Forest are nowhere near repeating Leicester's 2016 PL triumph | OneFootball

A clear and obvious false narrative is currently doing the rounds in the Premier League's coverage. And VAR won't be required. Of course, we see well-known sporting outlets create stories and suggestions to serve their interests all the time. One huge organisation is even seemingly allowed to invent and purvey nonsense and speculation without the necessary parameters. Then the same company create odds for their own betting site related to the rumours they push. I'll let you guess which organisation I'm referring to.

So we know some chat in the media is massively wide of the mark, like an out of form striker. Accounts and opinions are scrutinised with finessing attempts before being put to the public. And the latest favoured fairytale in the footballing sphere is that Nottingham Forest are repeating, bettering or replicating Leicester City's inscrutable 2015/16 Premier League title triumph. In reality, Forest are nowhere near repeating the Foxes' EPL triumph just yet, if at all.

False Nottingham Forest narrative concerning Leicester City

As a Leicester fan, it is not easy to say but I applaud Forest for a wonderful half of a season so far. The Tricky Trees are showing other penetrable and feeble defences (like LCFC's) how to keep clean sheets. Their defenders also supply attacking help too. Likewise, the NFFC midfield and front line is just as effective.

Who would've guessed that Chris Wood would age like a fine wine? Well, quite a few people who watched the former Fox over the years knew he was underrated actually. All right, I'll admit the New Zealander has slightly overachieved. Fewer fans expected Morgan Gibbs-White to eventually justify his £42.5 million price tag when so unproven. He has.

Forest are terrifically well-run thanks to having the cautious yet cunning Nuno Espirito Santo at the helm. Nevertheless, the west Bridgford outfit are invariably overachieving this campaign. A fact I'm sure they'll admit: Manchester City are lacking, Arsenal have their problems, Newcastle United are only recently firing again and Tottenham Hotspur would usually be towards the area occupied by the Nottinghamshire team.

Forest staff should absolutely be congratulated and studied by others such as Leicester. Maybe City can find stability that way. Although talk of Leicester's rivals' contemporary run being similar to their 2016 glory is inaccurate and a bit premature at this stage. You simply can't compare Anthony Elanga or Callum Hudson-Odoi to prime Riyad Mahrez. And Wood is no Jamie Vardy.

If I may be so bold, I'll go ahead and predict that Forest will not win the league this year. Neither will their succession of victories and positive results continue forever. Everything comes to an end. Albeit they are technically in the title race; a mammoth and unrealistic task awaits. I would assert that the Trees certainly deserve UCL qualification as it stands.

If I'm totally truthful, similarities do indeed exist. Nonetheless, the Foxes' miraculous year of 2016 will never be repeated and is uncontested in EPL history at least. Even If NFFC ultimately finish top, they invested a fortune - unlike the Leicester of eight/nine years ago. If the Nottingham team genuinely wish to eternally challenge the elite league, they'll have to spend additional hundreds of millions.

Another part of Forest's history does challenge City

In actuality, Forest are the only club who did come close to the aforementioned feat via their 1977/78 First Division title. Although, even in that case you could declare that City were further up against it in comparison to their adversary. For example, Forest had one of the best managers to ever grace the game in charge, Brian Clough.

The funding of clubs LCFC battled in the mid 2000s also made their achievement dramatically difficult. To be fair, both organisations put stock into discovering undervalued stars for their respective sides. I would argue that Forest's back-to-back 1979 and 1980 Champions League victories are the actual rival to City's crown jewel.

In their own words, NFFC is a 'bigger club' than LCFC. I'll leave you with a quote from a legend of both clubs for clarification. Prior to Leicester lifting the PL trophy on 23 March 2016, Martin O'Neill said this: