League Championship side Nottingham Forest is "under fresh scrutiny" after again failing to pay its players and staff on time, according to John Percy of the London TELEGRAPH. Many of Manager Dougie Freedman's players are understood to be "furious after the latest financial blunder" by the club’s Kuwaiti owners, who have been "plagued by off-field problems" since completing their takeover in July '12. It is believed that Forest "recently altered the salary payment date" to the last day of the month -- as opposed to the previous arrangement of the last Friday -- but wages had "still not been received" at 2:30pm on Tuesday. Payments "finally went through" at 4:00pm, nearly two working days after they had been promised. Forest operates without a CEO and Owner/Chair Fawaz Al Hasawi "leaves the day-to-day running of the club to an associate," Lalou Tifrit, who is the head of finance & operations at the City Ground. But there have been "frequent issues over late payments, which has resulted in numerous winding-up orders, and this latest mishap will bring further unwanted attention on the Championship club’s ownership." Club officials "promised the money will be paid imminently," with the delay due to the Kuwaiti bank holiday, but players are "growing increasingly disillusioned with the situation" (TELEGRAPH, 3/1).
