LONDON: Sean Dyche said Nottingham Forest have to get back to basics if he is to turn around a disastrous start to the season that has already seen Nuno Espirito Santo and Ange Postecoglou sacked.
Dyche will take charge for the first time against Porto in the Europa League on Thursday, returning to the City Ground where he began his playing career nearly 40 years ago.
The former Burnley and Everton boss’ direct playing style has been criticized in the past for lacking flair.
But those tactics are now in vogue in the Premier League with long throw-ins and long punts down the field from kick-off becoming commonplace this season.
“I have seen enough fashionistas come in and out of this division,” said Dyche on Wednesday.
“You’ve got to win the games, it’s as simple as that.
“Long ball, short ball? You’ve just got to play effective football. That will never go out of fashion.”
Forest tried to switch styles from Nuno’s more conservative counter-attacking approach to a more attack-minded manager in Postecoglou.
The Australian lasted just 40 days as he failed to win any of his eight games in charge.
After finishing seventh under Nuno last season to qualify for Europe for the first time in 30 years, Forest currently sit in the Premier League relegation zone and have just one point from their opening two Europa League matches.
“As a football manager, a football coach and football players you should be wanting more but the first thing is can we just stabilize the situation,” he added.
“It still needs the basics put back into the team from my point of view, because they have lost sight of that a little bit.”
Dyche added that Forst owner Evangelos Marinakis is realistic about the club’s prospects and recognizes that Premier League survival is now their main priority for the campaign.
“He’s well aware of the challenges,” said Dyche. “I don’t think he thinks it’s a gimme just because of last season.”
Dyche demands substance over style to get Forest going
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Dyche demands substance over style to get Forest going
- Dyche will take charge for the first time against Porto in the Europa League on Thursday
- “I have seen enough fashionistas come in and out of this division,” said Dyche
Sabalenka powers past Osaka into Indian Wells quarter-finals
- Sabalenka wrapped up the first set with two breaks of serve before Osaka began to find her rhythm
INDIAN WELLS, United States: World number one Aryna Sabalenka powered into the Indian Wells quarter-finals on Tuesday, beating former champion Naomi Osaka 6-2, 6-4 in a battle of Grand Slam winners.
It was another straightforward, straight-sets victory for Sabalenka, who fired 31 winners with eight aces.
“Overall I’m happy that I put so much pressure on her, that I brought variety today on the court,” said Sabalenka, who mixed her booming groundstrokes with effective forays to the net.
“I think she was a little confused in the key moments, and I’m happy to see that,” Sabalenka said. “I’m happy that my serve worked well, on the return I played really great tennis.”
Sabalenka wrapped up the first set with two breaks of serve before Osaka began to find her rhythm.
But the Japanese star was unable to crack the serve of Sabalenka, who saved both break points she faced in the second set and grabbed a break for 4-3 with a pair of forehand winners.
It was just the second meeting between the two, both four-time Grand Slam champions.
Osaka won the first back in 2018 on the way to her first major title at the US Open.
“That’s actually crazy,” Sabalenka said of the fact they haven’t met more often. But she predicted there were more clashes in their future as Osaka, now ranked 16th, regains her momentum on the WTA Tour after taking off all of 2023 and having daughter, Shai, in July of that year.
Sabalenka, runner-up at Indian Wells in 2023 and 2025, will continue her pursuit of a first title in the prestigious ATP and WTA Masters 1000 event against either sixth-seeded American Amanda Anisimova or 10th-seeded Canadian teen Victoria Mboko.
Australian qualifier Talia Gibson’s dream run in the California desert continued with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 victory over seventh-ranked Italian Jasmine Paolini.
The 21-year-old’s first victory over a top-10 player propelled her into her first WTA quarter-final, where she’ll face either Czech Linda Noskova or Alexandra Eala of the Philippines.
Gibson, ranked 112th, used a late break to pocket the first set, closing it out with her 18th winner of the opening frame.
Paolini sped to a 3-0 lead in the second as Gibson’s errors mounted and it looked as if the experienced Italian, a two-time Grand Slam finalist, had seized control.
But Gibson unleashed a barrage of winners in the third, including a stinging forehand service return on match point.
“Honestly, just completely speechless,” said Gibson, who beat top-20 players Ekaterina Alexandrova and Clara Tauson on the way to the fourth round.
