Kinnear considered quitting

Hart sacked by Forest

New Forest boss Joe Kinnear admits he nearly quit football after his departure from Luton in the summer left him disillusioned with the game.

Kinnear was unveiled manager of First Division strugglers Forest on Wednesday, replacing sacked Paul Hart.

"I'll put my hands up and say I was so disillusioned I thought of calling it a day after Luton," said Kinnear.

"The whole scenario had left a bad taste and I thought 'that's it for me'."

He added: "But I have missed it badly and I couldn't have turned down this opportunity because I never thought I'd get another chance at a club like Forest.

"Irrespective of the league position Forest are in, there are times in your life when you have to make decisions and I was determined I wasn't going to miss out on this one."

KINNEAR FACTFILE Born: 27 December 1946 Teams as player: Tottenham, Brighton Teams as manager: Doncaster, Wimbledon, Luton Wimbledon record: 364 games, won 130, lost 125, drawn 109 Luton record: 122 games, won 56, lost 38, drawn 28

Having left Luton, Kinnear launched legal proceedings in an effort to recoup the money he claims he was owed in compensation and bonuses.

And the Forest chief is hopeful the dispute will be resolved soon.

He said: "I was owed a vast amount of money because I was on a massive bonus to get them promotion, which I did, and I had a year left on my contract.

"I felt bitter, hard done by and aggrieved about it and I decided this was a case I would fight.

"It's all still on-going but will hopefully we tied up this week although to be quite frank I'll have to write off £400,000.

"At the end of it I'll probably end up with £35,000 but I'm going to take that on the chin and get on with my life."

The former Republic of Ireland international established his reputation during his seven-year tenure at Wimbledon where he worked wonders on a tight budget.

He led the Dons to sixth in the Premiership in 1993-94 and the semi-finals of both FA and Coca-Cola Cups.

But he was forced to stand down from his role with Wimbledon in June 1999 after suffering a heart attack.

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After a spell out of the game he was handed the Luton job in February 2001, but was unable to prevent them being relegated from Division Two.

He led the club out of Division Three the following season but was sacked in a shock move when the club was taken over last year.

Forest chiefs now hope that Kinnear will use his experience to guide the club out of the Division One relegation zone.

Forest held talks with Kinnear on Monday and afterwards chairman Nigel Doughty said: "During his time at Wimbledon he was a key figure in developing a lot of talented young players who have become household names in football.

"Everyone knows how much emphasis we put on the academy at Nottingham Forest.

"He's also an inspirational and charismatic figure and his popularity with supporters at his previous club speaks volumes for the job he's done.

"He had tremendous success at Luton who he took to promotion in his first full season before they were gripped by financial and ownership problems."