Nottingham Forest have got it all wrong with Liam Delap after 14-year first
Nottingham Forest appear to have effectively wasted £50million with their move to sign striker Liam Delap from Chelsea in the summer.
The Reds are struggling for form in the early stages of Oliver Glasner's tenure in charge, and they simply do not have the profile that they need at the top of the pitch.
The East Midlands outfit took the lead after just three minutes away at Crystal Palace on Sunday, but ultimately ended up succumbing to a 3-1 defeat in South London.
Delap led the line for Forest in the capital, but he contributed to a dire team performance in the final third of the pitch.
Glasner's men have only netted more than once in two of their seven games in all competitions this season, and it is clear that their problems will lie in the final third once again.
They hit a new low in front of goal at Selhurst Park, and it has made the move to sign Delap appear even more baffling.
Nottingham Forest squander eight big chances
Forest suffered from a severe lack of goals from their strikers last season, with Igor Jesus leading the frontman with just six Premier League goals.
They desperately needed to bring in a poacher-style striker in the summer to help ease the goalscoring burden on Morgan Gibbs-White, and that was highlighted again on Sunday.
Forest created a staggering eight big chances against Palace, but scored just once and headed home with nothing to show for their efforts.
According to OptaJoe via their X account, it is 14 years since a Premier League team created more big chances and lost the game, with that unwanted stat belonging to Blackburn back in February 2012.
That 14-year first emphasised the severe extent of the issue for Forest, and although Delap was only responsible for two of those missed big chances, he is a clear part of the problem.
The 23-year-old is simply not what the Reds needed to add to their attack this summer, as his finishing has frequently faced scrutiny in recent years.
Given that he was a club-record buy for them, that money could surely have been spent far better on a player with a killer instinct in front of goal.
Nottingham Forest to buy new '£40m' attacker
Former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness told Football Insider that Forest may have to buy a new "£40m" attacker in the January window to address their struggles at home.
Prior to last weekend's fixtures, the Reds were the only team in the Premier League still waiting for a goal on home turf, despite having already played three games at the City Ground.
Wyness is adamant that Forest have issues when it comes to breaking down teams that sit behind the ball, lending to them creating far more opportunities on the road.
He expects owner Evangelos Marinakis to open the chequebook to solve that problem in January, with a new creative midfielder expected to be on the agenda.