Nottingham Forest academy head Gary Brazil to join Lee Charnley in leaving club
Gary Brazil, Nottingham Forest’s highly respected academy head, is leaving the club and Lee Charnley has also departed the City Ground as part of a series of changes among the backroom staff.
While Forest have taken the unexpected step of not renewing Brazil’s contract, Charnley has also been told that his services will no longer be required at boardroom level.
Charnley, one of Mike Ashley’s closest allies from his previous role as Newcastle United’s managing director, was brought in last August to give Forest some extra experience as they prepared for their return to the Premier League. He was tipped to replace Dane Murphy as chief executive after the American’s departure earlier this year. Instead, Forest have decided not to keep him on.
Brazil’s departure will be more controversial given his popularity with Forest fans and his importance to the club over the last ten years, producing key players such as Brennan Johnson, Joe Worrall and Ryan Yates and helping the club make tens of millions of pounds through the sales of Matty Cash, Ben Brereton Diaz, Oliver Burke, Arvin Appiah and others.
Brazil, who has had three spells as caretaker manager, wanted to stay at the City Ground and has told colleagues that he is intensely disappointed by the decision not to extend his contract.
Warren Joyce, who led Forest to the FA Youth Cup final a year ago and took charge of their under-21s last season, is also expected to leave.
Craig Mulholland will join the club but his appointment will not see him arrive as a replacement for Brazil, with his role set to be more wide-ranging. It is expected that, as well as having an influence on the running of the academy, Mulholland will have a broader remit overseeing the football development of numerous other areas of the club.
It will again see him work alongside Ross Wilson, who was appointed chief football officer in April. The duo had previously been colleagues at Rangers, where Mulholland had worked since 2003 before departing this summer.
Former Sheffield United, Preston, Newcastle and Fulham player Brazil joined Forest in 2012, initially as youth team coach, after a spell on the coaching staff at Notts County. He has had three stints as caretaker manager of the Reds, while overseeing the rise of homegrown talent such as Brennan Johnson, Joe Worrall and Ryan Yates.
