SEAN O'Driscoll insists Nottingham Forest will have to be tactically adaptable to succeed in the Championship – and has appealed for fans to show a little more understanding.
The Reds boss has instilled a passing ethos since his appointment in the summer and says he does want his side to play 'the Forest way'.
But he was disappointed to hear sections of the City Ground crowd jeer his players during a controversial 2-1 loss against Hull on Saturday.
Forest fielded a 4-3-3 formation that became a 4-5-1 when the Tigers were in possession, as O'Driscoll looked to combat Hull's five-man midfield – and the manager is convinced that was the right decision.
"The fact is I have come here with other sides and changed the way we play to face Forest," said O'Driscoll.
"In the past I have faced Forest sides who play a rigid 4-4-2 and we have given them massive, massive problems.
"We have walked off the pitch after games having beaten them 4-1.
"I can't fall into the same trap by saying that we are going to play 4-4-2 or with two strikers, because it is all people are going to accept. That would be ridiculous.
"Everyone wants the team to do well, I appreciate that. But there were times in the first half when the players were listening to the crowd and we started playing balls that we should not have been playing.
"I keep getting told we should be playing the Forest way. But the Forest way is to keep the ball. We were trying to keep the ball and we were getting booed.
"I was stood on the touchline thinking 'what is the Forest way then?' Do they want us to bang it forward? Because if we did that, they would be asking why we were not playing on the floor.
"Everyone is not going to understand all of the time. The vast majority of people are not going to see that they play with an extra man in midfield. All they will see is that we only played with one striker.
"Maybe we need to educate people, make them see you cannot always play with two strikers. The game has changed."
Forest have been drawn at home to League One Oldham in the third round of the FA Cup, in a tie to be played on the weekend of January 5 and 6.
