Nottinghamshire

Pat Riddell
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

Ideally, this summer will see Nottingham Forest build on the success of European qualification and near-misses in the FA Cup and making the Champions League.

It is pretty obvious where we need to recruit – injuries and fatigue caught up with us at the end of the season and losing the likes of Chris Wood, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Murillo cost us in important games.

Last summer's business, adding Elliot Anderson and Nikola Milenkovic, was particularly astute. But the other signings did not strengthen the squad as we might have hoped, and the recruitment team will do well to find a few more rough, or even polished, diamonds.

We are well stocked in central midfield but really need competition in defence and attack.

Our position now, compared with 12 months ago, is a different proposition for potential players - rather than battling relegation, those looking to make a name in the Premier League outside of the 'big six' have a new destination. And financially we are in a fairly good place to be growing the squad sustainably.

That said, beyond new signings it is a time to consider how we develop tactically.

Steve Cooper tried and failed to move from a 4-2-3-1 formation to 4-3-3, and it is no easy transition without well-drilled players and strategic nous.

Foregoing possession and playing on the break has served Forest very well in recent seasons, but it was evident in the latter games of the campaign that when teams offered up the ball the Reds were not really sure how best to capitalise. What happens when we have more than 50% possession? How do we adapt to those games?

That problem will rear its head again. Of course, I'm not the only one thinking this - and Nuno Espirito Santo will have inevitably started thinking about how we progress.

Greater depth in players, as well as a settled squad and management team, will make the transition easier.

But, for the first time in a generation, we can start a new Premier League season without nervously looking over our shoulder and instead setting our sights above us.

Find more from Pat Riddell at The Famous Club, external

BBC Sport pundit Nedum Onuoha has given us his insight and opinion every fortnight on your Premier League club throughout this season.

But this week, he's in the hotseat for your questions.

Maybe ask him who should be on your club's radar this summer, or where a rumoured target or new signing might fit into the team.

Perhaps see what he thinks about how successful a new recruit might be, who it is vital to keep, or what is needed to make next season a success.

Send in your questions here and we'll put a selection to him

As the dust settles on the 2024-25 Premier League season, we have been taking a look at some of the alternative ways the the table could have finished...

Many of us will have been there in school.

It was not always about being the best, but about being better. Not trying to beat the others' scores or times, but about beating your own.

In sport too, it is why personal bests exist. It is a way of measuring your own improvement against what has gone before - we can't all be Usain Bolt and Florence Griffith-Joyner.

So if the Premier League season was all about how you compared to the campaign before, who would have come out on top?

Well, there is one clear winner.

With 29 points more than they had in 2023-24, Nottingham Forest would have been lifting that trophy.

They may not have finished the season quite as they hoped having spent so much time in the Champions League spots, but having narrowly avoided relegation a year ago, this shows the sheer scale of the improvement this term.

Their nearest challenger on this basis would have been Brentford.

With 56 points, they were three points short of their best ever Premier League tally, but having flirted with relegation last time out, it made for a more enjoyable season this time around.

Brighton, Bournemouth and Fulham may have just missed out on European adventures in the real league, but they are also teams who can be happy with the improvements they are showing as now well-established top-flight sides.

And despite the chaotic nature of Chelsea since the new ownership came in, they too can look to steady progress.

At the other end of the scale (or table), it is a very different picture.

Many question whether the traditional 'big six' teams is still relevant, given how others have broken that mould in recent years.

But if the season was based on improvement, four of those six would have been at the bottom.

Tottenham dropped-off in the league nearly as much as Forest improved. Manchester City had a high bar to reach, but a torrid spell proved costly. Manchester United have set multiple unwanted club records, while Arsenal struggled to maintain a real challenge for the title.

They say beware the wounded tiger, and it is hard to see all these sides having the same difficulties next season, but they will not have it all their own way with those teams that are on the up.

*All data from Opta and only teams who were in the league in 2023-24