Can anyone save Nottingham Forest's sorry season?

Cast your minds back to last spring and the end of the 2024025 season. 

The sun was shining, most people were still happy with the current prime minister, and Nottingham Forest  had qualified for Europe for the first time in 30 years, thanks to an incredible job by boss Nuno Espirito Santo. 

Fast forward to today, and the club are set to appoint its fourth permanent manager of the campaign after the sacking of Sean Dyche, in a bid to stop a rot that could see them back in the Championship next term. 

It's a downfall that has taken less than a year, but the question is, what's gone wrong at The City Ground, and can any new man turn around the downward spiral? 

Nuno's demise 

As celebrated Nuno's achievements were last season, it came with a shred of discontent from owner Evangelos Marinakis, who believed the club should have made the Premier League's top five after spending the majority of the second half of the campaign in the Champions League spots. 

Instead, it was a Europa Conference League place for a team that battled with relegation the season prior, but the Greek's frank on-pitch discussion with his manager following their failure to beat Leicester towards the end of the season was just the catalyst to what was to come. 

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It was actually a surprise to see the Portuguese boss start this season still in charge, following the tension that was created after that heated exchange. However, after comments from Nuno about his breakdown with Marinakis and frustration over transfer activity, he was predictably shown the door in September. 

His replacement? Ange Postecogolou, which brought about its own problematic issues. 

From one extreme to the next...and back again 

Fresh off winning the Europa League with Spurs, Postecoglou was seen as a manager who could take Forest to the next level, but the reality couldn't have further from that notion. 

Given a squad drilled into a particular style under Nuno, it was a complete clash with what the Australian likes from his sides and what we had seen from Spurs. 

His high press, big-risk tactics need time to implement, and it's a system that needs time, so coming into a job weeks into the season, it felt like a disaster waiting to happen, which is exactly what followed. 

Postecoglou lasted just a record-breaking 38 days, after no wins in eight games, with a team who looked cluless of what the Australian was trying to convey. 

Conscious of not wanting to see the season end in a farce, the owner then turned to the tried-and-tested, bringing in firefighter Sean Dyche along with 90s Forest throwbacks Steve Stone and Ian Woan as part of his staff. 

It wasn't a sexy move, but one that was more befetting of the squad, one that would appease the fans, and one that should have saved Forest's season. 

Except, once again, it hasn't gone to plan. Dyche's dogged approach has failed to get the club going, frustrated the fans and seen them stuck in a relegation battle, with old boss Nuno and his West Ham team closing in. 

Marinakis' steely stare in the manager's direction after they failed to beat sorry Wolves meant the writing was on the wall for Dyche, but few could have predicted it would come this quickly and that Forest's ludicrous season would take another turn. 

Can anyone save Forest?

In truth, it's no way to run a football club, and the reality is that in sacking Nuno last autumn, Marinakis set in motion the fall from grace that has happened since, which now sees them just two points above the dropzone. 

Who's next through the revolving City Ground door? Well, it's a list that doesn't exactly fill fans with expectation. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is a big name, but the right man for a relegation scrap? While Vitor Pereira has already led one club to the drop this season, does anyone think the temperamental Roberto De Zerbi could co-exist with the current owner? It's a drama waiting to happen. 

Whoever it is, he needs time. Time to stop the current rot and prevent the worst-case scenario, and time to plan for next season without interference or an itchy trigger finger from above. 

Otherwise, this sorry season will be one that the famous old club won't recover from.

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