What pundits have said about Nottingham Forest so far this season
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Following a huge summer transfer window and more signings in January, Forest have drawn the attention of pundits across the country.
Signing Jesse Lingard on a one-year deal received a huge amount of media coverage and set the tone for a season of bold Forest predictions and opinions.
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Hide AdSigning 30 players has also divided opinion and it seems every man and their dog has their fair share of opinions on Forest’s survival prospects.
We take a look at some of the most interesting and divisive things said about Forest from the nations footballing pundits.
After the Newcastle game, Gary Neville gave his latest thoughts on Forest’s survival hopes:
“I think they’ll finish just above it (the relegation zone).
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Hide Ad“They’ve got a real a panic on their hands, they’ve spent a fortune here, they’ve got a big wage bill and if they start losing games at home… tonight, obviously they lost in the last minute but I think they deserved to lose.
If you look at Forest, I think before the game they had the lowest shots on target and the lowest touches in the opposition box. I think defensively it’s a real worry for them.


“They are really poor, and going forward they’re living off moments and isolated incidents.”
These comments come after stats specialists ‘Opta’ give Forest a 40% chance of relegation.
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Hide AdWhile Neville may have pressed the panic button for Forest fans with his comments, recently Cooper’s side have been surviving from moments of Brennan Johnson magic or goals against the run of play.
The international break comes at a helpful time for the struggling Reds and Cooper will be looking to find the form which saw them beat the likes of Liverpool and take points from Man City and Chelsea.
Speaking on the Overlap earlier this season, Neville reiterated his concerns about Forest’s defensive capabilities, saying Forest’s performance against Manchester United in the Carabao Cup ‘was the worst back five I had seen all season.’
Equally, Jamie Carragher hasn’t shied away from making his views about Forest known.
Speaking a month ago on the overlap, he said:
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Hide Ad“It looked like the owner wanted to sack Cooper off the back of that Leicester game but it was actually fan power that kept him in the job and now you’re seeing the fruits of that.


I think Forest will be okay.”
On the nations most popular sports radio show, TalkSport have had a field day debating Forest’s transfer strategy.
Speaking earlier in the season, TalkSport’s Alex Crook made his feelings known:
“You can count the number of signings they have made that have actually impressed on one hand.
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Hide Ad“What do Forest do with these players if they do go down? With Forest’s its going to be absolute mess if they go down”, he said.
Although many would challenge Crook’s view about having signed few quality players, there is an underlying anxiety amongst Forest fans about what will happen if they are relegated.
Will they be able to maintain the services of their top players and will they be financially able to do so?
This is why maintaining their top flight status is crucial.
Former Forest man Kevin Campbell also weighed in on TalkSport’s Forest debate:
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Hide Ad“Its very strange. I think because Nottingham Forest haven’t been in the top flight for such a long time there was a mark of desperation to get bodies in.
“I think Steve Cooper has done a really good job to handle the situation with all these new players. If Forest finish 17th it’s a job well done.
“I think Nottingham Forest have started to understand what the Premier League is all about. They don’t have the quality to go away from home and take on the better teams but their situation is going to be in their hand at home”, he said.
Former Lioness Lianne Sanderson also gave her take on Forest’s transfer strategy this season:
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Hide Ad“Forest are almost like an expansion team in America. It’s a lot of players that people would not necessarily want.
“Realistically they put together a bunch of players and there’s not really any foundations of the football club that are still there.


“I don’t mean to be harsh on Forest because I backed them to stay up and I wanted them to stay up because I think Steve Cooper has done an amazing job.”
Forest fans certainly shared Sanderson’s concerns about lacking any ‘foundation’ as many of the players responsible for their promotion did not return to the club (Spence, Garner, Davies, Zinckernagel etc).
But Steve Cooper has shown his managerial capabilities in gelling this group of players together and transforming them into a team capable of picking up much needed Premier League points.
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