This season was supposed to be the season in which Nottingham Forest established themselves in Europe. Instead, they are in a relegation scrap and move on to a fourth coach.
Sky Sports News reporter Anton Troi details the season so far at Forest, what went wrong and the steps taken to rectify it…
Edu comes to town
Edu Gaspard started his job as global head of football in early July and immediately set about revitalizing the team, which won its first season in Europe in almost 30 years.
The £180m was spent mainly on attackers such as Igor Jesus, Arnaud Calimendo, Omari Hutchinson, James McAtee, Dan Ndoye and Dillane Bakwa.
But has Forest actually gotten any better?
By the end of the summer period, doubts were being raised about the quality of the new players and relationships within the club had begun to deteriorate.
Nuno’s end
Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo was not happy.
Before the team’s opening game against Brentford, he asked why the song had not been introduced sooner to get them ready for the first game of the season.
But what annoyed him more was the deterioration of his relationship with the club’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis.
Espirito Santo noted that they spoke almost every day and that it rapidly deteriorated after Edu’s arrival.
It’s clear that a summer deal wasn’t always his idea, and he was therefore frustrated by the lack of time they spent together on the training pitch.
By early September, Nuno was fired.
Enter Angers
Nuno was fired in the middle of the night and replaced just 12 hours later.
Ange Postecoglou was asked by Marinakis to do what he has done elsewhere and win trophies.
The club’s owner was impressed with the Australian head coach’s football philosophy and his achievements.
Postecoglou’s approach on the field and in the practice range was in stark contrast to his predecessor.
Nevertheless, the same criticisms from his time at Tottenham Hotspur soon surfaced. Is your team too committed to a particular style? Why isn’t your side being realistic? Why is your defense so low?
After the home defeat to Chelsea, Postecoglou was sacked less than 30 minutes after the final whistle.
His record of 39 days and eight Premier League games without a win is now a stain on his impressive CV.
local young people return
After Postecoglou’s parabar, Nottingham Forest tried to do things differently.
Now, Edu and technical director George Sirianos have set out to find a coach with Premier League experience who can help boost the performance of this talented squad.
Former Forest Academy graduate Sean Dyche, who trained under the great Brian Clough, has returned ‘home’ to manage the club he once aspired to play for.
Training sessions became louder and more intense, and at first I saw results.
A couple of 3-0 wins against Liverpool and Tottenham were highlights, but Forest were unable to make much of a difference in the bottom three.
Daichi was brought to the City Ground to do something he was struggling with, not just to survive, but to get back on the table.
January sale shopping
Once again, Edu and Sirianos are back in the transfer market.
A striker was a priority for Dyche after Chris Wood suffered a knee injury. The club acquired Lorenzo Lucca and defender Luca Netz on loan from Napoli.
However, the window will be remembered for movements that were not performed.
An opportunistic attempt to sign Jean-Philippe Mateta was quickly ignored by Crystal Palace. This means that Forest once again missed an opportunity by not signing a player who would guarantee to strengthen their starting lineup.
Frustration was compounded by their inability to sign one of their central midfield targets to replace the departing Douglas Luiz.
Summer signings Luiz, Oleksandar Zinchenko and Karim Endo all left as the club sought to release some of their previous contracts.
Bye-bye, Daiche
It was the build-up to Sean Dyche’s most important game as Forest boss.
In 10 days, they will face three relegation rivals for a chance to finally get out of the relegation zone.
A draw at home to Palace, a defeat to Leeds and a failure to score against relegation-almost relegated Wolves meant they only picked up two points in important games.
Boos rang out at the City Ground as Forest had 35 shots but were forced to score against one of the worst defenses in the league.
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Watch for free: Highlights of the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Wolves.
It wasn’t the first time supporters were baffled by the team’s ineffectiveness.
At the turn of the year, against Everton, Forest had 70 percent possession, had 21 shots and 52 crosses, but lost 2-0.
By 10pm last night, the owner had clearly been fully informed and after much consideration decided to send Dyche packing.
What’s next?
Forest, who are just three points away from being relegated, are now leaning on the people they know.
Vitor Pereira previously managed Marinakis’ other club, Olympiakos, leading them to a league and cup double in 2015.
This time last year, he was the toast of the league after leading the Timberwolves to survival with just nine points in 16 games with a game remaining.
Forest will be hoping for the same.
They are clearly unfazed by Periera’s start to the season in the West Midlands, but they only managed to pick up two points out of a possible 30 before being sacked.
Forest will be the 14th club in his managerial career, but he has only stayed at one club for more than two years. Hire Periera for a good period of time, but not for a long time.
His challenge is to remain in the Premier League and advance to the top of the Europa League. However, Mori also seeks stability. They know they need a coach with detailed ideas on how to realize the owner’s desire to become a regular top-eight club.
They also need to plan carefully for the summer transfer window to strengthen their talent and strengthen their first-choice squads.
But it all depends on the survival of the Premier League.
