Chelsea vs. Nottingham Forest: Can Calum McFarlane prove his ‘gravitas’ against high-flying Forest in Premier League?

Ahead of Monday’s Premier League clash between European hopefuls Chelsea and relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest, hear what the Sports Mole team have to say about the upcoming battle.

Matt Law, Football Editor: “You really have to take your hat off to Forest”

[Nottingham Forest] are flying. I foolishly thought a few weeks ago that they would be the one that potentially would go down, and West Ham and Tottenham would stay up.

Nine goals in their last two Premier League games. They beat Burnley 4-1 before the 5-0 against Sunderland. Gibbs-White again getting on the scoresheet, a player that I've previously championed to be in that England squad. If he gets left out then I don't really know what to say, to be honest. I know there's a lot of competition.

You really have to take your hat off to Forest recently. Their last defeat, which was in Europe, was in the middle of March, and the last Premier League defeat was the start of March. There's no arguing with that in terms of their form.

I always thought that they were underperforming anyway. When you look at the quality in their squad, they've got a player in midfield (Elliot Anderson) that reportedly some clubs, including the two big Manchester ones, are prepared to pay over £100m for.

They always had the squad. The defenders, Murillo and [Nikola] Milenkovic at the back, and [winger Callum] Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White and Anderson, they've always had a good team. It's not like this is a rags-to-riches story and they're performing above expectations. I think they're performing as they should, considering the strength of their squad.

From a Chelsea point of view, the Leeds game last time out was a really big one to get over the line in that game. I think Leeds shaded it in terms of shots and shots on target, with Chelsea only just ahead in terms of possession. It was a tight game, but if you can get over the line in games like this when you're struggling, it puts you in a great position moving forward.

For Chelsea, the carrot of the cup final is coming up, but they can't afford to take their eye off the ball in the league, it’s the name of the game. They have to keep winning and keep hoping that they can finish in those Champions League places, which is still open for them, considering that their struggles which have been a little bit surprising.

Chelsea just have to keep getting the performances. Obviously, the managerial situation is going on in the background. It looks like [Andoni] Iraola is emerging as the favourite, but interestingly, it looks like he's the main candidate at Manchester United as well. Iraola, very much a man in demand. Could be a tug of war between Chelsea and Manchester United.

But for now, that stuff has to remain in the background, and now Chelsea have got some big games, including this one, and they have to make sure that their performance level is a lot better than it has been in recent weeks.

Ben Knapton, Site Coordinator: "McFarlane situation is a really fascinating one"

Anyone going to Stamford Bridge and getting a win, unless your name is Port Vale, wouldn't be a surprise, certainly under Liam Rosenior.

The McFarlane situation, it's a really fascinating one for me, because he maybe doesn't have that same gravitas as managers that you would put in the conversation to be the permanent Chelsea head coach.

But he's got to an FA Cup final. He's got that on his CV. His two games in charge in between [Enzo] Maresca and Rosenior, he got the draw against Man City, so another really respectable result, and then a narrow loss to Fulham.

I can maybe draw parallels with the very first time [Michael] Carrick was in charge of Man United back in 2021, because he got some decent results then during his three or four games, but then he wasn't considered for the permanent manager's job then. I thought even back then maybe that was a bit premature for Carrick. Maybe he could have been given longer.

Now with McFarlane, it didn't seem that the Chelsea players had much respect for Liam Rosenior. I don't think I'm going out on a limb saying they seem to have more respect for Calum McFarlane.

You think the main contenders for that job are going to be the likes of Iraola, maybe Oliver Glasner, Marco Silva's name's been mentioned as well, but if McFarlane can get them Champions League – their top-five chances could be dead in the water even if they win this weekend, they're 10 points behind fifth place, but sixth spot still very much open – and if they can get Champions League with McFarlane in charge, if he oversees a positive, drama-free end to the season, then you've got to say he has to be in that conversation.