Nottingham Forest lost to Everton on Saturday as the Toffees put a spanner in the works of Champions League football coming to the City Ground.
Abdoulaye Doucoure scored the game’s only goal in the fourth minute of injury time and with Aston Villa, Newcastle and Manchester City all winning, things are getting very tight indeed in the quest for Champions League football.
Forest weren’t at the race on Saturday. Nuno Espirito Santo’s team looked way off the pace on home soil for the first time this season and a run of nine unbeaten games came to a grinding halt in the spring sunshine.
Now, with six games to go, the media narratives could change around Forest. Having been third since December 29th when the Reds won 2-0 at Goodison Park, they could drop to fourth on Wednesday should Newcastle win their game in hand.
Gary Lineker and Micah Richards agree on Nottingham Forest situation
Lineker and Richards are two of the most popular pundits around. Lineker has already called himself an idiot this season after predicting Forest to get relegated before a ball was kicked.
However, he’s given Forest their flowers on a number of occasions and after Saturday’s defeat to Everton, Lineker and Richards discussed whether the notion that Forest were getting nervous was accurate on The Rest is Football podcast.
The conversation went as follows:
Richards: “I don’t think they’re nervous as such.”
Lineker: “I think they’re better against teams that have a go at them, aren’t they? Alan said on Match of the Day that Everton kind of beat them at their own game.”
Richards: “I would agree with that to an extent. I think they missed an Elanga, they brought him on, but they just missed his bursting runs, didn’t they? I don’t think they play badly, I just think that was them unable to capitalise on that particular day. I really want Forest to get in the Champions League, I think it’d be a great story.”
Lineker: “I agree.”
Forest still have all to play for in quest for Champions League football
Nobody said this was going to be easy. Forest had to expect that the teams around them would have their upturn in fortunes, just like Forest did in December and January.
The headloss from the Forest fan base has been off the scale since the weekend and quite frankly, as frustrating as the defeat was, there is just no need for it at all.
Forest will come good once again. People have written them off all season and hopefully, a fully fit squad can be available to Espirito Santo for the final half a dozen games of the campaign.
Forest must now regroup after two setbacks and prepare for the finishing stages of the campaign, with the pot of gold still waiting at the end of the rainbow for the Reds to go and grab.
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