Worrying times at Nottingham Forest leaves Chris Hughton staring down the barrel

Chris Hughton’s time at Nottingham Forest is hanging in the balance as the Reds slumped to their fifth defeat in six games following a disastrous start to the new season.

Given the alarming collapse against Cardiff City in Sunday’s 2-1 defeat, fans again called for change at The City Ground at the final whistle. Despite seeing their side put in a more encouraging first-half display that saw them take the lead through Lewis Grabban’s well-taken goal, the Reds were outmuscled and bullied into submission all too easily by Cardiff’s physicality.

After the break, Forest were second-best in all departments and were no match for Cardiff’s desire to win the game. Once substitutes Kieffer Moore and Rubin Colwill were introduced by Mick McCarthy to apply more pressure on the Forest goal, the pair made all the difference, with Colwill at the double to complete their impressive turnaround.

Forest had no answer once Colwill had levelled and barely troubled the Bluebirds’ goal, struggling to match the visitors in terms of effort and guile.  With some players struggling for form, there are worrying signs that Forest are starting to look rudderless.

With inspiration needed to galvanise a club where fans do not know where their next win is coming from, it is difficult to see currently where the Forest are going to find this. Both Lewis Grabban and Lyle Taylor took to the touchline to speak with the manager about further instruction during Sunday’s defeat, but their response was futile as Cardiff coasted to victory.

Eerily mirroring that of the last campaign under Sabri Lamouchi, this is Forest’s worst start to the season in 108 years. Their current form is of alarming concern to a fanbase that is steadily running out of patience with the manager and ownership.

A sound looking appointment following Lamouchi’s cataclysmic end to his Forest career, Hughton has barely gotten Forest looking anywhere near the levels that threatened to mount a promotion bid in the 2019/20 season.

Restoring a stubborn defence to its expected capabilities is about the best of Hughton’s achievements, but the timely return of Joe Worrall during that period was a highly influential factor in stopping that rot. Having shown some green shoots in January, Forest under Hughton has failed to muster any real momentum in performances that would suggest they are anything better than a mid-table side.

A lack of goals plagued their disappointing end to the season, having put any relegation concerns to bed but considering that Forest has proven Championship players within their ranks and have added the likes of Manchester United’s James Garner and Watford’s Philip Zinckernagel, the outcome remains the same and Forest are unable to outscore their opponents.

Off the pitch, the appointment of Chief Executive Dane Murphy has yet to herald a welcome change in philosophy at the club. As a club that boasts a fruitful academy system but contradicts its very existence by spending heavily on past their peak players, Forest’s approach seems disjointed from the outside.

Recruitment was a huge problem in the previous summer and whilst business on paper looks to have some potential, it remains to be seen if they can solve their goals crisis. Currently, Forest do not have a striker in their ranks that can hold the ball up and bring others into play on a consistent basis. It was sadly another case of one way traffic as both Lyle Taylor and Lewis Grabban struggled against the man mountains of Aden Flint and Shaun Morrison on Sunday.

Still showing no real consistent patterns of play in their attacking strategy, Hughton withdrew both Zinckernagel and Brennan Johnson following quiet displays. Joe Lolley continues to look a shadow of a player that was valued in the £15 million-plus bracket just a few seasons ago. Hughton struggling to get the best out of those talents is of deep concern amongst Forest supporters.

Off the pitch, there were rumblings on social media as ex-Forest striker and father of Brennan Johnson, David Johnson, took to Twitter to level criticism at the board, branding them ‘a disgrace’ as to how the club is being run from within. Supporters group Forza Garibaldi also couldn’t hide their disenchantment with how the season is already beginning to look like being spent in the bottom half of the table.

The supporters of this football club are black and blue from the torment of previous years. Long suffering does not begin to explain what we have had to endure and still it continues.

The loyalty of the fans was clear again today but disenchantment is setting in hard.

— Forza Garibaldi (@Forza_Garibaldi) September 12, 2021

With Forest struggling to either outplay their opponents or outfight them, they lack any real identity under Hughton. With Middlesbrough next up at The City Ground on Wednesday evening, a similar experience lies in wait if Forest cannot match the physicality of Neil Warnock’s side.

The situation is, without a striker to challenge Grabban or Taylor, and with no real plan as to how Forest impose themselves on the opposition, Hughton is under immense pressure to get a win, and quickly. Further defeat and humiliation might well see the fifth managerial casualty under the new ownership since June 2017.

Whilst Fawaz-Al Hasawi was much maligned during his helm at The City Ground; there is no escaping that the Greek ownership is fairing not much better on the field. Forest are in trouble at the foot of the Championship, and change looks to be on the horizon once more.

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