A word of warning to commentators settling in front of their microphones at the City Ground on Saturday: the Nottingham Forest centre forward is after your job.
Chris Wood has been one of the outstanding players in the Premier League this season, with a contribution far greater than his eight goals in 12 starts.
Wood has been the unflashy talisman of Nuno Espirito Santo’s improving side. The close control of Callum Hudson-Odoi, the dribbling of Elliot Anderson and the vision of Morgan Gibbs-White might catch the eye more, but they all need Wood to deliver the goods – and only Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah have done so more often in the Premier League this season.
Only Joao Pedro, Yoane Wissa and Harry Wilson – who has taken just five shots – have been more clinical than his 38 per cent chance conversion rate.
Today he is scoring goals yet in 10 years’ time, Wood would like to describe them. The New Zealander has no plans to enter coaching after retirement and aims to do his talking off the pitch as well as on it.
His inspiration is Ian Smith, the former New Zealand wicketkeeper who has commentated on cricket and rugby. The way Smith described England’s Super Over victory over New Zealand in the Cricket World Cup final in 2019 was one of the finest pieces of commentary of modern times.
Chris Wood has been one of the outstanding players in the Premier League this season
The striker has offered a contribution far greater than his eight goals in 12 starts
Sitting in a meeting room at Forest’s impressively revamped training ground on the outskirts of Nottingham, Wood is the epitome of the All Blacks’ famous ‘no d***heads’ policy
‘It really intrigues me,’ says Wood, who also played cricket and rugby before focusing completely on football when he was 14. ‘In certain sports, I would be OK.
‘Commentary feels like it would come a bit more naturally to me. It certainly takes my fancy a bit more than coaching. The play-by-play commentary is a very different skill from punditry that would have to be enhanced and worked on.
‘You need to have a good understanding of what you’re talking about, and to me that means you must have played the sport or been involved in it for a long time.
‘It’s not a case of being able to do it straightaway. It will take a lot of time to learn and understand from people above me but it’s a nice option that might be possible.
‘With television you can jump in and out when you need to but on radio you have to do a lot more to get the picture across.
‘If I’m driving somewhere and there’s a Premier League or Champions League game on, I’ll chuck it on. It’s nice to hear what people are doing.
‘You want to be able to visualise what’s happening. Sometimes you won’t get a clear picture but when it’s a great commentator, they can make you feel like you’re watching it. It’s definitely a step I could take after football, through New Zealand outlets or international outlets. Who knows?’
Though he lives on the other side of the world, you sense Wood’s mind is never far from his homeland. Despite leaving New Zealand in his mid-teens to pursue a career in English football with West Bromwich Albion, Wood remains a proud Kiwi.
Though he lives on the other side of the world, you sense Wood’s mind is never far from his homeland
Despite leaving New Zealand in his mid-teens to pursue a career in English football with West Bromwich Albion, Wood remains a proud Kiwi
Wood has been the unflashy talisman of Nuno Espirito Santo’s improving Nottingham Forest side
Sitting in a meeting room at Forest’s impressively revamped training ground on the outskirts of Nottingham, Wood is the epitome of the All Blacks’ famous ‘no d***heads’ policy.
Though guarded, he is polite, respectful and considers each question thoughtfully, looking you in the eye. Dressed in understated fashion, he is bang on time for our interview.
You sense Wood is the sort who is unlikely to be captured in a blurry camera phone picture taken in a dodgy bar at 2am. Wood often keeps antisocial hours but for a very different reason.
Asked how many miles he thinks he has clocked up since the start of the season, between club and international duty, Wood glances upwards while doing a little mental arithmetic.
‘About 85,000,’ he replies casually, as though it were a matter of driving to the local supermarket a couple of times a week.
Barely a fortnight after Harry Kane fired a broadside at some England team-mates for pulling out of the Nations League fixtures against Greece and Ireland, Wood’s commitment to the international game is instructive. Players who might not have fancied the flight to Athens should listen to Wood’s travel plans when he plays for his country.
At 32, with a birthday next week, he could probably prolong his career by concentrating solely on club football and if he did so, it would be understandable.
Wood and his partner are expecting their first child early next year and he has won 74 caps for his country over 15 years. It is impressive stint by any measure and Wood hopes it concludes with qualification for the 2026 World Cup.
The close control of Callum Hudson-Odoi might catch the eye more, but they all need Wood to deliver the goods
His inspiration is Ian Smith (right), the former New Zealand wicketkeeper who has commentated on cricket and rugby
The way Smith described England’s Super Over victory over New Zealand in the Cricket World Cup final in 2019 was one of the finest pieces of commentary of modern times
‘It’s all about switching on to Auckland time (13 hours ahead of GMT) when I leave the stadium after a Forest game,’ he explains. ‘If that means staying awake for 18 hours, that’s what I have to do.
‘You have to eat at the meal times in the time zone you’re switching to. You sleep at the right times, maybe with some help from the club doctor. Then when I get to New Zealand it’s about fresh air, lots of sunlight, going for walks.
‘I love playing for my country and that will never change. Every club I have signed for has known about it. The World Cup in 2026 is such a big pull.
‘It’s a 28-hour journey and there are times where it takes a lot out of you but if the club are willing to work with you and I’m willing to listen to them, we can help each other.’
The partnership is certainly delivering. Despite two consecutive defeats, Forest are seventh in the table ahead of a ferocious week. After taking on Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich this weekend, they face two trips to Manchester in the space of four days, against City on Wednesday and United next Saturday.
Yet thanks to substantial investment from owner Evangelos Marinakis, smart coaching from Nuno Espirito Santo and clever recruitment, Forest are going places.
Given the wealth in the Premier League, few expect them to reach the heights they did under Brian Clough, whose teams delivered the European Cup in 1979 and 1980. Wood does not rule it out, however.
‘Long-term, the sky is the limit,’ he insists of Forest, his 12th English club on a journey that began when he swapped Hamilton for the Hawthorns after a trial at West Brom in 2009. ‘The owners are growing the club and trying to do it correctly across the board to build for sustained success.
Wood has 77 goals in 239 top-flight games but has never represented one of the traditional title challengers, meaning fewer scoring opportunities
A fortnight after Harry Kane criticised England team-mates for pulling out of the squad, Wood’s commitment to the international game is instructive
Wood and Nottingham Forest are preparing to take on Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich this weekend
‘It’s not a case of doing well in the Premier League for one season. It’s about doing well consistently and being ambitious to challenge for European football and for titles in years to come. It might take a while, who knows?
‘I’d like to think Forest could win another top-flight title. As long as the club keep progressing on and off the pitch, they definitely could. Our owners want to build so we push for Europe and titles, and they believe we can.
‘But the things that have been done, especially during my time here, have given the club a great chance to progress. We are in our third season in the Premier League now and that’s when you start to feel you’re an established club. Now it’s about closing the gap.’
That is Wood’s aim in the goalscoring charts, too. In the 2012-13 season at Leicester, a 20-year-old Wood often kept Jamie Vardy and Harry Kane, who was on loan from Tottenham, out of the team.
Both Vardy and Kane went on to pass a century of Premier League goals and both have claimed the Golden Boot. Wood has 77 in 239 top-flight games but has never represented one of the traditional title challengers, meaning fewer scoring opportunities.
Vardy will turn 38 in January and is still competing at the top flight, which gives Wood plenty of encouragement.
‘The Golden Boot would be lovely,’ he concedes. ‘I’d look at it come March or April if I’m still in the running, though we have Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah who have run away with it in the past.
‘Vardy and Kane showed what is possible. Kane ticked all the boxes as a finisher – left foot, right foot, head. Vardy had that raw ability that he honed. They worked massively on their strengths and took them from good to perfection.
Thanks to investment from owner Evangelos Marinakis, smart coaching and clever recruitment, Forest are going places
Wood is now planning on beating the likes of Man City’s Erling Haaland to the Golden Boot
‘People are playing for much longer now. They feel ripe and strong at 35, 36. It’s about mentality, nutrition. People are eating cleaner. There was a big drinking culture 15 years ago and it’s not really there anymore.
‘If you go back the 1980s and 1990s, players were out all the time – that’s just how it was. Maybe that’s why people retired at 32, 33. People still say ‘once you’re 30, you’re over the hill’, but it’s just not the case.
‘Look at Vardy at 37, Robert Lewandowski at 36, Cristiano Ronaldo at 39. I feel my best years are still ahead of me. I’m not thinking about stopping at time soon.’
Maybe those commentators can breathe a little easier.
