Nottingham Forest have come a long way since Nuno Espirito Santo replaced Steve Cooper with the team now third in the Premier League.
However, the walls are closing in around Forest right now and the gap down to fifth is just three points after yesterday’s 4-3 reverse at the hands of Newcastle.
Four goals in 11 minutes did the damage for Newcastle. They all came after Forest had taken an early lead through Callum Hudson-Odoi and much to the dismay of the travelling supporters.
Espirito Santo has been praised by Jamie Redknapp this season. The Forest head coach has won a lot of people over for the way in which he’s gone about reviving the fortunes of the Reds.
Yesterday, he was forced to watch on as the team he’s so brilliantly assembled simply folded in front of his eyes and that has provided him with a cause for concern.
Steve Cooper trait rears its ugly head as Forest lose to Newcastle
Espirito Santo has clearly taken the club forward but for 11 minutes yesterday against Newcastle, he got to sample a brief and short walk in the shoes of his predecessor.
Forest were very much a work in progress under Cooper – particularly during the 2022/23 campaign. The head coach had 30 players to try and work with across two transfer windows and naturally things were disjointed at times.
During that season – and even at the start of the 2023/24 campaign when Cooper oversaw the first few months, Forest had a really annoying knack of conceding one and then within minutes conceding another.
When Lewis Miley equalised after 23 minutes yesterday all the team had to do was reset. Instead, another goal followed just a couple of minutes later through Jacob Murphy and Forest faced a mountain to climb against a quality outfit.
It’s a trait that Espirito Santo hasn’t overly been privy to since he came to the club. Players like Nikola Milenkovic have helped combat that but yesterday the old habit reared its ugly head and Forest have to sharpen up quickly.
Espirito Santo needs to address Forest form quickly
With 12 games to go, Forest have a golden chance to do something really special this season and as a result, the hope will be that things can pick up again very quickly.
Espirito Santo has taken a great deal of pride in being a solid defensive unit this season. Even Milenkovic has spoken previously about how uneasy he felt when looking at some of the goals that Forest conceded last season when he wasn’t at the club.
Forest will concede goals. Every team in the country concedes goals but it’s how you react that matters and conceding again so quickly after is basically just folding and from a mental point of view that’s a bit concerning.
Still, there is all to play for this season. Forest have games coming thick and fast right now and there will be ample opportunities for the Reds to put things right, starting with Arsenal at the City Ground next time out.
Espirito Santo has to now earn his wages. He’s got to make sure his team are ready for this fight and stop conceding goals quite as frequently as they did during yesterday’s nightmare 11-minute spell in the first half.
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