Following a string of poor results under previous head coach Ange Postecoglou, the Reds have secured a much-needed 2-0 victory against Porto in their Europa League game on Thursday (10.23.25), and Dyche has breathed a sigh of relief now that his tenure as Forest’s new manager has got off to a good start.
Speaking after the game, Dyche said: “I'd waited a long time for that moment. As a young person here in '87 all I wanted to do was wear the shirt.
“To come back as the manager is super pleasing and to stand there and absorb it, I've learnt in life sometimes you have to slow your thinking down and take it in.
“So many big moments in life have been so nerve-wracking they just go and suddenly they are finished. So I thought, ‘Take it in and put it in the memory.’”
Two penalties from captain Morgan Gibbs-White, 25, and Igor Jesus, 24, handed Forest glory, and the midfielder feels like he can “finally breathe” now that The Reds are back on track.
Gibbs-White told TNT Sports: “I feel like I can finally breathe. It's been a difficult couple of months here with all the changes that have happened here, some bad performances. I am so happy to get our first win out of eight, nine games, I think it is.
“To do it here at the City Ground on a European night is incredible, and there's nobody who deserves it more than the stadium and the fans.
“[I’m] delighted to get three points on the table. Those three points are for the fans for sticking by us.”
The captain added Dyche had given Forest the chance to go back to their previous system used by former manager Nuno Espirito Santo.
Gibbs-White said of Dyche: “That was the first thing the gaffer came in and said.
“He was like, last season you had a real identity, you had a real structure for how you wanted to play. He wants to bring that in, and he wants to build on top of that. I think we showed that tonight. We were solid, hard to break down.
“When we went forward we could have been a bit more clinical, a bit better. But we take the three points and we move on.
“It's only been one game, we've only had a few training sessions. But definitely, you can feel the morale in the stadium, you can feel the morale in the group at the minute.
“It feels a lot higher, feels a lot more positive, a lot more energetic. That's how it needs to be, and it needs to stay like that.”
