Bournemouth vs Nottingham Forest isn’t quite a winner-takes-all clash, but it certainly has the feel of one.
With Fulham already assured of a swift return to the Premier League, there is one automatic promotion spot up for grabs and only two teams able to secure it: Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest.
Whereas the Cherries were expected to challenge for the title in pre-season and have been there or thereabouts throughout, Forest have exceeded expectations following a nightmarish start which saw them prop up the table after seven games. Since Steve Cooper’s first match in charge – a 1-1 draw against Millwall at the end of September – they have taken more points (75) than any other Championship club.
“There’s a lot of pressure on us,” acknowledges Sam Davis, a Bournemouth fan and host of the Back of the Net podcast. “Bournemouth fans are extremely nervous. With Forest’s run of form at the moment, they look unstoppable.
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Scott Parker’s side enjoy a three-point cushion over their visitors to the Vitality Stadium and have had a heartening week after overturning a 3-0 deficit to draw 3-3 against Swansea, before extinguishing Blackburn’s play-off hopes with an impressively comfortable 3-0 win on Saturday.
But Forest have greater momentum behind them. A 5-1 thrashing of Swansea at the weekend took their tally to 27 points from their last 30 available.
“I think it’s fair to say that it’s our biggest game this century,” Paul Severn, a board member for the Nottingham Forest Supporters’ Trust tells i. “We’ve flirted with the play-offs before but they’ve never really gone well for us, Forest have never got to a Wembley final [since it reopened in 2007], so going up automatically is the way we’d like to do it.”
Had supporters from both been clubs been offered an assurance that their club would end the campaign in a play-off position before a ball had been kicked, you imagine the majority would have taken it. But with the prospect of finishing second so close, escaping the unpredictability and anguish of the play-offs is clearly the desired outcome. There is an inevitable sense of fear over what the potential ramifications of a doomed promotion push could be.
“Most Bournemouth fans think it’s this season or bust,” Davis admits. “I know we’ve got a third season of parachute payments to come, but I’m not sure that some of the stars that we’ve got like Lloyd Kelly, Jefferson Lerma or Dominic Solanke would stick about if we weren’t to go up.
“The Parker methodology is based on a project and he would have to rip it up and almost start again if we were to lose a number of our key players. That’s one concern but also the financial implications of not being promoted are huge for us. We’d have to seriously reduce our spending.”
Championship table
- Fulham – Played 45, +67 GD, 90 pts
- Bournemouth – Played 44, +33 GD, 82 pts
- Nottingham Forest – Played 44, +34 GD, 79 pts
- Huddersfield – Played 45, +15 GD, 79 pts
- Sheffield United – Played 45, +14 GD, 72 pts
- Luton – Played 45, +7 GD, 72 pts
Forest would also be at risk of having a talented team picked apart by Premier League clubs if they were to fall short. Winger Brennan Johnson was linked with a move to Brentford in January and Ryan Yates, another homegrown academy star, has enjoyed a stellar campaign in midfield. Loanees Djed Spence and James Garner could well be playing in the top flight next season too, with or without Forest.
But hanging onto the manager is unquestionably Forest’s top priority whatever this season’s outcome. “Steve Cooper has done a wonderful job,” Forest legend Stuart Pearce said last week. “If they could get promoted, it would be an absolutely incredible achievement. I would honestly say that if he does get them up, he probably deserves to be manager of the year.”
Severn agrees with Pearce’s assessment. “He’s transformed the whole atmosphere, everyone is pushing in the same direction now. It feels like a different club. After every game, he’s marching around the City Ground pitch fist-pumping all the stands. He gets the club and gets the fans.”
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What Fulham need to win Championship title and how Bournemouth can seal second automatic spot22 April, 2022Parker perhaps had a trickier job of winning around a fanbase that for so long had been enraptured by Eddie Howe, now earning plaudits for his work at Newcastle. “Under Howe we loved the football that we played, it was really gung-ho and exciting to watch,” Davis recalls. “This season hasn’t been but it has been methodical and got results.
“But you have to give Scott Parker credit. He’s taken over a side that felt very disjointed at the start of the season and made them gel. There’s a remit to fulfil and if he does it you can’t say that he’s done a bad job.”
So which club will be in pole position to join Fulham in the Premier League next season?
“I’ll go for a 2-1 win,” Davis says cautiously. “But a draw isn’t the worst result for us. The one thing that we cannot do is lose.”
“Maybe we’ll do what we did at Fulham and sneak it 1-0,” is Severn’s similarly reasoned response to the same question. “It may not work out but I don’t think anyone will be too keen to come to the City Ground in the play-offs. Swansea aren’t a bad team and they were pulverised on Saturday so all is not lost if we don’t do it on Tuesday.”
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