Evangelos Marinakis has made another managerial change at Nottingham Forest’s sister club Olympiacos, with Jose Luis Mendilibar removed just three league games into the new season — a decision that, by one count, takes the Forest owner’s tally to 25 managers dismissed in 16 years across his three clubs.
Evangelos Marinakis pulls the trigger in Piraeus
Mendilibar, 65, had been in charge at Olympiacos since February 2024, a two-and-a-half-year spell that makes him one of the longer-serving bosses of the Marinakis era. It ended anyway, three matches into 2026/27.
Announcing his departure, the Greek champions were warm about what he had delivered. “Olympiacos FC announces the end of its collaboration with Jose Luis Mendilibar,” the club said in a statement. “With Jose on the team’s bench, we won the UEFA Conference League, we made the dream of every Olympiacos and every Greek come true, and he himself became an integral part of the LEGEND’s most glorious moment.”
The statement went on to credit Mendilibar with the treble — championship, cup and Super Cup — won in the club’s centenary year, adding that “he will be forever linked to our Club”. Glowing words for a man being shown the door, which rather captures the culture.
The 25-manager number, and where it comes from
The figure of 25 dismissals in 16 years is reported by The Sun and covers all three clubs in the Marinakis portfolio: Olympiacos, whom he has controlled since 2010, Forest, bought in May 2017, and the Portuguese side Rio Ave. It is a count, not an official club statistic, and the bulk of it belongs to Piraeus rather than Trentside — but nobody at the City Ground will pretend the pattern is unfamiliar.
Forest supporters have watched a long procession of former head coaches since the takeover, from Mark Warburton and Aitor Karanka through Martin O’Neill, Sabri Lamouchi, Chris Hughton and Steve Cooper to Nuno Espirito Santo and, most recently, Vitor Pereira, who left on 2 July this year. Oliver Glasner arrived from Crystal Palace four days later. If you want the fuller picture of the man signing the cheques, our guide to who owns Nottingham Forest sets out the tenure in detail.
Does any of this land on Glasner?
Not immediately, and it is worth being clear about that. Olympiacos and Forest are separately run football clubs with separate squads, separate leagues and separate expectations, and Mendilibar’s exit is a Greek football story first. Marinakis has also shown at Forest that he will back a head coach he believes in with serious money: some £101m went out over the summer window, including the club-record signing of Liam Delap from Chelsea and the deadline-week capture of Daniel Munoz from Palace.
What the news does do is sharpen the context around a slow start. Glasner’s Reds have two points from their first three Premier League games — beaten at home by Leeds United, a creditable 2-2 draw at Liverpool, then a goalless afternoon against Tottenham in which Neco Williams had a goal disallowed for handball after a VAR check. Still no win in 2026/27, and no cup to fall back on after that second-round exit to Leeds. Our look at who Oliver Glasner is and what he asks of a squad explains why the early performances have been more encouraging than the table suggests.
There is also a Forest connection in Piraeus itself. Jota Silva and David Carmo both left the City Ground for Olympiacos over the summer, so a change in the dugout there has knock-on relevance for two players who were Reds a few months ago.
The next chapter of Glasner’s own story comes on Saturday, when Forest travel to Aston Villa for a 3pm kick-off after the international break, chasing a first league win of the season. Olympiacos, meanwhile, will name their next head coach in due course; the club’s official website will confirm the appointment.
