Nottingham Forest fans have watched their team dominate a number of Premier League matches this season, but Oliver Glasner’s team have just six points from eight matches.

Against Ipswich on Friday night, it was a familiar story for those of a Forest persuasion. The green shoots of a coherent tactical identity are beginning to break through, with Forest often looking sharper, more structured and capable of controlling large parts of matches.

The debate on the banks of the River Trent has moved somewhat. It’s no longer constant bickering over whether Glasner is the right man to be the club’s head coach. Instead, a far more burning issue has emerged, and it’s whether the Austrian can extract enough clinical efficiency from the players to turn performances into points or whether individual flaws will cost him his job?

Forest fans split on performance over Ipswich

The immediate aftermath of the game against Ipswich highlighted some division within the fan base – and towards Glasner.

• The Encouraged View: A vocal section of supporters walked away from Portman Road, arguing that Forest had largely dominated the match. Some fans believed the performance offered genuine encouragement, with sustained spells of possession and a clear plan from the manager taking shape.

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christianthackham

We are playing some wonderful football just now. Keep your heads boys. Stop trying to force it. Believe in your abilities and pass the bloody ball. You’re only playing football with it at your feet

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• The sceptical view: On the flip side, a frustrated section of supporters remain uncertain on this Forest team or Glasner’s ability to turn things around. Promising spells do not get teams climbing up the league table. For them, it’s all about consistency, and dropped points against a team who might be fighting relegation highlighted that the team is still searching for a killer instinct.

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willimess69

Were in for a long disappointing season with Delap and Ndoye unless they buck their ideas up.. Why have a proven goalscorer in Wood on the bench then give him 4 minutes to do something .

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The finishing issue is impossible to ignore

Forest should have more points on the board, but a lack of composure has hampered the team, with a number of points dropped on the back of chances being missed at an alarming rate.

Supporters on social media have taken aim at the likes of Liam Delap and Dan Ndoye, with both players missing chances at Ipswich and in the game before against Arsenal.

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jonny

They’re great in between both boxes, just a disaster at both ends

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Are the Forest players letting down Oliver Glasner?

Examining the Ipswich draw a little bit closely reveals a compelling argument that Glasner is being failed by execution rather than design. Ultimately, the head coach is coaching victories, but the players aren’t doing what they’re being asked to.

• The expected-points defence: Optimistic supporters point to the underlying metrics as something that can highlight just how much Forest are on the right track. The expected-points table has the Reds near the top of the Premier League, and that is perhaps concrete evidence that performances have outweighed the results.
• Positive sparks: Analysts and fans have praised the emerging game plan that Glasner often deploys. The creative spark of James McAtee, who looked like a completely different player under Glasner and continued his brilliance at Portman Road.

The question dividing the fan base right now is pretty simple: Do these little positive pieces of underlying data justify patience with Glasner, or is football simply that ruthless in 2026 that the results-driven nature of it will indicate that Glasner must find immediate solutions?

Why isn’t Chris Wood being used more?

Delap has come under fire for some of his shortcomings since signing for Forest, with his only goal coming when Forest last won a game at Aston Villa in mid-September.

As a result, there is a sense that some of these gilt-edged chances might be better having Wood on the end of them than Delap, with Glasner seemingly unwilling to give the New Zealand history-maker a start in the team.

Wood only got on for a matter of minutes against Ipswich and didn’t really see the ball. If the club’s marquee striker can’t stick the ball in the net, then it’s only fair that supporters question why a man who scored 20 goals in 2024/25 isn’t being used a little bit more often.

Glasner will be under pressure

George Syrianos is on Glasner’s side and he has told fans the club won’t panic and sack the head coach after four managers last season threw the club into turmoil for a few months

The Ipswich draw, however, has lit the fuse for some fans with talk already simmering away over the form and the fact that Forest are sitting in the bottom three of the table once again after eight games.

A section of supporters are relentless that Vitor Pereira should have been given more time to get things right. However, the Portuguese head coach has always had a reputation for being a firefighter, and ultimately there are no guarantees that he’d be doing any better.

Meanwhile, there are other fans who crave stability. Given Glasner’s track record of getting it right with clubs eventually, the hope in the eyes of many is that Evangelos Marinakis stands firm and throws his backing behind a top head coach.

Conclusion – Glasner deserves time

For Forest, the immediate thing is crystal clear in the sense that the Reds need to turn performances into wins and chances have to be turned into goals.

If Glasner can find the key to unlocking his attack and utilising his squad properly, the encouraging performances can quickly turn into a good run of results and the Reds can start to climb up the table.

The harsh reality, however, is that if the Reds don’t start winning games pretty soon, the impatient calls from the cynics in the stands will only grow louder and then, Marinakis could be forced into a very big call on the future of Glasner.