Nottingham Forest were dumped out of the FA Cup by Championship outfit Wrexham last week.
The Reds could probably have done without a cup run, but the club with a Hollywood owner created a fairytale ending of their own in this year’s FA Cup.
Sean Dyche was raging with a number of his Forest players from the first half performance and questions now hang over a number of their futures.
Forest are trying to sign Jorgen Strand Larsen this month, and it does seem as though the team needs an injection of energy from somewhere to beat relegation this season.
After the embarrassing defeat to Wrexham, Forest legend Garry Birtles admitted that he felt a little bit sorry for one player during the game in Wales.
Garry Birtles feels sorry for Nottingham Forest star
It won’t come as any surprise that the player expressed some sympathy towards is Igor Jesus, with the forward feeding on scraps leading the Forest attack.
The Brazilian has been a pretty steady signing for the Reds since checking in at the City Ground, scoring eight goals, with seven of them coming in cup competitions.
Jesus did manage to score in the 3-3 draw with Wrexham and although his penalty was saved in the penalty shootout, Birtles does have sympathy with the player.
He said on the Forest Focus podcast: “I feel a little bit sorry for Jesus upfront, he tries everything, he holds it up and he gets no support at all. I think that annoyed Sean a bit in the first half.”
Dyche is stifling Igor Jesus
Ultimately, the Forest head coach is doing nothing at the moment to suggest he’s going to learn from his old mistakes and showcase that he’s got more than one string to his bow.
Forest fans will be forgiven for having neckache at the moment when it comes to Dyche’s style of play, with several crosses going into the box or central defenders smacking it downfield for players to run onto.
Jesus has often been isolated in attack for Forest and frankly, it’s been a drab watch since Dyche came to the football club, even if he has steadied the ship a little bit.
If someone with the level of experience and playing career that Birtles had can see that Dyche is stifling Jesus then perhaps it’s time for the boss to buck his ideas up a little bit.