Latest Nottingham Forest news as Reds star Morgan Gibbs-White reflects on start to season and Sean Dyche appointment
10:53, 31 Oct 2025
Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White after victory over Porto
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Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White after victory over Porto(Image: Getty)
Morgan Gibbs-White has explained his recent ‘breathe again’ remark referred to Nottingham Forest winning a game, rather than the club’s managerial change.
The Reds playmaker made the comment after last Thursday’s 2-0 Europa League victory over Porto. He had opened the scoring from the penalty spot on the night as the hosts triumphed in Sean Dyche’s first match in charge.
Dyche had been appointed as head coach only a few days before that match, becoming the club’s third manager of the campaign. His arrival came after Ange Postecoglou had been dismissed following a winless 39-day reign.
But ahead of this weekend’s clash at home to Manchester United, Gibbs-White has made clear his words were not a dig at Postecoglou. Instead, they were a sign of relief at Forest’s first win in any competition since the opening day of the season.
“It’s been difficult,” the England international said of the team’s start to the campaign. “I said that I felt like I could breathe not because of any managerial situation or reason - I feel like that’s what journalists love to pick up on! But it was the fact we didn't win a game in eight or nine games before that.
"That was my reasoning for that. I felt like I could breathe knowing we had won a game and we could hopefully try to build on that.
“Unfortunately we couldn’t. But we can still look to that Porto performance and try to make that our minimum (standard).”
The Reds were unable to build on that Porto result last weekend as they fell 2-0 away to Bournemouth. They remain in the Premier League relegation zone going into Saturday’s fixture at the City Ground (3pm kick-off), but Gibbs-White is convinced Dyche can oversee a turnaround in fortunes.
Asked about life under the ex-Everton and Burnley boss, he told Sky Sports: "It's good, it's entertaining! It's hard work but he's a great guy, really demanding and wants the best out of the team.
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"It's about buying into his ideas and getting used to the way he wants us to play. I feel like that really suits us as a team - we showed that last Thursday night. It is about buying into what he wants, believing in it, respecting it and trying to produce it on the pitch.
"He has only been here a week so we are all still getting used to it. It is not going to happen overnight.
“We have a good group around us and his coaching staff are great - they really buy into all the players and the culture of the team. It is a matter of time before everyone buys into what he wants, everyone starts believing in it and then we really kick on.”
Forest had hoped to use this term to build on their seventh-placed finish last time around. It hasn’t been the start they wanted, but they know this season still has a long way to run.
“Everyone at the club is ambitious,” Gibbs-White added. “The fans and the players are all ambitious. We all want to achieve something really special with this club so that’s the main focus right now.”
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