Steve Cooper tried and failed and now the fortunes of Nottingham Forest rest with Nuno Espirito Santo as the club bids to stay in the Premier League once again.
Cooper was dismissed following another alarming slump in December – with Espirito Santo the man tasked with lifting the club away from the threat of relegation.
Despite a short-term bounce, Espirito Santo hasn’t been able to stop the rot. A four-point deduction last week has seen Forest drop into the relegation zone and wins are badly needed.
Now, with the campaign pausing for an international break, we’ve decided to take a look at how the Forest players have done so far this season.
Nottingham Forest goalkeepers rated
Matt Turner – 4/10
Signed from Arsenal for £10 million in the summer, but things just haven’t worked out for the American.
Several high-profile errors have robbed him of the gloves, with Nuno Espirito Santo feeling as though he had to make a change.
Odysseas Vlachodimos – 4/10
Some of the most horrendous performances for Forest under Cooper came with Vlachodimos between the posts.
As a result, it’s tricky to give him more than a four out of 10 for his efforts – which included a 5-0 reverse to Fulham.
Matz Sels – 7/10
It’s fair to say that the man who recently saved a penalty for Belgium hasn’t done anything majorly wrong.
Furthermore, his distribution is a clear improvement on both Turner and Vlachodimos.
Nottingham Forest full-backs rated
Neco Williams – 8/10
Probably the most improved player of Forest’s entire campaign is Williams who scored a cracker for Wales in midweek.
He’s held down the right-back spot and looks like an immovable object in the Forest team under Espirito Santo.
Gonzalo Montiel – 6/10
Hasn’t been as bad as some of his cynics have made out but he just hasn’t played much football.
Steve Cooper didn’t fancy him too much and after a strong start under Espirito Santo, he’s now injured – again!
Ola Aina – 7/10
As far as free transfers go, Aina has been up there with one of the best that Fores have ever made.
Thankfully, it was claimed that week that Forest are going to offer Aina a new contract.
Harry Toffolo – 6/10
As honest as the day is long, Toffolo always gives his all and David Prutton has praised the player’s crossing ability this season.
Is worthy of his place in the team right now but when Aina is fit he might begin to miss out.
Nuno Tavares – 5/10
Interestingly, Forest did try to send Tavares back to Arsenal in January but Espirito Santo did give him a run of games.
Tavares was just starting to get up to speed when injury struck and it’s hoped he won’t be out for long.
Nottingham Forest centre-backs rated
Murillo – 9/10
Who Scored has him as the second-most progressive central defender in the Premier League and he simply loves to dribble.
Murillo has been linked with Liverpool and he’s going to rake Forest some serious profit in when he does leave.
Moussa Niakhate – 5/10
Would have fancied playing more than 19 times by this stage of the season and perhaps could have been better.
Aerially, Niakhate just doesn’t quite offer what other centre-backs can in the Forest squad.
Willy Boly – 7/10
It’s good to hear thatBoly could also earn a new Forest contract this summer and he’d be derserving of one.
Boly was recently injured on international duty and he’s won the most headers in the Forest squad, according to Who Scored.
Andrew Omobamidele – 6/10
Hasn’t really played enough to warrant getting any higher than a six but he does look like a good player for the future.
He earned rave reviews for his Republic of Ireland performance at the weekend and enjoys bringing the ball out from the back.
Felipe – 5/10
Another who just hasn’t played anywhere near enough due to fitness and Felipe has announced his retirement in the summer.
Nottingham Forest midfielders rated
Ryan Yates – 6/10
The captain has done pretty well when called upon but there is a notion that he could perhaps still be doing more.
Jamie Carragher called Forest midfielder Yates a ‘nark’ last season and is renowned for being a nuisance.
Ibrahim Sangare – 5/10
Given that he cost £30 million perhaps it’s not been the start to life at Forest that Sangare would have hoped for.
Sangare drew praise from Micah Richards against West Ham and there have been flashes, albeit infrequent.
Nicolas Dominguez – 7/10
The Argentine has been a wonderful signing for just £8 million from Bologna and he’s scored some important goals.
Dominguez perhaps needs to work on certain aspects of his game but at 25-years-old, Forest have got a good one.
Danilo – 4/10
The Brazilian has bags of potential but this season Forest haven’t really seen what the player is all about.
Danilo will hope to keep playing in order to gain some consistency and at 22 he should come good.
Cheikhou Kouyate – 2/10
The midfielder has barely played and when he has he’s not really done a deal to aid the Forest cause.
He was handed a start against Wolves in Cooper’s final away game and did well but hiscameo against Luton saw him fail to complete a single pass.
Nottingham Forest attackers rated
Anthony Elanga – 9/10
It’s hard not to praise Elanga for his performances since joining from Manchester United for £15 million.
With five goals and seven assists this season he’s proving his worth and there is still even more to come from the talented 21-years-old.
Morgan Gibbs-White – 8/10
In terms of creativity, Who Scored has Gibbs-White at the top of dribbles, shots at goal and key passes.
Four goals and five assists is perhaps not enough for a player of his quality but his commitment to the cause is there for all to see.
Callum Hudson-Odoi – 7/10
It’s been a bit of a slow burner for Hudson-Odoi but he’s now starting to show what a bargain £3 million is.
Nuno Espirito Santo needs to start playing Hudson-Odoi again and he’s got four goals and three assists to his name this season.
Taiwo Awoniyi – 6/10
It’s hard to give Awoniyi any higher given that he always seems to be injured.
This season he’s still managed to score six goals for Forest and the hope will be that he can fire at the business end of the campaign again.
Chris Wood – 9/10
Another who has struggled with injuries but then he is 32-years-old and that’s perhaps to be expected.
Wood has silenced his critics this season by reaching double figures and he’s also been praised on Match of the Day by Micah Richards.
Divock Origi – 2/10
It’s not been a successful loan for Origi at Forest and there is absolutely zero chance that he remains at the club.
He missed a glut of chances against Luton last time out and is yet to score for Forest in the Premier League this season.
Giovanni Reyna and Rodrigo Ribeiro – N/A – Neither player has played enough yet.
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