After what feels like an eternity of an international break, the Premier League resumes on Saturday with Palace heading up to Nottingham to take on Forest at the City Ground.
Ahead of the match, I caught up with Duncan Lanser to see how Forest fans are feeling and what to expect from the ‘tricky trees.’
TEB – Duncan, how are Forest fans feeling at the moment?
DL – Taking the lead from the manager, the sense is one of optimism. The team has been growing and some of the performances have been very good, even if the results have often not gone our way. As Nuno has said we have to focus on what we can control and get on with the job of winning as many points as we can in the final games. If we do that, then survival is within our grasp, despite the points deduction and current position.
TEB – About the points deduction then, angry? relieved?
DL – There is massive disappointment over the points deduction and a feeling of great uncertainty over where it will end, both for Forest and Everton this season (and for the other teams in the relegation battle) and generally in relation to the the profit and sustainability rules (PSR) moving forward – the rules themselves and their manner of application need improvement. There is also a feeling of betrayal by the Premier League as a lot of work was done by Forest for many weeks to cooperate with over the financial issues and yet the League’s opening position was to push for an 8-point deduction, which felt disproportionate.
That said, it certainly could have been worse than 4 points and had Forest picked up more of the points they should have done this season, it might not have had such an impact. That is particularly true in relation to our games against Luton – we drew both games from winning positions and should have won both.
We will see what the appeal against the 4 point deduction brings – any reduction would be a bonus at this point. Other than that, we simply have to crack on and do everything possible to get maximum points on the board! The hope is that the players can use the disappointment or resentment at the deduction to motivate them to fight hard in the remaining games.
TEB – And how are fans feeling toward Nuno, especially given Cooper was such a fan’s favourite?
DL – Oddly enough, Steve Cooper feels like a distant memory. Not because he is not much loved and admired by the Forest faithful, but simply because life in football moves so fast and the pressure is such that there is no time to dwell on his departure.
Nuno has slowly built his team with its own style. He is calm and talks sense in his interviews. He is less cautious than Cooper and more attacking in his line-up and play and the team has really developed well under him. The style and quality of the football is improved by comparison with last season, but we have not quite managed to grind out the wins in the way we did last term, particularly at home where the City Ground has not been the fortress it was previously.
TEB – Who’s going to be the hero and help you stay up?
DL – It is going to be a big team effort for the boys to pull off another survival job but the likes of Elanga, Wood, Awoniyi (if fit), and Gibbs-White will all have big roles to play. If I had to pick someone to do something special, I’d love to see Murillo get his first goal with a brilliant free kick or solo effort. He was so close to scoring at Selhurst Park last year!
TEB – What’s your prediction for the game?
DL – It is too important a game for Forest not to win. I will go for a 2-1 victory for the tricky trees.
TEB – How will Forest line up?
DL – Forest have been lining up 4-2-3-1 in recent times under Nuno. Expect to see four quick forward players in all out counter-attack at every opportunity – Forest’s red arrows!
TEB – Cheers Duncan.
