Aitor Karanka wanted to sell defender Michael Hefele this winter, which has been cited as one of the factors behind him leaving the club according to the Telegraph.

The Spaniard left his role as manager of Forest this morning with them laying in seventh place, four points adrift of bitter rivals Derby County in the final play-off place.

It's now thought that a clash over the transfer policy, as well as a refusal to play winger Arvin Appiah, has led to the former Boro boss' downfall. He allegedly refused to play the exciting 17-year old, feeling his first team was being picked for him.

It is the revelation that he wanted to sell Hefele which will raise eyebrows. Karanka was backed heavily in the summer, but he is reported as wanting another influx of new faces over the next few weeks, with his summer capture from Huddersfield heading out of the door.

28-year old Hefele has started 13 times for Forest in the Championship this season, including the final two Championship matches Karanka took as manager.

The report suggests that the board feel he had been backed sufficiently in the summer and that their spending should have brought better results without having to chop and change again in the current window.

The Verdict

There's going to be lots of revelations and exclusives revealed over the coming days, but it doesn't surprise me that Karanka's constant tinkering has led to his downfall. It's odd, wanting to sell someone he bought in himself in the summer. Did he not trust his own judgement?

Or was it a case of him having too much money at his disposal, too many option that he could exploit and that meant he simply bought to replace players out of form, rather than coaching and coaxing them back to the first team?

I suspect there's plenty of Forest fans who would liked to have seen more of Appiah too, he's a real talent and likely to be a big star. He wasn't getting a chance under Karanka, was that a message to the board?

It clearly went very wrong at Forest this season, yet they're still in seventh place.