Nottingham Forest have taken just one point from their first seven games of the new season and are without a win in 13 games; Hughton dismissed following 2-0 defeat at home to Middlesbrough; Forest are currently three points adrift at the bottom
Thursday 16 September 2021 17:42, UK
Nottingham Forest have sacked Chris Hughton after six defeats in their opening seven league games left the club bottom of the Championship with one point.
Having already overseen Forest's worst start to a season in 108 years, Hughton's final game in charge was a 2-0 loss to Middlesbrough at the City Ground on Wednesday.
A statement from the club said: "Nottingham Forest can confirm that Chris Hughton has been relieved of his duties as first-team manager.
"The club would like to place on record its appreciation for Chris' efforts. Chris joined the club in a difficult period for everyone in football and around the world and we thank him for the way he has conducted himself during his tenure.
"The search for the permanent successor has begun and the club will update supporters in due course.
"The club would like to wish Chris all the best in his future career."
Former Newcastle United, Birmingham City, Norwich City and Brighton boss Hughton, who was appointed in October 2020 with Forest bottom of the league with zero points, won 14 of his 53 games in charge.
Forest said first-team coach Steven Reid will take temporary charge of the first team as interim head coach. Reid joined the club in August in a full-time role after previously combining coaching duties between the Championship side and Steve Clarke's Scotland backroom staff.
The defeat to Middlesbrough left Forest without a win in 13 matches stretching back to last season, in which Hughton guided the club to a 17th-place position, finishing nine points above the relegation zone.
Sky Sports EFL Editor Simeon Gholam:
"It seemed like a dream appointment for Nottingham Forest when he arrived last year. In fact, it was only a month ago when the chairman of the club was describing his acquisition as the 'envy of a number of Premier League clubs' before the first home game of the season.
"How quickly things can change.
"Here was a man in Chris Hughton with a near-exemplary record in the Championship, winning promotions with Newcastle in 2010 and Brighton in 2017, and taking Birmingham into the play-offs in 2012.
"His football was not always the most pleasing on the eye, but it usually got results. On this occasion, however, patience amongst the fans quickly wore thin.
"Now, with the club rooted to the bottom of the Championship table, you have to wonder where they turn next. Forest possess an unbalanced squad and have just sacked the exact type of manager they would look to recruit in this type of situation.
"Nottingham Forest appointed a new CEO in the summer as they brought in Dane Murphy following his success in helping Barnsley get to the play-offs. The ownership and structure of the two clubs and the way they are run is very different, however.
"His next appointment will be crucial. You only have to look at the size of some of the clubs in League One to know that no club is too big to go down from the second tier."
Sky Sports EFL expert David Prutton:
"It is not surprising - and I do not mean that in a callous way by any stretch of the imagination. He had been there since October last year and, in Championship terms, almost a year is a hell of a long time to try and get things right at a football club.
"It feels to me like there's a lot of deep-rooted problems there that need to be unpicked. Forest have gone through a ridiculous amount of players over the last two or three seasons, with the turnover in the high 80s, if I remember rightly. But if you look at the team [that played Middlesbrough], that's a team that should not be bottom of the league. That's a team that should not be propping up the rest of the division and I think Chris - as all managers do when their teams are not playing well - has paid the price.
"There is a squad there that needs to look at themselves, but having seen them over the course of this year, having seen how well they did under Sabri Lamouchi in the season that ended in heartbreak when they missed out on the play-offs, they have played in a way where Chris had to set up defensively and had to stop what was going wrong at the back. At times, I think that has sacrificed them going forward.
"In a couple of games that we covered, it almost felt as though they were settling for a point with 70 minutes on the clock, which, when fans are not in, is a little easier to do. When they are in, that frustration comes in and I think that was very clearly shown against Middlesbrough, where even sections of the home crowd were calling for Chris to go. That is extremely unsavoury but I think, given the open forum that is a football crowd, it was to be expected.
"His credentials are there for all to see. That success that he has had in the second tier - being able to take teams back into the Premier League - has been something Forest have been crying out for since I played for them the first time around in the late 1990s. But a succession of squads, players and managers that have not been up to scratch leaves them where they are right now."
