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14 March, 2017

Warburton appointed as manager

On this day in 2017 Forest appoint Mark Warburton as manager.

Manager legacies

Appointment of a historically significant manager
Mark Warburton, former Forest manager.
Mark Warburton, former Forest manager. Image: Jeff Anderson / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Mark Warburton was appointed Nottingham Forest manager during a tense period near the bottom end of the Championship.

The appointment came with David Weir as assistant and Frank McParland already in place as director of football. Forest were looking for fresh direction after another difficult spell, and Warburton arrived with a reputation for wanting his teams to play constructive football.

Mark Warburton, former Forest manager.
Mark Warburton, former Forest manager. Image: Jeff Anderson / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

His immediate task was survival. Forest stayed up on the final day of the 2016-17 season, beating Ipswich Town 3-0 at the City Ground while Blackburn Rovers went down on goal difference.

The longer-term project did not take hold. Warburton began the following season still trying to reshape the team, but results stayed inconsistent and Forest remained stuck in mid-table rather than pushing towards the play-offs.

His spell ended on New Year’s Eve 2017, when Forest sacked him after a 1-0 home defeat to Sunderland, with the club sitting 14th in the Championship. For supporters, the appointment offered the possibility of a clearer football structure, but it became another short managerial chapter in a restless period.

Sources

Sky Sports; BBC Sport; Nottingham Forest season records

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