Posted January 30th, 2007
by Rahoul Baruah
On loan till the end of the season (when he is out of contract).
Prutts was one of my favourite players for a very, very simple reason.
Even under the DDUP[*], Prutton was always the one who, at the final whistle, was the first to come over and applaud us.
No matter how bad we (and he) had played, he never shirked and came running to the Trent End (or the away enclosure) to show that he appreciated our efforts.
Unless, of course, he’d been sent off.
[*] Dark Days Under Platt (c) my brother.
Posted in General
Posted January 30th, 2007
by Rahoul Baruah
I found it funny because the left-back was kicking people and ready to fight everybody. I told Steve Clarke ‘he will kill him’ and before I’d finished he did. Yes, funny.
So that was why Jose was laughing when Shevchenko went down …
Posted in General
Posted January 28th, 2007
by Rahoul Baruah
To the person that did the Google search for “Are Forest’s Holts brothers?” – the answer is “no”.
Posted in General
Posted January 28th, 2007
by Rahoul Baruah
On the telly for this one.
Mourinho was dressed as a tramp in his pre-match interview.
Lineker was quiet.
Hanson was almost gracious … a big day out for the Forest fans.
Wright tipped us to win … probably because of his Forest connection and because he knew what the other two were like.
Desailly didn’t really care.
We lined up in a 4-4-2 …
| |
|
Smith |
|
|
| Curtis |
Morgan |
|
Breckin (c) |
Bennett |
| Southall |
Holt (G) |
|
Perchio |
Holt (Gr) |
| |
Agogo |
|
Tyson |
|
You probably saw it on the telly. The first half we were awful. We looked like a third division side against the Premiership champions (there’s a shock). We gave them all the space in the world, we looked like rabbits-in-headlights as soon as we got possession and were duly punished. All three goals were disappointing – Shevchenko’s shot (who was Wes marking?) looked like a comfortable save until Curtis deflected it in, Drogba’s goal, at first glance, looked excellently placed, but on a replay was actually quite close to Smith and the last one was just a joke. The only bright spot was Perchio, who was alone amongst our players in that he knew what to do with a football.
At half time, Hanson and Lineker could barely contain their fervent mixture of hatred, contempt and glee. Yes we were awful. But, as Rish said, if it were Scunny putting in that performance they would be talking about the gulf in class between the divisions. Not laughing at the fact that we hadn’t managed a corner and had less than a fifth of the possession.
Sammy came on for Grant in the second half (I would have taken off the other Holt, played Grant up-front to hold the ball with Tyson on the left to use his pace against Geremi). And it definitely made a difference, having a player who knew how to pass the ball. We started playing our style of football, culminating in an Agogo cross that Perchio just couldn’t reach, with Cech and the Chelsea defence beaten. This woke Chelsea up and it became a proper game of football. Lester and Dobie (why?) replaced Agogo and Perchio (why?); leading to the highlight of the half. Andrei Shevchenko was fouled and the camera cut to Mourinho guffawing at the Ukranian’s discomfort.
So that was it. I thought, especially after the second half performance, we deserved at least a goal (my prediction beforehand was 4-1). But 3-0 is fair enough.
Their goals were disappointing.
Our fear and awe showed through in the first half.
It was nice to see Junior swapping shirts with Essien (obviously they know each other after playing for Ghana in the World Cup).
Lineker royally pissed me off, but I’ve hated him for years (nothing to do with Leicester or Spuz … more because I think he’s two-faced and nasty).
And, as they say, we can now concentrate on the league.
Nice dream. We all knew it would end this way.
Posted in General
Posted January 26th, 2007
by Rahoul Baruah
Is anyone else excited about the battle of the housewives’ favourites on Sunday?
If nothing else, it gave the Evening Post a chance to compare Jose and Cloughie’s most memorable quotations…
I don’t know if we will win the match, but if we do, I will love it. Especially as I have a Chelsea fan working for me at the moment!
Everyone at work is being quite supportive (I work in north Birmingham, so am largely surrounded by Villa fans), it is memorable because it is the first time in several years that the entire country is supporting Forest. As my friend the “Maradona of the Midlands” opined, “It takes a real effort to be more hated than Manchester United, but you have to hand it to Chelsea, they have managed it”!
Posted in General
Posted January 25th, 2007
by Rahoul Baruah
In preparation for Sunday …
My favourite memory of playing Chelsea was in some meaningless pre-season tournament. Hoddle had just signed Ruud Gullit (the signing that ultimately transformed Chelsea from being no-marks into the ultra-rich champions they are today) and was playing him at sweeper. While the Chelsea fans chanted for Gullit, our own Lars Bohinen took it upon himself to take the piss – he spent the entire game dribbling as close to Ruud as possible, then turning away before the dreadlocked Friend of the Geordies could stick his foot in. I have no idea what the result was, what the outcome of the tournament was, but Lars versus Ruud gave me a good laugh that day.
Posted in General
Posted January 10th, 2007
by Rahoul Baruah
A Forest fan speculates as to why the tie of the round isn’t necessarily a source of happiness for him.
Posted in General
Posted January 9th, 2007
by Rahoul Baruah
David Prutton is going nowhere. Apart from maybe Hull.
Posted in General
Posted January 8th, 2007
by Rahoul Baruah
Harris to Millwall, Padula to Montpelier and Gardner to Vale.
Posted in General
Posted January 8th, 2007
by Rahoul Baruah
Chelsea away.
Drogba to score six after the back four spend the night crapping in West London bars?
OR
Tyson to break free of the non-existent centre-halves and nick one?
Posted in General
