When you don’t play, you fall out of love with football
MORGAN GIBBS-WHITE on why he had to leave Wolves as he bids to knock his old team out of the Cup
MORGAN Gibbs-White confronts his past head on tonight aiming to deliver a bright future for one of Britain’s most evocative clubs.
Long touted as one of this country’s most talented young players, he made his senior debut for Wolves aged 16 and a year later Gary Lineker advised Match of the Day viewers to ‘remember the name’ after a spectacular display against Chelsea at Molineux in December 2018 that brought a standing ovation.
Yet Gibbs-White never took the expected leap forward and after deciding the route was blocked at Wolves, he became Nottingham Forest’s record signing last summer for £25million. The fee was surprising for a player who had made only 12 Premier League starts, but the 22-year- old has comfortably been Forest’s best attacker this season.
With his appetite revived, Gibbs-White will relish the chance to take on his old club at the City Ground, with a place in the Carabao Cup semi-finals the prize. It is the perfect opportunity to show them what they are missing, and a long way from his most difficult days at Wolves, the club he joined as an eight-year-old.
‘Honestly, yes,’ Gibbs-White tells Sportsmail, when considering whether his job had ever become a bind. ‘It was when I was 19, before I went on loan to Swansea in August 2020. When you’re not playing, I wouldn’t say you hate football, but you start to fall out of love with it. It starts to feel more of a chore. Going to training is unbelievable but then on game day when you sit on the bench, it’s not a nice feeling.
‘That was a tough period for me mentally. I would see what other players were doing and try to do it better than them and it wouldn’t get me anywhere. So I took a step back. I told myself, “Instead of competing with everyone else, compete against yourself”. Since then I’ve done all right.
‘ You can get carried away when you are young. I made my debut at 16 and then got all those comments after the Chelsea game, so I matured quickly. I learned you don’t get everything immediately.
‘I started the Chelsea game and then for the next match I was on the bench. You need to give young players confidence to show what they are about. That is why I didn’t see a future at Wolves any more. There was no end goal for me there. I needed a new start and Forest is the perfect club for me.’
Gibbs-White was one of 23 players to join Forest in a remarkable summer recruitment drive — but he was the man that manager Steve Cooper really wanted.
The pair helped England lift the Under 17 World Cup in 2017 and Cooper was also in charge at Swansea when Gibbs-White had that loan spell in south Wales.
That is why he was as relieved as anyone when Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis stepped back from sacking Cooper after their 4-0 defeat at Leicester in October, handing the Welshman a new three-year contract instead. As for the fee, he is embracing it.
‘If anything, the fee has taken pressure off me,’ argues GibbsWhite. ‘It brings more eyes my way and people can see what I produce on the pitch. It’s not an overnight thing at Forest. You can’t expect to sign 20-odd players and have it all gel straight away. It’s going to take time but when it does click, it could be a really good place.
‘ The new contract for the manager was massive. It made us believe the owners believed in the manager, so we believe in him even more. Hopefully we will turn things around in the second half of the season. I’ve seen the pathway the owners want to go down and it looks bright.’
Gibbs-White has played for England from Under 16 to Under 21 level and though he is some way from a full cap, things can move quickly. He knows that with a strong end to the season he can play his way into the reckoning.
And he understands what is required to win a major title after scoring in the final as England Under 17s beat Spain 5-2 to lift that World Cup in India.
‘I’ve always wanted to play for my country at first-team level and play in big tournaments, but everyone has their time,’ says Gibbs-White. ‘I’m still working, trying to impress and improve. There are parts of my game I need to improve to get me to that point so hopefully my time will come.’
Growing up in Staffordshire, Gibbs-White was a Manchester United fan and tried to model his game on Wayne Rooney, the club’s record scorer with 253 goals in 559 appearances, winning 17 trophies.
Rooney also ended his England career with 120 caps and 53 goals.
Gibbs-White passed up the chance to speak to his boyhood hero when he was on loan at Sheffield United and Rooney was in charge of Derby. ‘I was too nervous to go and say hello. I grew up idolising him so to see him in the flesh was a bit like, “Woah”.
‘As a kid I loved United and I always watched Rooney. I really enjoyed the sort of player he was: hard-working, gritty, didn’t care who was in front of him, he was going through them.
‘He scored goals, set them up. He wore No 10 and I’ve often played in that position, so I was buzzing to be offered the shirt when I joined Forest.’
Gibbs-White has ‘ Why save the good stuff for later?’ tattooed on his wrist. ‘It means don’t have regrets,’ he explains. ‘Why do later what you can do now?’
As the midfielder and Forest approach the defining period of their first top-flight campaign this century, it feels like the perfect motto for both player and club.