Premier League 2025 Bournemouth Nottingham Forest highlights result Sean Dyche news reaction video

There was to be no fairytale return to the Premier League for new Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche on Monday (AEDT) as his side slumped to a 2-0 away defeat by high-flying Bournemouth that illustrated the scale of the task ahead of him.

Dyche's last game as Everton coach in January resulted in a 1-0 loss away at Bournemouth, and there was more of the same in his return as Forest conceded twice in the first half, with the 54-year-old saying his players need to be fitter and stronger.

"The biggest disappointment was the drop-off physically. You saw a very high pressing team... and we never got to grips with that," Dyche, a former Forest youth team player, told reporters.

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"We've crammed in weeks of what you'd normally do into five days, so you know, we have asked a lot, but the first half was a long way short from where we want to be physically."

Brought in as Forest's third permanent manager of the season after the sacking of Ange Postecoglou in the immediate aftermath of a 3-0 defeat by Chelsea on October 18, one of the challenges facing Dyche is a tight schedule of games due to their participation in the Europa League.

"It's tough, because we've only got so many working days. We've got so many games, but we've got to find it. We will find a way of getting that, that's for sure," Dyche said.

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Dyche won his opening game after replacing Australia's Postecoglou, a 2-0 home victory over Porto in the Europa League.

"We were searching for the idea of whether they would flatline a little bit after such a big result - the old after the Lord Mayor's Show. There was the noise and a bit of relief among the players after getting a good result," Dyche said.

"The first half we looked flat and there was not that energy, which Bournemouth have and have done great with. We just couldn't raise that edge that you need to play.

"Second half was slightly better. But I think it was compounded by a really poor decision that goes against us."

Marcus Tavernier opened the scoring for the Cherries in the 25th minute when the ball looped over Matz Sels from a corner. However, replays showed it should never have been a corner in the first place as the ball came off Tavernier rather than Neco Williams.

"It is incredibly frustrating. There is so much at stake in the Premier League, why detail down everything - every analysis moment - but not do that? That's why I get frustrated," Dyche said.

"They analyse everything now. Then something as clear and obvious as that, and yet they do nothing about it. That's got to be frustrating for everyone. It certainly is for me as manager.

"I end up getting booked for no reason, in my opinion, because it was clearly the wrong decision. But that's the way it goes sometimes.

"Dealing with these setbacks is part of what football is. Certainly in the Premier League, you've got to deal with them and we didn't deal with them very well today.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not making anything about the result. They were the better side overall and deserved to be in front at half-time. There's no excuses.

"But I just find it bizarre. I have said this in so many meetings, when the linesperson makes a decision and the referee is in a worse position and somehow overrules them, I can't work that out. I really can't.

"I just don't understand it. What's the point in calling them assistant referees if they are not assisting the referee? I just don't get it. It's something I've been speaking about for years. It's very frustrating. But no excuses here, they were the better side overall and deserved the win."

The defeat leaves Forest third from bottom on five points, but Andoni Iraola's Bournemouth will end the weekend second in the standings on 18 points, four behind leaders Arsenal, after an impressive run of results.

"It's definitely a very good start, but it's just a start," Iraola said, sounding a note of caution.

"This season, the differences between teams are so small. It's going to be difficult for us to earn more points, but we have to try."

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