Yahoo News Marinakis demand, silverware, Sangare split - Nottingham Forest season predicted
The fixtures are out, the transfer business has begun and the countdown is now well and truly on for Nottingham Forest’s return to action.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s players will reconvene next month for pre-season as thoughts begin to turn to the 2024/25 Premier League campaign. The meeting with Bournemouth at the City Ground on August 17 will soon come around.
Progress will be the aim for the Reds next term. As the start of the season draws nearer, NottinghamshireLive predicts how the campaign will pan out.
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Aiming high
Trying to predict where Forest will finish in the table is tricky while the transfer window is open. So much can change in terms of the make-up of the squad.
Clubs have until 11pm on August 30 to get their business done. The Reds have already made a start on shaping the group Nuno will have to work with, but there will be further ins and outs before the deadline.
Forest showed their potential under Nuno last term. Perhaps not consistently, but they did demonstrate what they are capable of with the Portuguese at the helm. There was enough to suggest they can build on that platform.
Another relegation battle is unlikely to cut it for ambitious owner Evangelos Marinakis. The Greek has made no secret of the fact he wants the club to be challenging higher up the table.
That may well still take time, though. The Premier League is tough. It is cut-throat. The Reds are in it for a third successive season but still have work to do to become established at that level.
Avoiding another nervy finish to the campaign would be a start. Being safe well in advance of the final few rounds of fixtures would do wonders for the blood pressure. Forest are certainly capable of doing that and of finishing higher up the table, but don’t expect it to be easy. Nuno will be well aware of the likely consequences, if the year looks like not panning out as hoped.
Cup run
Nuno was very clear about how much the FA Cup means to him when he spoke about the competition last season. He made it to the semi-finals during his time in charge of Wolverhampton Wanderers and continues to attach a lot of weight to the tournament. He recognises how special and unique it is - even if he was an advocate of the scrapping of replays.
That said, Forest made hard work of the FA Cup last season. Ties with Blackpool and Bristol City were hard going, before Manchester United knocked them out at the fifth round stage. They were already out of the League Cup by that point, having fallen to Burnley at the first hurdle.
Nevertheless, Nuno takes the cups seriously, so he will no doubt be keen to go on a good run next term. It is something the Reds did under his predecessor, Steve Cooper.
Marinakis has previously pledged trophies. Nuno is well equipped to help Forest give it a good go, so expect Forest to push to go far in the pursuit of silverware.
Stars shine
There is the basis of a good group already in place at the City Ground. Nuno has some promising young players to build around.
This summer shouldn’t require a rebuild to the same extent as the previous two years. Strengthening is required in several areas to provide the head coach with strength in depth, but this time around just a few key additions could make a big difference.
Several players will be looking to build on solid offerings in 2023/24. The likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi, Anthony Elanga, Danilo and Neco Williams all have the ability to kick on again.
Hudson-Odoi ended last season on fire and will be out to pick up from where he left off. Elanga’s performances dipped towards the end of the campaign, but at 22 he has his best years still ahead of him; there is no reason why he cannot finish with a higher tally than the five goals he managed last term.
Danilo’s form was up and down, and he was in and out of the team for much of the season. Getting the balance right in midfield and helping the Brazilian to develop a level of consistency will be one of Nuno’s aims.
As for Neco Williams, he was unfortunate to miss the run-in for the second successive year due to injury. However, before that he had been superb and can be a key player again when the action resumes.
Perhaps the player most in the spotlight, though, will be Ibrahim Sangare. The club record signing didn’t make the impact it was hoped he would during his first year Trentside.
Sangare remains a source of plenty of debate among supporters, so the challenge for Nuno must be to get the best out of him. The hope will be that with a full pre-season under his belt and a chunk of time spent on the training ground, the midfielder can start showing his quality.
