The City Ground outfit have transformed their fortunes this season, earning comparisons to a past Nottingham Forest team in the process.
Nuno Espirito Santo has helped Forest climb from relegation favourites to European contenders this campaign.
Currently fighting for Champions League football, Forest are enjoying their most successful period since the 70s and 80s under Brian Clough.
Former Forest player Gary Birtles even compared Espirito Santo’s achievements to Clough’s, something which Simon Jordan has also recently highlighted.
Simon Jordan makes Nottingham Forest comparison
Espirito Santo recently matched a Clough record after Forest beat Manchester United for the second time this season – but Jordan insists the comparisons don’t stop there.
Speaking on TalkSport, the former Crystal Palace owner claimed that the Portuguese boss has helped build a squad similar to that of the Forest team of 1977/78.
“They’ve (Forest) got this assembly of players, you it’s a bit like the Billy Bean mentality in Moneyball. They’ve assembled this group of players that didn’t really have significant careers elsewhere, and have been put together and produced an outcome that has been quite significant because they have been the sum of all their parts.
“No real star players. Yes, Gibbs-White is the outlier to that, and Callum Hudson-Odoi has a reputation and so does Elanga, but they haven’t been reputations backed up by deed. They’re reputations are backed by the clubs they were once associated with.
“This Forest team is much similar to the Forest team that Brian Clough produced when they came up in the 1977/78 season.
“Nobody had heard of Martin O’Neill, nobody had heard of Ian Bowyer, John Robertson, Gary Bertels and maybe to a lesser degree Peter With and people of that nature. Kenny Burns and Larry Lloyd, who obviously had a history with Liverpool but not with the significance. He (Clough) built a team out of that.”
David Moyes is a big fan of Forest’s recruitment
Like Jordan mentioned, Forest’s recruitment of stars such as Hudson-Odoi and Elanga has been key in their surge up the table.
Evangelos Marinakis’ ability to sign unwanted players from top Premier League clubs has been nothing short of a masterstroke, something which has been recognised by the likes of David Moyes.
Speaking after Everton’s win at the City Ground in April, the Toffees boss praised Forest’s smart signings (via Nottingham Post).
“We did it at West Ham – we were fighting relegation and we went on to be in Europe,” said Moyes.
“We didn’t qualify for the Champions League, which it looks like Forest have got a great chance of doing. So great credit to them.
“They’ve done an awful lot of good things, good recruitment, good signings, and sort of brought their club back to life.
“I think it gives everybody hope that in the Premier League, there is a little bit of a chance.”
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