For the club where time is forever in short supply, Nottingham Forest’s reversion to a no-nonsense manager may take a while. Though not every opposing team will play like Bournemouth; Andoni Iraola’s team climbed to second in the Premier League, delivering portions of the football from the gods that makes their manager one of the game’s hottest properties.
After scoring directly from a corner through Marcus Tavernier – set pieces continuing to haunt Forest, with this the 12th conceded from this season – there was further evidence of Bournemouth’s elite talent scouting. Eli Junior Kroupi, 19, from the Cherries’ sister club, Lorient, followed up last week’s double at Crystal Palace with a lashing finish.
“I would like to have more points,” said Iraola, repeating his frequent claim that he ignores the Premier League table. “The league is so compact. It’s about the performance and how competitive we are. It’s nine games into the season. Eighteen points is a very good amount … it’s not enough, as many as we can.”
It was a familiar disappointment for Sean Dyche at the site of his final Everton match. Beating Porto on Thursday already banks one more win than Ange Postecoglou managed but the demise of his predecessor shows the owner, Evangelos Marinakis, does not shirk Liz Truss-length managerial reigns. Dyche, his reputation made in survival missions, suits Forest’s current plight; they remain in the bottom three.
“I didn’t come here naively – the table does tell a story,” said Dyche. “I didn’t think there wasn’t work to be done, but the first half showed it. They were the better side overall so there’s no excuses here.”
Morgan Gibbs-White, who had Forest’s lone creditable effort of the first half, and Elliot Anderson found space squeezed to a premium. Only seven touches in the Bournemouth box over 90 minutes told a tale. As his team endured heavy pressure, there came the familiar boom of Dyche’s voice; should Forest not work out, a career as a black metal vocalist beckons. “We have crammed three weeks’ work into five days,” he said, trademark croak yet more raspy. “When you are not at it, you’re going to get hurt.”
Forest’s frustrations were borne out in a flashpoint between Douglas Luiz and Justin Kluivert that resulted in both being booked. If that failed to halt Bournemouth’s momentum, so did Forest’s go-slow, as prescribed by their bellowing tracksuit manager. Neither skinny jeans nor flares for a manager dressed for business.
Dyche shook his head after Matz Sels flapped at Tavernier’s corner. The goalkeeper, baulked by Tyler Adams though not enough for the video assistant to intervene, forlornly swung off the bar following what South Americans call a “gol Olimpico”. Dyche, unhappy a corner had been awarded in the first place, was booked for his complaints. “The linesperson gives it as a goal-kick and the referee overturns the decision from a position he can’t see.”
“Sacked in the car park” came the mocking chant. Kroupi, seizing on the ball after the excellent Adams had robbed Anderson, forging onwards unchallenged, doubled the lead. “If he smells a chance – left foot, right foot – he will take it,” said Iraola.
Second-half improvement in the shape of solidity followed from Forest, the previous flow of Bournemouth chances stemmed. Not much else besides. There was still an absence of the creativity lacking since Nuno Espírito Santo had them in the top four.
“The second half was not as brilliant,” said Iraola, though the twinkling toes of David Brooks and his fellow Bournemouth sub Ryan Christie might have finished Forest off in the closing moments. Entertaining football is part of the package for a team going places. For Forest fans, their latest manager unapologetic over his methods, a grind awaits.
