Nuno leaves Forest 'beloved by fans'

In just under two years, Nuno Espirito Santo guided Nottingham Forest from a relegation battle back into Europe for the first time in 30 years.

He leaves beloved by Forest fans but after a clear breakdown in relationship with owner Evangelos Marinakis.

He created a siege mentality which served Forest well and, despite both being big characters, it appeared a perfect match between him and Marinakis.

Last season's shock European challenge ended in missing out on Champions League football on the final day, a finish which may now have been crucial to Nuno's future.

Forest still finished seventh and reached the Europa League - being promoted to the competition after Crystal Palace's demotion - but for Nuno, the club did not prepare quickly enough this summer.

Successive swipes in news conferences about the club's slow movement in the summer transfer market included the revelation that his relationship with Marinakis had changed.

It was a shock, given how guarded the Portuguese manager usually is.

Forest spent more than £180m this summer, but Nuno was unhappy with being unable to integrate his new players swiftly enough.

Suggestions of a rift with Edu, Nottingham Forest's global sporting director, lingered and the 3-0 defeat by West Ham last week was the worst performance of his reign, coming before talks with Marinakis about the club's future direction following his comments.

Nuno said, although not entirely convincingly, that he expected to be in charge for Saturday's trip to Arsenal - but Forest's future is now without him.

A search for his replacement is not expected to be a lengthy one, with former Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou previously linked.