Your Thoughts On The Current Nottingham Forest Manager

[Username]

It isn’t just down to him. I never said that.

I was pointing out that he was part of the collective responsible.

[Strawberry Avenger]

It isn’t just down to him. I never said that.

I was pointing out that he was part of the collective responsible.

Sorry, Alf.  If you're saying The Coach has no or input that doesn't make sense.  Whether he or even the other parts of the recruitment team or even Marinakis himself have the ultimate say depends.  You can't force players to sign for peanuts at gun point.

And the recruitment you've often talked about in terms of finding the Grabbasn before they cost Grabbans is a work in progress (and has unearthed some gems already this year...) and to get strike rate of that 'Danish' club mentioned in the article?  Forest are at least another two years away from getting close to that.

The Transfer team of The Coach and 'The Others' has only been together less than a year?  

We can ask for the improbable though.  One clubs Gary Birtles is another club's Gary Birtles.  

But, Alf, if you said Recruitment could learn some lessons from the results to Wednesday, Reading x2, Birmingham, Boro and Millwall?  I'd agree with you.

And the Millwall result was defeating. I hope recruitment learns from it, starting this Summer. You need more physical options as back up DCM, to stamp authority at ACM and to 'Over 'ere my san. On me 'had' type striker.

Forest don't have the depth, are lightweight or don't have that option(S) in the aforementioned areas. And 16 results have gone begging against the teams mentioned above. There's your auto spot.

They all have the type of striker Forest have struggled against. So, if someone says to me that the recruitment team will have to learn lessons from this season and can do better. I'd agree. Sure they can. If they are starting to learn that the Championship is a pitched 46 game battle...then Millwall would have made it indelibly clear. Robust players who can play a bit.

Even Billy Davies recognised you needed a variety of striker and depth of striker to get out the Championship due to 'burn out.'  Our recruitment team have yet to learn that lesson and the 'particular' kind of party susan approach to strikers to swiss army knife the opposition. One senior striker for most of the season? *looks at the sky.

That said, even he got 'done' by the lack of depth at DCM with both Moussi and McKenna being unfit at roughly the same time. Lack of depth is a historical problem due to a lack of consistency at the top of the club, recruitment and manager.

Not ready to jump off a viaduct just yet. Forest are level on points with Brentford...and 5 points clear of Bristol City. Hopefully that buys Forest time to get Sow and Silva back.



SA.

[Duncan Mckenzie]

Can we try to stay on track in ALL theads please. Almost every thread gets turned into recruitment debate at some stage or another. There is a dedicated thread for that. Cheers.

[Paplane]

My thoughts on Sabri. He's got 11 players who can get results by playing a certain system. When any of those 11 players drop out, the team is weakened. When Sabri has tried alternative systems, the team has failed.

Imo he's not a genius but he's done well to come in to us out of the cold and be successful. I'd say having the influence of Watson and Dawson in the dressing room are also contributionary factors to our sucess. Sabri deserves a lot of credit but pound for pound I dont think hes any better a coach than Karanka was. He just doesnt have the moody nature that he did.

So definitely worth another season with Sabri, even if we do nosedive for here, but Marinakis has to give him some quality to work with too.

[Strawberry Avenger]

My thoughts on Sabri. He's got 11 players who can get results by playing a certain system. When any of those 11 players drop out, the team is weakened. When Sabri has tried alternative systems, the team has failed.

Imo he's not a genius but he's done well to come in to us out of the cold and be successful. I'd say having the influence of Watson and Dawson in the dressing room are also contributionary factors to our sucess. Sabri deserves a lot of credit but pound for pound I dont think hes any better a coach than Karanka was. He just doesnt have the moody nature that he did.

So definitely worth another season with Sabri, even if we do nosedive for here, but Marinakis has to give him some quality to work with too.

Word.

SA.

[Strawberry Avenger]

Imo he's not a genius but he's done well to come in to us out of the cold and be successful. I'd say having the influence of Watson and Dawson in the dressing room are also contributionary factors to our sucess. Sabri deserves a lot of credit but pound for pound I dont think hes any better a coach than Karanka was. He just doesnt have the moody nature that he did.

To be honest.  Without Sow in the side, I'm not seeing the progress over Aitor or Martin.  Aitor left us in 7th. So progress has to be higher.

(I'd have preferred the latter to stay.  It was only an 18 month contract.  I think the home form would have been better and players who 'get' the Championship to take on the Millwalls, Wednesdays etc.  I don't think we'd have seen the capitulation vs Millwall for example.  Employing managers in January or buying players is 'What did you expect me to do?  Wave a magic wand?')

The 'conditional press' system has found it's limits at home.  Though credit the away form (and Sow.)  

The experiments have crash and burned.  (Though, to be fair, you have to the players (same as Martin here...) to 'do something' if Grabban or Sow get injured.  Not having Championship ready DCM/ACM and Striker back up has cost Forest points.  See the 'R' word thread for details.)

And when Forest have been found wanting it's been 3-0 or 4-0 with gutless performances. But it's the Championship and you can have those 'off' days. They haven't had 'too' many of them. But my concern is this Coach hasn't handled 'those' teams very well at all. The chink in the armour is exposed vs Wednesday, Readings, Boro', Birmingham, Charlton and painfully, Millwall. Rowett run a bus over 'The Coach's' tactics.

6 teams. Who were on bad runs only to be gift wrapped points. And that's a pattern. Come the end of the season, The Coach's failure to get enough wins from those type of sides if Forest miss the play offs won't save him. He didn't deploy the players he did have at his disposal to counter the obvious threat they posed. Eg. Dawson and Yates vs Millwall. Or Car' vs Boro' or play Bostock...who seems far more comfy on the ball than Semedo who has repeatedly proven a more cold than hot and inconsistent player.

Any one of Aitor, Martin (glittering CV) or 'The Coach' need 2 to 3 years.  Any of them 'could' have done it.

Though some kudos must go to the Coach.  To have had Forest 'walking on air' and banging on the top 2, beating Leeds and should have beaten WBA in the process tells you Forest have outperformed on the field given the constraints off it.

But that won't save him if injuries torpedo our hopes of the top 6 (just as didn't save Davies, Aitor or Martin.)

But it seems Marinaks wants it done in one.  The target is top 6.

Or a new 'The Coach' will be with us before long.

The caveat being, until constraints are addressed off the field, Forest will never have the tools for the 'Coach' to sustain an auto magic promotion charge.

I 'DO' feel that 'constraint' will be addressed in time. We're looking at another year or two perhaps.

SA.

[Alf]

That's a brutal but brilliant post SA. The harsh truth of things.

[Strawberry Avenger]

That's a brutal but brilliant post SA. The harsh truth of things.

I don't like to break out the knuckle duster.  But 'hope' has to be balanced with that other 'H' word.  'Honesty.'

After ball, 'Truth' depends greatly upon 'our point of view.'  I have some sympathy with the views of Alf and Malta.  With the caveat that the current owners haven't had the 'Set Up' in place for even a year.  No magic wands.  Time.  

And?  I'm pretty they'll get their time, regardless.  They're Marinakis chosen confidents.  They'll get the time the Coach probably won't because their remit is looking over several years.  Progression.  If they can do it sooner, sure.  They'll expect it from the Coach.  The Target was top 6 for Aitor.  Marina's demands success.  We all do.  I wouldn't want to be in the same room come the end of the season assessment if Forest didn't hit the top 6.

The current Coach has had far more time and resources than the last 'temporary' appointment.  And...yes, Forest sit 5th equal with Brentford.  All the teams above Forest have been doing it longer.  So I don't, in all fairness, expect Forest to be higher than them.  But I do demand it.  Irrationally. 

I 'hope' and have 'wished' like all Forest fans have.  For the manager and Forest to succeed.  Forest have been badly run for a long amount of time.  And any 'criticism' needs to be viewed through that lens, a 'tail spin' that almost relegated Forest 3 times under the last owner.

So, no 'cheap shots' against our current owners.  It's the eternal battle of getting the most out of your players vs the financial constraints of bad regimes post and gradually pulling out of that Wages/Revenue/Sponsorship boat anchor and driving them forward to a club that is more competitive and therefore, produces playing staff that is value for money, technically better and raising the profile of the club to attract those players so they come here and not to WBA.  The two are inextricably linked.

We can look 'other' clubs that have 'done' it or recruited the 'Gary Birtles' that didn't do it for one club but 'did it' like a flash in the pan for the current club.  An example.  Guess who scored for Bristol City?  But that's only two goals in 2 months and cost them a fortune.

'But the reality is...'  (One of my new favourite phrases comes from this pragmatic manager.)

'Negative?'
I thought about Dougie.  Billy.  Warburton.  Aitor.  Martin (who got sweet FA in terms of time...) and even the current Coach.

He took on a poisoned chalice.  It's not always possible to spend your way to success in January.  And how you do within those constraints?  Success can be relative.

Top 6 is still expected though.  It's more likely this season.  That will be progression.  7th will not.

SA.

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

With a suspension of games until at least 4th April and I honestly think that date will get extended will Sabri Lamouchi still be under contract when the season finally finishes.

[Reds73]

With a suspension of games until at least 4th April and I honestly think that date will get extended will Sabri Lamouchi still be under contract when the season finally finishes.

Yeh I would think so - his contract expires 30th June.

9 games could be played in 5 weeks and then play offs for a further 2 weeks.

i reckon games would have to be delayed beyond end of April for that to be a concern

[Duncan Mckenzie]

"We know that sport and football in general plays an important role in our lives. However, nothing is more important than our own health and the health of our loved ones." - Sabri Lamouchi.

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

Anyone know where Sabri is. In Nottingham or in France with his wife and family?