I’ve heard criticism coming the way of Martin O’Neill, with some fans already calling for his head, which let’s be right, would be ridiculous.
He’s been in charge at Nottingham Forest for 13 games, and while recent away results haven’t been good, that’s a trend which has been ongoing for a number of years now – the last thing this club needs is yet another manager in the hotseat.
It was always going to be difficult to get the team into the top six this season, such has been their inconsistency in performance and injuries to key players, with those two linked intrinsically.
The timing when Martin O’Neill arrived in January was tough, halfway through a transfer window and a bloated squad put together by at least two different managers.
He took over at a difficult time in the season, with a team that had endured a couple of tricky results previously.
It’s pie in the sky if you think things were going to turn around overnight.
Some people have suggested it worked at Manchester United with Ole Gunnar Solskjær, but at Old Trafford, you’re talking about a squad worth way more than £200m which wasn’t playing for Jose Mourinho, competing at the top of English football and in Europe.
Sometimes managers come in and don’t hit the ground running which can be for a number of reasons, including lethargy and fragility in the squad which makes it tough to sort out in the short term.
Frustration will be the overriding feeling at the end of the season for Nottingham Forest
That’s why Martin needs the summer, he’ll be backed to reshape the squad how he sees fit, trim it down to one which he can manage with more ease and in turn, get the best out of it.
