“If you go up one side of the mountain, you have to come down the other side at some point.”
Reflecting on his career at the age of 32, Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood was just asked if he likes all the positive headlines.
The New Zealand international has been in the spotlight – scoring eight of Forest's 15 league goals so far – but his thoughtful response reflects his journey through 12 England games Clubs including Burnley, Leeds, Leicester and Newcastle.
“It's about minimizing the amount of falling down on the other side so you can jump back up and create a new mountain,” Wood told BBC Sport ahead of Saturday's home game against Ipswich. “The mentality is big in sport and football. If you can control that side of the game, that helps.”
“You go through these mountains and waves all season long. It's not just about shooting up. That’s what I was told.” [former technical director] Dan Ashworth, when I was at West Brom: Things won't always go smoothly.
“There will be these waves and you have to ride them and hope that the disadvantages are as small as possible in order to make the advantages as large as possible.”
Wood, who scored 14 league goals last season, became the first Forest player to win the Premier League Player of the Month award in October, moving closer to Bryan Roy's club record of 24 goals in the competition.
He has scored 19 goals in 28 top-flight games under coach Nuno Espirito Santo and says he has found a coach who both understands and appreciates him.
“You have to find out where you are valued. Managers have their own style and their own way of playing,” said Wood at the club’s training ground.
“It’s not something I can control. It just means you may not be in the right area or not in the manager's mind. There’s always a manager who likes a number nine or a false nine.”
“I'm not a man who beats two or three players and stays in the top corner, I'm a man who relies on service. If they can’t take care of me, I can’t score.”
“It's about finding the role that suits everyone and fortunately under Nuno that is the case.”
“The six or seven loans I had as a youngster taught me a lot about being valued and appreciated. It's not always about you as a person or player, but about how you connect and build with a team. A lot of this is up to me to control.”
