Nottingham Forest should not expect excitement from Mourinho-loving, Italian-influenced Sabri Lamouchi

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Sabri Lamouchi has been named as Nottingham Forest’s new manager after the Championship outfit sacked Martin O’Neill.

20 minutes after the departure of Martin O’Neill, a new manager was already in place at Nottingham Forest.

47-year-old former France international Sabri Lamouchi has already been named as O’Neill’s replacement – and understandably, Forest fans are wondering just who on earth he is.

Lamouchi’s most recent coaching role came at Rennes, where he was sacked in December after a series of poor results. He has also managed El Jaish in Qatar, winning the Prince Cup in 2016, and took the Ivory Coast to the World Cup two years earlier.

That’s the CV, what about the style? Is Lamouchi going to bring back the glory days of free-flowing, creative and stylish attacking football? Well, perhaps not.

During his time in charge of a gifted Ivory Coast side containing attacking talents like Yaya Toure and Didier Drogba, Lamouchi was famed for his disciplined style and rather rigorous approach.

Jean Fernandez, who coached Lamouchi at Marseille, suggested to France Football recently that spells in Italian football with Inter, Parma and Genoa encouraged the Frenchman to adopt a more pragmatic, tactical approach to the game.

“I think that his passage in Italy marked him a lot. He has been in big clubs, he has rubbed shoulders with great coaches like (Arrigo) Sacchi and he has touched the finger of professionalism and all this Italian culture of football,” said Fernandez.

He went on to compare Lamouchi to a young Didier Deschamps, who’s safety-first style led France to glory at the 2018 World Cup.

It should be no surprise to learn, then, that his coaching idol is not Johan Cryuff or Pep Guardiola. Rather, the arch-pragmatist himself, Jose Mourinho.

“It is an honour and a great privilege to attend a training session of the best coach in the world of the best team in the world. It is an extraordinary experience that will help me improve as a coach,” he told SuperSport in 2013 after watching Mourinho put his Real Madrid side through their paces.

The jury will remain out for the time being but don’t expect Forest fans to take Lamouchi to their hearts right away. He may bring success but it could come at the cost of entertainment.