Early season chaos has given way to an approach based on solidity and utilising the squad’s attacking strengths
T
he table does not lie and Nottingham Forest were proudly fifth in the Premier League on Sunday night. Admittedly, the reality is they sit 16th but since Sean Dyche took over as manager only four teams have bettered their points tally, with a breezy win against Tottenham a further sign of revolution in action.
Considering the shambolic nature of the season before Dyche was appointed on 21 October, the fact Forest find themselves out of the relegation zone is impressive enough. They were 18th with five points after nine matches that included four defeats from Ange Postecoglou’s five league fixtures. It may have felt even sweeter for fans that the latest humbling handed out was against the Australian’s previous club.
Only Aston Villa, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea have accumulated more points since Dyche moved into the City Ground dugout. Forest’s 13 points from eight games has created distance to the relegation zone, not removing the threat but allowing everyone to look up rather than down. Dyche is winning on average 1.625 points a game, which would lead to almost 62 across an entire campaign. Brighton finished eighth last season with 61.
