Sabri Lamouchi may have played down his birthday celebrations on Thursday at the pre-match press conference, but following Nottingham Forest’s deserved win over Derby County, he was a little more bullish about his celebrations.
Forest’s French manager ensured that he was once again the toast of Nottingham having seen off the challenge of arch-rivals Derby County, courtesy of Lewis Grabban’s 56th minute strike.
That winner courtesy of some sloppy defending in front of the Trent End saw Forest record three straight wins over the Rams for the first time since 1990, a perfect way to celebrate his 48th birthday.
“Of course, it’s a great gift,” said a delighted Lamouchi on his special day.
“It was an emotional game and for that reason, maybe the first half wasn’t the best.”
After a tense first half when Forest struggled to get into gear, Lamouchi’s half-time words of wisdom clearly had an impact when Grabban fired into Kelle Roos’ net 12 minutes into a second half which the Reds largely dominated.
“The second half was much better,” he said.
“They made a big mistake and our striker, Grabbs played a fantastic game one more time with great finishing, like killer finishing.”
Such is the increase in his popularity, Lamouchi’s phone went off during the interview, and as is his way, he dealt with it in typical humorous fashion, with poise and class.
“Sorry, it is my birthday. Everybody wants to give me a gift.
“Seriously, before the international break to play an important game like this, it’s important to be compact, focused and committed.
“At the end, I think we deserved this victory."
Lamouchi's positive changes in the second period were heralded by the sell-out crowd at the City Ground, and sending the fans home happy, was important, he says.
“The second half we played for the three points. After the goal we tried to score the second one. We put on Joao, Albert and Brennan, so I only put on offensive players to try and score another.
“It was a fantastic game, a fantastic result and a fantastic day.
“I’m happy because we’ve made our fans happy and proud of our players, our performance.
“This is very important.”
