Man Utd and Tottenham fans will not accept losing – sport is all about winning
JEREMY CROSS COLUMN: Nuno Espirito Santo finds himself in the middle of a Greek tragedy at Nottingham Forest - and he needs to get out of there fast
Jeremy joined the Daily Star in 2010 as Manchester football correspondent and for more than a decade has served as our Chief Sports Writer. He provides expert coverage on Manchester United and Manchester City, the Premier League as a whole, and the England football team. Jeremy has covered football, rugby and cricket World Cups, as well as Wimbledon, the golf majors and the Olympics.
He founded the Olympic Games, so deserves a modicum of respect.
But there is no ignoring the fact that the most famous phrase belonging to Baron Pierre de Coubertin is utter nonsense. "The most important thing is not winning but taking part," he once said, "the essential thing in life is not conquering, but fighting well."
Will supporters of Manchester United or Tottenham accept defeat in the Europa League final, provided their respective team has taken part and fought? Do me a favour.
What was the reason more than 100,000 delirious supporters crammed into Leeds city centre last week to celebrate their team's promotion to the Premier League?
It was because Leeds did so by winning the Championship title, and had some silverware to pass around on the open top bus taking them from Elland Road to city square.
Will the losers of this weekend's FA Cup final be grateful to walk up the Wembley steps to collect their medals? No-one remembers a runner up.
It's why Jose Mourinho threw his losers medal into the crowd, after his AS Roma side had lost the Europa League final to Sevilla in 2023. That's because Mourinho isn't interested in coming second.
And this is how sport should be. A competition takes place for one reason, and one reason only. To find a winner. Whether this be a game of football, tennis, rugby, cricket, golf or dominoes down the local pub.
Tottenham haven't won a trophy since 2008, and are relentlessly mocked and reminded of this fact. But hey, as long as they're still competing, it's no big deal, right?
Ruben Amorim insists that even if United win the Europa League, it won't save an otherwise shambolic season. Harry Maguire feels the same. What utter nonsense. If United win the Europa League, it will make their season, never mind save it. The same goes for Tottenham as well.
If Tottenham end their long wait for silverware, it will banish what's happened these last eight months into the dustbin. The likes of Manchester City, Aston Villa, Arsenal, Newcastle and Chelsea are scrapping like dogs to secure a Champions League place.
Further down the table, meanwhile, two clubs closer to relegation than the top have to win one game to land a trophy, and beat some of those rivals mentioned above to a seat at the top table of European football.
We could soon find ourselves with the scenario of seeing City, arguably the greatest team in the history of English football, finish the season without a trophy, but United or Spurs having one. And that's all because United or Spurs will have won something.
Tim Henman is best remembered for what he failed to win, more than what he actually did win. While up until a few weeks ago, Rory McIlroy was best known as the golfer who had never won the Masters.
If you want to know what winning means, compare the footage of McIlroy failing to land a Green Jacket back in 2011, to those pictures of him finally sealing the deal in Augusta last month.
Definitive proof, for those who still need some, that winning in sport is all that counts. And it always will be.
Greek tragedy at Nottingham Forest should make Santo realise he's on a hiding to nothing. At first glance it looked like a fuming fan who'd necked eight pints of lager in the blazing sun. Charging onto the pitch to vent his spleen in a nonsensical manner.
But the bloke making an absolute cretin of himself at the City Ground wasn't a bird-brained punter. It was Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, offering a few choice words to his manager Nuno Santo following the team's home draw with Leicester.
Marinakis proceeds to disrespect the same man who has led Forest into Europe this season, as well as reaching an FA Cup semi final at Wembley.
And this is the thanks he gets. Former Bradford City chairman Geoffrey Richmond once told manager Paul Jewell the season had not been good enough, despite them surviving relegation against the odds.
Jewell realised he was on a hiding to nothing - and resigned. And Santo should now do the same thing, in the privacy of an office of course. Because whatever he achieves on behalf of the Midlands club, it will always resemble a Greek tragedy in the warped mind of Marinakis.