Within Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis’ recent lengthy letter to the club’s supporters, a few paragraphs stood out.
“Our vision for the club is clear and unwavering: we are on a path to reestablish Nottingham Forest as a dominant force in English football,” he wrote. “This journey is not just about the short-term; it’s about building a sustainable future.
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“We are investing in youth development, nurturing young talent and building a squad that can compete at the highest level for years to come.”
A few days later — when long-serving captain Joe Worrall signed a new (and well-deserved) contract — this theme was revisited.
“The owner has proved that he’s creating the Forest family and building a real identity, not just in the club but in the league and in world football. We want to become a force again,” said Worrall.
There will be some who greet such statements with a raised eyebrow. This is a club that escaped relegation in the penultimate game of last season. There is a significant gulf between that and being “a dominant force in English football”.
Frankly, it is hard to envisage a world in which Forest are competing with Manchester City for the Premier League title.
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But is that really the point? As the old saying goes: shoot for the moon — even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.
For 23 years, Forest fans have dreamed of a return to the Premier League. Now that they are finally back there, why should anyone have to stop dreaming? Should the sum total of Forest’s ambitions be merely to survive every year? Should their target be to finish 16th or 17th and just be happy dining at the top table?
When newly appointed chairman Tom Cartledge first met the Marinakis family, he was flown out to Greece to discuss what part he, a lifelong Forest fan, might be able to play at the club. In Athens, Marinakis asked Cartledge to explain something to him that he did not understand: why are people satisfied when Forest draw or even lose games?
Among the Forest hierarchy, there is a fierce desire for success — and an even stronger dislike for failure.
When they win, there is a celebration; victory is embraced and enjoyed, with fireworks set off from Eva’s Grill on Radcliffe Road. The mood in the recently refurbished boardroom is upbeat. Sometimes, there is even the odd celebratory cigar.
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In recent years, more observant Forest fans might have noticed that, when Forest lose at the City Ground, there is frequently no music played over the PA system at the final whistle. Even if there is a draw that could be deemed unsatisfactory, the mood is very different. That is symbolic of the attitude right at the top of the club.
Following a defeat — whether it is in Athens or Nottingham — the people around Marinakis know that it is wise to tread gently. His mood can darken for days at a time.
Beyond the owner, there is a very demanding environment behind the scenes at Forest. Expectation levels are high and, for some, the unwavering nature of it can be unpleasant.
But it is the basic premise that losing should not be acceptable, which fuels everything and leads Marinakis to voice, in public, a desire to be a “dominant force” in English football again and to deliver that same message behind the scenes to the players.
The key to it is balancing ambition with reality.
Yes, Leicester City won the Premier League title in 2015-16 — but that felt like a once-in-a-lifetime event. Going further back, newly promoted Forest challenged for the title in their first season back in the top flight under Frank Clark in 1994-95, before ultimately finishing third.
And, of course, Forest winning the European Cup twice, in 1979 and 1980, is evidence that miracles do happen, even if they had the unmatched Brian Clough to inspire them.
But what is realistic this season? What is a reasonable target for Forest?
This summer, there has been action as well as words.
Forest have invested roughly £90million ($112.7m) in 13 new signings. That net spend will be lessened considerably by the £47.5m sale of Brennan Johnson to Tottenham Hotspur. But it was not the physical outlay itself that was most impressive; it was the calibre of player that Forest were able to recruit.
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Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Liverpool had all been monitoring midfielder Ibrahim Sangare for some time. He was already playing Champions League football with PSV Eindhoven and had established himself on the international stage with the Ivory Coast.
Sangare coming to Forest could prove to be a culture-changing moment. It also sent out a clear message.
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Overall, 11 of Forest’s 13 new signings have international caps. The other two — Murillo (Brazil) and Nuno Tavares (Portugal) — are on the radars of their countries.
Forest’s squad now has quality in all areas — it has experience and potential, pace and power, as well as physical presence and intelligence. On paper, it looks stronger than the one that battled with character and determination to preserve its top-flight status last season.
After winning promotion to the Premier League in the spring of 2022, Marinakis stood on the balcony of the Council House in the Market Square and spoke about challenging for trophies and restoring the fortunes of the club.
At the time, they felt like the words of a man with the adrenaline boost of play-off success still running through his veins. A man who might have got a little carried away amid all the emotion and drama of a memorable few days.
Now, 15 months down the line, talk of Forest becoming a dominant force in football still feels unquestionably ambitious and, for now, still decidedly unrealistic. But not quite as much as it once did.
Mid-table comfort should be viewed as the realistic goal for Forest this season and another step in the right direction. Even if they were to place in lower mid-table, if Forest can avoid being involved in any kind of fight against the drop, then that would represent progress.
There’s no doubting that Forest have made huge strides in the space of two years. They have gone from signing players such as Xande Silva and Mohamed Drager in the summer of 2021 to having (albeit brief) conversations about bringing in Sergio Ramos and Alexis Sanchez in recent weeks.
It is hard to escape the belief that the current bottom five in the table will be the ones who fight out this season’s battle against relegation. Any team that is better than Burnley, Luton Town, Everton, Sheffield United and Bournemouth in the coming months will likely be safe.
Such statements can come back to bite, but it already feels as though Forest have more quality than those teams.
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Steve Cooper remains an integral figure to Forest’s hopes — the Welshman is a galvanising presence and the glue that holds everything together. Morgan Gibbs-White, still Forest’s most important player, was lured to the club by the prospect of playing under Cooper, having won the Under-17 World Cup as part of his England side in 2017. The same applies to new signing Callum Hudson-Odoi.
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But there remains a lingering concern that the heightened level of expectation could prove to be Cooper’s downfall, should there be a sustained length of time when results do not go Forest’s way. But if harmony can be maintained, the question remains of what might be possible.
Forest’s 1-0 victory away at Chelsea was seen by many as being more of a reflection on the home side and the slightly stuttering status of their extensive rebuilding project under Mauricio Pochettino. But it was a significant landmark moment for Forest; last season, they arrived at places such as Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford and the Emirates with a sense of awe, that they were lucky to be there.
This season, Forest produced impressive performances at those three grounds, believing they belong and were capable of winning. They proved it true at Stamford Bridge.
Forest remain a long, long way from being a dominant force in English football, but it is still a massive change from where they were 12 months ago.
If they can continue to evolve and grow at the same rate — and the progress of the last two years can be sustained — this fierce level of ambition will only look less far-fetched in the process.
(Top photo: Getty Images)