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For a club where time is forever in short supply, Nottingham Forest’s reversion to a no-nonsense manager may take a while yet to pay off. Still, not every opposing team will play like Bournemouth, where Forest lost 5-0 last season, and have not won since 2014. Andoni Iraola’s team climbed to second, delivering portions of the football from the gods that makes their manager one of the hottest properties in the game.
After scoring directly from a corner through Marcus Tavernier – set pieces continued to haunt Forest – there was further evidence of Bournemouth’s ability to find top talent when their second came from Eli Junior Kroupi. The teenager from the Cherries sister club, Lorient, followed up last week’s double at Crystal Palace with a lashing finish.
The was a familiar feeling for Sean Dyche at the scene of his final match in charge of Everton, January’s 1-0 defeat. While beating Porto on Thursday means he has already banked one more win than Ange Postecoglou, the demise of his predecessor shows that the owner, Evangelos Marinakis, will not shirk from Liz Truss-length managerial reigns.
Unlike Postecoglou, Dyche has Forest heritage. To set aside Nigel Clough at Mansfield, the last of Brian Clough’s former players in the management game is accompanied by two far more distinguished wearers of the Garibaldi red in Ian Woan and Steve Stone, 90s playing legends at his side again. How long can that protect him? A manager whose reputation lies in survival suits Forest’s current plight – they remain in the bottom three – while the club president is a man of far loftier ambitions.
If Iraola is not a confirmed devotee of the vogue for set pieces, the selection of the outstanding Veljko Milosavljevic, showed the Basque is fully aware of their importance; his team are no slouches at that discipline, either. Bournemouth’s other teenager added necessary height to central defence despite Forest being without Chris Wood. In the New Zealander’s place, Igor Jesus is yet to repeat his Europa League form in the Premier League and did not last beyond half-time. In midfield, Morgan Gibbs-White, who had Forest’s best effort of the first half, and Elliot Anderson, two England regulars, found space squeezed to a premium.
The first task when facing Bournemouth is withstanding the blizzard of attacking play they habitually begin matches with. Forest defenders threw in multiple blocks; Dyche’s Burnley and Everton teams were statistical outliers in that area. As his team endured, heavy pressure came the familiar boom of Dyche’s voice; should Forest not work out, a career as a black metal vocalist could beckon.
Forest’s frustrations were borne out in a flashpoint between Douglas Luiz and Justin Kluivert that resulted in both being booked. If that failed to halt Bournemouth’s momentum so did Forest’s go-slow, as prescribed by their bellowing tracksuit manager. Neither skinny jeans nor flares for a manager dressed for business.
Dyche could only shake his head as Matz Sels flapped at Tavernier’s corner, the confused goalkeeper forlornly swinging off the bar after what South Americans call a “gol Olimpico”. “Sacked in the morning” came the waggish chant from the home fans. Kroupi, seizing on the ball after the excellent Tyler Adams had robbed Anderson, doubled the lead.
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Half-time brought three Forest changes with Taiwo Awoniyi, Omari Hutchinson and Ryan Yates introduced. Improvement in the shape of solidity resulted, Bournemouth not quite as comfortable, the flow of chances stemmed by added muscle, Yates making himself busy in haring after everything that moved. There was still an absence of the creativity lacking since Nuno Espírito Santo’s later days in charge, though Gibbs-White, in linking with Hutchinson, did force a fine save from Dorde Petrovic.
A better chance fell to David Brooks, whose goal in January was the final blow for Dyche at Everton. The Welshman’s shot skidded wide, the chance created by Forest dithering in defence because Bournemouth were continuing to suffocate space. Brooks and fellow sub Ryan Christie might well have finished the job, only for their flicks and tricks to over elaborate. Entertaining football is part of the package for a team going places. For Forest fans, staring at the abyss, their latest manager unapologetic over his methods, a grind awaits.
