Stoke manager Tony Pulis was fuming at Joe Kinnear's alleged attempt to influence the forthcoming transfer tribunal by poorly valuing a player with more experience than new Forest signing Kris Commons.
He said: "Joe Kinnear hasn't spoken to me about any of our players, and that includes Kris Commons.
"I find it disappointing that certain people want to do business through the back door, but that's the way of the game and how some people want to operate."
Pulis and Kinnear come head-to-head midway through September when Forest travel to Stoke.