Nottingham Forest set for management shake-up with a new sporting director in Filippo Giraldi

Nottingham Forest brings in former Watford chief scout Filippo Giraldi as their new sporting director.

The 48-year-old Italian, who was also Watford’s technical director for three years, will come in as part of an expected management reshuffle at Forest.

Giraldi will be tasked with checking the current structure and evaluating the role of the staff as owner Evangelos Marinakis wants to get the best out of his club and investment.

Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis (right) is keen to reshuffle the club’s management after a poor start to the season with the appointment of Filippo Giraldi (left)

Nottingham Forest is bottom of the Premier League after a miserable start to the season

Giraldi joined Watford from Brescia when the Pozzi family bought the Vicarage Road club in 2012 and played a key role in identifying talents such as Etienne Capoue, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Richarlison, Ismaila Sarr and Joao Pedro.

He was chief scout for five years before being promoted to technical director, but left Watford in November 2020 after his relationship with Gino Pozzo broke down.

Watford has built a reputation for having little patience with coaches and high staff turnover, which will seem ominous for Steve Cooper who is under attack, but Marinakis doesn’t want to follow the same pattern and wants Giraldi to use his experience to assess the situation thoroughly before making any decisions to take.

Giraldi helped identify Brazilian forward Richarlison’s talent before bringing him to Watford

Andy Scott (left) discusses his future as chief scout after Giraldi’s arrival

The future of chief executive Dane Murphy, head of recruiting George Syrianos and scout Andy Scott will also be discussed.

Forest recognizes the urgency of improving their results and their Premier League standings, so they are keen to get the most out of all the staff.

Giraldi will be tasked with helping to achieve that, but more changes are expected.

Boss Steve Cooper is under increasing pressure after a bad start to the season

However, the news could still come as bad timing for Cooper, whose offer of a new contract was withdrawn by City Ground chiefs after a 4-0 loss to East Midland rival Leicester, which left them bottom of the league on Monday. .

Cooper was offered a new contract by the club after guiding them back to the top in the summer after a 25-year absence.

But Cooper’s position is now on shaky ground as Marinakis has begun identifying a potential successor.

Rafa Benitez, the former manager of Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle and Everton, is one of Forest’s options if they pull the trigger.