Why Nottingham Forest are yet to hit their stride under Oliver Glasner: Morgan Gibbs-White has another gear to find – and £50m signing Liam Delap must discover his speciality

Without a win or even a goal at the City Ground this season, Nottingham Forest are still to splutter into life.

They look solid enough under Oliver Glasner but the Austrian’s highly-structured training regime and tactical plan is squeezing Forest’s flair players a little.

Glasner is a fine coach and will surely get it right. However, he could do with a victory, ideally at Aston Villa on Saturday.

Daily Mail Sport looks at the challenges facing Glasner after Forest’s slow start.

Forest’s Delap gamble

There is nothing about Liam Delap that screams ‘£50million centre-forward’. Indeed, the price tag is unfair on the player as it creates a level of expectation that he is unlikely to be able to fulfil.

Delap is a competent No 9. But for that fee – and please ignore the ‘market forces’ justification – a player surely needs to have at least one special quality. What is Delap’s?

He is no slouch but nor is he particularly quick. If he has been bought for his aerial ability, then his lack of impact against Jan Paul van Hecke and Micky van de Ven was worrying. Technically he is OK, nothing more. He’s strong, yes, but so are most Premier League players. His highest goal tally in a league season is 12 for Ipswich in 2024-25.

Delap is probably not as good as Igor Jesus, who cost Forest only £10m from Brazilian club Botafogo a year ago and managed 16 goals in his first campaign in England. Put Delap in Botafogo’s team and there is no guarantee he would reach that tally in his opening season.

More than most, Delap’s valuation reflects the madness of the summer market and if Delap thrives despite it, all credit to him.

Nothing about Liam Delap suggests he is a £50m forward and the price tag has set an unfair expectation on him

Gibbs-White seeking lift-off

Forest’s No 10 was desperately unlucky not to make England’s World Cup squad and the club did well to hang on to him this season. He is their best player and talisman.

Right now, Gibbs-White looks like a player who just needs a spark to bring him to life. He played well at Liverpool last weekend and scored a penalty in the 2-2 draw. He was perfectly good against Tottenham without ever reaching the heights he scaled during last season, especially under Vitor Pereira.

There was an interesting moment after full-time when Gibbs-White shared a warm greeting and a chat with Allan Dixon, the Brad Friedel lookalike who is Tottenham’s long-serving player liaison office.

Spurs came close to signing Gibbs-White last summer when they thought they had triggered a £60m release clause in his contract, only for the 26-year-old to sign a new deal with Forest instead.

Morgan Gibbs-White looks like he needs a spark to bring him to life, as he is so far yet to scale the heights of his form last season

Glasner revealed post-match that Murillo ‘did not come back from Brazil in the shape he should come back’

Glasner puts Murillo on notice

One of the joys of covering Glasner’s press conferences is that he will suddenly produce a zinger from nowhere. Delivered in his calm, even tones, it catches the listener by surprise even more.

Asked why his star defender Murillo had come off late in the came, Glasner let slip that the Brazilian – who had been out injured for four months – ‘did not come back from Brazil in the shape he should come back, maybe.’

Pressed on Murillo’s fitness, Glasner understandably decided not to stick the boot in, but spoke more generally about the level of conditioning required to play in his team. But the message was clear.

Murillo has been largely undroppable since he joined Forest three years ago. With Glasner’s signing Ousmane Diomande waiting for his chance, perhaps that is no longer the case.