With the international break offering a respite from the EFL Championship, now seems as good a time as any to review the first four or five weeks of Chris Hughton being in charge of Nottingham Forest Football Club. The London born Irishman has picked up twelve points from his first seven matches as Manager which is a more than respectable return but with Forest still only two places above the drop zone in twentieth has it been enough to appease the fans as they infamously continue to be hard to please.

Overnight Success

Whilst we’ve often seen new Managers come in and improve results, not even the great Brian Clough could dramatically turn the fortunes of a relegation threatened Forest around when he took charge of the Reds back in January 1975 (failing to win any of his first eleven league games) with an equivalent record of 4pts in his first seven matches, Clough falls well short of Hughton’s early achievements, but still many fans feel the style and results have left a lot more to be desired.

Forest battled at Blackburn to win in the new Managers first game in charge, a game where they sucked up pressure in the old often unliked style of Sabri Lamouchi before snatching a late win, perhaps by luck, certainly through adrenalin, thereafter it seemed normal service would resume.

The Reds came back from a goal behind at home to draw unconvincingly against Rotherham, a game they should in the end have won, they did the same against Derby, in the derby which they probably deserved to lose. Against Luton at Kenilworth Road they fought back for a third successive 1-1 with only ten men for over half of the game, but against sides in and around them towards the bottom of the division, three draws and three abject performances weren’t exactly inspiring supporters to pay their £10 plus iFollow subscriptions.

It got worse against Middlesbrough, a decent and competent outfit, a typical Neil Warnock side and one that would no doubt be up and around the playoffs towards the business end this season, a 1-0 defeat no-thanks to a goal with less than nine minutes to play and first questions asked as to why Hughton would tinker with his side after making the changes he had?

Then came two winnable home games, ‘six points from six’ against recently promoted opponents should have been the minimum guarantee. Fans already saying they’ll ‘take four points’ with scepticism over the quality on show within the Forest side. But win them they did, the best 45 minutes of the season arguably verses Coventry. Followed by perhaps the worst 45 and a get out of jail free card delivered by a couple of horrific sky blue errors and a cool calm unforgiving Lyle Taylor ninety-six plus minutes in.

Taylor too was the difference verses Wycombe Wanderers who put up reasonable fight in their first ever-league game at the City Ground. The Wanderers were disposed of because Forest were simply too strong, the Wanderers worries are that ‘everyone’ in the league will unfortunately for them, be too strong.

Style Over Substance

Even when last season Sabri Lamouchi was picking up results, fans still questioned the ‘way’ that which games were won, often played with less possession than those pass masters of Barnsley and Huddersfield, Forest would soak up pressure and hope that the Frenchman’s plan A would work.

Under Hughton things had seemed to start that way too, not changing too much too soon he has built his side on solid foundations, like at Newcastle and at Brighton, not pretty, but functional.

Scott McKenna and Toby Figueiredo have been at the heart of those solid foundations in the centre of defence, Forest have now averaged conceding less than a goal a game under Hughton. That back four continues to be supported by a couple of defensive minded midfielders, three in more attacking roles with one up front. The inclusion of Ryan Yates has divided fans (as always), whilst Lyle Taylor has shone the best three in behind are still yet to confirmed. Knockaert and two of Lolley, Ameobi, Freeman, Guerrero all fighting for starting spots.

One positive has been the return of Bruno Ribeiro to the left back berth, he for whatever reason didn’t feature early season after being a mainstay last, his first two matches have provided hope that once again fans have nothing to worry about in that area of the field.

Against Coventry, Forest ended with Miguel Guerrero and Lyle Taylor both on the field of play, against Wycombe the match started with the pair up front, it seems to have lifted the spirits of supporters whilst the side now has an alternative striking option too, the Spaniard did well against Wycombe, the fans want to see more of him but not alone holding the first line of defence as he did against Middlesbrough for his debut, but instead alongside Taylor, or Grabban when he returns from injury, as Forest go with more attacking intent.

The Future

Chris Hughton has so far done a marvellous job of getting results, even if the performances haven’t always been there to show. One worry is that Forest haven’t yet really played anyone of note, other than Middlesbrough who are seventh (the only defeat of Hughton’s reign so far), the best ranked side that Forest have played since the Manager took over is Luton who are tenth, Coventry, Wycombe, Derby all below the Reds whilst Rotherham are only a place above.

Forest will next up travel to 16^th placed Barnsley where they have been previously disappointing this year (losing at the back end of last season and in the Carabao Cup at the start of this), it is a game they shouldn’t lose, but after that things get tricky with Bournemouth away who are fourth, with Swansea at home who are sixth, then second placed Watford at the City Ground and table topping Reading at the Madejski Stadium. If there’s a time that will test Hughton’s Forest tenure, this will be it.

So Far So Good

A Manager who knows this level of football well, a man who knows how to get teams out of the division and competitive in the division above, is one that is slowly implementing his ways on the squad, and I like what Hughton has done.

Nobody said it would be easy, we didn’t expect Harlem Globetrotters from day one, but what we’ve seen is an improvement in results, and with it we have seen an improvement of individual performances, players shining, McKenna, Taylor, in particular, I feel more will follow with more time, and the more time Forest have under Chris Hughton, the better for the club as a whole.

Whilst it may seem harsh to ‘judge him’ right now we can at least be excited in seeing what the new Manager is trying to do. A tough task up coming however but one that Hughton knows all about, points taken off top teams will offer guidance as to how far Forest have come, let’s hope to see continued progress under a man that I trust given time, can certainly get it right for this great old football club.

*Article provided by Daniel Peacock (Editor).

*Main image @NFFC Chris Hughton is starting to lay down his philosophy at Forest.