Inside Oliver Glasner’s toughest Nottingham Forest week yet

Had he been so inclined following his team’s 1-0 defeat to Coventry City, the Austrian could have taken the opportunity to rant and rave about another moment of City Ground controversy. Reds fans certainly did enough of that on his behalf as they made their feelings on Igor Jesus’ disallowed goal clear at the full-time whistle.

Glasner, though, refused to be drawn on the matter. More often than not, his default is to discuss tactics and technique but he didn’t even do that on this occasion.

In the Forest boss’ view, there was more at play than a debatable refereeing decision or a lack of cutting edge in front of goal. His focus was on the psychological aspect of the hosts’ performance.

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As he put it: “We all know football is not just played with the legs, it is especially played with your mind. And today, our mindset was not so that we could show our best performance.”

Glasner referenced the “heaviness of the past”. In other words, the damage of last season’s turbulence - the managerial merry-go-round and relegation battle - still lingers.

The 52-year-old has consistently stated time is needed, but perhaps this project requires more work than he might have initially thought. In any case, he has been left with much to mull over during the international break.

For the second home game in a row, the Reds were thwarted by off-field intervention. For Neco Williams against Tottenham Hotspur read Jesus against the Sky Blues. That is, potentially, an additional four points chalked off from those two fixtures.

Jesus thought he had repeated his Aston Villa heroics by bagging a vital goal from off the bench when he stabbed the ball home in the 88th minute. The away end had been in jubilant voice before then but suddenly those voices were drowned out by an almighty City Ground roar.

Coventry would argue the right call was made but there is no getting away from how the technology is sucking the life out of the game. Little wonder the officials walked off to a deafening chorus of boos and jeers.

By the end, Forest had three strikers on the pitch, plus Morgan Gibbs-White. The cavalry of Jesus and Chris Wood had been called upon to join Liam Delap in the hunt for a goal.

The Reds boss even abandoned his favoured back three in a bid to chuck everything at Coventry, but still his team drew a blank. They finished with an xG (expected goals) of 1.15 compared to the visitors’ 0.67.

For the first time in their history, Forest have failed to find the back of the net in their first three home league games in a season. They registered 24 shots on this occasion - their second most in a league match since their return to the top tier, behind the 35 notched up against Wolverhampton Wanderers in February.

Sean Dyche was in charge for that one, for the final time as it turned out. The hosts also failed to score on that occasion.

Only three times did the Reds find the target on Saturday. The issues facing Glasner are not new. Strides have been made in finding solutions but it was always going to be a big ask for it to happen overnight - even with a new manager and a £45 million signing in the building.

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To get it, it's a simple one-two punch.

Forest’s home form is a problem. For too long now, the City Ground has had precious little to celebrate and opposition sides have been the ones with reason to cheer.

In three Premier League games on their own turf so far this term, the Reds have claimed a single point. Chuck a Carabao Cup defeat to Leeds United in there, too.

But the struggles Trentside stretch far beyond Glasner’s arrival. Since beating Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 on December 14 last year, Forest have won just once in the league at their own stadium - and that came against relegated Burnley in April.

Since then, nothing. As mentioned above, not even a goal this season - albeit two have gone the way of VAR. It is a dismal record.

Of the teams to have remained in the Premier League since the start of last season, only Spurs have won fewer home matches (three) and earned fewer home points (16) than Forest. The Reds are only marginally better than their capital counterparts with four victories and 21 points.

Glasner said his players were “very quiet” pre-match and he could detect a nervousness on and off the pitch as time ticked on. He felt his team “rushed” decisions rather than play with freedom and implied they were feeling the pressure of needing to beat a newly-promoted team who had lost all four of their fixtures prior to Saturday. How to fix this particular issue is a different matter entirely, especially as Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Brighton and Hove Albion represent the next four visitors to the City Ground

Glasner now has three weeks before his team return to action, with a trip to his former club no less. Those players not on international duty will have a week off before returning to the Nigel Doughty Academy to begin the build-up to Crystal Palace, with a friendly scheduled as part of their preparations.

The Reds boss will try to switch off for a short time but admitted it will be difficult. He said: “It's now a lot of brain work I have to do.”

It has been a mixed start to the campaign; that was probably always going to be the case and there will no doubt be a few more bumps in the road yet. Progress is not going to be linear - especially not after the season Forest had last time around. There will be ups and downs, highs and lows.

Victory away to Aston Villa a week ago did not mean everything was fixed. Likewise, defeat to Coventry does not erase the forward steps that have been taken.

“My message at the beginning was we need stability. We can see we are not stable in the way we play football. Psychologically, we are not stable. And this is what we have to work on, and this is what we will work on,” Glasner said.

Forest are still finding their way under a new manager who clearly believes there are deep-running scars that need to be healed. Time is what this team needs, and with that better days will surely come.

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