Marinakis ref spat is so poor… the toilet behaviour of the Nottingham Forest chief is undoing all his hard work

HOPEFULLY Evangelos Marinakis will not be watching Nottingham Forest’s game at Leicester from home tonight.

Or if so, pray he has a Kleenex handy in case that terrible hacking cough suddenly resurfaces and he gets an uncontrollable urge to gob all over the luxury shag-pile.

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More importantly, Forest needs its owner to be in good health.

The cigar-chomping billionaire has done wonders for the club in his seven years as majority shareholder.

He has turned things around at almost every level, establishing them as a Prem club, integrating the women’s team into the fabric of the business, looking to invest in the Trent Rockets.

For a Greek to take a serious interest in cricket is remarkable in itself.

Yet all that admirable effort reviving a football team with a proud history – especially under legend Brian Clough – is being undone by the toilet behaviour of the man at the top.

Whether or not 57-year-old Mr Marinakis deliberately spat in the direction of the officials at the City Ground is beside the point.

The barely credible excuse that he suffers with a smoker’s cough, forcing him to launch a globule of tobacco-infused phlegm on the floor of the tunnel as he passed by Josh Smith, Tim Robinson and  James Mainwaring, is irrelevant.

Marinakis and Forest need to learn to swallow sometimes. Spitting is unpalatable even when players do it.

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But in the middle of a match they at least have mitigating circumstances, the players are after all running alive with lactic acid.

For a member of the public to do it under little, or no, duress is deplorable.

Even more so when it occurs coincidentally after your team has been on the wrong end of a decision or two in a game.

Forest had just lost to Fulham last month when Marinakis let fly from the back of his throat as he passed by the men in black after the final whistle.

They had seen two penalty appeals turned down, while Fulham won it with a debatable spot-kick of their own.

Annoying yes, but no cause is good enough to warrant that kind of reaction.

Do it in the street when a copper walks past and see what happens.

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Jamie Carragher is lucky to still have a career in television after letting fly with a large amount of spittle at a mickey-taking bloke sitting in the car next to his in a traffic jam.

Mates of mine who support Forest have embraced the commitment and love the passion of Marinakis.

It’s never a dull moment with him in charge, they say. But even they are disappointed in this latest episode.

Ironically, the larger-than-life character lost his rag when Forest were thumped 5-0 at Fulham last season and he stomped out of Craven Cottage in a huff.

I’ve never known Fulham to wind anyone up.

Marinakis’ VIP pass was discovered soon after in the privet bush of a nearby house.

There wasn’t enough evidence for Hammersmith & Fulham Council to prosecute for littering.

But the serial complaining at every injustice is already overshadowing the reconstruction of Nottingham Forest into a formidable football team.

If it’s not the owner, then it’s the manager Nuno Espirito Santo, or the coaches giving it to the referees in brutal and undignified terms.

All the while unravelling all the positive PR that the club deserves for the cracking job of remodelling Forest as a team capable of pushing for a return to Europe.

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And it’s naive to believe the officials don’t remember. As human beings, the subconscious memory bank will kick into action next time Forest needs the benefit of the doubt.

Gobbing off about things you don’t agree with, or simply gobbing in front of other people might make you feel better there and then.

But it’s a distasteful business that can leave a nasty stain on a club’s otherwise good character.

Incidentally, the City Ground, like all others, is a no-smoking stadium.

So isn’t it the perfect place for Marinakis to start kicking the habit anyway?

TV gold Capers

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FAREWELL Geoff Capes, shot put legend and symbol of childhood in the 70s and 80s.

Christmas back then wasn’t complete without the one-time policeman filling the no-man’s land of TV time between festive movies by holding ten car batteries at arm’s length for half an hour.

Or perhaps pulling a juggernaut along by rope as he bossed it in the Useless Sport Olympics, otherwise known as World’s or Europe’s Strongest Man.

I once got fairly close to England’s 6ft 5in man-mountain  at  the  Crieff  Highland Games when I was 11 and on holiday in Scotland.

He was tossing the caber in full kilt regalia and looked every inch the gladiator of his time.

Mum even urged me to get his autograph, which he was only too happy to sign on a scrap of paper.

But I have always suspected it was more for her than for me.

Fifa right this time

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FIFA have been accused of showing preferential treatment to David  Beckham’s Inter Miami when it comes to next summer’s Club World Cup.

There is outrage in the US that the MLS leaders have been given a golden ticket to join the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich at the expanded tournament on American soil.

Critics say Miami have only been invited because Lionel Messi is in their squad – you know, arguably the greatest player ever.

Columbus Crew, currently second in MLS, have such luminaries as ‘Cucho’ Hernandez – who scored five goals in five years at Watford – and Christian Ramirez, formerly of Aberdeen, on their ‘roster’.

Who would you rather pay to see? Not everything Fifa does is completely insane.

MOHAMMED KUDUS has already had one ruck with West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui after being subbed at half-time against Brentford.

Now he faces a three-game ban for violent conduct, plus further punishment for his actions after the red card incident in the 4-1 debacle at Spurs on Saturday.

I can’t help but suspect there is a very talented but highly frustrated young man there who feels he isn’t getting what he deserves in a team that is massively underperforming.

West Ham always looked like a stepping stone to bigger things for the ambitious 24-year-old Ghana midfielder.

Fans could be heading for another Dimitri Payet or Marko Arnautovic situation unless Lopetegui turns things around soon.

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FANS are revolting at the increasing price of season tickets and it’s all admirable to see…

West Ham supporters can release as many black balloons as they like – and hard-pressed punters can wave placards and banners until the cows come home.

But I have said it before that only when they make a real stand by getting up out of their overpriced seats and walking out of a game halfway through, or by refusing to renew at the end of the season, will Premier League clubs listen.

Liverpool fans did it brilliantly with their 77th-minute walkout some years back when the owners threatened to raise prices to £77 – it stopped the plan dead in its tracks.

AFTER his Arsenal side had beaten Shakhtar Donetsk, Oleksandr  Zinchenko made a point of saluting the away fans.

The proud Ukrainian practically stripped naked handing over his kit as souvenirs while he and his countrymen recognised the hell that is their war with Russia.

Not one Arsenal fan begrudged Zinchenko that touching moment after Tuesday’s Champions League clash.

Now tell me sport and politics can’t mix.