Nottinghamshire

Charlie Slater
BBC East Midlands reporter

Passion is a good word to describe Oliver Glasner's approach to coaching his new Nottingham Forest side.

His distinctive Austrian accent fills the warm Portuguese air at the club's temporary training ground and his energy appears boundless as they approach the end of a two-week stay on the Algarve.

On the pitch, the players appear keen to match the tempo of their new boss - high press, high energy, high speed. While away from football, a padel racquet is the weapon of choice for winding down in the land of a thousand golf courses.

Glasner's existing squad is almost in place - only Switzerland international Dan Ndoye is still to return - and there is hope and expectation that his ranks could be bolstered by approximately four new signings.

Passion is Glasner's approach and optimism is its outcome.

Nottingham Forest have had a 20m euro offer for 21-year-old Israel international Anan Khalaili, who can play as a right-sided wing-back or winger, rejected by Belgian club Royale Union Saint-Gilloise. (Athletic - subscription required), external

Nottingham Forest are in line to sign Portuguese midfielder Gustavo Sa from Famalicao, with the 21-year-old then expected to move to Greek side Olympiakos on loan. (Athletic - subscription required), external

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England's Madias Ngake won silver in the women's 86kg weightlifting at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The 34-year-old, who won a bronze medal when competing for Cameroon at the London 2012 Olympics, was making her debut for England and led the competition after the snatch section with a Commonwealth Games record lift of 111kg.

The Nottingham-based athlete then put in an effort of 128kg in the clean and jerk to take her total to 239kg, only for Australia's Eileen Cikamatana to come up with a 140kg lift to go with her previous 108kg and win the gold.

Canada's Rose Beaudoin (230kg) won the bronze medal.

"I really enjoyed myself, it wasn't my best performance but I'm okay with that," Ngake told TNT Sports.

"I was looking for a gold medal, maybe a 134 or 135 (kg in the clean and jerk).

"This ranks second behind my Olympic bronze medal."

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Isabella Brown clinched the silver medal for England in the women's 77kg weightlifting at the Commonwealth Games.

The 21-year-old from Ashford, Surrey, recovered from a slow start, in which she failed in her first two 97kg snatch attempts, to progress to the clean and jerk on her third and final lift of the first discipline.

Brown, who trains and goes to university in Nottingham, was fourth and outside the medal places going into the clean and jerk.

But she increased successfully on each attempt from 124kg to a personal best and Commonwealth Games weight class record of 132kg.

She lifted the heaviest weight on the clean and jerk by 2kg, but Samoa's gold medallist Seine Stowers already held a 10kg advantage from the snatch, meaning Brown finished 8kg behind with 239kg overall.

After winning her first senior medal at the 2025 European Championships when she took home bronze in the same category, Brown went one better in Glasgow, finishing 5kg clear of Wales' Laura Hughes in third.

Notts County are in talks over a loan deal for Aston Villa midfielder Tommi O'Reilly, 22, who impressed on loan at Crewe last season. (Jacob Tanswell, external)

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Nottingham Forest are close to securing a 40m euros (£34m) deal to sign 22-year-old Ivory Coast centre-back Ousmane Diomande from Sporting. (A Bola - in Portuguese), external

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Video assistant referees should only be used to change "blatantly incorrect" decisions and clear missed incidents, say European refereeing officials.

Chief refereeing officers from all 55 European national football associations met last week with Uefa refereeing officials and a representative from the International Football Association Board (Ifab) to address recent changes to the game's laws.

Attendees said "lengthy, microscoping reviews" indicate VAR has gone beyond its original scope.

When VAR was added to the laws of the game in 2018 by football's rulemakers Ifab, its "philosophy" was "minimum interference - maximum benefit", with the intention of reducing "unfairness caused by clear and obvious errors or serious missed incidents" relating to goals, penalties, direct red cards and mistaken identity.

Uefa said that at its recent meeting that refereeing bosses agreed a return to those original aims is needed.

"It was reiterated that, in accordance with protocol, VAR must only intervene in situations of 'clear and obvious' error, ie. when a referee decision is blatantly incorrect or when the referee has missed a clear incident," Uefa said in a statement.

"VAR is not meant to re-referee the game, it is an essential support to the referees, who must remain at the centre of all decision-making.

"Lengthy, microscoping reviews are often a symptom revealing that the decision on the field was not clearly and obviously incorrect, and should therefore be limited."

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We asked for your views on whether Nottingham Forest need to dip into the transfer market for a new striker this summer, with Igor Jesus, Taiwo Awoniyi and Arnaud Kalimuendo already finding the target in pre-season.

Here are some of your comments:

Josh: I think we could do with more firepower in the squad, as I don't think the quality is currently there, but I don't want to see any of the current strikers leave. Igor on paper is the best we've currently got, Kalimuendo deserves a chance after being outcast last season, and I would be sad to see Taiwo or Wood leave. But if the right player is available at the right price, we should go for it.

Peter: We have enough firepower with the strikers we have. Why pay an inflated price for a fifth striker? A right-sided wing-back, a centre-back (Ousmane Diomande) and a goalkeeper to back up Matz Sels - and we are good to go. Any of Sangare, Dominguez and Schlager can be our two in midfield.

Chris: Yes we do, but not Liam Delap. There is no rush yet though.

Robert: The focus needs to be on replacing Bakwa, Ndoye, Hudson-Odoi and McAtee, who all failed to create anything last season. I back all of the Forest strikers to score, if we get a decent creative midfielder.

David: I don't think a striker is top of our wanted list. We already have a fit Wood, Jesus and Awoniyi. Plus giving Kalimuendo a chance to show what he can do is better than rumours of us buying Beto. We need to get the deals done for a midfielder, a wing-back and a centre-back, plus we still need another goalkeeper. Tie Neco Williams down with a five-year contract as well and we should be in the top seven.

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

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Nottingham Forest midfielder Ibrahim Sangare has signed a new three-year deal.

The Ivory Coast international, who played for his country at the summer's World Cup, is now tied to the City Ground until 2029.

Sangare, 28, joined from PSV for £30m in 2023 and played 43 times in all competitions for Forest last season.

"I'm delighted to sign the new contract," he said.

"It's a good moment too for me to thank the fans. Last season wasn't always easy, but they were always with us and I have always felt their support.

"It's been three years here and it has become a family for me in that time. I feel good, I have learned a lot, and worked hard to get to this point. I'm really looking forward to working with the new coach and for the season to start."

Sangare, who started his career at Toulouse, has made 77 appearances, scoring twice, and helped Forest beat relegation last season and reach the semi finals of the Europa League.

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Nottingham Forest have marked a clean slate under new head coach Oliver Glasner by going on a three-game unbeaten run at the start of their pre-season fixture schedule.

The Reds kicked things off with a 2-0 win over neighbours Notts County, followed by a convincing 3-0 victory against Championship side Blackburn, and they shared a 1-1 draw with Vitoria de Guimaraes in a behind closed doors friendly.

Having failed to score in 14 Premier League games last season, compared to just eight games in 2024-25, the scorelines are a small sign of goalscoring promise ahead of next season.

Chris Wood was a notable miss last season after picking up a knee injury which kept him out of action for six months, having scored 20 goals in 36 Premier League games in 2024-25 - 13 more goals than any other Forest player.

But it is fellow senior strikers Igor Jesus, Taiwo Awoniyi and Arnaud Kalimuendo who have stepped up to the plate so far in pre-season.

The trio have shared out the goals so far, with Jesus scoring in all three games, Kalimuendo finding the back of the net twice and Awoniyi bagging against Blackburn.

Wood is the only senior striker to not appear on the scoresheets as yet, although he joined pre-season slightly later after representing New Zealand at the World Cup.

So, taking all of the above into account, do Nottingham Forest need to dip into the transfer market for a new striker this summer or are the current crop showing what they can offer? If you think business is needed, who would be top of your priority list?

Get in touch with your views here