Rebuilding job on the cards for Hughton
CHRIS Hughton says there will be a rebuilding job at Nottingham Forest this summer and says the recruitment of players is currently an “ongoing process”.
The Reds were given a reminder of how much work needs to be carried out before they are matching Norwich City’s quality, as the Canaries took a stride towards the Championship title with a 2-0 win at the City Ground on Wednesday night.
Hughton will be given the chance to reshape Forest’s attack in the summer when a number of loan players return to their parent clubs, such as Anthony Knockaert, Luke Freeman and Filip Krovinovic.
With Forest having struggled for goals throughout the campaign, the final third is likely to dominate the transfer agenda as Hughton looks to improve a misfiring attack.
Asked whether he already on an eye on next season, he told the Nottingham Post: “I think you have to although it’s mostly about finishing this season as well as we can.
“Sometimes that process is a little bit harder to think about after such a difficult first half.
“But realisation sets in after sleeping on it and you realise you were up against the best team.
“But you have to be able to do work for next year. We are in a position where we know we are going to lose players.
“In any way we want to recruit in the summer that has to be an ongoing process and it always is.”
Forest endured a huge turnover of players last summer as the club reached double figures in arrivals in what was an erratic and expensive outlay on the squad.
But the only success story has been Scott Mckenna, who signed from Aberdeen in what was reported to be a fee of around £3m. He has been an outstanding performer in the heart of the defence but others have failed to make the same kind of impact.
Forest fans are craving quality over quantity once the window reopens, hoping the club has learned its lesson from their recruitment last summer which left the squad unbalanced and too heavy in number.
Asked how much surgery will be required on Forest’s squad, Hughton responded: “I don’t know.
“We know we’ve got five players on loan that in theory go back to their respective clubs.
“There are players whose contracts are up in the summer.
“Some work will go on between now and the end of the season.
“When and how, at this moment, I don’t know.
“But there will have to be a rebuilding job in the summer.”