When Fulham visit the City Ground next weekend, Nuno Espirito Santo’s absence from the touchline might be as greatly felt as Morgan Gibbs-White’s absence out on the pitch.
Both will be suspended on Saturday, with Nottingham Forest head coach Nuno shown a red card for his protests in the immediate aftermath of seeing Gibbs-White getting a second booking late on a dramatic afternoon at Brighton’s Amex Stadium.
Forest will undoubtedly miss their talismanic attacking midfielder, who remains one of the most inspirational, creative figures in the side. It had been Gibbs-White’s clever pass that sent Jota Silva rampaging down the channel to square unselfishly for Ramon Sosa to make it 2-2, the game’s final score. The result preserved both sides’ unbeaten start to the league season.
But this was also a fifth straight game unbeaten away from home for Forest. That would not sound like a significant stat for many Premier League sides but, for them, it definitely is.
On their return to the top flight in 2022-23, Forest won only one of their 19 matches on the road, as they avoided defeat on six occasions. Last season they improved slightly, with four victories and four draws in the league on their travels.
Whether you call it a hoodoo, a struggle or a jinx — pick your cliche — Forest’s away form had underlined why they fought against relegation for both those years.
Sunday was a day when some recent incarnations of Forest might well have suffered another defeat. But, slowly, surely, Nuno is addressing one of the biggest problems to have undermined this club since they regained Premier League status under predecessor Steve Cooper.
In one sense, the man appointed last December has done nothing complex — he has merely given his players a sense of belief and confidence that has not always been present.
But he has removed the sense of fear that might have seen Forest unravel following moments like the one in the 83rd minute here when Gibbs-White was shown that second yellow for a challenge on Joao Pedro following a long period of debate between referee Rob Jones and fourth official Anthony Taylor. Nuno — and opposite number Fabian Hurzeler — were both also dismissed after voicing their opinions a little too vociferously in the opposing dugouts.
A more fragile Forest might have succumbed at that point; Brighton may well have found a winning goal against 10 men. But even with their numerical disadvantage, Forest rarely looked like letting their ninth point of the season slip.
Forest’s unbeaten streak on the road stretches back to the May victories against Sheffield United and Burnley, two of their relegation-scrap rivals, as they secured survival. Throw in this season’s 1-0 defeats of Southampton and Liverpool and they have won four of the five games.
It is the longest such run Forest have mustered since a streak of 12 away trips without defeat from February to October in 1995.
But the transformation has not just been inspired by that injection of belief. The tactical intelligence of Nuno and his coaching team has also been a major factor.
At Anfield last weekend, Forest set up in a way that was difficult to break down; a line-up that prevented their hosts from either playing down the middle or taking advantage of their attack-minded full-backs.
After keeping things tight, they introduced Hudson-Odoi and Elanga off the bench on either side of the hour mark and saw those two players combine for the goal that won the game.
On Sunday, Forest felt Brighton’s high line and offside trap was a potential Achilles’ heel for the home side.
Hudson-Odoi and Elanga — two men with searing pace — were brought back into the team, with the notion that they might be able to exploit that. And so it proved as Hudson-Odoi advanced down the right side, before cutting into the box and winning the 13th-minute penalty from which Chris Wood gave Forest the lead with a calm finish.
With 40 minutes on the clock, it definitely did not feel like a game in which, within the next 20 minutes, Forest would have made four changes. They had enjoyed long spells where, while not always dominant, they were able to dictate the tempo.
The three changes Nuno made at the interval — bringing on Neco Williams, Jota Silva and Ryan Yates — felt like an overreaction to Brighton’s two goals in three minutes just before half-time, Jack Hinshelwood’s header and Danny Welbeck’s free kick, that dramatically changed the mood.
There was a fourth Forest change in the 59th minute when Sosa replaced Elliot Anderson.
But, for the second game running, the decision-making of the Forest head coach was vindicated, as Jota and Sosa combined to draw Forest level with 20 minutes of the 90 to play.
Rui Silva, the assistant coach, revealed afterwards that Forest do not even like to refer to players as ‘substitutes’. It is a word they avoid, where possible. Nuno and his staff repeatedly deliver the message that, if you are on the bench, it does not mean that you do not have a part to play.
“We have a fantastic group of players,” said Rui. “We do not even like to call them subs. I know they are because they are on the bench. But to us, all of the players are involved in the process. If they come into the game, they know what to do. They know what is expected of them.
“We just need to make them feel important; that they have a part to play. If we can do that, they will give the team what we want. The way we changed by making the subs, put us more in control of the game, while still creating chances. It gave us the speed we wanted up front. Even with 10 men, we had chances to win.”
When Fulham come to town on Saturday, Forest will have to find a solution that does not involve their head coach or Gibbs-White. But Nuno and his staff will doubtless have a plan.
(Top photo: Ramon Sosa after scoring his equaliser; by Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)
