It might be the off-season, but there is still plenty going on at the City Ground as Nottingham Forest start preparing for the 2023/24 campaign.
The club released their retained list this week and confirmed the activation of a contract clause for Serge Aurier. Meanwhile, the transfer rumour mill is quickly getting into full swing ahead of the window opening.
It will be a big summer on the banks of the Trent. In the meantime, here’s a look at some of the latest goings-on.
READ MORE: Forest confirm retained list as six players depart
READ MORE: Forest confirm exit of club stalwart amid Steve Cooper praise
Awesome Aurier
With the Premier League action wrapped up, there has been plenty of Team of the Season pieces doing the rounds among pundits. That Aurier made his way into one shows the value of Forest having his services secured for next term.
A fair few eyebrows were raised when the right-back put pen to paper, but he became one of the first names in the starting XI for head coach Steve Cooper. His experience and leadership qualities were invaluable when the going got tough.
“A year ago, if I’d included Serge Aurier at right-back, everyone would have said I was nuts,” former striker Tony Cascarino wrote in his column for The Times. “He seemed to make a mistake every week, but has been one of Nottingham Forest’s most consistent and unsung heroes.”
Aurier is in good company in Cascarino’s selected line-up. Making up his team, which was not permitted to feature more than one player from each club, are Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), William Saliba (Arsenal), Sven Botman (Newcastle United), Rico Henry (Brentford), Declan Rice (West Ham United), Moises Caicedo (Brighton and Hove Albion), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) and Marcus Rashford (Manchester United).
VAR variables
Forest and Cooper had plenty of cause for complaint over refereeing decisions throughout the season. Fortunately, being on the wrong end of some key ones didn’t prove costly in their survival fight.
But perhaps VAR wasn’t all bad. At least if the findings of ESPN are anything to go by.
They have compiled the VAR Effect Table, which takes into account all 116 VAR overturns in the Premier League. ESPN have then calculated how they might have influenced matches.
There’s a series of factors which are taken into account, such as the timing of an incident, before a predicted outcome is settled upon. It is not a perfect calculation by any means, but it does make for interesting reading.
And according to the modified table, the Reds would have finished on 35 points and been relegated - swapping places with Leicester City. ESPN calculate Forest would have lost at home to West Ham United had a Said Benrahma goal not been disallowed by VAR. They also reference an “incorrect offside flag” when Morgan Gibbs-White was awarded the winner at home to Crystal Palace, “an offside goal given” for Brennan Johnson against Leicester City and a penalty being awarded against Brighton and Hove Albion (which Johnson missed) when the score was level.
Catch him if you can
Everyone knows Johnson is quick. But now the stats prove it.
The Reds ace caused defenders all kinds of problems - not just with his pace - as he looked at home on the big stage. And the exciting part is he can get even better.
According to the stattos at Opta, via Give Me Sport, Johnson is the second-fastest player in the Premier League. He has clocked 36.70km/h, putting him just behind Kyle Walker on 37.31km/h.
Record hit
Forest’s match at Crystal Palace was memorable for the party atmosphere in the away end more than anything which took place on the pitch. But Taiwo Awoniyi’s goal - his 10th in the Premier League - did contribute to it being a record-breaking season in the English top-flight.
The 2022/23 campaign was the highest-scoring in Premier League history thanks to the 33 goals netted across the 10 matches on the final day. That haul took the overall tally across the season to 1,084, topping the 1,072 recorded in 2018/19.
The Reds chipped in with 38 goals in total. Survival means we can gloss over how many they let in at the other end…
Remember him?
So much has happened since Joao Carvalho left Forest in January 2022. It might only have been 16 months ago he was a Red, but it almost seems like a different era.
The Portuguese is still on the books of fellow Evangelos Marinakis-owned side Olympiacos but has been on loan at Estoril. What happens next, though, is uncertain.
Carvalho - still only 26 - made 28 league appearances back in his homeland, scoring a solitary goal. However, he is said to have put in some impressive performances as he helped the club avoid relegation, most recently being awarded a wellness package from one of the club’s partners for covering the most distance in the final game of the season.
Portuguese outlet PortuGOAL described him as being “one of the team’s players of the year”. They cite wages and a potential transfer fee as a possible “major stumbling block” to making the move from Greece on a permanent basis. But they add: “On this evidence the midfielder should have no shortage of suitors come summer.” For his part, Carvalho signed off with a message which read: “Thank you Estoril! It has been a privilege!”
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