CITY GROUND — They twirled their scarves in the air at the City Ground and they played the songs of old, those anthems of yesteryear that are suddenly back in fashion. This team has been through a lot over the years and a lot over the course of this season too. If it seems remarkable and ridiculous that it could still end in the fourth greatest season of their history, isn’t that just perfect Nottingham Forest.
Nothing is done, of course. It never could be on Thursday evening. But for the first time since more than a year ago, this is a team with truly positive momentum that believes it can bruise the noses of the supposedly bigger and better. That was their fuel last season. That was their fuel when Cloughie walked on the Trent. I hope you’re not stupid enough to write them off.
Chris Wood was the match-winner and may well be the season changer too. His recovery from a serious knee injury has – perhaps slightly inadvertently – altered the course of a campaign drifting towards who knows where. His penalty was pure and definitive and gave Emi Martinez no chance at all.
Wood’s return has allowed Vitor Pereira, the fourth and maybe most defining manager of Forest’s season, to switch formation. There are two strikers. There is high pressing and there are turnovers. There is Morgan Gibbs-White nominally starting out wide but basically acting as a magnet to wherever the ball is.
Near Gibbs-White is always Elliot Anderson; there was a passage of play in the second half, after Forest had scored their penalty, when the two exchanged five passes on the left wing, each more intricate and outrageous than the last. It persuaded the home crowd to ole while they were still wrought with tension. That’s what supreme talent does.
But for all of the improvements in Forest’s attack, they have conceded four goals in their previous nine games after five games without a clean sheet. That was the headline from Thursday night. Murillo was injured. Jair Cunha was injured. Morato had to play and was excellent. Ola Aina came off with an injury and academy product Zach Abbott came on.
And Neco Williams kept on keeping on, from minute one to 90 just like always. Of all the principal contenders to be Forest’s potential hero in Istanbul, if they get there, most will be midfielders or attackers. But Williams hasn’t just been one of the most consistent performers at the City Ground this season. He’s been arguably the best left-back in the Premier League this season and he was a contender for that same award in 2024-25 too.
WIlliams was one of the 2022-23 crop, that Nottingham Forest splurge that drew much mockery and opprobrium. Liverpool allowed him to leave for £17m because he was a young right-back and they had Trent Alexander-Arnold. Now Williams is comfortable on either side, comfortable going forwards and back, comfortable driving inside or crossing with his left and comfortable taking set pieces.
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But it’s Williams’ one-on-one defending that is most impressive. He has a tigrish quality, a determination to compete for every ball and never give up whether he is faced with pace, guile, strength or a combination of all three. He is a tyro and a terrier and yet possesses the composure to start moves as well as block them. He is a future Wales captain, if they’re smart.
These are the qualities that Pereira has repeatedly insisted are non-negotiable, certainties if Forest are to push Aston Villa and keep their heads above water in the Premier League. Williams epitomises them.
As he wandered around the pitch after full-time, Williams’ forename was briefly sung on repeat by those who have grown to adore him. He still looks a little humbled, unsure of whether he is the right actor for the protagonist role. But make no mistake: he leads by example and by attitude.
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