Nottingham Forest manager Aitor Karanka has not lost the support of his players, according to journalist Paul Taylor.
The Nottingham Post reporter claimed on his personal Twitter account on Thursday that he’s not had any whiff of a falling out between the Spaniard and his playing squad.
He also stated that the performance of the Forest players in their 3-3 draw with Championship high flyers Norwich City on Wednesday wasn’t indicative of a group who aren’t playing for the manager.
The Telegraph reported later on Boxing Day that the former Middlesbrough chief is facing the sack as a result of his failure to secure a year-end points target.
Certainly never had any whiff of any fall out with players. Not evident in the performance today. Mad nine minutes of injury time and some shabby defending during it was hugely costly. But that was not a performance of a team not playing for the manager.
— Paul Taylor (@nottmtails) December 26, 2018
OPINION
This all seems a bit over the top, doesn’t it? Forest are tenth in the table and just three points off the play off places, it’s not like they’re struggling near the bottom of the table. Perhaps the hierarchy at the club were expecting more progress this season but you have to be realistic. Forest weren’t built as promotion contenders in the same way that Leeds United, Derby County and West Bromwich Albion were. You take one look at their squads and you can see that they have superior quality to the Reds. Forest are likely still a season away from a promotion bid, but they are undoubtedly making progress under Karanka. Yes, the result on Wednesday was disappointing considering where Forest were in the game, but as Taylor says perspective is needed. There was some talk amongst fans of a falling out between the manager and his players but it’s good to see Taylor refute that here. It would be very harsh to sack Karanka at this stage, but football is a crazy game.