Nottingham Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi has questionable motivations

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

You’d think after the start the team have made this season that he’d be able to relax a little bit more.

Sabri Lamouchi has masterminded a near-perfect start to the season for Nottingham Forest, barring the slight blip during his first game against West Bromwich Albion.

Despite all that though, it appears as though his first aim as Forest boss is to make sure that he is still in the dugout at the City Ground at this time next season.

Speaking to Sporting Life, Lamouchi noted the high turnover of managers at Forest and how he isn’t trying to get ahead of himself when it comes to what he can achieve:

“The last five years, they have changed 11 managers here. The last one to do a full season it was close to ten years ago. I just want to make one season, one full season, and we will see where we finish. It just needs stability. I am not a magician. I am just a manager.”

Whilst it is good to see that Lamouchi isn’t coming across as arrogant in what he’s saying, very much the polar opposite of Jose Mourinho when he first came to England, you wonder if perhaps he is being too cautious.

It’s all about getting the balance right, but at the same time if consider the start that Forest have had, if all he is aiming for is stability, then it essentially means that he’s not 100% focused on promotion to the Premier League.

That’s something that stands to be a real possibility for Forest this term too.

Perhaps he’s not really telling us his true feelings and is trying to be ‘diplomatic’ with how he comes across, but is that really being honest with the fans if that’s his response.

If you are setting your expectations that low, why should they get excited by what you’re offering?

It’s one of the oldest motivational sayings in the book, but it applies here. “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”

He doesn’t have to go promising that they’ll go the rest of the season unbeaten, but if his main concern is just staying in the job, he could himself out of it if things start to go wrong.

As he said, there’s a high turnover rate at the City Ground, so the owners won’t be hesitant to make a change.