The club have historically cherished wingers at The City Ground, and these five are no different.
Nottingham Forest’s Ben Osborn celebrates their first goal
Most clubs generally have a position which is fabled or established in folklore, normally due to a player in the past who made that position/number his own.
In Nottingham Forest’s case, that position is the left wing, as that number 11 shirt has been responsible for two European Cup victories in the past, amongst several other things.
The fans at The City Ground therefore know a good winger when they see one, so here are five of the best wing wizards seen on Trentside in the past decade.
Oliver Burke
The Scotland international remains arguably the brightest talent to ever emerge from the club’s youth academy, and fans are still livid that owner Fawaz Al Hasawi sold him. An outstanding talent who was strong on the ball, good in front of goal, could glide round players for fun and had exceptional speed to boot, Burke remains one of the biggest U21 talents in Europe, and while his Trentside stay was cut short by the owner, Burke hit six goals in 31 games.
Bournemouth’s Shaun MacDonald and Nottingham Forest’s Michail Antonio in action
Michail Antonio
Quite simply, an absolute machine, and a player that Forest sold for a fee well below his value. Few wingers have the strength, power, size and speed that Antonio possesses, and at times, it felt like Antonio was a team on his own. The 26-year-old, now in the Premier League with West Ham United, scored a whopping 19 goals from 54 appearances in all competitions for Forest – many of them spectacular.
Paul Anderson
Speed, speed and more speed – to say Anderson was fast would be an understatement. The flying winger arrived from Liverpool in 2008, initially on loan, and soon became a vital part of the Forest side prior to his departure to Bristol City in 2012. With his pace allowing him to get in behind defenders and make them pay, as well as his ability to beat a man one-on-one, Anderson was a very useful winger for the Reds, and ended up with figures of nine goals in 102 appearances in all competitions.
Garath McCleary celebrates after scoring the second goal for Nottingham Forest in their 7-3 demolition of Leeds United
Garath McCleary
Plucked from non-league, it took a while for McCleary to get going at Forest – but when he did, everyone certainly knew about it. Technically gifted, brilliantly skilful and with an uncanny ability to waltz round players, as demonstrated when he took on Coventry City’s entire team from his own half before scoring, McCleary was an outstanding winger for the Reds. The Jamaica international ended up with 13 in 123 appearances for Forest – nine of those coming in his final 23 matches – before departing for Reading in 2012.
Ben Osborn
While other wingers on this list have based their game around pace, trickery and goals – in some cases all three – Osborn is different in that his game is based around intelligence and his ability to pick out an inch perfect ball. Osborn isn’t the sort of player who will power past and leave defenders in his wake, nor is he someone who will score 20 goals a season. However, what he lacks in pace, he makes up for in ability, with Osborn’s vision and creativity on another level. The academy graduate has made 127 appearances for Forest in all competitions – both as a winger and as a number 10 – and has scored nine goals.
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