Sean Dyche has spoken out about his tenure as Nottingham Forest head coach and addressed some rumours
09:00, 29 Mar 2026
Former Nottingham Forest head coach Sean Dyche
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Former Nottingham Forest head coach Sean Dyche (Image: Getty)
Sean Dyche is convinced he would have got Nottingham Forest over the line in their bid for Premier League survival, had he stayed on as head coach.
The 54-year-old lasted 114 days in the City Ground job before being axed after a 0-0 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers last month. As the club’s fourth head coach of the campaign, Vitor Pereira is now the man tasked with steering the Reds clear of relegation danger.
Dyche picked up 22 points from his 18 league matches at the helm and is certain he was on course to keep Forest up. He believes, had he - along with assistants Ian Woan and Steve Stone - been in charge from the start of the campaign, it would have resulted in a 12th-placed finish.
“I was very proud to do it because obviously I have a soft spot - and still have - for Forest, just to make that clear and to reiterate again,” the former academy player told talkSPORT. “I don't hope there's trouble for them, definitely not. I don't want trouble for them.
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“We worked very hard, trying to change the culture for the third manager in, (which was) very difficult. I had no problem with the owner (Evangelos Marinakis), by the way. He gets a lot of flack, especially about my comings and goings, but I have no problem with him at all and still don't - and his son Miltos, equally.
“Things change. The noise changes quickly. We went in there, all ex-Forest people one way or another, with good heart to do the job. And I think we were doing the job - the points said that and the table said that.
“But the demand is high now. It’s about why aren't you playing this way, why aren’t you playing that way, why are you doing this and why aren't you doing that? That's just part of management now. You’ve got to answer to everyone and everything - and still win, by the way.
“The bit what we went in there for was to win. We got 22 points out of their total so far. That doesn't sound a lot, but it is when you look at their total. And then you go, well, actually that's a pretty healthy return. I think we were eighth in the form table and I think if I'd have taken over at the beginning of the season, we would have been 12th.
“Now, I'm not arguing with anyone. They can all decide good, bad and all that. But you have got to win, or you have got to win enough.
“And in a changearound season with that many parameters, overall I thought we were actually doing a reasonable job. Not a brilliant job, a reasonable job. We would have got the job done, there's no two ways about it.
“And they will get the job done; I hope they do, anyway. But we would have got the job done, there's no two ways about that.
“I know what I'm doing in the Premier League, that's for sure. I don't say that like I'm patting myself on the back, it's just fact. I've been doing it a long, long time in the Premier League and it's not an easy league to do it in.”
Dyche was left taken aback by suggestions he was working the Forest players too hard in training. And he is equally incredulous at claims he hadn’t bonded with the squad.
“It used to be, in my day, that you looked at the manager and you got on with it, and you bonded to them,” he said. “It was like get involved with the manager and do what they'd like you to do. Because guess what? All we want is the best for them.
“I told the players I care about (them), my days are gone. My days as a player have gone but all I want to do is rub off on you and help you to get better.
“It's getting harder. They look straight through you and say:‘Oh no, my agent said this.’ I’m like, really?”
In conversation with host Jonny Owen, Dyche laughed at rumours the Welshman had been the one behind his appointment at Forest. Owen became a director at the club in 2018, although he was removed from the board earlier this year as the Reds moved to comply with UEFA rules in the event of qualification for the Champions League.
“You’ve got to remember, in a very short space of time… well, you know because you're involved at Forest and you appointed me, obviously, we all know that,” Dyche said to Owen, tongue in cheek. “Get me 20 tickets for all your mates and all that nonsense that people talk about. Tell them that story!
Owen laughed: “I was the only one that said don't take it (the job)!”
Dyche continued: “He got his mate as manager, that's what went wrong, because he's on the board. Like you appointed me, like you said to Mr Marinakis: ‘Mr Marinakis, by the way, get him in.’
“I mean, come on. It’s mad, isn’t it? But people convince themselves that's true - Jonny Owen only wants tickets for his mates! Yeah, of course.”
Addressing the way modern life and football has changed, Dyche continued: “It is changing, the flow is changing. (Talking about) manager bonding with the players. You go, no, the players should be bonding with the manager, you’ve got that the wrong way around.
“They’re going, yeah, but it’s modern. Modern in what way? What’s wrong with the players working to bond with the manager, not the manager working to bond with the players?”
He added: “The blame game comes out in life. We all know that. Life is changing. The blame game is out there.
“People make excuses for all sorts of different things that happen in their life. I can't remember making too many, I’ve got to be honest.
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“People can give me stick or praise me, I take it in equal measure, but I haven’t made many excuses in my time as a manager. There are some factual things that are going to affect you.”
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