Within months of leaving Arsenal, Platt returned to Sampdoria as manager, a controversial stint which ended prematurely, with other clubs protesting that Platt did not have the appropriate coaching qualifications for managing in Serie A. Platt resigned before Sampdoria were relegated to Serie B.
In July 1999, Platt was appointed manager of Nottingham Forest, who had just been relegated from the Premier League. He actually made a playing comeback in the 1999–2000 season, playing three Division One games, and scoring once against Crystal Palace at the start of the following season.[1]
He was manager at the City Ground for two seasons, but had little success despite spending several million pounds on players who did not perform well and plunging the club into large sums of debt. Platt's tenure at Forest was marred by disagreements with several experienced, long-serving players, leading to them being isolated from the first-team picture and subsequently released by the club. He is still hugely unpopular with many Forest fans who blame him for the club's decline on and off the field during the 2000s, which culminated in relegation to the league's third tier four years after his departure.
