Nottingham Forest fans name the first player they want gone in the summer after ‘shambolic’ performance against Brighton

The City Ground, usually a fortress of fervent support, echoed with frustration tonight as Nottingham Forest slumped to a 0-2 home defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion. What started as a gritty Premier League clash devolved into a masterclass in defensive frailty, leaving supporters baying for blood and manager Sean Dyche facing his sternest test since taking the reins in October.

Brighton, sitting comfortably in eighth, struck first through Maxim de Cuyper’s clinical finish in the 28th minute, capitalizing on a misplaced pass in midfield that exposed Forest’s backline. The Seagulls doubled their lead late on via Stefanos Tzimas, who pounced on loose defending to seal a deserved victory. Forest, hovering perilously in 16th—just one point above the drop zone—managed fleeting moments of promise but lacked the cutting edge to trouble Bart Verbruggen in the Brighton goal. Possession tilted 58% Brighton’s way, with Forest’s attacks fizzling into aimless crosses and turnovers.

The Tricky Trees’ recent form had offered glimmers of hope under Dyche, the no-nonsense tactician who replaced Ange Postecoglou after a dismal start. Wins over Leeds and a stunning 3-0 demolition of champions Liverpool at Anfield last weekend had fans dreaming of mid-table security. But tonight’s capitulation—marked by 14 shots but zero on target—ripped those illusions apart. Injuries to key men like Chris Wood, Olaoluwa Aina, and Morgan Gibbs-White (forced off injured) didn’t help, but excuses rang hollow as the team reverted to the porous defending that plagued Postecoglou’s brief tenure.

Social media erupted post-whistle, with fans unleashing a torrent of vitriol. “Has to be the first player out the door in the summer,” one X post fumed, while another declared, “That was genuinely embarrassing to watch.” A third went nuclear: “They could all be sold tbh but he shouldn’t be anywhere near the squad next season.” The chorus of discontent painted a squad adrift, low on confidence and high on scapegoats. Dyche, ever the pragmatist, urged calm in his post-match interview: “We’ve shown fight before; this is a setback, not the story. But we need to dig deeper—starting now.”

Yet amid the melee, one name surfaced repeatedly in the backlash: Morato. The Brazilian defender’s nightmarish showing—culminating in a woeful headed clearance that gifted Tzimas his goal—drew the sharpest barbs. Pundits noted his positioning errors throughout, with misplaced passes and hesitancy allowing Brighton wingers to terrorize the flanks. Signed with high expectations, Morato’s form has nosedived since mid-season, his error rate ballooning to 22% in recent outings. Fans, raw from the loss, see him as the embodiment of Forest’s woes: raw potential undermined by glaring inconsistencies.

Dyche’s arrival promised a shift to “ugly but effective” football—grit over glamour—but tonight exposed the chasm between vision and execution. With Europa League commitments looming and the January window beckoning, Forest’s survival hinges on swift surgery. Sell-offs? Squad overhauls? The pressure mounts. As one supporter summed it up on X: “One man stood out—for all the wrong reasons.” In the unforgiving Premier League, patience is a luxury Forest can ill afford.