The most significant moment of the season – good or bad – was…
Winning at Midtjylland in the Europa League. Identified as the night when Nottingham Forest’s fringe players delivered, it was the moment Vitor Pereira says he knew he had a squad capable of staying up. They only lost once – very controversially – in the Premier League after that.
The season has been a success because…
Even with four head coaches, the club has managed to combine Premier League survival with a first European campaign for 30 years and a run to the semi-finals.
The unsung hero of the season is…
Is it possible to call the player of the year the unsung hero? Given all the headlines and plaudits rightly handed to the likes of Elliot Anderson and Morgan Gibbs-White this season, it was great to see Neco Williams crowned player of year. He has quietly gone about his business and he has played at a consistently high level all season.
If there is a player or staff member with more to do in future it is…
James McAtee. It has been a difficult first season at Forest for the attacking midfielder but more than one of Forest’s head coaches this season has talked about the quality he shows in training and that he can do things others can’t. Maybe next season will be when he flourishes.
The major club issue or talking point lurking is…
As always at this time of year, the major club issue lurking is whether they will lose any of their star talents.
There is obviously a lot of talk about Anderson and it will be interesting to see Forest’s stance on that during the summer. Can they keep him and, if that seems unlikely, how can they reinvest the club-record fee he would attract in order to compensate for his loss?
The reason for hope going forward is…
The last 10 games of the Premier League season. Under immense pressure, and with a squad decimated by injury, they lost just once (amid hugely controversial circumstances of course) to secure Premier League survival.
Take away midweek European football, add in some shrewd summer investment and a new contract for Pereira, who has done an incredible job to reunite and regalvanise the club, and that certainly equals a recipe for hope.