What Eddie Howe has been thinking after watching Chris Wood play for Nottingham Forest this season

Add as preferred source on Google

Chris Wood gets a chance to haunt St James’ Park once more on Sunday when Nottingham Forest face Newcastle United, with Eddie Howe taking a keen interest in Wood’s form.

Howe spoke highly of Wood when he left Newcastle which showed that despite not scoring at the same rate he has at Forest, the Kiwi striker left a positive mark on his former club.

After only managing five goals in 39 appearances for the Magpies, Wood has become Forest’s top Premier League scorer since signing for the club in January 2023, speaking to how effective Nuno Espirito Santo has played to Wood’s strengths.

Wood didn’t win New Zealand’s top sport award for 2024 which may come as a slight surprise given his incredible form at Forest, with 18 goals this season so far in the Premier League which is one more than Alexander Isak, who effectively replaced Wood at Newcastle.

The Swedish striker is clearly a world-class talent but Wood has a better shot-conversion rate than Isak this season which may have some circles within the Newcastle fanbase wishing that their club had kept hold of the Kiwi.

Wood will be delighted with how his Forest career has gone, which has caught the eye of his former manager Howe in his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s clash.

• READ MORE: Chris Wood scores, Murillo makes statement – three predictions for Nottingham Forest vs Newcastle

Eddie Howe has kept an eye on ‘outstanding’ Chris Wood

The striker’s form was rewarded as Wood signed a new Forest deal to hopefully keep the incredible level of output up for years to come.

To his credit, Howe has never shown any bitterness towards Wood’s brilliance since leaving his side and has taken the opportunity in front of the media to once again heap praise on Wood’s post-Newcastle renaissance.

Howe said: “I think he’s been outstanding. Chris, when he came to us, helped us in a really difficult situation fighting relegation. We felt we needed a focal point in that position, someone who could take a lot of pressure off us as a team and give us a physical presence.

“Woody did all of those things and I thought he was absolutely outstanding for the team. It’s probably often underestimated how he affected our style of play that helped us stay in the league, he was an ever-present and did really well.”

It was never just goals for Wood at Newcastle as when his side were struggling with potential relegation, his work rate shone through more than anything.

Howe continued: “I’m delighted for him on a personal level because he’s a great character who gave everything for us. I can remember him doing so much for the team, filling in positions, sprinting back and doing things that centre forwards don’t tend to do.”

The Newcastle boss’ memory doesn’t deceive him, as the stats from the 2021/22 season highlight how important Wood’s unselfish play was for Newcastle.

The numbers behind Chris Wood’s tireless Newcastle role

Arne Slot hailed Wood’s work rate when Forest drew with Liverpool in January but that side of his game was shown even better when playing in the black and white stripes of Newcastle.

Wood only scored twice for Newcastle in the 2021/22 season, the same campaign that Howe became manager in November.

However, Wood was exceptional at providing a target for the Magpies to play off, only being dispossessed 0.67 times per match whilst winning 7.85 duels per game.

He also showed off his ability to battle in games that were not perhaps as smooth as Newcastle would like, winning every other aerial duel on average whilst also completing a respectable 55.6% of his tackles which is good going for a forward.

Whilst the Forest manager rightfully praises Wood for the crucial goals that he has scored this season, Howe and the Newcastle fans will look back fondly on Wood as a player who gave it his all in every appearance he made for the club.