All change at Nottingham Forest. All change for the German international team. One switch unexpected, the other a foregone conclusion. More on those in a moment, more World Cup drama unfolding over the past few days. More signings for Spurs. Issue 112. Go.

Another short-term let at the City Ground has now expired

After becoming the fourth permanent manager to take charge at the City Ground last season, there was a sense that things were finally settling down within the confines of Nottingham Forest.

Then again, things can never be settled when Evangelos Maranakis is your boss and with the erratic Greek owner wielding his axe once again, it means the club are now set to name a fifth manager in the space of 10 months.

Incredibly harsh on outgoing manager Vitor Pereira, especially as the Portuguese coach had done exactly what his remit set out for him to do. Relegation avoided, surely the right to take Forest into the start of the 2026/27 Premier League campaign.

Obviously not and with his contract having a breakage clause that needed to be activated by the end of July 30th, Maranakis felt it was necessary to give notice with just two minutes of the deadline remaining.

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You would imagine that Pereira would have gone to bed by that point - I’d assume so, I’m not au fait with his sleeping pattern. On the assumption that he was tucked up by 11pm at the latest, the checking of his emails the following morning would have been a shock.

A shock to Pereira, a shock to everyone else in all honesty. Cowardice in the way he was informed his services were no longer needed but when it comes to how Maranakis operates, I guess nothing can be too much of a surprise when you boil it down.

Especially when you discover who the likely replacement is. Add in the fact Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace built a pretty tasty rivalry last season, and it only sharpens the intrigue.

Crystal Palace dumped into the Conference League after Forest’s complaints regarding multi-club ownership. The South London outfit winning last season’s edition of the competition. Bygones be bygones?

You would think so, life goes on and all that. Palace in the Europa League 12 months later, Forest not in Europe. Delayed gratification and both clubs going about their business in their own way.

However, football has a habit of throwing up the bizarre when you least expect it and just as nobody really expected Forest to be looking for another new manager before the start of a new season. Nobody expected their targeted replacement to be….

Oliver Glasner

Yes, that’s Oliver Glasner who has just won the Conference League with Crystal Palace as his final act at Selhurst Park and considering the Austrian was being linked with the likes of Manchester United a few months ago, this does feel like a rather abrupt switch.

Then again, from Glasner’s own perspective, it is a quickfire return to work in a league that he does have experience of but surely he must feel that his announcement to leave Palace at the start of the year seems even more hasty than it was before.

Because if Forest are now set to name a fifth permanent manager in 10 months, what long-term prospects does Glasner have by the banks for the River Trent. Maybe that exactly why he has taken the job. Knowing a hefty payoff cannot be far away.

Should this deal get over the line and Glasner is installed as the new Forest manager in the next few weeks, I would offer him this advice. Look for rental properties in the Nottingham area, you won’t be about for all that long.

In the previous issue, I made reference to Germany’s shock exit from this summer’s World Cup and the impending departure of Julian Nagelsmann as manager. That impending sense of doom has now come to fruition.

Nagelsmann out. Klopp in? That was my prediction and although it was hardly groundbreaking, it seems as if the clamour is there from a German fanbase who are largely sick of international football after another tournament disaster.

When it comes to international appointments, the stars have to align. No longer is this element of the game the absolute pinnacle. You no longer do your domestic service and then get the call to carry out duty on an international scale.

Which means those men who are viewed as the best in the business need to be out of business when it comes to work. The circumstances may differ but it is very difficult to get a coach to leave the hustle and bustle of the Champions League behind.

Brazil snared Carlo Ancelotti but his tenure at Real Madrid had come to a natural conclusion. He wasn’t plucked away from the Santiago Bernabeu, more the next logical step in his glittering career.

Which is why Klopp and the German national team feels like such a logical step. The former Liverpool boss has made no secret of his love affair with the Merseyside outfit, to the point where many other club projects would almost be blasphemous to take.

A rather finite pool of destinations that he could consider as friendly post-Liverpool, you can cut any Premier League club out of the equation. Real Madrid itself has been blocked off by Jose Mourinho. Barcelona by his compatriot Hansi Flick.

Klopp’s principles would surely never take him to PSG. Would Bayern be deemed switching to the ‘dark side’ after such a successful stint at rivals Borussia Dortmund? My guess is yes.

Working with Red Bull as their head of Global Football is nothing more than sitting behind a desk and doing consultancy. Surely, the urge to get back into coaching could be fulfilled by taking the reins of the German national team.

When you remember he is known for ‘heavy-metal’ football and the burnout that eventually comes with it. This would be the perfect theatre of war to play that style and still have enough in the tank as the club season would allow him to replenish with ease.

The only thing that stops this from being a deal, is Klopp himself. There is no doubt that the DFB (German FA) will have deep pockets to make this work. An appointment of this nature would be a massive boost to the German team.

Not only that, but it would be a massive boost to international football and with Carlo Ancelotti already being in charge of Brazil and Zinedine Zidane set to take the French post after the World Cup, a renaissance period is on the horizon.

Whether Klopp feels ready to return to the dugout remains the biggest obstacle, but if he does, there may not be a more natural destination. For a man who has always thrived on building belief and uniting a nation behind a cause, Germany could prove to be the perfect encore.

What’s better than breaking a transfer record? Breaking a transfer record twice in the space of a week. Something that Tottenham have all but managed bar the ink drying on Sandro Tonali’s new contract. His move from Newcastle dividing opinion,

Not from a perspective of his talents, there is no doubt of those. The Italian midfielder set to be the lynchpin of Roberto De Zerbi’s new look team - a player that he has reportedly admired for some time.

Instead the divide comes from those who find themselves as supporters of a big six club and those who support a club who have made cracks in the glass ceiling over the past couple of years.

Newcastle and Aston Villa are admittedly not the best of friends, the former still annoyed for the latter relegating them at Villa Park in 2009. A 17-year grudge that shows no signs of softening any time soon.

However, they have found common ground in their displeasure of how the PSR rules have shackled their own transfer spend. The Magpies losing not only Tonali but Anthony Gordon this summer. Villa doing their best to keep hold of Morgan Rogers.

Villa winning a Europa League and still needing to sell in order to balance the books - interestingly these two clubs were also slapped with UEFA fines this week for breaking the cost rules on a European level also.

Another example of how it feels like one rule for teams such as Spurs and another for those looking to gatecrash the big six on a permanent basis - this being the underlying problem for clubs such as Villa and Newcastle.

To do so comes at a cost, a rather large cost. You can get away with that outlay one season but then a recalibration is required to stay within the lines. No coincidence that these two clubs yo-yo in and out of the Champions League in an alternate pattern.

Newcastle qualify, Villa don’t and then vice-versa. The equivalent of trying to plan for success with one arm tied behind your back or perhaps that should be foot if we are using football parlance.

However, from a Tottenham perspective, they will point to the fact that their revenue comes from earning European football in 17 of their last 20 seasons. That and the money that comes from staging NFL matches and Lady Gaga.

Revenue streams that used to make Spurs fans seethe when Daniel Levy was operating the padlock to the war chest and although his spending plan was bordering on torture at times, the benefit of hindsight suggests that his revenue plan was right all along.

These streams allow the bids for Tonali to be made at a cost of £100m, it also green lights Matheus Fernandes’ move from West Ham for £85m and his former teammate Crysencio Summerville could be next to make the switch.

The streams are now flowing like rapids. This is where Villa and Newcastle have been caught out but at the same time, the Magpies cannot simply rely on Sam Fender gigs to boost their coffers to a desired level.

That in itself is flippant and I guess the messaging from Spurs fans to non big six members is a little on the nose. Not everyone can host the NFL or music superstars, the premium comes with exclusivity.

Which means Tottenham can pay a premium for players this summer because they have absolutely no desire in finishing 17th for a third season in a row and if this spending spree continues the rest of the Premier League may wish they finished the job properly in May.

Now that Sandro Tonali is all but a Tottenham player, it is a perfect time to crowbar this anecdote into the newsletter. Picture the scene, Newcastle have just beaten Spurs in London back in February.

I’m in the ground (Spurs fan) with my wife and Brother-in-law (Newcastle fans) and after the result, we decided to stay behind to make use of the extensive bar facilities in order to let the post-match train/tube crowd die down.

It was also the same night as that Man United fan needed the Red Devils to beat West Ham at the London Stadium in order to get his haircut. That game ended in a draw, the hair still grows to this day.

Anyhow, the three of us stayed to the very end. Literal kicking out time, 10:45pm or so and instead of leaving out the usual exits where the mass of supporters would be ushered out, we were filtered through a network of lifts and side doors.

Finally we were pointed towards our nondescript exit door, the three of us walked out and who walked back in……Sandro Tonali.

The Italian midfielder was in non-club attire, just a generic hoodie and tracksuit bottoms. He was walking back in, we were walking out. Pleasantries were exchanged, I said “Mr Tonali” (no idea why), my Brother-in-law shook his hands.

Was that the wheels in motion for his move to Spurs?…… Probably not as Thomas Frank was in the final few hours of his reign of terror in North London. The probable answer was him sneaking out for cigarette. Still, it makes you think doesn’t it.

That’s the end of Issue 112 as the World Cup has firmly left the group phase behind.

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Issue 113 lands Tuesday. Another round of distortions as football does what it always does: speeds up and makes less sense.

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