Video: Aitor Karanka on his goals at the City Ground
New Nottingham Forest manager Aitor Karanka says he will take the rest of the season ‘step-by-step’ but is targeting promotion during his tenure.
Aitor Karanka was announced as the new Nottingham Forest manager on Monday (January 8) evening following the sacking of Mark Warburton on New Year’s Eve.
In his first press conference, Karanka said he wanted to take the Reds to the Premier League within two-and-a-half years, the length of his contract.
He spoke to the media for the first time ahead of Forest’s match at The City Ground against Aston Villa on Saturday (January 13) evening.
He said: “The aim is to go step-by-step – for example when I arrived at Middlesbrough in the same position, I said I would like to get promotion the following season.
“We lost the final at Wembley and it looked like a failure and winning a final at Wembley is never a failure.
“We have two-and-a-half years at least for it starting this week.”
Video: Aitor Karanka on his first message to the Forest players
Karanka also revealed what he said in his first message to the players when he met them at the Nigel Doughty Academy on Wednesday (January 10).
He said: “It was to congratulate the players for the game on Sunday in the four two win against Arsenal.
“The message was then that was the way to achieve something and it’s to be ambitious and to realise where they are.
“Sometimes it is easy to lose perspective when you’re at a big club, when you earn your money, train and go home – you forget you have to win the games.
“For me, the philosophy is to love winning because if you want to achieve something, you have to be ambitious and to know where you are.”
