Sean Dyche barely flinched while the City Ground erupted with glee as Nottingham Forest toppled Porto 2-0 in his first game in charge... this was the change in narrative the club desperately needed, writes DOMINIC KING

You would have thought he was browsing in a shop window. Hands by his side, barely a glimmer of emotion, certainly no smile.

But all around Sean Dyche, there was happy pandemonium and glee, all capped with a chorus of 'Forest are back!' – it might be too early to make such a bold claim, of course, but what a change in the narrative this was for a club who have been spinning around like an out-of-control tumble dryer.

Dyche, in his wildest dreams, would have pictured Nottingham Forest winning his first game as manager though not like this: a penalty each from Morgan Gibbs-White and Igor Jesus toppled Porto and while he never celebrated either goal, you can bet he was dancing a jig inside.

Evangelos Marinakis has been the subject of much scrutiny of late, not least for his unceremonious ditching of Ange Postecoglou five days ago, but everything about the decision looks right now. In Dyche, it feels, he has the right man at the right club at the right time.

Dyche loves music and always has done, so when he was scribbling out his teamsheet he might well have started to think of the lyrics from Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads, particularly the line: 'Well, how did I get here?'

His defence contained two Premier League winners on either flank, in the shape of Neco Williams and Oleksandr Zinchencko; his midfield featured Elliott Anderson, whose performances of late for England have caused hearts to flutter, and Gibbs-White, who Forest valued beyond £80million.

Then in attack, Callum Hudson-Odoi, who still has the ability that was so obvious when he emerged six years ago, and Igor Jesus, a Brazil international, were scuttling about with menace – no squad with such obvious ability should be on its third manager before the clocks have gone back.

Yet here Dyche was, diving into the blue again. Some would have it down as a rescue mission but that is utter nonsense. Yes, the start has been abysmal and 10 games without a win is a stain on the dressing room, as much as those men who Marinakis has jettisoned, but this is no race against time.

He's been in that situation, his last job for starters. When he walked into Everton in January 2023, Dyche boarded a boat with some of its hull missing and crew on the brink of mutiny – the work he did to ensure they never capsized during his first four months should not be underestimated.

No. This is a fantastic opportunity for Dyche, a man whose connection to this proud city are deep and whose affinity for Forest is obvious. His entrance, alongside those Garibaldi stalwarts Ian Woan and Steve Stone, was warmly received and noisily recognised – you could see he was humbled.

But he isn't a man to dwell on sentiment and, as soon as business began, there he was – barking, hollering, leaning back as if he was on a hinge every time a ball went into the opposition penalty area, as he metaphorically tried to head every cross.

There was, inevitably, always going to be a bounce to this performance but for it to come so quickly was remarkable. Porto arrived here with the kind of record that makes you wonder why these Champions League regulars were outside the main event.

From 11 games, they had won 10 and the only blemish to a perfect record was a 0-0 draw with Jose Mourinho's Benfica; 26 goals had been scored, just two had been conceded, the last of which was to Red Star Belgrade's Vasilie Kostov on October 2. In those 11 games, they had never been behind.

On the banks of the Trent, however, they were up against. Jan Bednarek, once of Southampton, jumped for a cross in the 17th minute and ended up looking like he was playing Australian Rules. It was a clear handball and an obvious penalty. Gibbs-White did the rest.

Joy unconfined, then. You could hear the desperation for some positivity in voices on the streets outside before kick-off, an end to the results-induced misery that has been like dull toothache, gnawing away in the background and proving oh so distracting.

Forest had their noses and Dyche had a foothold, demanding maximum effort to protect the lead. Porto, aesthetically, might have played some nice football – if the reports are right about their coach, Francesco Farioli, he will be in the Premier League one day – but they couldn't break through.

When Porto did think they had secured parity, early in the second period, VAR came to Forest's aid adjudging an offside after Bednarek had prodded in through a melee. The decision to chalk the goal out was almost as noisy as Gibbs-White's sweetly dispatched spot-kick.

To say this was all smooth sailing, however, would be wrong. Dyche looked like he was on a turntable at times, so quick was he to spin around and bark at Woan and Stone, who had played in Forest's last European victory, against Lyon in November 1995.

As it transpired, they were the touchline for that sequence to be ended. VAR was needed again to determine that Nicolo Savona had been brought down by Martim Fernandes and, after a delay, Jesus walloped in the kick. Dyche didn't bat an eyelid. Same as it ever was.