After three starts, one goal and one assist, Nottingham Forest are already looking to move Emmanuel Dennis out of the club, just five months after he joined from Watford for £15m. The management team have been left unimpressed with the Nigerian, and now it seems they are looking to cut short his spell at the City Ground.
This may not come as a surprise when you consider when Dennis has appeared for Forest in the Premier League this season they have a record of W0, D2, L8 and given Steve Cooper needs quality rather than quantity, a move away could make sense for all parties.
Dennis was one of a record-breaking 22 arrivals at Nottingham Forest during the summer, as they spent £160m in a bid to establish themselves in the Premier League. It hasn’t gone quite to plan, as Forest currently sit 18th, but the Tricky Trees have shown signs of promise in recent weeks.
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The 1-1 draw against Chelsea was impressive and with such an overhaul in the summer, it was always going to take this new squad time to gel. With the fat, such as Dennis, being trimmed off over the next month, they could come out of the January window in decent shape.
The criticism Forest received for their summer spending was hefty, and there is no doubt that those that judged them for bringing in so many new players will roll their eyes at the news they are looking to get rid of a £15m signing so soon. But there isn’t a linear ‘guide to success’ for guaranteeing survival in the Premier League.
If you sign 22 players in one summer window, some are going to flop and some are going to shine. The likes of Dean Henderson, Willy Boly, Serge Aurier, Neco Williams and Morgan Gibbs-White have all equipped themselves well in the Premier League and are only set to improve as the season progresses. Jesse Lingard hasn’t hit the heights expected of him as the ‘big-name’ arrival, nor has Taiwo Awoniyi or Lewis O’Brien. But Forest have unorthodoxly made inroads into survival.
It is a catch 22 for the club, that can only be judged a success if they survive.
Thoughts on this, #NFFC fans? Is this the right decision in your eyes?
#NFFC | #EPL
If they are relegated having spent this amount of money on new players, ala Fulham from a few years ago, they will be mocked. If they stay up, it will be because they spent so much. If they had gone down without investment, they would have been written off as naive, much as Norwich City have been over the past few seasons.
There simply is no right way of doing things as a newly-promoted side, you just need to find a way that works. If selling Dennis after five months for a loss is the right thing to do, then Cooper needs to make it happen. It also looks like Josh Bowler will be recalled by Forest and then loaned to Blackpool, the club he was bought from by Evangelos Marinakis this summer, while Sam Surridge could also leave.
Getting rid of the early deadwood in what is a bloated squad makes sense, but it could also allow Cooper to bring in one or two names that could push them over the line to survival. It’s something that is achievable when you consider the struggles of some of the other team’s down there. Basement club Southampton look desperate under Nathan Jones and are unlikely to invest, Wolves are trying to revive their season under new boss Julen Lopetegui, West Ham are sinking like a stone, while Everton, Bournemouth and Leeds could quite easily be sucked into danger.
Forest have every chance of staying up. The fact they are looking to move on a few of their summer signings already is not an admission of failure. Instead, it is statistically increasing their chances of staying in the Premier League. And that remains the ultimate goal, no matter how they get there.
