What Nuno did after defeat summed up Nottingham Forest frustrations as Gibbs-White sorely missed

Nottingham Forest's Anthony Elanga is challenged by Fulham's Calvin Bassey
-Credit: (Image: PA)


Nuno Espirito Santo dropped his shoulders and let out a sigh as he reflected on a frustrating afternoon for Nottingham Forest.

The Portuguese was responding to a question about refereeing decisions when he gave a noticeable puff of the cheeks, but his reaction pretty much summed up the Reds’ afternoon as a whole. It was exasperating all round.

A first defeat of the Premier League season shouldn’t detract from what has been a fine start to the campaign for Forest, regardless of how flat they were against Fulham. But it did highlight just how important Morgan Gibbs-White is to the team. The suspended England international was a big miss at the City Ground.

This was not how the Reds would have wanted their unbeaten run to come to an end, with a controversial penalty at one end and two appeals in the other box dismissed. Below, we look at some of the big talking points from Forest’s 1-0 loss.

Debatable decisions

Just as at Brighton and Hove Albion a week ago, there is really only one place to start when looking back at Saturday. Already facing a Football Association charge after being sent off at the Amex Stadium, Nuno chose his words carefully in his post-match press conference.

“We don’t want to talk too much about referees,” began one of the questions. “So don’t keep asking,” came the very quick response from the Reds head coach.

Senior officials at the club are understood to be growing increasingly frustrated with the recent standard of officiating. On this occasion, the consistency (or lack of) will have been the biggest source of irritation.

Nuno’s side were far from at their best, there is no getting away from that. But three key decisions undoubtedly impacted what was overall a tight game.

The spot-kick given against Murillo for his challenge on Andreas Pereira had the look of being a harsh one. VAR recommended referee Josh Smith review the incident on his pitchside monitor, and the outcome was almost inevitable from that point. Raul Jimenez duly beat Matz Sels from 12 yards with 51 minutes gone.

But if that was the bar for a penalty, Forest had every right to feel hard done by over the two shouts they didn’t get. Taiwo Awoniyi felt he was fouled just before the break, while Calvin Bassey certainly caught Anthony Elanga just past the hour. VAR reviewed the second one, but this time Smith was not sent to his screen. Nuno was no doubt biting his tongue when he described it as “not the best day” for the officials.

Morgan missed

The build-up to the match had been dominated by one key question. Who would replace Gibbs-White in the No.10 role?

As it turned out, Nuno surprised everybody and decided nobody would be taking up that post. Instead, he plumped for an old-fashioned 4-4-2 formation - perhaps with a view to catching Fulham out as much as everyone else.

Without Gibbs-White, though, the hosts lacked a spark. There was a dearth of creativity. They needed someone to provide a moment of magic, and the man who has so often done that was missing. His suspension - and the way Nuno tried to cater for it - left a big void.

Forest do have plenty of attacking options in the ranks. But even though they ended the game with Elanga, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Jota Silva and Ramon Sosa, plus Chris Wood, on the pitch they still finished the afternoon having registered just one shot on target.

"Of course we missed Morgan. He is a very special player for us,” Nuno admitted. “We are going to have many situations with absences and we have to find solutions.”

READ MORE: Morgan Gibbs-White admission made as Nottingham Forest frustrations made clear

READ MORE: Nuno hits out at controversial decisions in Nottingham Forest defeat as cutting verdict delivered

The game plan

The Forest starting XI raised plenty of eyebrows when it was announced. No wingers? Four midfielders? Two strikers?

It was unexpected, for sure. Not everybody watching on would have been happy with setting up to contain Fulham rather than looking to be on the front foot from the off, but you could argue Nuno’s plan worked in the first half - even if it made for a tough watch.

The visitors were stifled. Despite the Cottagers seeing more of the ball, Sels barely had anything to do. The Reds just about edged the first 45 minutes and definitely had the better chances - Awoniyi going close with an acrobatic effort and Wood falling foul of an offside call.

"The plan to start with T and Wood was to give us presence up the pitch, then four midfielders trying to associate and play,” Nuno told BBC Nottingham. “It was to manage and control the game. That part we did well.

"We made the first sub with Anthony, trying to go for the speed. There was some space to take advantage of. Unfortunately we conceded, and then the game plan and the game itself changed.”

Nuno’s substitutions had worked a treat in the previous two fixtures, with Elanga and Hudson-Odoi combining at Liverpool and then Jota and Sosa at Brighton, but there was no repeat this time around. This time, the decisions didn't come off.

Would it all have been different had the head coach stuck with his usual formation? Would the Reds have been better off with width from the start, rather than having four wingers on at the same time late on? A different set-up or different reaction to going behind might not have changed the end result, but you could make a case for saying the hosts might have stood a better chance of getting something had an alternative course been taken.

Up until Saturday, Nuno had generally got his tactics spot on in the opening weeks. He has come in for a bit of flak from fans for this one but still has plenty of credit in the bank.

First defeat

A crowd of 30,139 watched on on Trentside; the highest attendance at the City Ground for a decade, it was announced. There wasn’t a great deal for those supporters to cheer about, but defeat shouldn’t dampen the optimistic mood too much.

The lack of a home win to date will be a bitter disappointment, but Forest have still made a fine start to the season. They still look a much better outfit this term than in the last two campaigns. But the Premier League is tough; drop your levels even slightly and you can get punished.

Saturday was a bad day at the office. The Reds will feel the same could be said about the officials.

“Today, he (referee Smith) didn’t do a good job, so let’s hope he improves - like we have to do also. We didn’t play a good game so we have to improve,” Nuno conceded.

Forest have already shown what they are capable of this term. Saturday wasn’t it. But if there is one quality this squad are not short of it is character; they will want to respond.

Overall, the Reds look like they are on a general upward curve. This is the Premier League, though; there will still be peaks and troughs over the course of the season. This result and performance shouldn’t take away from the good work already done.

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