New Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche has made an instant impact since taking the helm at the City Ground, where one of his first moves was to ban a once very popular item of clothing favoured by players during the winter months. Dyche has become the club’s third manager despite the season just being a couple of months old, and the former Forest youth player is already laying down the law with his players.
High drama at the City Ground
It has been a dramatic few months for Forest, who have burned into their third manager of the season already, seemingly in disarray, despite qualifying for European football in May. Nuno Espirito Santo began the campaign after a successful seventh-place finish last season but was sacked in September following a public falling out with the owner Angelos Marinakis and his successor, Ange Postecoglou, was appointed in September but lasted only 39 days. The club's third and current manager, Sean Dyche is tasked with stabilising a squad and one of the first changes he has made is to draw the line on the wearing of a certain accessory, which used to be hugely popular with many Premier League players.
AdvertisementAFPWhy it’s rude to wear a snood
Dyche has banned the snood, which became a short-lived but memorable trend during the 2010-2011 season. Players, notably Manchester City's Carlos Tevez and Arsenal's Samir Nasri, popularised the neck-warmers to combat the cold. The trend sparked a significant debate, pitting the "old school" mentality against modern player comfort. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson famously banned his players from wearing snoods, while Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger defended their use on medical advice. The controversy ended swiftly. The International Football Association Board (IFAB) banned snoods from competitive matches in March 2011, citing safety concerns that an opponent could grab it around a player's neck. And so the snood went the way of goalkeepers wearing jogging bottoms, baggy shorts and long sleeve shirts, consigned to the football history bin.
No-nonsense Dyche bans snood
Dyche said: "It’s early yet but I’d like to think they do their homework, I’d like to think they know enough people in the game and ring around. I’ve even let them wear white socks, for goodness sake, I’ve never let anyone do that. That’s fair isn’t it? But they’re not allowed to wear snoods or hats, I had to do a deal somewhere."
And speaking about club owner Marinakis, Dyche added: "You can question the owner currently, which a few have. But look at the changes from day one to now – they’ve been huge at this football club. At the end of the day, the bigger picture is a lot of goodwill and a lot of good feeling around the area. There’s a bigger picture to this. Look at where the club was before."
AFPDyche’s overflowing in-tray
The new Forest boss’ problems are numerous, include a defensively ragged team, a squad with low confidence after a difficult start to the season, and a chaotic club culture under a trigger-happy owner. He must also unify a fractured fanbase after the departure of the popular Espirito Santo. To overcome these issues, Dyche must restore basics , a strategy the club's ambitious owner is aware of but may not tolerate long-term as he chases a dynamic playing style. And he made a flying start with a confident 2-0 victory over Porto in the Europa League, next up is an away trip to Bournemouth and there’s the eye-catching trip to Manchester United in November.