Nottingham Forest may have lost their Championship match on Wednesday night but the love affair between the club’s fans and James Garner continues to build.
Garner played all 90 minutes in a 1-0 defeat away at Swansea City, Forest’s first loss since the Manchester United loanee signed for the club at the end of January.
From United’s perspective, the loan is going great so far. Garner has started four games in a row and has become a fan favourite at the City Ground.
Always making progress
Even if this was Garner’s most disappointing result of this stint at Forest to date, it was another chance to learn, against a team sitting in third place in the Championship.
Garner competed well. He won two aerial duels, and made two clearances as he worked hard defensively.
His one shot at goal missed the target but his long range passing was more effective, completing two of three attempts.
While Swansea were the best side he has come up against in a Forest shirt so far, his team competed well and were only beaten by a 87th minute winner.
This is Garner’s second loan of the season after a promising spell at Watford which faded after their manager was predictably fired. Forest boss Chris Hughton has taken a real liking to him, which was just what Manchester United wanted.
United have high hopes for Garner, he made four Europa League starts last season, and a successful loan could propel him into first team contention next season on a more regular basis.
Forest fans impressed
Garner’s performance earned a 8/10 player rating from Nottinghamshire Live, who wrote: “He’s very good with the ball but his defensive work was better tonight. Has such a bright future.”
Nottingham Forest News reported in their post-match notebook that Garner is ‘already a contender for signing of the season’, expressing hope the loan could be extended for an extra year.
This was an opinion shared on social media by Forest supporters. There were a lively set of comments praising the 19-year-old midfielder, who appears to have a big future…
- The six worst Manchester United transfer windows ever, including one under Sir Alex Ferguson
- What Tynan Thompson’s Manchester United transfer means for academy wonderkid Noah Ajayi
- Alex Scott’s contract standoff should not prompt Man Utd mega-bid, Bryan Robson agrees
- Tynan Thompson is already being fast-tracked by Man Utd, Michael Carrick clearly rates him highly
- Marcus Rashford will have a new Man United role involving Tynan Thompson when he returns
- Michael Carrick can hand a legacy-defining debut after wonderkid sighting in latest Man Utd training
- Why Man Utd shouldn’t hesitate on Juventus’ Joshua Zirkzee interest
- Radek Vitek is about to test Ineos in a big way, they’ve cracked half of the challenge at Man Utd
- Alex Scott vs Manu Kone: Why 185-duel midfielder is the right choice to finish Man United rebuild
- Alejandro Garnacho triggered Man Utd fans with his antics last summer, it could come full circle now
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
