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Following their fourth consecutive defeat of the season at the hands of Carlos Corberan’s Huddersfield Town, their latest failure has given Forest their worst start to a season in sixty-six years with the vultures edging closer to The City Ground dugout.
Despite Lamouchi making seven changes to the Forest line up, following their defeat to Cardiff City last weekend, it was a very familiar feeling at full time as the men in red failed to shake off their early-season woes.
Given the number of changes and four players making their debuts, Forest’s opening first-half performance went relatively well. Boasting an entirely new back four, new signings Scott McKenna and Loic Mbe Soh looked to be great investments, possessing a blend of pace, physicality and height. Cyrus Christie carried a threat down the right-hand side of Forest’s attack as he pushed forward from full-back. With added quality provided in the side from Harry Arter and Luke Freeman, Forest’s ball retention showed some improvement.
Whilst struggling to get any momentum going forward, some nice one-touch passing involving Luke Freeman, and Lyle Taylor, almost got Jack Colback in on goal on the half-hour mark following one of Forest’s brighter moments in the first period.
In the next passage, Sammy Ameobi didn’t get his rewards for some decisive wing play that should have brought Forest’s opening goal. Showing real intent to get to the byline, Ameobi pulled over a great ball that just needed a final touch applying. Lamouchi was furious on the touchline, as the cross flashed across the face of goal, almost in disbelief that not one of his players was in the six-yard box to tap in, let alone his new frontman Lyle Taylor.
Huddersfield’s keeper Ben Hamer made two outstanding saves to keep the scores level, his first an acrobatic tip over the bar from Ameobi’s curling effort and an even better reaction save from Mbe Soh’s header just before the break.
With a fairly encouraging first-half display behind them, the platform had been laid for Lamouchi’s men to go on and win the game in the second half. Whilst Huddersfield had shown greater purpose moving forward and had their opportunities too, the Forest rearguard had not been overly troubled.
Sadly, Forest’s second-half performance was desperately disappointing. Forest’s lack of urgency to take the game to the opposition will be of great concern to the Forest hierarchy. Throughout the second half, Lamouchi remained relatively calm despite some frustration with Oliver Langford’s performance.
The Frenchman doesn’t appear the type to be kicking teacups around in the dressing room but for a manager that needs a win, and quickly, this is not transmitting to his men on the pitch as Forest ambled into the second period.
Lamouchi’s miserable evening was cemented as Fraizer Campbell volleyed superbly past Brice Samba to put Huddersfield ahead on 56 minutes. Ex-Lincoln City full-back, Harry Toffolo produced some fine work down the left, pulling over a measured cross for Campbell to acrobatically finish.
Luke Freeman, another coveted Lamouchi signing, brought in to add more dynamism to the Forest attack, badly faded as the game went on. The manager’s decision to push him out on the right-hand side, to accommodate a more robust midfield trio, did not get the best out of the Sheffield United loanee’s talents and thwarted his own side’s threat.
In contrast, Huddersfield looked to get their playmaker Alex Pritchard on the ball as much as possible, and Corberan will have been pleased with his contribution over the ninety minutes. A confident Pritchard could make a world of difference to the Terrier’s season.
Huddersfield, also pointless and without a goal, simply showed more bravery and willingness to win the game than Lamouchi’s men. Corberan’s new style of play at The John Smith Stadium showed some encouraging signs and certainly brought few of their underperforming players to life with both Isaac Mbenza and Juninho Bacuna looking bright in the forward areas and Campbell scoring a beautiful goal.
In his post-match interview, Lamouchi once more bemoaned the lack of quality in his team at vital moments, and whilst there are fine margins in between winning and losing in the Championship, there is no doubt that this Forest side are a shadow of their potential.
“We need to find a solution. It was a very bad result. The performance was not so bad, but the result was very bad. It is only by scoring and by getting points that we can get confidence back.” – Sabri Lamouchi
The alarm bells are now ringing at The City Ground despite only being four competitive games into the new season. The truth be told, the slump had started some time ago. Forest have regressed in performances and results since February 2020 and now find themselves on a run of ten games without a win. Whilst every new season should be a fresh start, the reduced preparation time has not allowed the time for old wounds to heal.
Attempting to remedy huge disappointment, bedding in so many new faces, and in such little time, it’s almost a perfect storm of factors that make this situation a little more complex for Lamouchi.
Having given Nottingham Forest their best season finish in over ten years, the decision for the owners to stick by him in the summer seemed a logical choice on the surface. Lamouchi had over-achieved in many respects as he kept Forest in the promotion reckoning for much of the ill-fated 2019/20 campaign but his conservative approach, from which he laid his solid foundations, has not been built upon.
Despite the array of talent at his disposal, the failure to start matches on the front foot and win a game of football is frustrating the Forest fanbase with many supporters now clamoring for a change in direction.
Owner Evangelos Maranakis’ level of investment is to take Forest up to the Premier League this season and Lamouchi’s time is now on countdown. Failure to score a goal and register any points against Bristol City next weekend could be fatal, leaving the East Midlands club in familiar territory once again of looking for a new manager.
