Latest Nottingham Forest news as new Reds head coach Sean Dyche prepares for Bournemouth clash
14:07, 24 Oct 2025
Nottingham Forest head coach Sean Dyche
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Nottingham Forest head coach Sean Dyche(Image: Getty)
Sean Dyche has cautioned it will take some of Nottingham Forest’s summer signings time to adapt to the top flight of English football.
The new Reds head coach is still properly assessing his Reds squad after being appointed earlier this week. He made a winning start to his tenure by seeing off Porto in the Europa League on Thursday but knows the real priority is to get Forest moving up the Premier League table.
The Reds are in the relegation zone with eight games of the season gone. It has not been the start to the campaign they envisaged after spending upwards of £180 million on 13 summer signings during the transfer window.
Asked if this is the best squad he has worked with as a manager, Dyche said ahead of Sunday’s trip to Bournemouth (2pm kick-off): “I don’t know yet. People say when you spend some money, they are all brilliant. But I don’t know yet. On first impressions, it’s a good squad.
“I’ve worked with some very under-rated players; very good players who cost next to nothing and who delivered in the Premier League for many years. I don’t look at price tags, I look at what’s right in front of me. What are they doing? What do they know? What do they learn? How can they learn? How can they adapt to the truth of the Premier League?
“The Premier League is not just about quality. Every player in the Premier League has a form of quality, if you imagine technical quality.
“But what about the nuts and bolts of playing? What about understanding the Premier League? What about shape and discipline? What about getting into the right passing lanes very quickly? What about seeing the picture? They are the hardest things to coach and that often takes time.”
Dyche became Forest’s third manager of the season when he took over from Ange Postecoglou on Tuesday. Helping new signings to settle in while keeping a relatively big squad happy will be just as much of a challenge for him as it was for his predecessors.
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“The big squad (comment) is fair, but we have a lot of injuries so that is not ideal,” said Dyche. “We have players who are still adapting.
“When people talk about the quality of a squad, it is usually applied to a (transfer) fee. It’s not that (this group) hasn’t got quality, but they have still got to adapt to the Premier League. It is not an easy league to adapt to.
“Some players hit the ground running and seem game-ready for it, and other players take time. I think there is a mixture here of players who need some time to develop into Premier League players and some who will fast-track. That is just the nature of signing players.
“It’s a myth about spending money; everyone thinks you’re spending it and that’s job done. If you spend a billion pounds, it probably is. But not when you spend £100-odd million.
“You spend that as normal. Teams are spending more than that on one player.
“That’s not the case anymore and it doesn’t guarantee quality. We think we have got quality, I must make that clear, but there are players who need to develop into the truth and the reality of the Premier League. I think that takes time.”
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Dilane Bakwa is expected to miss Sunday’s game after not being involved in midweek. Chris Wood also did not feature against Porto and faces a late fitness call for Bournemouth.
Oleksandr Zinchenko is ‘touch and go’ to take on the Cherries after being forced off with an injury on Thursday night. Fellow full-back Ola Aina remains a long-term absentee.
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