Former Crystal Palace owner and pundit Simon Jordan has challenged Evangelos Marinakis to "write the cheques out" after the Nottingham Forest owner promised trophies in the near future.
Speaking on national radio station talkSPORT, Marinakis said "be ready for trophies" when asked about the next steps after Forest earned promotion to the Premier League at Wembley Stadium yesterday after a 23-year wait.
Marinakis said: "We are back and now we go for trophies. Nothing is impossible for me, if you see what I have done in my life nothing is impossible. You have to be patient and see (what’s next). Be ready for trophies.
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"I want to congratulate them (the players and staff), it was a collective effort, let them enjoy now. You know, 40 years later we shouldn’t talk about the past, we should talk about the future."
Responding to Marinakis' comments, Jordan praised his attitude but challenged him to back it up by giving Steve Cooper the finances he needs to challenge for trophies at the top level.
Jordan said: "He’s very emotional after the game and he’s full of the euphoria. I always think you should keep your powder dry a little bit because you’re going into a league equally as well-healed as you are and there are clubs who are a bit more established.
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"But what’s wrong with ambition? What’s wrong with rocking into the Premier League saying ‘I’m not frightened of you’? Coming in here to make a statement and if you can’t show emotion after a game and allegedly it’s the most emotional, vociferous play-off for a team and you see your fans... That moment is why he bought Nottingham Forest alongside a variety of reasons. Why not? In a moment of euphoria why won’t he?
"The players and the manager will say all they want to say but he sat there carried away with emotion. Off you go, let’s see you write the cheques out and see how you get on. Go into the Premier League with that kind of attitude, that’s what it’s there for.
"When I took Palace to the Premier League, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I should’ve done and I look back at it - these are the moments. He’s in line with manager and them together, these are the moments, there are few and far between, they talked it about it on Saturday. This is the moment."
