One of these clubs is looking at Champions League football and probably want their manager to sign a 10-year contract. In the opposite dugout, Sean Dyche might be lucky to last 10 more games if he cannot halt Nottingham Forest’s worrying slide.
Life comes at you fast as a Premier League manager. Four games ago, Dyche was taking the praise for his side’s 3-0 win over Tottenham – the same scoreline by which they beat Liverpool at Anfield in November.
Forest have not picked up a single point since then and rarely looked likely to stop Aston Villa bouncing back immediately from the 4-1 thrashing at Arsenal in midweek. Never mind a 10-year deal. Unai Emery could probably stay on Villa’s payroll for life if he wanted to.
Starting with a 4-5-1 formation that was effectively 9-0-1 for most of the first half, Forest nearly made it to the break on level terms.
But Ollie Watkins fierce strike from 20 yards surprised Forest goalkeeper John Victor and soon after the interval John McGinn finished a neat move to make it two.
Even when Morgan Gibbs-White made it 2-1 following a mistake by Victor Lindelof, Forest never really threatened to break Villa’s rhythm. John Victor’s comical error not long afterwards allowed McGinn to score his second.
Dyche did not inherit and easy situation and has done some good work. This was a rotten display, though, bereft of ambition and summed up by John Victor’s display.
Why Dyche prefers him to Matz Sels, arguably the best goalkeeper in the league last season, only the former Burnley and Everton boss knows.
The last Forest manager to lose four successive league games was Steve Cooper, towards the end of 2023, and he was sacked before Christmas. His replacement, Nuno Espirito Santo, was the first of two Forest bosses to be sacked this term and is now in charge of West Ham, who are fighting relegation like Forest.
No prizes for guessing Forest’s opponents on January 6. If Dyche is outwitted by Nuno, a coach still loved by many Forest supporters, he will have some explaining to do to club owner Evangelos Marinakis.
Never write off Watkins
Watkins is still some way from his best. His touch is heavy, his link-up play slow and his finishing hurried. It is also true that the England forward has four goals in his last three games and remains a proven Premier League marksman.
The 30-year-old somehow failed to give Villa the lead in the opening two minutes, firing against John Victor from six yards after Morgan Rogers had cut out Nicolas’ Dominguez’s attempted clearance.
But he broke open the game with a clean hit from 20 yards. Yes, John Victor should have done better as the shot was central but once more, Watkins is fighting back just when the writing seemed to be appearing on the wall.
His recent run of form will not stop Villa trying to sign another forward in January, on loan if not permanently. Yet Watkins keeps going.
In the last year he was been supplanted by Jhon Duran and Marcus Rashford, but Watkins is the only one still at the club. This was his 250th appearance for Villa and he remains their most reliable striker in the Premier League era.
Watkins may not be quite the force of old but do not be surprised if he has a big part to play in the second half of the season.
Window priorities
How Dyche would love the sort of control Emery has at Villa. No transfer will happen this month without Emery’s say-so.
Emery is so powerful at Villa that the club now have to try to find a new home for Harvey Elliott because Emery doesn’t fancy paying £35million for him next summer. Elliott, remember, was signed on loan from Liverpool in the closing hours of the summer transfer window.
If that situation had unfolded at Forest, the manager would have been told to make the best of it.
Daily Mail Sport understands that Dyche has a clear idea of who he would like to bring in during the window and one of those is a centre-forward to replace the goals of Chris Wood, who faces more months on the sidelines. Igor Jesus is a promising forward but has only one league goal this term.
Yet for the Forest hierarchy, Jesus is a big project and they would be reluctant to see his playing time reduced. Though money will be spent in this window, it is never quite clear with Forest who is signing the players.
As for Villa, Emery wants a right-back and at least one attacker and is urging the club to be active. For different reasons, neither Villa nor Forest can afford to get this window wrong. It might cost Villa the Champions League. As for Dyche and Forest, the consequences could be far more definitive.
