Time spent on the sidelines may well have offered Nottingham Forest’s Jack Colback a glimpse into the future.
It’s often said, everyone’s a manager when they watch a football match. Everyone has an opinion.
Years spent playing the video game Football Manager meant Colback was no different when having to observe his Reds teammates from the stands while recovering from injury.
“It’s always tough to watch. You end up becoming a bit of a manager from the sidelines,” he says. “You can see why fans get frustrated, because when you’re sat up there you see everything - you think, ‘ah, he should have done that’.”
So has he found a career choice for when he eventually hangs up his boots?
He laughs: “I think I’d do okay, you know! I’ve had a few years playing Football Manager and I always win the league!
“I’m not sure I fancy all the pressure they get nowadays - lose one game and you could get sacked!”
Who does he play as?
“I go top dogs - Man City or Barcelona, teams like that. I want success already made, I don’t like a challenge on there!”
Real life, of course, is very different. Colback is certainly not afraid of a challenge on the pitch. Be that helping the Reds pull away from relegation danger, or fighting for a place in the starting XI.
After signing in the summer, returning for his third stint at the City Ground - this time on a permanent basis - the midfielder had become a regular in the side.
Having gone more than a year without playing, being frozen out at former club Newcastle United and suffering a knee injury, a spell on the treatment table came at a bad time.
Colback damaged his ankle in Forest’s 1-0 defeat at home to Swansea City in November and made his comeback last week, with substitute appearances against Coventry City and Wycombe Wanderers.
“Off the back of the season before, with the knee injury and spending so much time without playing, then building back to fitness, it was frustrating,” said the 31-year-old.
“It probably takes a good 10 games to get going, in terms of sharpness. I always felt fit, but it’s that sharpness in games - seeing things quickly - which can take time.
“I felt like I was getting better and better, then I got injured again.
“It’s tough to take, but it’s part of the game. You can’t feel sorry for yourself. I just had to work hard again.
“It’s hard to watch and it’s hard because you’re not involved with the lads when you’re injured, you’re in at different times. You do miss that side of it.
“It’s nice to be back and hopefully I can help the team.”
He joked: “It’s probably my age! I’m getting on; my body is telling me to give up!
“What can happen sometimes, for instance if you injure your knee, when you come back, hamstrings and groins and things become more susceptible to injury.
“But I don’t think there’s any reason behind my ankle injury from the first. I got caught in a tackle, my ankle went under and I felt it straight away. It’s one of those things.
“I’ve been lucky with injuries so far in my career. The knee injury was the first serious one, then it’s like London buses, another one came along.
“Ankle injuries, you can still feel them a bit and they can be a bit niggly, but it feels strong and stable. It’s just a case of getting back to where I was, fitness-wise.
“I always stay positive, dust myself down and try to help the team get up the table when I can.”
A tough season has seen Forest struggling at the wrong end of the Championship.
There have been signs of progress in the last few weeks, with one defeat in 10 league games, but Hughton’s men are taking nothing for granted.
Despite back-to-back wins, ahead of Saturday’s clash with Bournemouth, they sit in 18th spot, four points above the drop zone.
It’s tempting to think Forest have suddenly clicked, given recent results; that the right formula has been hit upon.
However, asked if anything has changed, Colback cautions: “Nothing’s really changed.
“I’ve said it before, sometimes when you win a game all the praise comes - people say, this must have changed or that must have changed.
“But we’ve just won a game. You can play well, get beat and it’s all negative again. That’s just the way of the world at the moment.
“The gaffer is consistent with what he wants. He’s repetitive with what he does. At the end of the day, he can only do so much on the sidelines and with his tactics, we have to implement those.
“I think the biggest thing is working hard. If we work hard and win our individual battles, in terms of running and physicality, then we’ve got good enough players to win games.”
