The week began with Nuno Espirito Santo telling his players, in their first training session after the 5-0 defeat to Bournemouth, “This is not us.” It ended with Nottingham Forest demonstrating exactly who they are. They are the best Forest side in three decades.
They should no longer be regarded as interlopers in the top four. They are there on merit. They are legitimate Champions League qualification contenders.
Advertisement And this is the kind of rampaging, merciless performance they are capable of. Almost the entire team had suffered a miserable off day on the south coast. A week later at the City Ground, they were outstanding, to a man.
Whether you want to call it a blip or an off day, what unfolded at Bournemouth will immediately now feel like a faded memory; replaced by one that will linger far longer in the minds of Forest fans — almost certainly for many years to come. 5 – Nottingham Forest are only the second side in Premier League history to lose a game by 5+ goals and then follow it up by immediately winning their next in the competition by 5+, after Sheffield Wednesday in November 1997 (1-6 v Man Utd, 5-0 v Bolton). Response.
pic.twitter.com/mnd6nDJqFb — OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 1, 2025 During that Monday meeting on the training ground — and for the rest of the week since — the Forest head coach had demanded a reaction from his players.
He would not have envisaged one as emphatic and spectacular as this. Every question that had been raised abou.