Nottingham Forest supporters have been reasonably upbeat in recent times after seeing their side head into the international break unbeaten in their last four Championship games.
Aitor Karanka’s men went into their clash with Stoke City last weekend having won two and drawn the other of their previous three matches, leaving them with only two defeats from their opening 16 games of the campaign. And that tally remains at two after drawing 0-0 with Gary Rowett’s Potters at the City Ground last time out, a result which saw the East Midlands giants slip to seventh place in the Championship table, but very much there or thereabouts in the promotion picture.
Thus, there have been many satisfied Forest fans up and down the country in recent times, several of whom are hoping for even better from their side as the season progresses given the hugely encouraging transfer window the Reds had during the summer.
Unsurprisingly, the club’s hierarchy were praised for their recruitment during the close season, just like they were back in January 2017 when they sealed what seemed to be a bargain £2.61 million deal (as per Transfermarkt) for attacker Zach Clough.
And while the 23-year-old made a decent start to life at the second tier outfit, things have tailed off recently to underline an addition which promised so much, but has so far delivered very little.
Ultimately, the East Midlands heavyweights were seen to have pulled off quite a coup in landing Clough little under two years ago, given the 23-year-old had previously been tearing things up with Bolton Wanderers in both League One and indeed the Championship.
Be it his 12 goals in 36 second tier matches, or indeed the nine he netted in the first half of Bolton’s 2016/17 campaign in League One, the Englishman was proving to be quite the player and certainly one for the future, hence the excitement generated when Forest landed him in January 2017.
And while the 23-year-old started well with four goals in his first eight games for the club, that is as good as it has got for Clough given he has failed to add to that tally in his subsequent 23 appearances for the club – he has failed to really kick on.
In fact, the attacker has since been shipped out on loan to League One side Rochdale for the entirety of this season such is his lowly position in Karanka’s pecking order – a far cry away from the excitement and anticipation generated from his arrival.
Thus, while Clough’s arrival promised so much after excelling at Bolton, it simply hasn’t happened for him at the City Ground as of yet, thus likely leaving those Forest fans hoping for so much more from his first two years at the club.
Forest fans… what do you think? Let us know!
