SPURS ARE LOOKING UP ANGE PLAN GETS RESULTS
SILVA NEEDS TO CUT WOOD OFF AT THE FOREST Postecoglou won’t change approach
FULHAM boss Marco Silva has warned struggling Nottingham Forest they could be in for another thrashing at the City Ground today.
Two goals each for Alex Iwobi and Raul Jimenez and Tom Cairney’s late strike saw Fulham run out 5-0 winners at Craven Cottage in December.
Then Forest boss
Steve Cooper was “embarrassed” by the result — but Fulham showed it was no oneoff by thumping West Ham by an identical score a few days later.
Cooper was sacked soon after the heavy defeat and replaced by Nuno Espirito Santo (below), whose team are scrapping for their Premier League lives.
And Silva had this ominous message for their hosts, saying: “I have to say that we are stronger right now, we are in a better moment than December.
Fight
“They are in a position that they don’t want to be, and it’s going to be a team that is going to fight really hard to get out of that position.
“At the same time, we want to fight for the points because we want to keep climbing the table.”
Espirito Santo knows he can knock on Wood in the battle to remain in the top flight.
With the task of staying in the top flight made more difficult following a four point deduction imposed by the Premier League, who better to call on than survival expert Chris Wood?
The New Zealander extended his CV in relegation dogfights during his time with Burnley and in last season’s scrap to avoid the drop into the Championship on loan at Forest from Newcastle.
That became a permanent move in the summer and now the 32-year-old is once again immersed in trying to maintain a club’s elite status.
And after hitting 10 Premier League goals in a season for the fifth time, Nuno believes he has the right man to lead the latest campaign to defy the odds.
The City Ground is still buzzing after Wood’s brilliantly improvised back header which earned a point against Crystal Palace.
Nuno added: “As long as he is on the pitch we trust him so much that he will deliver for us. He is a fantastic professional. What we have to do is to keep him healthy and help him because for sure he is going to give us a big hand.”
Under Nuno, Wood has scored seven goals in eight games.
But the Portuguese refuses to take the plaudits, even though at Wolves another striker, Raul Jimenez, now with Fulham, blossomed under his management.
“I shouldn’t take the credit,” he stated.
“It’s all about them.
The quality of Chris is different from Raul.”
With an injury to Taiwo Awoniyi, Wood is Forest’s main striker.
Any mishap involving the Kiwi would be a severe blow with huge games coming up. But Nuno maintained:
“We look after the players, some need days (rest). But you can’t be afraid something is going to happen.”
Nuno also praised the reaction of Neco Williams, who suffered European Championship heartbreak with Wales against Poland.
He said: “It was a setback with him what happened with Wales. He was sad.
“But he has shown here how he has overcome that situation. He is in a really good moment with us.”
ANGE POSTECOGLOU believes Tottenham reeling in thirdplaced Manchester City should be considered as realistic a possibility as Manchester United catching his side in the race for the Champions League.
Postecoglou is not a manager fixated on final league positions and instead is more interested in the bigger picture of the progress he sees from his side.
But he insisted that if fifth-placed Spurs being pegged back by sixth-inthe-table United is a talking point so too should be the idea that his men can trouble the champions.
“Can you see us challenging Manchester City?,’ he said, when asked if United are still top four rivals.
THAT WINNING FEELING: Son HeungMin celebrates his goal against Luton at the weekend; (inset) Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou
“No? Well they’re only eight points ahead of us. If there’s eight points (gap), you either think we can catch Man City who are eight points ahead of us or you think Man United can catch us.
“What’s important for me is that we want to finish the season strong and keep building on the foundation of being a team that hopefully in 12 months’ time people are looking at us differently and talking about us differently.”
Renowned
Postecoglou has made Spurs a team renowned for their comebacks after yet another against Luton on Saturday.
Only Liverpool (26) have won more points from losing positions than Spurs (22) this season.
Postecoglou, whose side were booed off at half-time when they trailed Luton, said: “If you go back right to the very start all of my teams had that trademark of being able to turn around results or winning games late.
“When you’re so committed to playing a certain way the score almost becomes irrelevant.
“Whether we’re winning or losing we don’t change our approach.
“That makes it easier for the players to look for the solutions in the way we play rather than something that is not a constant gameplan. in our
Desperation
“That helps them because there is always a sense of a little anxiety or desperation particularly when it’s getting late in games and you feel it in the stadium and the supporters because they all want to win.”
Postecoglou exuding calm on the sidelines no doubt helps too.
He said: “If I am running down the touchline just thinking we’ve scored and won, I’m not helping the team, but that doesn’t mean internally I’m not running. It would probably help me if I did it physically as well!”