Nottingham Forest enjoyed a rather blissful transfer window in which the club lost none of their star players and managed to streamline the squad even further.
Nuno Espirito Santo has made no secret of his desire to work with a smaller squad. He’s taken that mantra with every other club he’s managed and he’s now doing the same at the City Ground.
Lewis O’Brien moved to Swansea on deadline day after LAFC failed to stump up the funds to sign him permanently. O’Brien made his debut for Swansea yesterday and earned rave reviews for his efforts.
Joe Gardner was sent off for Lincoln on his debut at the weekend too. He joined Esapa Osong and Ben Perry in heading out on loan from Forest and it proved a largely fruitful transfer window.
Forest also managed to get forgotten man Emmanuel Dennis out of the club too. He joined Blackburn and made his debut in the fourth round of the FA Cup against Wolves on Sunday.
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Local media deliver verdict on Emmanuel Dennis performance vs Wolves
It was perhaps a surprise to see Dennis thrust into action from the off against Premier League opposition. However, the forward won’t get his match sharpness up by not playing and that was perhaps behind John Eustace’s thinking.
It proved a positive decision with the Ewood Park faithful enjoying a flash of what Dennis is capable of. He was lively throughout the contest and gave a very good account of himself on debut.
The Lancashire Telegraph was impressed and scored him a 7/10 for his efforts. They wrote: “Looked lively and sharper than expected given his long wait for a game. Showed flashes and glimpses that were encouraging.”
Dennis will hope to get much more game time as the season progresses. It’s a while since he played regular games and he will surely get even better as he gets back into the swing of things.
Dennis the right player at the wrong time for Forest
It was pretty evident from the outset that Dennis wasn’t picked by Steve Cooper. Clearly, the club went behind his back and signed the player from Watford and in fairness, he didn’t look like a bad addition.
Dennis had scored 10 goals in his maiden Premier League season for Watford after making the switch from Club Brugge and it was anticipated he’d bring some Premier League experience.
However, he was constantly forced to make an impact from the bench under Cooper. He barely started a game in 2022/23 and did well to score twice and claim three assists during the season.
Dennis hasn’t become a bad player. Indeed, in the right setup he could thrive and with the Championship a league that he knows all about, the 27-year-old will be hoping to reignite his career in the coming months.
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