Media View: Expert insight on Forest

The Cherries have won their past two games at the iconic venue, triumphing 2-1 in the Championship in August 2021 and coming from 2-0 down to run out 3-2 victors in the top flight last season.

Andoni Iraola’s team head to the East Midlands bidding to extend to six games their unbeaten league run having beaten Newcastle, Sheffield United, Crystal Palace and Manchester United and drawn with Aston Villa.

Goals from Ola Aina and Orel Mangala earned Forest a 2-0 win over the in-form Villans at the City Ground on Bonfire Night, their only victory in their past 13 games. They have also lost five and drawn one of their past six games.

Forest this week parted company with boss Steve Cooper and replaced him with former Wolves and Tottenham head coach Nuno Espírito Santo who will take the reins for the first time against the Cherries.

Ahead of Saturday’s clash, afcb.co.uk caught up with Sarah Clapson who covers the fortunes of Forest in her capacity as football correspondent for Nottinghamshire Live and Nottingham Post.

NOTTINGHAM FOREST PROFILE

Founded: 1865

Ground: The City Ground

Nicknames: Forest

Record appearances: Bob McKinlay – 692 games (1951-69)

Record goalscorer: Grenville Morris – 217 goals in 460 games

Head coach: Nuno Espírito Santo (appointed December 2023)

Club captain: Joe Worrall

League position: 17th

Leading goalscorer: Taiwo Awoniyi (four in the Premier League)

Last game: Nottingham Forest 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Premier League)

afcb.co.uk: Give us your thoughts on the appointment of Nuno Espírito Santo?

SC: He comes in with a lot of experience and a lot of Premier League experience, which is going to be hugely valuable and useful given the position that Forest are in. They are still above the relegation zone, but are on a terrible run of form.

Once the decision had been made to relieve Steve Cooper of his duties, they needed somebody to come in who could quickly turn around that form and prevent the slide from getting even more perilous.

Nuno is somebody that knows the Premier League and has done well in it before. I know people tend to focus on his spell in charge of Tottenham but he had a really good spell at Wolves.

Forest see him as somebody who can come in and steady the ship and, hopefully, make them tough to beat, which is what they need because they’ve been losing far too many games. In that sense, it’s a sensible appointment.

Cooper had such a great relationship with the Forest fans and that was one of the stand-outs of his reign. It’s always a tough act to follow somebody who struck up such a good bond and he was really successful in his time in charge.

Nuno has big boots to fill, but I think he’s capable of certainly making it his own and, hopefully, steering Forest in a different direction to what they are at the moment.

afcb.co.uk: Tell us about him catching the media by surprise for his first press conference?

SC: He definitely did! I’ve never known a manager be that early for a start. He was more than half-an-hour early and probably would have been an hour early if he could have been.

At about 2.10pm, the media officer came in and said he was about ready to start when he was due to start at three. There were very few people there.

He definitely caught people on the hop, which is perhaps a signal of his intent. He wants to get going, he wants to make a fast start and wants to get cracking. That’s certainly the impression he gave.

He just said “let’s go, ready to go”. It’s better to be early than late and I think most media folk would say the same. We would much rather have somebody that’s ready to go early than them keeping you waiting for a long period of time.

afcb.co.uk: How would you summarise the season so far for Forest?

SC: It’s been a strange one. It started off really promisingly and really encouragingly. They didn’t always get the right results, but they put much better performances against the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United and got the win at Chelsea.

Then, it just started to turn a bit and tail away. Recent games have been tough. It’s gone from being a promising season to being one that looks like another one of struggle.

Forest are right in the thick of the relegation fight, which is not what they had in mind. Realistically, it was probably always going to be a difficult season because of the changes they made in the transfer window and the second season is always tough.

Maybe there was not quite an appreciation of that at first, but they’re right in the thick of it now. Recent performances haven’t been the best.

In most games, Forest have been competitive, apart from in the Fulham defeat when they were atrocious and they readily admitted that. But there haven’t been too many occasions where they’ve been that bad.

They needed to stop the rot after that and got a draw at Wolves. In the final stages of Cooper’s reign, they were a bit more pragmatic and tried to stop the rot and stem the tide of goals they have been conceding.

They’re struggling to score and losing Taiwo Awoniyi to injury has been a huge blow. He’s a talisman and Forest look a different team when he isn’t playing. They’re really struggling to find an effective way of playing without him.

That’s going to be one of the challenges for Nuno because Awoniyi is still out injured so he’s got to find a way of getting them to score more goals, while tightening up at the other end.

It’s been a bit of a up and down season. It started okay but has tailed off in recent weeks.

afcb.co.uk: What’s the mood among supporters following this week’s events?

SC: Before the decision came to let Cooper go, the fanbase had been split. He will always be a Forest legend because of what he achieved. He’s got great standing among supporters and had a great bond with them.

But while some would have been keen for him to stay, others were starting to question whether things were going to turn with him in charge and whether he was the right man to progress this season. There has been a shift in mood.

Performances hadn’t been great and I think supporters were keen to see a change in results and a change to a more attacking style. Whether they will get that with Nuno, I’m not sure but I think the appointment has generally been greeted well.

Some do have their doubts about whether he’s the right man, but most can see that he’s got good experience in the Premier League and he did well at Wolves.

Some of the jury are still out, but others can see he arrives with a decent pedigree in the Premier League and just needs to steady the ship.

He should get a great reception on Saturday and I’m sure he will because the fans understand the part they can play in getting results. The City Ground was such a fortress last season and the home form was so key in Forest staying up.

It hasn’t been so far and the home form hasn’t been great. They have lost three on the bounce at home but the fans can help turn that around and I'm sure they know the role they can play on Saturday.

afcb.co.uk: What type of atmosphere can the Cherries expect at the City Ground?

SC: It will be a strange one. A lot of the fans will be a bit unsure about somebody else being in the dugout, having seen Cooper there for so long and him being the one on the touchline.

I think there will probably be a little uncertainty at first. But the fans get behind the team. When it gets going, the City Ground is an incredible atmosphere and the fans play such a key role. They know that and I’m sure they will do again.

They will want to make Nuno feel at home and show their support from the off. I’m sure they will really get behind him from the start and try to make it a difficult atmosphere for Bournemouth to play in.

afcb.co.uk: Who is their one to watch?

SC: Morgan Gibbs-White. He hasn’t had the best of seasons so far, certainly compared to his very high standards of last season when he was really influential.

This season, he hasn’t quite got going to the same extent but, even when he has a quiet game, he’s capable of coming up with moments of magic and can have a real impact.

He’s now working with Nuno, who he knows from his time at Wolves, so I’m sure he will want to get off to a good start, make a good impression and have a big say on the game.

When he’s in full flight, he’s absolutely capable of doing that and can create things. He doesn’t score too many goals and that’s something he needs to improve on. But I think he will be looking to have a big impact on Saturday.

afcb.co.uk: Are any key players either injured or suspended against the Cherries?

SC: Striker Taiwo Awoniyi (groin) and central defender Felipe (muscle) are both long-term absentees and they don’t have any suspensions.

afcb.co.uk: How do you see this one panning out and what’s your score prediction? 

SC: Forest will be hoping for the new-manager bounce. It’s a cliché and it doesn’t always happen, but they will be hoping it works in their favour.

They’ve lost three at home in a row so they desperately need to turn that around. I think they will go into it really looking to prove a point to the new manager and keen to make an impact under him.

They should have that little bit of an extra edge so I will go with a 2-1 win to Forest.

But Bournemouth do tend to be a bit of a bogey side so I don’t say that with too much confidence but, hopefully, Nuno will get them off to a winning start.

You can follow Sarah on X (formerly Twitter) – @Sarah_Clapson

Officials: Robert Jones (referee), Wade Smith (assistant), Matthew Wilkes (assistant), Andrew Madley (fourth official), Michael Salisbury (VAR).