Garry Birtles insists "it won't work" between Chris Hughton and CEO Dane Murphy at Nottingham Forest. 

Hughton is under serious pressure at the City Ground at the moment, with his Forest side picking up only one point from their opening six games.

The Reds have got off to their worst league start in 108 years, and Sunday's defeat to Cardiff City was their fifth of the season already.

Hughton's squad was bolstered with new signings in the latter stages of the transfer window, with Braian Ojeda, Mohamed Drager, Xande Silva, Djed Spence and Rodrigo Ely all joining on Deadline Day and after it.

Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live's Garibaldi Red podcast, Garry Birtles has suggested that Hughton and Murphy's ideas over recruitment are different, and insisted that "it won't work" between the two men.

He said: "The game is evolving all the time. I don't think a manager or coach can't have carte blanche on signings.

"If you have a chief exec bringing in players and a manager who wants his players, there will be a clash.

"It won't work. You worry the collision will come."

Murphy became Forest's CEO in the summer, leaving Barnsley after spending two years at Oakwell, and working with more progressive coaches in Valerien Ismael and Gerhard Struber.

The Verdict

When you look at the way Ismael plays and the way Hughton plays, it's chalk and cheese.

Murphy is a young, up and coming CEO who normally likes to see his club play expansive, free-flowing football and get the best out of the attacking players.

Hughton's side have never really scored a lot of goals since he came to the City Ground, though, and you do have to worry about his future if Forest lose against Middlesbrough tomorrow night.