Oliver Glasner Has One Win at Forest and an Impatient Owner

• Nottingham Forest sit 19th in the Premier League with one win under Oliver Glasner, no goals at home this season and a solitary point at the City Ground.
• Glasner will take charge of his eighth Premier League game at Forest on Friday at Ipswich, three more than Ange Postecoglou was given before owner Evangelos Marinakis sacked him last year.
• Opta data shows Forest rank seventh for expected goals but have scored the fewest, with five, and have wasted 62 shots at home.

Forest Hired the Man Who Won Trophies at Palace, and the Goals Have Not Come

Nottingham Forest did not plan to be 19th. They removed Vítor Pereira in the summer, hired Oliver Glasner as a highly acclaimed upgrade and paid for Liam Delap, a £45m striker, to fuel their ambitions. Seven league games later they have one win, five goals in total and nothing to show from the City Ground except a single point and zero goals, according to the Guardian.

The fates of the manager and the striker are linked. Delap returns on Friday night to Ipswich, where his career ignited, and Forest are trying to stay calm. The club want to leave behind the short-term thinking that caused so many problems. Twelve months ago they were on their third head coach of a disappointing season.

The Numbers Say Bad Luck, the Table Says Trouble

The underlying figures are kinder than the standings. Based on chances created and conceded, Glasner has had the best start of any Forest manager in the Premier League era. Opta rank Forest seventh for expected goals (xG) yet they have scored the fewest goals in the division, five, which makes them the biggest underperformers against xG at minus 6.2. That is almost a goal a game missing, and it includes 62 shots at home that led nowhere. If every team scored and conceded what the chances suggest, Forest would sit fourth.

The manager pointed to last Sunday’s defeat by Arsenal. Forest allowed one shot on target and it was deflected in for the winner. Captain Morgan Gibbs-White, the team’s attacking fulcrum, was missing. “It feels very unfair,” Glasner said of the result. “We have to accept we are missing some bits. But the performance in many parts was very good.”

Delap Needs Goals and Glasner Needs Time

Delap has scored once for Forest and averages one league goal every five appearances. The Guardian’s Will Unwin wrote that it is understandable he has yet to find his feet after a disappointing year at Chelsea and a missed pre-season. Forest tried to sign him before he went to Stamford Bridge and still have great faith in him. He is described as the ideal number nine, with pace, power and sharp finishing, but his output depends on peak form.

The effort is there. Delap has been the front line of defence, pressing opposition centre-backs relentlessly, and he showed quick thinking with a fast throw-in that set up a goal at Anfield. He almost repeated the trick against Arsenal, only for Chris Wood to miss the chance.

Glasner has been here before. In his first full season at Crystal Palace his side won one of their first 13 league matches, then finished comfortably in mid-table and won the FA Cup. At Eintracht Frankfurt he took one victory from his first 10 games and went on to win the Europa League. In two full seasons at Selhurst Park he won two major trophies for a club that had waited almost 120 years for one.

His methods take learning. Playing three at the back is rarely the norm in England, and neither is using two number 10s. Forest also lost their best player, Elliot Anderson. The recruitment aimed at positions that needed help: James McAtee, whom Glasner believes can adapt to a deeper midfield role alongside the free signing Xaver Schlager, plus defender Ousmane Diomande and Daniel Muñoz, who followed the manager from Selhurst Park.

The Owner Is Not Known for Patience

Chief football officer George Syrianos is Glasner’s biggest advocate and has told fans the manager will be given time. The owner has a different record. Friday will be Glasner’s eighth Premier League match in charge at Forest, three more than Postecoglou was permitted before Marinakis dismissed him this time last year.

Glasner can point to progress that Postecoglou could not, and the Guardian expects points to come. Fans who believe a big outlay should bring instant results will want proof soon. A first home goal would be a start.

WRITTEN BY

Jarrod

Jarrod Partridge is the Founder of Futbol Chronicle and an accredited journalist with over 30 years of experience following international football. A member of the AIPS International Sports Press Association, Jarrod has covered matches at stadiums around the world, bringing first-hand insight to every match report, player profile, and tactical analysis he writes.

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