The journey to the Premier League was arguably better than the destination itself and Nottingham Forest are arguably indebted to one man.
During the 2021/22 campaign, Forest achieved the unthinkable and returned to the Premier League for the first time in 23 years.
After failing to win any of the opening eight games of the campaign, Forest went on a mesmerising run after the appointment of Steve Cooper and reached the play-offs.
Brennan Johnson was the top goalscorer for Forest and got a lot of praise, with Scott McKenna, Djed Spence, Jack Colback and Philip Zinckernagel all catching the eye.
In the play-offs, however, Brice Samba came into his own and his level of performance in helping Forest return to the Premier League shouldn’t go unrecognised.
Forest fans all say the same thing on the anniversary of Brice Samba signing
It was on this day in 2019 that Forest signed the unknown Samba from Caen and what a signing he turned out to be.
In the play-off semi-final he saved three penalties and produced two moments of magic during the game to help Forest prevail.
Sadly, he departed before the Premier League campaign got underway, moving to Lens and helping them reach the Champions League.
Fans are gutted that Samba was never spotted in a Forest shirt with a Premier League badge on the sleeve and have started to react on social media.
Another disgruntled fan said: “Forever be a crime that he never played Premier League football for us”
“Better than all seven we’ve signed in the two years since he left.”
Another chose a single word to sum him up, simply posting: “Legend.”
Other fans reacted too, with one posting: “Absolute beast. Soak this up.”
A very defiant Forest fan thought his performance in the play-offs was up there with the best, saying: “This might be the best goalkeeping performance ever!”
Forest sill haven’t replaced Brice Samba
It’s hard not to feel a little bit sick about the way in which Forest allowed Samba to leave the club following promotion.
Reports claimed it was over the contract he wanted but Forest wasted so much money that summer that keeping Samba might have been a better use of the funds.
Samba went on to help Lens reach the Champions League and it’s ridiculous that Forest didn’t try harder to keep hold of the goalkeeper.
Dean Henderson was an exceptional replacement but even then there is a case to suggest that perhaps he isn’t up to the same level as Samba.
Keylor Navas did okay – so too as Matz Sels – but they’ve not really replicated the same level of brilliance as Samba did in a Forest shirt.
Carlos Miguel has signed this summer and perhaps he has showcased at Corinthians that he has some similar qualities to Samba.
Right now, however, there is no way that Forest have replaced Samba and the wait goes on for a truly brilliant goalkeeper to leave fans asking ‘Brice who?’
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