Posted July 31st, 2008
by Rish
A 1-0 loss, and a performance that didn’t threaten the Sunderland goal much. Reading what some people have to say, the season is already over and Calderwood should be sacked. Allowing for a heavy dose of well-placed irony (some posters are clearly mimicking last term’s doom-mongers), there is still an undercurrent of anti-CC feeling.
I should make clear that not only was I not at the match, but I didn’t even watch it (I don’t believe in paying money for hundreds of channels that I ain’t going to watch). But a few things are quite clear:
- Earnshaw was on his own last night, not because CC wants to play a negative 4-5-1, but because he was the only fully-fit striker. If you were the boss, would you risk any players carrying knocks when the new season is ten days away
- The Moose is making an impression
- James Reid is still a young boy, and you cannot rely on kids too much – but again, if the likes of Chris Cohen are carrying knocks, is it worth risking them?
There was a disappointing aspect, in the deployment of Perchio in midfield; apparently the man himself stated in a Forest World interview that he regarded himself as a centre-half but was also happy to play at right-back (i.e. he prefers defence)*.
But let’s look at things in black (red?) and white, shall we? A newly-promoted Championship side narrowly lose to a strong Premiership outfit, who had lots of strength on the bench; the winning goal is, by all accounts, a decent move and finish, and yet some people still moan.
What do I think? I am reserving judgement until at least three or four matches into the season…
* I haven’t seen this interview as Premium TV (who run Forest World and the offical website) do not recognise that Apple Mac owners may also want to follow their favourite team – in fact they don’t even seem to want to enable RSS feeds. Anyone from the NFFC web team or PTV do, of course, have the right to reply via hello@eighteensixtyfive.co.uk.
Tags: colin calderwood, Guy Moussi, James Reid, Robert Earnshaw, sunderland Posted in General
Posted July 31st, 2008
by Rahoul Baruah
Why did Roy Keane reduce his side to ten men for the last few minutes of the game last night?
“A couple of times last year we were down to 10 men and this was a little test for the players.”
“It makes them work a bit harder. I’m not sure they’re 100 per cent happy with me but it was just a test for them to deal with the extra man and Forest got in a few times in the last five or ten minutes.”
“It is important we try these experiments while also being respectful to Forest. We only did it in the last seven or eight minutes”
Tags: friendly, roy keane, sunderland, ten men Posted in General
Posted July 30th, 2008
by Rish
Two fine examples of respect from Forest men past and present…
In the NEP, talking about Joe Garner, CC namechecks Perchio first in his list of experienced young players:
“…When you add him to the experienced young talent that we have here, the likes of James Perch, Kelvin Wilson, Wes Morgan, Julian Bennett and the others, we have quite a foundation”
Now I could be reading too much into this, but considering Perch is the only player in that list who wasn’t a regular last season, isn’t it something that his name is first out of the hat? I like Perchio, I would like to see him play more often, preferably in defence (although his MOTM performance in midfield against Yeovil was an important part of the victory that sealed promotion), and from this it would seem that the gaffer also rates him highly.
And then on the official site, Roy Keane describes Sir Brian:
“He was an absolute genius and when I look back at the managers I’ve played under, he’s certainly number one”
Of course Sir Brian famously said that he was in the “top one” of all managers…
Tags: brian clough, colin calderwood, james perch, roy keane, sir brian Posted in General, News
Posted July 29th, 2008
by Rish
Amidst continuing mutterings on some of the fans’ forums, I am delighted to report that Paul Smith has signed for the club until 2010. I would agree that he is too quiet on the pitch, and doesn’t seem confident coming off his line, but would also argue that he has saved us many more points than he has cost us. Also, to his critics, I would also say that it is no mean feat to have kept all those clean sheets when the first choice back four (Chambers, Morgan, Wilson, Bennett) is still young (average age about 23?), so he must be doing something right.
I still wouldn’t mind having another keeper on the books, but that is just because I think you need two proven players for each position.
Finally (and this has nothing to do with anything), I have a lot of time for Smudge as he was the last player on the pitch at the promotion party in May, taking time to have photos taken with fans young and old, and shaking hands with all sorts of grubby fans, myself included (that is not me in the photo, by the way)!
Tags: goalkeeper, new contract, paul smith Posted in General, News
Posted July 28th, 2008
by Rish
That bastion of truth, the Nottingham Evening Post, has today published an article in which Kris Commons bemoans his departure from the City Ground, saying “I never wanted to leave”. I am prepared to believe much of what is written here, mainly because the article has little comment and lots of direct quotations.
Of course, one could be forgiven for thinking that Kristian was viewing things very one-dimensionally:
“I went to see Colin Calderwood many times asking for a contract and he never gave me one, and that’s the most disappointing thing. He said no, not until the end of the season”
That’s because we didn’t know whether we were getting promoted until after the last day of the season, you dummy! I understand that Kris’ wages were not cheap, and if we didn’t go up then I suspect we would have let him go.
“I think most fans see it that I have chosen Derby over Forest, which is not what I have done because Forest never offered me a contract.”
You did choose Derby over Forest, because you didn’t wait to see what Forest were going to offer you. From a simple employer-employee viewpoint, I understand that it is not nice if you don’t know whether you will be offered a new contract or not, but let’s face it, a Forest player is hardly likely to starve or default on his mortgage if he isn’t earning for a month or two.
“When a club like Derby come asking for your signature it’s not one you turn down. It’s a great move for me and a wonderful opportunity.”
Not if (as you have claimed on many occasions over the last four years) you are a Forest supporter – you would turn it down. I hate writing about this, because I just want to put the whole thing to bed, but for Commons and the NEP to publish this tripe just winds me up.
Tags: commons, derby, forest Posted in General
Posted July 27th, 2008
by Rahoul Baruah
There’s been a couple of articles bemoaning the 4-3-3 that CC seems to favour at the minute. Personally I don’t care much about formations (beyond tactical changes to neutralise or exploit an opponent). If it takes 2-3-5 or 6-4-0 to get the result I don’t care (result being: clean sheet, 3 points, 3 goals, fantastic football, in that order).
But I have to congratulate CC on his summer so far. You see each league has its own character and CC seems to know what he is planning for here.
League Two: I can’t comment on League Two. Thankfully we have never had to experience it.
League One: Guts, determination and unity. The latter was were we fell down the first couple of seasons. The latter is why Leeds profitted from their points deduction (a very divided club bought together by the perceived injustice).
The Premiership: to make it in the Premiership, you need $$$. Lots of them. Occasionally there is a surprise (Reading a while back, us even further back) but for the most part it’s a global marketing operation with turnover in hundreds of millions.
And that brings us to the Championship.
In my opinion, there is one thing and one thing alone that is needed to succeed in the Championship. And that is goals.
So congrats to Calderwood for strengthening in precisely that area. 5 across the middle when defending, 3 up-front when attacking (even though they are striker-wingers) and the undoubted quality that has been brought in can only be a good thing.
Posted in General
Posted July 25th, 2008
by Rish
Every summer, fans of every club in the country feel a strong sense of anticipation. The good mood following promotion has given rise to a real sense of optimism, from those following Nigel Doughty’s lead that we should be in the Premier League, to more modest ambitions of staying up and maybe finishing mid-table (guess which camp I am in?).
The squad list looks massive, largely due to the manager’s decision to give numbers to a lot of the kids (and although the numbers go up to 45, there are 34 people on the list last time I checked). The pre-season friendlies so far have seen three victories against Kickers Offenbach, Burton Albion and Telford respectively, with most of the first team squad being given a run-out (as well as some unfamiliar names as some of the kids were blooded), and experimentation between 4-4-2, 4-5-1 and 4-3-3.
In terms of first team comings and goings, we have seen the following departures:
- Kris Commons
- Matt Lockwood
- Sammy Clingan
- Grant Holt
This has been balanced by the acquisitions of:
- Robert Earnshaw
- Andy Cole
- Guy Moussi
- Paul Anderson (on a season-long loan)
- Joe Garner
So we lost two forwards, a defender and a midfielder, and have “replaced” them with three strikers, a winger and a midfielder. Does this signal a change of intent from CC? Will the comparative wide-open spaces of the Championship lead to a more expansive and attacking style of play? Who knows. What is clear is that CC is putting some faith in the youth; the squad looks a little thin at full-back, but Joe Heath and Brendan Moloney have been given chances in the pre-season matches, and in midfield, there will be high hopes for Matt Thornhill, with possible appearances from the likes of James Reid and Ryan Whitehurst.
So tonight sees a friendly against Everton, with Forest playing a relatively strong line-up, and Everton playing some familiar, and some not-so familiar. Should be a proper test, allowing for substitutions and both sets of players wanting to avoid injury.
Tags: preview, Transfers Posted in General, News
Posted July 25th, 2008
by Rahoul Baruah
Out till September with an injury, but has signed a four year deal.
Posted in News, Transfers
Posted July 14th, 2008
by Rahoul Baruah
No surprise given the large payoffs we have had to make in the past. Would we cry if someone else snapped him up?
However, my favourite bit is about Kris Commons:
we wish him well with the team down the road
Posted in General
Posted July 10th, 2008
by Rahoul Baruah
Posted in General
