Originally Posted by
The Lone Gunman
At start of each season, I buy the Racing Post's annual Big Kick-Off betting guide, and I keep them as it's always amusing to look back and see what the bookies got right and what they didn't. I think the following is interesting regarding Lamouchi at Forest. It's from the Post's Championship previews for 2019/20 and 2020/21.
In 2019/20, the Post's tipster fancied Forest for promotion, which was a 7/1 chance. He predicted they'd finish fourth and wrote:
"The battle for play-off places will be as intense as ever and Nottingham Forest could be major players if their new manager Sabri Lamouchi can get the best out of a talented squad. Since Greek shipping magnate Angelos Marinakis bought the club two years ago there has been a lot of investment, but high expectations have not been met and the football has often been too cautious.
"Nevertheless, last season's points tally of 66 was 13 better than the previous season and there is scope for further improvement under Lamouchi. He is new to English football but seems to know what he wants. Crucially, he has inherited some strong offensive players such as Joao Carvalho, Joe Lolley and Lewis Grabban. Getting the best out of them will be key, but Forest are likely to play a more positive brand of football and it may help them bridge the gap to the top six."
The same tipster predicted they'd finish 7th in 2020/21. His pre-season write-up said:
"Missing out on the play-offs was a massive disappointment for Forest, who spent much of the 2019/20 campaign pushing for a top-two finish. However, they were overly defensive at times and their 58-goal tally was the second lowest of the division's top 15 clubs. Adding Lyle Taylor to the squad might help in that regard, but they look likely to fall short again."