophy. In the 2024-25 edition, which Chelsea won earlier this week, the Conference League — after the completion of four qualifying rounds — followed the Champions League and Europa League in adopting a league phase with all 36 competing teams in together instead of the pre-existing eight-groups-of-four. This format will be used next season, too. Advertisement Each side played six different opponents (three games at home, three away), rather than the eight matches in the Champions League and Europa League, with the top eight in the final table advancing directly to the round of 16 and those sides who finish from ninth to 24th entering knockout stage play-offs, with the eight victors from those ties completing the last 16. The bottom 12 after the league phase are eliminated. After the league phase, it is a straight two-leg, home-and-away knockout competition all the way to a one-off final in May. Forest's play-off round tie will be held over two legs on August 21 and August 28, which is after the start of the new Premier League season. They will not find out who their opponents will be until the draw on August 4. All 36 teams entering the league phase will do so by qualifying, with none being directly placed into the competition proper. The stage at which teams begin qualifying is based on their domestic association's club coefficient ranking, which is calculated by UEFA. England currently tops these rankings, ahead of Italy, Spain, Germany and France — which is why Forest will enter qualifying in the last round before the league phase. Before that, three qualifying rounds — which will decide who Forest might face in that play-off — will take place. First qualifying round: June 17 Second qualifying round: June 18 Third qualifying round: July 21 Play-off round: August 4 First qualifying round: July 10 and 17 Second qualifying round: July 24 and 31 Third qualifying round: August 7 and 14 Play-off round: August 21 and 28 There are many possibilities. The teams guaranteed to be in the play-off round — other than Forest — are Fiorentina, Germany's Mainz, Rayo Vallecano from Spain and France's Strasbourg. The top five nations in the association club coefficient rankings only have one team each in the competition, with all of them starting their involvement in the play-off round. However, Forest will be seeded for the play-off round so will face, in theory, a side from the weaker half of the pot. This will not influence whether they have a home or away match in the tie's second leg, though. There are places in qualifying given to clubs from all across the continent, ranging from AZ (the Netherlands), Santa Clara (Portugal), Dundee United (Scotland) and AEK Athens (Greece) to some genuine minnows, such as Araz-Naxcivan (Azerbaijan), Astana (Kazakhstan), St Patrick's Athletic (Republic of Ireland), Haverfordwest County (Wales), Calpe City Magpies (Gibraltar) and La Fiorita (San Marino). La Fiorita play in a town called Montegiardino, which has a population of around 1,000. Advertisement Teams eliminated in certain qualifying rounds for the Champions League and Europa League will also join the party at various stages of the Conference League's qualification process. So in short, Forest have no idea who they might be up against in that play-off. The league-phase matches will take place on the following dates: Matchday 1: October 2 Matchday 2: October 23 Matchday 3: November 6 Matchday 4: November 27 Matchday 5: December 11 Matchday 6: December 18 The knockout-stage ties will take place on the following dates: Knockout phase play-offs: February 19 and 26 Round of 16: March 12 and 19 Quarter-finals: April 9 and 16 Semi-finals: April 30 and May 7 Final: May 27 League phase: August 29 Knockout phase play-offs: To be determined Round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final: February 27 The draws for the league phases of all three UEFA club competitions are now done via computer, to speed up the complicated process. All roads for the 2025-26 competition lead to the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany. Home of Bundesliga side RB Leipzig, it has a capacity of just under 48,000 and hosted games at the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2024. As well as the glory of a European trophy, the Conference League's winners are guaranteed a league-phase place in the following season's Europa League — unless they have already qualified for the Champions League by virtue of their domestic league position, as Chelsea have done this time. As for the prize money, reaching the league phase of the 2024-25 Conference League earned you an estimated base fee of €3.2million (£2.7m; $3.6m), while each win in that league phase worth €400,000 and every draw €133,000. Teams who secured a top-eight finish in the league phase received another €400,000, while finishing from ninth to 24th earned €200,000. There was an €800,000 bonus for reaching the round of 16, €1.3m more for getting to the quarter-finals and €2.5m if your challenge ended in the semis. Runners-up Real Betis took €4m home to Spain and Chelsea received €7m. Advertisement Some optimistic Forest fans have already been booking flights to, and hotels in, Leipzig for the dates around the final, on the off-chance that their team do play in that fixture in a year's time. There is no possibility of Forest's sister club, Olympiacos, dropping down into the Conference League to potentially face them, as they will be in the Champions League as Greek title winners. This means there will be no conflict of interest for Evangelos Marinakis, who owns both clubs. He had placed his shares in Forest in a blind trust and had planned to step away from having any influence in the running of the club, in preparation for both teams potentially being in the same European competition and in order to adhere to UEFA's rules on multi-club ownership, but this will no longer be necessary. The bottom line is that Forest are playing in European competition for the first time since Frank Clark led them to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup (now the Europa League) in March 1996 where they lost to eventual winners Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals. The prize money and kudos may not be on the level they would have been if Forest had qualified for the Champions League, but the fans will be determined to enjoy the ride wherever on the continent it takes them. And as we have seen with other English teams in recent years, the chance to compete for a European trophy is not to be sniffed at.
Daily Mirror
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Enzo Maresca accused of lying by Chelsea legend after winning Conference League
Enzo Maresca has been called up on his comments in the aftermath of Chelsea's final Premier League match of the season following their victory in the Conference League final Enzo Maresca has lied about the doubts he felt around his Chelsea squad earlier in the season, according to Frank Leboeuf. Maresca ended the season triumphantly by guiding Chelsea to fourth in the Premier League before winning the Conference League with a win over Real Betis. The Blues have risen to the pressure impressively, seeing off Nottingham Forest 1-0 on Sunday to secure a place in next season's Champions League, before producing a comeback over Betis. The Spanish side led 1-0 at half-time in Wroclaw, but Maresca's changes helped his side roar back and win 4-1. Goals from Enzo Fernandez, Nicolas Jackson, Jadon Sancho and Moises Caicedo earned a new trophy for Chelsea's collection and ensured a wholly positive feeling at the end of a busy 2024/25 campaign. Maresca has revelled in the achievements from his debut campaign in charge, but former Chelsea star Leboeuf has criticised his words. 'I didn't have any doubt about the players. The doubt was from outside,' Maresca said in a rant after the Forest win which saw him tell Chelsea's critics: 'F off to all of them, because the players deserve that.' But Leboeuf believes this assertion is simply not true. He told ESPN: 'He is right and he has a right to brag. He finished fourth in the league and won the Conference League today and we didn't think he could finish fourth and that's the reality. 'But his first sentence is a lie. He said he never had doubts about his team. Yeah, he had doubts like everybody else, even the players had doubts about the capacity of consistency. As we said this season in the Premier League inconsistency is the word of the season. Nobody has been consistent, even Liverpool hasn't been consistent. 'Chelsea, for some people, they were in the race for the title in December. I said wait for the first defeat and what happened? They went down. No doubt Mr Maresca? Yes you had doubts, of course you had doubts.' Speaking in his post-match press conference after the Conference League win, Maresca did admit that his Forest outburst was 'a little bit exaggerated'. He said: 'Hopefully, it can be a starting point to build a winner mentality. You need to win games, you need to win competition. And for sure, the trophy we won tonight is going to make us better. 'But also, I'm very proud about the path or the journey we have done in the Premier League. But for me, it's the most difficult competition in the world. You have to be consistent in 38 games. And these players, they showed. 'That's why after Nottingham Forest, my outburst was a little bit exaggerated. But the reason why is just because in 38 games, you need to be consistent. And with the youngest squad in the history of the Premier League, it's something unbelievable.'
Daily Mail
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Jesse Lingard shocks fans with 'fresh' new look - as former Man United star reveals how often he gets his hair cut in South Korea
Jesse Lingard has dazzled fans by sporting a shock new haircut as the former Manchester United star continues to enjoy life in Korea. The 32-year-old, who spent 14 years at boyhood club Manchester United, made a surprise move to FC Seoul in February last year after spending eight months without a side having being released by Nottingham Forest. The former England international has scored four goals in 16 league matches for Seoul this season, who sit seventh in the K League 1. Lingard showed off his new trim in an interview with GQ Korea and also admitted to visiting his barber at least once a week. 'Every time I get a haircut, I like to brush. I need to be looking fresh. Most of our games are on television, I like to look fresh,' he said. 'Probably once a week, I get a haircut. Very popular in England, this haircut.' Former United team-mate Fosu-Mensah was quick to compliment Lingard on his new look Old team-mate Timothy Fosu-Mensah, who spent five years at United, was quick to compliment Lingard's new style, commenting 'like the hair bro,' on his Instagram. Lingard moved to West Ham on loan a year before his Forest switch and the Englishman bagged nine goals in 16 games. But he struggled at the City ground, featuring just 20 times before being released in summer 2023. He revealed 'life's good' in Korea and believes he has rapidly adapted to the different style of football. The United academy also admitted to scoffing McDonalds and Papa Johns since moving to Korea. 'When we have our days off or I want a cheat meal... it could be McDonalds, it could be Papa Johns. 'My friend who lives with me, [he] only eats chicken. So, yeah, Gongbao Chicken, we enjoy that a lot, or the K-Dot Barbeque chicken, I like it a lot as well.' Lingard's agent recently revealed an interesting quirk in his contract, which sees an unusually large commercial element. Tom Keane told the Overlap: 'So, part of that [contract] was Jesse would be paid his football salary but because of his sort of name and what he could bring to the club, there was a percentage of ticket sales, merchandise and corporate partnerships. 'So, like, this quite complex commercial deal. So, that was part of it. But then there was this cultural thing where I saw draft contracts... like that aspect of it was dealt with in like two lines. 'We spoke to the club and there was very much like 'well we've discussed it'. So, they kind of trust us. 'And I was like but 'we don't work like that here in Europe'. 'That was like culturally quite interesting and with that contract we obviously got into a place we were happy with.'
