Nottingham Forest screwed it; even fans hope ‘owner gets everything he deserves’

Nottingham Forest’s decision to sack Nuno Espirito Santo has not gone down well, while we have more Florian Wirtz chat.

Together we are getting through to the end of the international break.

Send your thoughts on any subject – but especially England – to theeditor@football365.com

Nottingham Forest f***ed it

Well, we sacked our best manager in years, after our best season in decades. Nuno was a humble, thoughtful man that we took to our hearts. And we ruined it.

I hate to say this as a fan, but I hope our owner gets everything he deserves from this.
Keith, Worthing

Ange in at Forest, please

Please bring in big Ange, love that guy and he’d be so funny alongside Evo.
Henry, LFC

READ: Forest go for Postecoglou chaos, but Mourinho might actually be less mad choice

Nottingham Forest fans can look forward to winning the Championship next year.
Rocky Foreshore

What do certain Premier League clubs expect?

There is a group of PL clubs who feel they can do better than they do. Ambition is good, but obviously they can’t all get higher in the table.
When you see the names linked with Forest, you think, OK, they didn’t have a clear plan, they will look for a manager with PL experience, because certain pundits always likes to tell us that without that, you cant manage in the PL. Except when someone new does well, then it is because he is a great manager….

So, if you go for the ‘obvious’ names, like a Postecoglou, surely what you hope for is to hire one who will click with the club!? Which underlines the futility of the sacking of Nuno, because from an outsider POV, it was so clear that here was a club who had found a manager who really fitted them.

Which means that it is either the owner’s ego or the ambition of his new sporting director causing them to make risky, at best, decisions.

There are clubs, like Bournemouth and Swansea for a while, who do things in a sensible way and get long-term success, but the issue is that you need a lot of patience and most people in football don’t have that.
Andreas, wanting Denmark to win the group, but also quite wanting Scotland to qualify…., Brussels

Have FA just kicked can down a hot road?

First up, I confess I was happy and even excited by the Tommy T appointment as England manager. Technically great coach, great CV, brilliant appointment.

The first 4 competitive matches (we won’t talk about the friendly against Senegal which got Diouf a transfer to West Ham) have all been very dull, clean sheet victories against teams in a low block that we cannot draw any conclusions from.

The vibe feels wrong though doesn’t it? No apparent clear plan, which hasn’t been helped by schedules and injuries admittedly, but perhaps this is because we have a very technical coach who doesn’t have the time to implement his plans across a group of players who he only has for a very limited period of time versus club management. Probably also why Pep would be a comparatively rubbish National team coach (aside from Spain where I could probably do the job)

Anyway, getting to my point eventually, the FA are actually playing a blinder by appointing TT on an All or Nothing one tournament contract:

1) The World Cup is going to be played in sweltering conditions; heat is one of the most frequent but actually acceptable historical reasons for English players’ underperformance at major tournaments as unfortunately we don’t live in a very sunny country. I’ll briefly caveat that with this year being the exception which has been strangely glorious since April, even in the North West, still not continental hot though.

2) Argentina as current World Cup and Copa America holders really are very good and play in a warm climate.

3) Spain as European Champions and current favourites are also really very good (and also spanked a great Turkey team 6-0 away last night) also play in a warm climate.

4) France, Portugal and Brazil all three have amazing squads although with more weaknesses than Argentina and Spain.

5) If England win the tournament it would be absolutely amazing but also very much against the odds.

So the FA have thought: let’s write this one off, Southgate’s legacy will look even more amazing before we sack the German and appoint an English coach (Carsley or Howe presumably) ahead of the 2028 Home Nations Euros where we have more chance of bringing “it” home and breaking 62 years of discomfort and revel in our undoubted glory.

A (far) left field shout would be Wiegman after the job she’s done with the lionesses…that would be well woke though.
Brian (That’s the sound of a can bouncing down the road) BRFC

Eggxcellent

Haha – picturing Nick’s ‘Oppressive Yolk’ – do they put a hen on your head then?

Best laugh all day.
Rory Johnston, LFC, GUFC

Murkier and murkier at Man City

I’ve often been told I’m imagining things when I point out the behind-the-scenes whispers around Manchester City’s 115 charges. Indeed, I am constantly ridiculed on this site for raising the subject intermittently.

But let’s be honest: when you’ve essentially cheated your way to glory, it’s amazing how many “private discussions” suddenly become necessary.

We’ve gone from James Cleverly’s quiet chats to Lisa Nandy’s polite follow-ups, all under the warm glow of a £10bn UK–UAE Sovereign Investment Partnership (courtesy of Mubadala). Add £20–24bn in bilateral trade to the mix, and suddenly it’s less “Etihad sponsorship” and more “Etihad foreign policy.”

We’re told football regulation is independent. Sure. And I’m also told VAR makes things fairer. Pull the other one. When City’s owners are also one of Britain’s biggest investors, do we really think the government isn’t at least aware of how badly it would play for the Abu Dhabi billions to get rattled by a football tribunal?

So yes, forgive me if I’m a little sceptical about this “independent process.” We all know how these things work:

Rules are rules… until they’re “reviewed.”

Charges are charges… until they’re “resolved.”

And sovereignty is sovereignty… until someone dangles a £10bn cheque and threatens to pull security co-operation … allegedly

If this ends ( no doubting it will ) with City somehow cleared of wrongdoing, I’d love to see the Premier League explain to the rest of us how fairness triumphed over finance. Spoiler: it won’t.

But hey — maybe I’m wrong. Maybe money doesn’t talk. Maybe Lisa Nandy just really, really likes blue.
St John Smythe III

This really does mean more…

Thought I’d get this in before the inevitable flood of letters about England….or not.

Anyway, it’s been a strange year to be a Liverpool supporter. Klopp leaving, doubts about the future with Slot, running away with the league and now spending an absolute fortune. And then seeing the response to this from rival supporters. And obviously the sarcasm about it meaning more and calls of hypocrisy regarding the Liverpool supporters position re Isak, Newcastle and the dreaded N-word…no not one! The one about spending.

I realised something this week, which might go some way to explain the more, lets say, enthusiastic part of the Liverpool supporters.

And its this; Joy, success and trophies seem to be directly linked to disappointment, sadness and tragedy. And seemingly more than any other (big) club that I know of. Utd have it with the Busby babes, but Liverpool just seem to have a ridiculously long list of tragedies. Hillsborough, Heysel, are the obvious ones. But even just the past few years, Diaz with his dad being kidnapped, Alisson’s father drowning and not being able to go back to Brazil, Liverpool finally winning the league and not being able to celebrate with fans, the almost fatal situation in Paris for the CL final and the resulting Hillsborough flashback with the government coverup.

And then this summer, win the league again and having this amazing joyful party with supporters! But then some guy runs people over at the parade and of course the tragic deaths of Diogo and his brother. Winning the first game of the season with last minute goals and really the only part to remember is seeing Salah trying to hold back his tears after the match as the fans sing for his (team)mate who just died.

I think it is this why Liverpool supporters feel this intense connection to the club, it doesn’t make the club better or the supporters better. However it does explain the feeling of it meaning more.
Dean M

MAILBOX: Everybody makes the same point about Florian Wirtz and Kevin de Bruyne…

This moans more?

Wow, the expensive German being a massive dud is winding up all of the right people. Can’t wait for Isak to fire a few blanks then miss half the season with a hamstring tweak.

Meltdown incoming. This moans more.
Weldoninhio, BAC

A more nuanced take on Florian Wirtz

A lot of mails recently about Florian Wirtz’s start at Liverpool – some writing him off after three Prem games, balanced against the more understandable ‘give him a chance lads !’ response.

Just wanted to add one or two personal thoughts on this from a game structure perspective as I think that the ‘getting used to the physicality of the premier league’ doesn’t fully explain things.

I penned a note to the mailbox a month back after the Community Shield that I attended, highlighting that even though we didn’t take home the silverware it felt like an overwhelmingly positive day for Liverpool because in the first 45 minutes Wirtz absolutely ran the show against Palace and linked beautifully with Ekitike amongst others.

The thing that has become more evident to me as we have seen the first three Prem games unfold is how Wirtz has found it a lot more challenging to find the pockets of space between the opposition lines in which to attack the opposition. I think that is in part due to opposition teams paying more attention to making those pockets of space more challenging for him to find after the Wembley show of what can happen when they don’t.

But that is what he has to get used to … that is what Slot has to focus on (how to get Wirtz into more space on the pitch) in order to make our attacking setup work more effectively.

It’s not a straight forward thing to resolve – teams are going to be relatively compact against us which adds to the challenge.

Gary Neville was in part recognising this in his commentary of the of the Arsenal game, saying that he should have been playing goal-side of Zubimendi – yep, something in that .. but also fails to recognise that it would have the consequence of giving up a level of defensive structure against a strong opposition midfield. Definitely a solution against less favoured teams though.

What I found noticeable the more the game went on against Arsenal was our ability to progress the ball between the lines from defence to attack greatly improved – this to me is really important going forward, namely being quick and accurate in driving progressive balls up the pitch with Virgil, Ryan and Alexis being the key people to enact this.

One of the best to have ever graced Anfield at that skill was Xabi Alonso, who coincidentally has managed Wirtz during his most productive period to date in the game.

I’m convinced he is going to come good – he just passes the eye test in terms of his technical ability and he works really hard for the team from a defensive shape perspective.

The subliminal thought process employed by some observers that they expected him to immediately be the main carrier of the weight for Liverpool’s attack is the more irrational thought process, in my eyes.

(separate topic) Just wanted to end with a shout out to ‘Dave, Manchester’ for his thoughtful note a few days back about Chelsea’s transfer approach in recent times – I think there is a lot of sense in what he outlined (and from my recollection of his other mails, that was to be expected).

I sensed the undercurrent to the mail was in some way “why aren’t more clubs doing it ?”, and that for me where any potential benefits of the approach may start to unravel slightly.

It feels that the more clubs that adopt that transfer approach, the greater the chance of the financial benefit being rinsed from it – more clubs will be competing for the same young talent pool, driving that market to be even more inflated and therefore squeezing margins further down the line.

I think that the core of the benefit that Chelsea may glean from the approach they have adopted in the last few years is that they were the salmon swimming upstream. They wont want the other fish to swim alongside them.
Sparky, LFC

(this international break is akin to getting your prem toys on xmas day, only to have them taken away on boxing day)

The Premier League Needs Its Suit Back

Remember Wayne Rooney talking about players suiting up before and after matches? That wasn’t about fashion — it was about respect. It was about building a culture. And right now, the Premier League could use a heavy dose of it.

I grew up watching United under Sir Alex. If you were heading to Wembley, you wore the club suit. Didn’t matter if you were starting, on the bench, or nowhere near the squad — you looked the part. It told the world: this is Manchester United. It was discipline. It was pride.

Compare that to today. Big game at Wembley, lads rocking up in neon trainers and tracksuits. Sorry, but that doesn’t scream focus. It screams distraction. It’s not the clothes, it’s what they represent: standards slipping.

Football has always been about more than 90 minutes. It’s about the rituals, the behaviours, the things young players see and copy. And if the example they’re getting is “image first, game second,” don’t be shocked when consistency vanishes.

Look at Jude Bellingham or Bukayo Saka — grounded, serious, still themselves but all about football. That’s why they’re thriving. Contrast that with players who spend more time on branding than pressing. One group looks like it’s climbing; the other, coasting.

Football is herd mentality. A decade ago, pressing was a niche thing. Now, it’s the baseline because Klopp and Guardiola tied it to winning. The same can happen with professionalism. If discipline gets linked to trophies, fans will demand it, clubs will enforce it, and players will follow.

This isn’t about killing individuality. Bring your cars, bring your Instagram, bleach your hair if you like. But the foundation has to be respect — for the badge, for the fans, for the game itself.

Imagine the Premier League where walking into the stadium in a sharp suit isn’t seen as “old-fashioned” but as a statement of intent. Imagine kids watching and learning that being a pro means more than TikTok edits — it means discipline, humility, pride.

That’s the culture worth bringing back. And the sooner we do, the stronger English football will be.

Respect isn’t out of style. It never was. The league just forgot.
Dan (the Man), United Fan