Nottingham Forest’s recruitment has been in the spotlight as the Reds fight for survival in the Premier League.
The impact made by signings from the past two transfer windows has certainly been mixed, and heads have rolled as a result. Transfer chiefs George Syrianos and Andy Scott were given the boot in October as Forest struggled to find their feet in the top-flight, while sporting director Filippo Giraldi was axed last week as he paid the price for a poor January.
At a crucial time of the season, the club really needed to get it right in the winter window. The final judgement will come down to whether or not they stay up, but overall the business done at the start of this year hasn’t had the desired effect.
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There are exceptions. Keylor Navas was needed due to the injury to Dean Henderson and has shown his class at times. Felipe has been outstanding. Danilo is one for the future. And the jury is still out on Gustavo Scarpa.
But perhaps Forest’s biggest regret from that month should be over who they let go, as much as the additions they made. Particularly as head coach Steve Cooper grapples with trying to find a solution for a problem area.
Lewis O’Brien’s time at the City Ground had started fairly well. He had made a positive impression early on. Being out due to illness for a spell seemed to knock him back, but it’s tempting to think the Reds could have benefitted from keeping him in the squad.
Of course, hindsight is a wonderful thing. O’Brien clearly wanted to play more regularly than he was, while nobody could have foreseen Ryan Yates missing so many games.
It hasn’t taken the former Huddersfield Town man to make an impact at DC United, however. Last weekend, on his second appearance for his loan club, he scored his first goal as he bagged the winner against Montreal Imp.
Getting it right in midfield has been an issue for the Reds amid their poor run. Cooper has tried a number of combinations, and without Yates and Cheikhou Kouyate it is difficult to settle upon which is the best one.
The decision to allow O’Brien to head Stateside won’t be decisive in Forest’s fate. But whatever happens, come the end of the campaign, one or two might wonder what difference he could have made.
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