Despite the comfort of a six-point cushion, Nottingham Forest narrowly escaped relegation, finishing just one spot above the drop zone at the end of last season in May. Known for their top-tier banter, they ostracized their captain and club icon Joe Worrall, making room for at least one of the 4,189 new signings they had made before the season started. In December, they dismissed their manager and appointed a seemingly defeated figure, famously described on a podcast as looking like 'a sad Jedi' after his brief, disastrous stint at Spurs. They were also penalized with a four-point deduction for financial irregularities, and that's not even mentioning the public outcry questioning the PGMOL's integrity due to a video assistant referee being a Luton fan, a social media debacle that cost them £750,000. Whatever claims the Forest-supporting prophets might make now that their team is soaring, there was no reason in August to expect the club owned by Evangelos Marinakis and managed by Nuno Espírito Santo to be any less chaotic this time around.
While some experts predicted Forest's relegation at the start of the season, others foresaw a potential climb to 15th place. It's still early, but if anyone thought they might be in third place with more than a quarter of the season played, they wisely kept quiet, fearing they'd be seen as completely insane. Except for their loss against Fulham, which led to fines and suspensions for the lack of sportsmanship shown, Forest remains unbeaten, scoring goals with ease and boasting the second-best defense in the league. Much of the credit for their defensive prowess goes to Nikola Milenkovic, a £12m signing from Fiorentina who initially prompted shrugs and Google searches but is proving to be a fantastic acquisition. Up front, few expected Chris Wood to be more thoroughbred than cart-horse, challenging for the Ballon d'Or.
Elsewhere on the pitch, Morgan Gibbs-White has excelled, even if his recent stint on the Naughty Step shows they have other stars in reserve. In the absence of Worrall, now at Burnley, Ryan Yates (and to a lesser extent Zach Abbott) have continued the remarkable record of having a local academy graduate in every matchday squad for 83 years, a run of 4,077 games. With speculation inevitably turning to whether this Forest side can 'do a Leicester,' fans will likely wait until they secure another 20-odd points for safety before entertaining such thoughts. Join Rob Smyth at 8pm BST for updates on Liverpool 3-1 Leverkusen in Bigger Cup, while Yara El-Shaboury will be following the goals at Sporting v Manchester City and beyond in her bumper clockwatch. Join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning, and the pod squad for the latest episode of Football Weekly.
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