Graeme Souness warns Nottingham Forest they will 'lose a lot of games' this season as Michael Dawson insists 'staying up has to be the aim', despite splashing out over £100m on their Premier League return

  • Nottingham Forest have spent over £100m in the summer of their return 
  • Sky pundits said that despite that the aim remains survival this campaign
  • Forest lost their opening game of the season away at Newcastle last weekend
  • Steve Cooper's side host West Ham at the City Ground as they bid to record their first win of the season
  • Follow Nottingham Forest's game against West Ham at the City Ground here 

Graeme Souness and Michael Dawson have urged caution amongst those connected to Nottingham Forest ahead of their first Premier League game at the City Ground in 23 years. 

Forest ended almost a quarter century of hurt last season when they were promoted from the Championship via the play-offs and have responded this summer by spending over £100m to revamp their squad. 

Speaking on Sky Sports ahead of Forest's clash with West Ham, Souness said that they would lose 'a lot of games' in the Premier League this season and that it was the job of the manager and the coaching staff to ensure they kept their heads up.

Graeme Souness warned that Nottingham Forest would lose a lot of games this season

Graeme Souness warned that Nottingham Forest would lose a lot of games this season

Souness was responding to a question regarding how they might cope having experienced such a great overhaul in their squad this summer with the club having brought in 14 new faces. 


'The biggest part of his job this year is keeping their heads up. Nearly every weekend last year they won a game,' he said.

'It was a happy place to be. When you get promoted, generally it’s a very different job description for the manager and coaching staff about keeping their chins up because they’ll lose a lot of games in this league.

Michael Dawson said that the aim for Forest this term had to be survival over anything else

Michael Dawson said that the aim for Forest this term had to be survival over anything else

'I once took a job and turned up on the first day and the guy said to me "you’ll be really happy, we’ve got 18 new players",' he added. 

'So I know how hard it is. I think it’s very difficult to integrate all the new players. But you have to do it. He’ll be feeling he has to improve on the quality they’ve got.'

Meanwhile, Dawson, who started his career with the club, echoed the sentiments of Souness and said that despite bringing in notable players such as Jesse Lingard the primary objective this season remains survival. 

Dawson said that they had the right man in place in Steve Cooper for them to stay up this season

Dawson said that they had the right man in place in Steve Cooper for them to stay up this season

'Staying up has got to be the aim. I know they’ve spent a lot of money and brought players in. It’s a bit different to Fulham [before the 2018-19 season] when they brought [12] players in,' he said. 

'They had a squad. Nottingham Forest didn’t. They had loan players, five or six of them. Djed Spence, James Garner, Keinan Davis. Lewis Grabban has gone.'

Dawson believes that Forest are not done spending this summer and that it will take time for the players to bed in but that they have the right manager in place to ensure they do.

Jesse Lingard is one of 14 signings the club has made so far this summer with more expected

Jesse Lingard is one of 14 signings the club has made so far this summer with more expected

'A lot of players have gone out of the door, so they had to bring them in. They’ve brought a lot of players in and I don’t believe it’s going to finish there. It’s going to take time to gel, but have they got the right man in charge? They certainly have,' he said. 

Souness went on to add that he believed it would be 'hard' this season for the three promoted sides - Fulham, Bournemouth and Forest - as 'scoring goals is the most difficult thing in football'.

'This is the Premier League, it’s another level. I think it’s going to be hard for Forest, Bournemouth and Fulham. Simply because scoring goals is the most difficult job in football and very difficult in the Premier League,' he said.

'You can be playing indifferently, but if you’re scoring goals then that can drag you through a difficult time. If you’ve not got goal scorers, you’ll struggle in this league.'

The City Ground witnessed its first Premier League game in 23 years on Sunday afternoon

The City Ground witnessed its first Premier League game in 23 years on Sunday afternoon