OPINION: Nottingham Forest manager needs patience not stupid criticism

Let me start this piece by saying that if you were one of several Forest supporters slating the manager on Twitter last night then it might be wise to click the little cross in the top, right-hand corner right now as you won't enjoy these thoughts in the slightest.
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Forest succumbed to their second Sky Bet Championship defeat in succession with a 1-0 reverse at Brentford, which saw many of the more moronic keyboard warriors start to call for boss Philippe Montanier’s head.

The French manager clearly doesn’t know his best side yet, nor does he know the Championship which is making his team look pretty disjointed at present. An assessment of his squad is well underway and over the next couple of matches I am sure he will decide who he sees as part of his plans and who he doesn’t.

The defeat at Brighton was disappointing. The first 30 minutes however saw Forest create more chances than they did in the whole 90 when they visited the AMEX Stadium last season and that credit must go to the manager and the style of football which he wants to deploy.

Last season Sheffield Wednesday appointed Carlos Carvalhal as manager and like Montanier he had never managed in the Championship before.

The Owls started in appalling fashion last season yet finished the campaign in the Play-Off Final at Wembley Stadium. Baffling what some continuity can do for a side, eh?

I honestly don’t know what some people expect from Forest at times. The Reds are a club which is undergoing yet another transition, yet some people expect the club to be challenging for honours this season. News Flash: This isn’t Football Manager!

The Reds finished a lowly 16th last season after some pretty dull football at times and this season, in my opinion, was always going to be about stability with the intention of small progression. Anything extra will be a bonus.

The Championship is a tough league. Just ask Newcastle how difficult it can be. Are their supporters asking for Rafa Benitez’s head at this stage of the campaign, with zero points on the board? I’d say not.

Forest have shown so far this season that they are becoming more attack minded under the stewardship of Montanier but these things take time and lots of patience.

The former Real Sociedad manager has spoken regularly that the team needs to be more solid in defence and he will no doubt endeavour to get his side to improve at the back, where Forest simply haven’t been good enough yet.

If I could offer him any advice for Saturday I would suggest putting Michael Mancienne in to replace the suspended Damien Perquis. A back four of Eric Lichaj, Matt Mills, Mancienne and Danny Fox has a familiar look to it from last season and more importantly they are all up to scratch with the demands of Championship football.

Rotating the squad isn’t an issue if you are winning football matches but when points are being lost, questions are bound to be asked. Finding a winning formula and sticking with it is crucial and I have confidence that Montanier can get it right if giving a chance.

After speaking to one of the 1600 supporters who packed out the away end at Griffin Park yesterday evening, my faith was restored that Forest have enough supporters committed to backing the new boss, and not slating him after every single loss.

I will choose not to name the ardent supporter in question but he said it was a gritty performance, not assisted by some average refereeing and saw a manager rotate the pack in order to try and improve on Friday’s thrashing. He also asked for people to give the boss time.

Nottingham Forest needs their die-hard supporters now more than ever before and hopefully the ones who arrive at the City Ground on Saturday afternoon can roar the Reds to victory over Wigan Athletic.

Should we fail to do so, I think my Twitter account might be deactivated come 5:45 on Saturday evening.