Simon Jordan believes Nottingham Forest have blundered in appointing Martin O’Neill as their new boss.
O’Neill is a legend at Forest from his playing days, having enjoyed great success under Brian Clough in his decade-long spell at the City Ground, and boasts huge experience in management.
O’Neill has won trophies in England and Scotland and took the Republic of Ireland to the last 16 of Euro 2016 in his most recent role.
Jordan, however, claims the 66-year-old is a ‘busted flush’ and feels the Championship club’s hierarchy have made a bad decision – based purely on sentiment – to appoint him as Aitor Karanka’s successor.
Speaking on talkSPORT, the former Crystal Palace owner and chairman said: “I brought Peter Taylor back to Crystal Palace because in Palace fans’ mind he was a legend.
“I felt after being relegated from the Premier League that Peter would bring forward that relationship between the club and the fans and the style of play, and it was a disaster.
“Peter Taylor was famous in his personal life for doing a very wonderful Norman Wisdom impression. I just didn’t expect him to do it in my bloody dugout!
“Looking at Forest… this is club that has fascinated me. I used to go in their boardroom and see Nigel Doughty, God rest his soul, Ken Clarke and even Carl Froch at times was in there, and you got a sense of this football club’s great achievements.
“You look at managerial appointments over the last ten years of people that have gone back to clubs that have been successful as players.
“Tony Mowbray at Middlesbrough, not successful; Glenn Hoddle, going back to Spurs, never hitting the heights he did as a player. The original chocolate teapot himself, who was president of the Alan Pardew fan club, going back to Palace and effectively losing his way there. And Shearer going to Newcastle.
“I look at Martin O’Neill and Forest and say this is a club that needs to get back to the Premier League, and is sentiment and the ideals of owners that don’t understand the dynamics of the football club really making the right decisions about the way to go forward.
“Ask the Sunderland fans what they felt about the end of Martin O’Nell’s tenure. With respect to Martin, who I have met on many occasions, I feel he is a busted flush.
“But I’d like to see Forest back in the Premier League because it’s a fabulous club.”