FOREST ON FIRE!
Happy anniversary for boss Lamouchi
THE sight of Lewis Grabban back to his clinical best was the perfect anniversary gift for Sabri Lamouchi as he celebrated one year as Nottingham Forest manager with a convincing victory.
Lamouchi, who signed a new contract earlier this month, is poised to become the first manager since Billy Davies in his first spell nine years ago to lead Forest through an entire campaign.
The pressure to restore former glories can weigh heavily on the banks of the River Trent, where the Brian Clough Stand looms high, and two decades have passed since Forest slid from the Premier League.
But promotion remains a very realistic target for Forest after they beat sinking Huddersfield, who finished with 10 men after Juninho Bacuna’s red card and start this week in the bottom three, locked in a desperate fight to avoid relegation for a second successive year.
Lamouchi’s team eased into fourth, climbing above Fulham on goal difference, seven points from the top two and with a blur of seven games to come.
‘I am so proud,’ said the Forest boss. ‘One year since my first day in Nottingham and the season is not finished, but this win was crucial. The next month can be unbelievable, it can be crazy.
‘Anything can happen and it depends on us. I know we can do it. We have the quality to play much better and to get more points.’
Sammy Ameobi struck a post in the opening moments, but it was Grabban who gave Forest a grip on the game with the opener, two minutes before half-time, and his second, less than a minute after the restart. For his first, he smashed a fierce volley past Jonas Lossl from close range after drifting into space at the back post as centre half Joe Worrall retrieved a cleared corner and crossed from the left flank.
His second was a slick exchange of passes with Ameobi, who unzipped the Huddersfield defence for Grabban to race clear and score his 19th goal in the Championship.
‘It is important to get into that habit of scoring goals,’ said the 32-year-old striker. ‘Automatic promotion is always possible until it’s not possible. We’ve got to keep going.’
Huddersfield’s Andy King headed against the bar when it was 2-0 and Forest goalkeeper Brice Samba foiled Karlan Grant and Bacuna before the visitors conceded the third, a near-post header by substitute Ryan Yates in the 85th minute.
Danny Cowley reflected on his team’s lack of a cutting edge and a strong penalty appeal for a trip by Ben Watson on Alex Pritchard which was waved aside when the game was still goalless.
‘It looked a penalty to me,’ said Cowley. ‘It could have been a different game, but I don’t want to make excuses. I would rather control what we can control.’
Grant scored Huddersfield’s consolation goal in the seventh minute of added time from the penalty spot, by which point his team were down to 10 men after a reckless tackle on Nuno da Costa by Bacuna, who will be banned for three games.
‘I’m not going to defend the indefensible,’ said Cowley. ‘He’s a good kid at heart but he gets emotional and makes erratic decisions. That will hurt us.
‘He knows how I feel and he will learn from it.’
Huddersfield are at Birmingham on Wednesday. ‘I trust the players,’ added Cowley. ‘We are down and naturally disappointed but we are not dead.’