Jermaine Jenas touched on Nottingham Forest’s performance, current players and when spending goes wrong (Picture: PA)
The Match of the Day pundit has his say on former club Nottingham Forest.
It looks as if Forest’s home form could keep them up.
I hope so. They had a blip at the start of the season, trying to integrate the new players. When the fans get behind Forest, no one wants to go and play them. The goals concern me. They don’t win games comfortably. They’re doing alright but it can quickly get away from you. There’s work to do but I would have taken this right now.
Who’s been the pick of their many signings for you?
Morgan Gibbs-White has been a standout performer with and without the ball. He has a bit extra and he works his socks off. The January signing of Keylor Navas was massive because the injury to Dean Henderson was a big blow. You know with Navas when a big save needs to be made, he’s going to be there most of the time. Days like (the 4-0 defeat at West Ham) are going to happen.
Jenas says Morgan Gibbs-White has stood out for him this season, among others (Picture: Shutterstock)
Can that type of spending spree go wrong, though?
I remember at QPR at the end of my career, joining in January and looking around seeing Loic Remy, Ji-sung Park, Esteban Granero, Jose Bosingwa. You wondered ‘why is this team bottom?’. But you have to make sure everyone’s on the same page. At QPR, some people did what they wanted to do and that’s why we went down.
Jenas is full of praise for Forest boss Steve Cooper (Picture: Matt Alexander/PA)
So it’s a risky strategy?
You take a gamble when you try to bring in quality. You can have a Renan Lodi, a Navas, a Jonjo Shelvey, but if you are on the bench, there can’t be any sulking or ringing agents. When that happens, you’re doomed. But the position Forest are in shows what a good job Steve Cooper is doing.
The ex-Forest player and Match of the Day pundit has teamed up with B&Q for their Energy Savers initiative (Picture: Matt Alexander/PA)
You’re working with B&Q on their Energy Savers campaign. How was it visiting National League South Welling United?
My Dad played semi-professional football so I spent half my childhood at non-league clubs and they are the centre of the community. We’ve got to keep them alive, keep them going.
Jenas spoke about his desire to keep teams like Welling Utd going (Picture: Matt Alexander/PA)
It must be huge for the likes of Welling. These clubs keep the pyramid going don’t they?
It’s massive – we’ve got to keep them alive, we’ve got to keep them going. The pandemic took a huge toll and the top end felt it but had the ability to spend millions on players. Go down the leagues and the uncertainty is there. Every single penny counts. This really makes a difference to clubs like Welling. Players were coming back who had played there 50 years ago and saying the changing rooms hadn’t changed in that time!
B&Q has teamed up with Jermaine Jenas. The B&Q Energy Savers initiative shows how easy it is to save energy at home and support community spaces. Find out more at diy.com/energy-saving
‘You take a gamble when you try to bring in quality.’