One win in eleven games hardly provides a conclusive argument that under-fire Montanier deserves more time.
Two-time European Cup winner Martin O’Neil suggests Nottingham Forest need to ditch manager Philippe Montanier in order to embark upon an Aston Villa-style resurgence, the Nottingham Post reports.
Former Real Sociedad and Rennes boss Montanier arrived at the City Ground this summer with a reputation for being able to galvanise a side greater than the sum of their parts, but early optimism has given way to a horrendous slide down the table underlined by a run of one win in eleven league games.
Consequently, the Frenchman has been heavily tipped to become the eighth managerial casualty at the second tier giants since 2011.
And O’Neil, who lifted the European Cup under legendary boss Brian Clough in 1979 and 1980, has hinted that a change on the dugout could help rejuvenate Forest by virtue of the so-called ‘new manager bounce’.
“Sometimes in the Championship, because it’s such a long, long season, if you go four consecutive games without defeat – let’s say two wins and two draws, eight points on the board – it pulls you right up from a position of despair to being right up there. And vice versa,” the current Republic of Ireland manager told the Nottingham Post.
“At Aston Villa now, the new manager has come in and they’ve got 11 points from five games. Now suddenly, they’re talking about automatic promotion alongside Newcastle, who are the strong favourites.
“I think that’s the sort of thing Forest fans, I think, can try to hope for as much as anything else.”
Montanier, who helped unearth Antoine Griezmann at Sociedad and developed Ousmane Dembele at Rennes, has attempted to put his stamp on the team by pushing the club’s next generation to the forefront.
However, it feels increasingly unlikely that Forest will be able to turn around their season under the stewardship of a manager who has won just a third of his games in charge so far.
In contrast, Villa are unbeaten in five since promotion specialist Steve Bruce took over from Roberto Di Matteo, guiding them from the edge of the relegation zone to the verge of the top six.
However, bringing in a new face is hardly a guarantee of points at the City Ground, with the likes of Dougie Freedman, Stuart Pearce and Alex McLeish all trying and failing to revitalise the club.
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