Former Ligue 1 boss Sabri Lamouchi replaced Martin O’Neill at Nottingham Forest on Friday.
Another new era has begun at Nottingham Forest – with yet another new manager at the helm.
Martin O’Neill’s return to the City Ground was always likely to end in disappointment and the sad erosion of his legendary status. But while the former Republic of Ireland boss was appointed with a huge reputation at the two time European Cup winners, pretty much no one knows what to expect from his replacement.
Sabri Lamouchi was hired just 20 minutes after O’Neill’s departure was confirmed on Friday and his CV doesn’t give much away.
The 47-year-old was most recently seen in France with Rennes, where he was sacked in December after a series of poor results. Lamouchi previously worked in Qatar and took the Ivory Coast to the 2014 World Cup.
So with Forest fans desperate to find out about the new man at the helm, who better to ask than French football expert Julien Laurens?
“He is someone who is very demanding with his own players, who plays quite attractive football, even though he is quite pragmatic in how he wants his teams to play,” Laurens told the BBC.
“He is very good in his man management – even with the language barrier at the start, although I believe his English is okay.
“His man management is very good, it is one of Sabri Lamouchi’s assets, and then he will work hard, that is for sure.”
Lamouchi is a big fan of former Real Madrid and Manchester United coach Jose Mourinho and, while he is renowned for his disciplined and rather pragmatic style, that does not mean that he is guaranteed to follow in O’Neill’s footsteps and view the likes of Joao Carvalho with suspicion.
Though the former France international will be fully aware that a slow start could cost him his job. Neither Forest nor their owner Evangelos Marinakis are famed for their patience.
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