Had Sean Dyche remained at Nottingham Forest, the Europa League would now be a distant and forgettable memory.
More often than not, Dyche mentioned that Premier League survival was his sole focus, often being quite dismissive of the Europa League.
A drab performance against Braga was the beginning of the end for Dyche at Forest, and thankfully, Vitor Pereira has got the team motoring in the right direction again.
After last night’s 1-0 win over Aston Villa, Dyche has been quizzed on the big talking point, a strong tackle from Elliot Anderson on Ollie Watkins.
- READ MORE: Stan Collymore praises Forest star
Sean Dyche delivers verdict on Elliot Anderson tackle
It won’t come as any surprise that Dyche believes Anderson should have been sent off for his tackle on Watkins.
Forest’s number eight did make contact with the ball, but his follow-through saw him catch Watkins on the ankle.
Dyche thinks it’s a tackle that just can’t be made in modern-day football, suggesting the Forest man was very lucky.
He said on TalkSPORT: “I think nowadays it probably is. I mean, in old money, I don’t think it was. It would just be the follow-through and there wasn’t as big a deal made of it, and VAR and all the rest is super slow and all the technology. It does make it look worse. I don’t think I like a lot of tackles. You don’t see that much malice in them. I don’t think you see the old days of people crunching each other anymore. Very rarely, I would suggest.
“So I don’t think there’s anything in it in that respect, but it is one that could hurt him, and luckily, he’s not too badly hurt, and nowadays, you do get sent off.”
Forest will take this stroke of luck with both hands, given some of the bad decisions they’ve been on the wrong end of since returning to the Premier League.
In the Europa League, Forest have had some good fortune with decisions, and hopefully that can continue for a few games more.
Anderson showed no malice in his challenge on Watkins and a red card being shown would have represented a very harsh decision.
Forest still have it all to do in order to get by Aston Villa and into the final, but now they’ve given themselves every opportunity to progress.
Receive a digest of our best Nottingham Forest content each week direct to your mailbox
