‘SABRI WON'T LET US SLACKEN PACE'

NOTTINGHAM FOREST SEEK TO RECAPTURE FORMER GLORIES

- John Lyons

AS NOTTINGHAM Forest legends John McGovern and Frank Clark walked away from a freezing Griffin Park on Tuesday night, the performance of their old club must surely have warmed their hearts.

Skipper McGovern and defender Clark were, of course, two members of Brian Clough’s Forest side that ruled Europe at the end of the 70s and start of the 80s.

Two European Cups, a First Division title, and two League Cups came in the space of a golden four-year spell. There was another vintage Clough side in the late 80s and early 90s and another two League Cups added to the trophy cabinet.

Since then, though, it’s been slim pickings. Indeed, it’s now 21 years since the Reds last dined at English football’s top table on a weekly basis.

Signal

Yet that could all be about to change. Their 1-0 victory at Brentford in midweek, courtesy of Joe Lolley’s 14th-minute deflected effort, was another signal that this Forest side know how to grind out results.

It lifted them to third in the league table, breathing down the necks of stuttering Leeds and West Brom.

Masterminding the Reds’ revolution is manager Sabri Lamouchi, in his first season at the City Ground.

With a playing career that took in the likes of Monaco, Parma, Inter Milan, and Marseille, plus 12 caps for France, the Lyon-born midfielder has an impressive pedigree.

The 48-year-old’s management credentials aren’t as strong, though he took Ivory Coast to the 2014 World Cup and had stints with Qatar club El Jaish and Rennes.

Yet he appears to have settled into the Forest hotseat with relative ease. That’s no small feat given the ejector button has been pressed with alarming frequency in recent years.