Nottingham Forest staff profiles

CHIEF FOOTBALL OFFICER

Ross Wilson

Nationality: Scottish

Started his career at Falkirk and moved to Watford and Huddersfield before joining Southampton in 2015, initially as Director of Scouting and Recruitment and then Director of Football Operations. Appointed to this new role by Forest in April 2023.

DIRECTOR OF FOOTBALL

Kiriakos Dourekas

Nationality: Greek

Brought into the club by owner Evangelos Marinakis in 2018 following his takeover. Is highly trusted by Marinakis, having worked at his other club, Olympiakos, for 26 years, prior to his arrival at the City Ground. Oversees the football department and looks to the long term.

HEAD COACH

Nuno Espirito Santo

Nationality: Portuguese

Began his managerial career at Rio Ave, guiding the Portuguese side to two Cup finals and qualification for the Europa League. Steered Valencia to the Champions League with a fourth-placed finish in La Liga in 2014/15, before spending a year in charge of Porto. Took charge of Wolves in 2017, winning the Championship title and then achieving successive seventh-placed finishes. Had a short and disappointing spell at Tottenham before leading Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad to a league and Cup double. Joined Forest in December 2023.

ASSISTANT

Rui Pedro Silva

Nationality: Portuguese

Espirito Santo’s number two in his first managerial job, at Rio Ave in 2012. Went on to work with him at Valencia, Porto and Wolves, but not at Tottenham, having decided to pursue his own managerial career. Took charge of Famalicão in the Portuguese top flight in December 2022, but lasted only nine months and was sacked the following September. Now returns to assistant duties at Forest.

ASSISTANT

Julio Figueroa

Nationality: Argentine/ Portuguese

Born in Argentina and worked as a sports psychologist with Barcelona’s youth academy. Was first hired by Espirito Santo at Valencia and also worked with him at Wolves.

GOALKEEPER COACH

Rui Barbosa

Nationality: Portuguese

Played in Portugal for Rio Ave and Nacional. Has been Espirito Santo’s Goalkeeping Coach throughout his managerial career, at Rio Ave, Porto, Wolves, Tottenham and Al-Ittihad.

FIRST-TEAM COACH

Steven Reid

Nationality: English/ Irish

Played in the Premier League for Blackburn, West Brom and Burnley, as well as winning 23 caps for the Republic of Ireland. Started his coaching career with Reading and had first-team coach roles with Crystal Palace, Scotland, West Brom and Forest. Took a sabbatical to be a wellbeing and confidence coach in 2022/23. Was our guest on Episode #41 of the TGG Podcast.

FIRST-TEAM COACH

Andy Reid

Nationality: Irish

Appointed to first-team staff in August 2022 after 18 months as U23s Head Coach.Arrived on Trentside as a player in 1998 and amassed more than 280 appearances for the club before joining Academy coaching set-up in January 2020.

SET PIECE COACH

Simon Rusk

Nationality: English

Hugely experienced, having been U18s, U23s and first-team coach at Brighton, Stockport manager and assistant at Dundee United. Was then England U19s Head Coach for more than a year before joining Forest as their first set-piece coach, just days before Steve Cooper was sacked as manager.

HEAD OF PERFORMANCE

Alek Gross

Nationality: English

Joined in July 2023, having spent the previous decade with Southampton, where he was also Head of Performance. Also worked for Leeds Rhinos rugby league team for five years, during which time they won three Super League titles.

FITNESS COACH

Nationality: Portuguese

Has worked with Nuno at Porto, Rio Ave, Valencia, Wolves, Spurs and Al-Ittihad.

HEAD OF STRENGTH & CONDITIONING

Adam Burrows

Nationality: English

Spent eight years with Derby County before moving with Frank Lampard to Chelsea as first-team strength and conditioning coach. For the last year he’s been Head of Strength and Conditioning at Nottingham Trent University and has now taken on the same title with Forest. In an article in January 2018, Burrows described his role as: “I work predominantly in the gym, on strength, power and areas of injury risk, so that when the players go outside, they are in the best condition to be able to deal with the training demands.”

SPORT SCIENTIST

Tom Evans

Nationality: English

Joined Forest as an intern in August 2020 and was promoted first to Assistant Sport Scientist and then, in June 2022, Sport Scientist.

STRENGTH & CONDITIONING COACH

Josh Bridge

Nationality: English

Joined Forest in summer of 2022 and responsible for player gym programmes.

NUTRITIONIST

Panos Markakis

Nationality: Greek

Has worked for Forest since July 2019.

PHYSIO

Dimitris Kaplanis

Nationality: Greek

Joined Forest in June 2019. Previously had a short spell at Olympiakos. Studied at the University of Bath.

PHYSIO

Mark Devonshire

Nationality: English

Has worked for Forest since November 2017.

PHYSIO

Niall Stevens

Nationality: English

Joined from Sheffield Wednesday as a Sports Therapist in June 2021. Promoted to Physio in March 2022.

HEAD OF ANALYSIS

Stephen Rands

Nationality: English

Worked for Manchester City for seven years, latterly as Head of Performance Analysis, before joining Frank Lampard at Derby in June 2018. Linked up with Cooper at Swansea and moved with him to Nottingham Forest in 2021. One of the most experience analysts in English football.

HEAD OF DATA INSIGHTS

Dan Morris

Nationality: Welsh

Appointed to this new role in September 2022 after five years as a data scientist at Swansea.

HEAD OF FIRST-TEAM ANALYSIS

Sam Astley

Nationality: English

Joined in October 2023 from Manchester City, where he was a first-team analyst. Worked for City for a total of nine years, for the Academy, loans department and first team. Prior to that worked for Manchester Thunder netball team.

TACTICAL ANALYST

Adam Smith

Nationality: English

Worked for Wigan, latterly as their Head of Performance Analysis, before joining Forest in October 2023.

PERFORMANCE ANALYST

Gabriel Stephenson

Nationality: English

With the club since June 2021. Graduate of Nottingham Trent University.

ANALYST

Axl Rice

Nationality: English

Also joined as an Academy Analysis Intern in 2016 and progressed through the ranks to become Head of Academy Analysis and then first-team analyst.

PROJECT ANALYST

Tom Jenkinson

Nationality: English

Senior Analyst with Red Zone Analysis who does 16 hours a week with Forest as Project Analyst.

REFEREE ANALYST

Mark Clattenburg

Nationality: English

The former Premier League and FIFA referee was appointed to this unique (in English football, anyway) role in February 2024. Explained that his remit would be to aid "understanding of how and why certain decisions are made, prepare pre-match packs on the officiating teams taking charge of their fixtures... and improving the relationship between the club and the PGMOL."

HEAD OF FOOTBALL OPERATIONS

Ed Henderson

Nationality: English

Started as Academy Secretary in 2018 before becoming Assistant Director of Football, to Dourekas, and then Head of Football Operations in August 2021.