Team Focus: Psycho-logical Problems for Nottingham Forest
This is not how the Stuart Pearce story was supposed to play out. There are, of course, more chapters to be written in this intrepid tale, but the return of ‘Psycho’ to the banks of the River Trent has become rather Hitchcock-esque.
You got the feeling upon his arrival that he could probably have waltzed over the waterway which runs alongside Nottingham Forest’s famous old ground without causing so much as a ripple. Not since the days of Old Big ‘Ead has the man in the dugout caused such a stir deep in the Forest. Brian Clough may have been a managerial messiah, but this felt like a second coming of sorts.
Why then does the man in the sharp suit on the City Ground touchline, who would not look out of place welcoming guests to the Hilton Nottingham Hotel, find himself fumbling around in Bates Motel? A knife in the back could soon be heading his way, and Pearce is certainly looking anxiously over his shoulder.
He will be all too aware of the numbers.
Forest have not been a Premier League outfit for 16 years, with a new century welcomed in since they last graced the top tier. In that time, in permanent and caretaker capacities, 16 men have occupied the coaching helm. They are similarly inconsistent on the field at present, winning just two of their last 18 Championship fixtures.
Something clearly needs to be done to turn the tide, with Forest widely tipped to start righting the aforementioned wrongs in 2014/15. The experts at Blue Square were among those expecting Pearce to ride a wave of positivity to promotion, with Football League aficionados from Sky Sports and beyond of the opinion that the men in Garibaldi red were back on the march. Forest have, however, been too hit and miss to mount a serious assault on the summit.
The goalscoring exploits of Britt Assombalonga (13 goals and 1 assist in 24 Championship outings have produced a whoscored rating of 6.82) and Michail Antonio (who currently has a an impressive rating of 7.46 for his efforts) suggest there is not too much wrong in the final third, but statistics show that the Reds fire in fewer shots on target per game (4.1) than any of their top-10 rivals.
It is as the opposite end of the field, though, that the most surprising, and slightly alarming, struggles have been endured. As a no-nonsense full-back in his playing days, the type who would run through a brick wall to get to an opposing winger before crunching into a tackle which would send them hurtling over the pile of rubble left in his wake, Pearce would have been expected to get his defensive house in order, but that is unfortunately not the case.
Forest are having to put in far too many tackles per game for a side harbouring ambitions of returning to the big time, with an over-worked back line making an average of 18.8 per game, while failings in departments such as interceptions made is also increasing the workload, with only three sides in the division (Derby, Wolves and Reading) breaking up fewer passages of play over the course of any given 90 minutes.
As if the above has not put enough on Pearce’s plate, he is also about to be prevented from hitting the January sales. Forest have given owner Fawaz Al Hasawi’s credit card too much of a bashing for the Football League’s liking and an untimely transfer embargo has been handed out, something those at the BBC fear could further undermine Forest’s efforts to get back to where they believe they belong.
There are clearly plenty of issues for Pearce to address over the coming months if he is to avoid seeing his fairytale adventure become a horror story, with there only so long a man can live off goodwill and legendary status before he becomes just another number in what is an unforgiving business.
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