Martin O’Neill is reportedly set to be named as Nottingham Forest’s new manager, and the first task he should carry out is to drop captain and starting XI regular Danny Fox.
On the chalkboard
Well, despite being a left-back for the majority of his career the 32-year-old has featured as a left-sided centre-back in more recent times for the Championship play-off hopefuls, and had it not been for injury throughout November and then December he would have more than 17 league appearances to his name this term.
Since returning to action on Boxing Day the 4-cap Scotland international has played in and skippered the east Midlands outfit on five occasions – four in the Championship and one in the FA Cup against Chelsea – but he certainly didn’t produce the performance of a role model during the 2-0 loss to Reading at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday.
The 6’0 Fox was booked for a bad challenge just eight minutes in against the Royals, and he was then shown a second yellow by the referee having become embroiled in a row with the official just after the hour-mark to leave his team a man short.
Why should O’Neill drop him?
While the 32-year-old is a passionate player that openly wears his heart on his sleeve, his decision-making against Reading was poor for a player of his experience, and proved that he can be a liability both in terms of his quality and his temperament on the pitch.
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Forest don’t have a plethora of centre-back options now and it could be an area that O’Neill looks to target for strengthening before the January transfer window slams shut on the 31st, but firstly he shouldn’t bring Fox back into the starting XI when he does return from suspension.
The east Midlands outfit need two quality centre-backs if they are to rescue their season and secure a top-six finish, and the Scot just simply doesn’t fit into that category.
