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News
- 52 minutes ago
Winners and losers of Sean Dyche to Nottingham Forest
Cameron Smith
- 21 Oct 2025 11:19 BST
- 7 min read
Analysis
Sean Dyche is officially the new head coach of Nottingham Forest following his appointment on Tuesday morning.
The ex-Burnley and Everton boss has been hired as Ange Postecoglou’s replacement at the City Ground, and he has been tasked with arresting their current slide down the Premier League table.
Below, FootballTransfers runs through three winners and three losers of his appointment.
Winner: Chris Wood
Chris Wood’s entire career at Burnley was spent under the management of Dyche and he established himself as a quality Premier League striker during his time at Turf Moor.
The New Zealand international arrived at the club from Leeds United as their all-time record signing, and he notched 53 goals in 165 games under Dyche across a four-and-a-half year spell before joining Newcastle United in January 2022.
The arrivals of Igor Jesus and Arnaud Kalimuendo at Forest this summer threatened Wood’s place as a guaranteed starter, but Dyche is likely to retain faith with his old friend.
Current ETV
Chris Wood
F (C)
Nottingham
Chris Wood
F (C)
Nottingham
ETV Range
€6.3M - €8.5M
Loser: Evangelos Marinakis
Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, or ‘Mr Marinakis’ as the players refer to him as, is a divisive figure and his managerial decisions so far this season have marred a fantastic 2024-25 campaign.
Nuno Espirito Santo guided the team to their best league finish since 1994-95 last term, but a public feud with Marinakis led to his dismissal. The appointment of Postecoglou as his successor was strange, given his struggles at Tottenham and the vast difference in his style to Nuno’s, and it’s fair to say that it backfired spectacularly.
Dyche is a good Premier League manager, but Marinakis’ decision to hire Postecoglou as Nuno’s replacement has arguably cost Forest the chance to qualify for Europe for the second consecutive year.
Winner: Nikola Milenkovic
Nikola Milenkovic was one of the best central defenders in the Premier League during his debut season at Nottingham Forest, with Nuno’s system suiting him perfectly.
However, he struggled to adapt to Postecoglou’s more expansive style of play and it was clear that he needs to be playing in a low block to really shine.
Under Dyche, he is expected to return to his best form and he will play a pivotal role as the new Forest head coach looks to fix their currently leaky backline.
Loser: Nottingham Forest’s wingers
Nottingham Forest were desperate to improve their first-team depth this summer, ahead of their Europa League campaign, and their transfer business means they now have four high-quality wingers at the club.
However, Dyche has often favoured a disciplined 4-4-2 system throughout his career, with Dwight McNeil, Jack Harrison and Johann Gudmundsson among his preferred wideman at Burnley and Everton.
As a result, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that Morgan Gibbs-White or James McAtee are deployed out wide at Forest, with Dan Ndoye, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Omari Hutchinson and Dilane Bakwa therefore fighting for just one place in the starting XI.
Winner: Ryan Yates
Nottingham Forest now have a plethora of central midfielders, but if history tells us anything, Ryan Yates could become a starting XI regular alongside Elliot Anderson under Dyche.
The ex-Everton boss has typically favoured hard-working midfielders during his top-level managerial career and although he now has an improved set of players at his disposal, he will likely start with a defence-first approach.
With that in mind, club captain Yates could play a key role in a deep midfield role next to England star Anderson.
Loser: Fans of free-flowing, attacking football
Long-throw ins and set-pieces are certainly back in fashion, so it’s not surprising that Forest have turned to Dyche to save their season.
The years of tiki-taka football in the Premier League, inspired by Pep Guardiola, appear to be over and games are now often being decided in the air, via long throws or corners.
Postecoglou wasn’t prepared to adapt to this, due to his desire to play free-flowing football, but Dyche will have no problem setting Nottingham Forest up to win low-margin games.
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