Cole has gone
So says Google and the Press Association
On Wednesday Calderwood insisted reports Cole had retired from professional football were inaccurate.
Oh well. No big loss.
Tags: andy cole, nottingham forest Posted in
Jinglebells…
…jinglebells, jingle all the way, oh what fun it is to miss Forest winning away (to be recited in the style of Nigel Havers)
As I sat in traffic, taking an hour to travel two miles due to heavy snowfall in north Birmingham, my mind was not really on the football. For various reasons I could not follow the match, and when I was able to turn on 5live at 9.55pm, I was overjoyed to hear the final score.
Is it a turning point? Time will tell. Will it get Colin off the hook with many of our more vociferous fans? Almost certainly not. Can Forest win at Derby? Maybe.
I said last week that, a few weeks ago, we would have feared being the first team in ages that Derby would beat. I suspect that our woolly friends now have a nagging feeling that we will turn them over…
Tags: colin calderwood, crystal palace, derby county, nigel havers, nottingham forest Posted in
Forest Fans v Dave Jones: Below the belt
I didn’t particularly want to write about this story, but it has acquired a life of its own.
I think most right-minded fans would agree that chants about Dave Jones were unwarranted, unedifying and only tarnish the name of the club. Jones has, understandably, had his say; you cannot blame him for being upset when his kids were in the crowd. Marthur and Nigel D have apologised to him (rightly so), and the issue has made the national press, as well as the locals.
Speaking of local press, I found a link to this story, which only goes to show how jumped-up local journos can badly blur the lines (I hate journalists stating opinions as fact):
I spent almost a decade covering Forest during the times when Brian Clough was in charge.
He would have let those chanting at Jones know exactly how he felt. Forest manager Colin Calderwood, though, simply said: “I didn’t hear anything.”
As if Colin didn’t have enough on his plate without being lambasted for concentrating on his own affairs! Another example of shoddy local journalism, and yet it has worked because they are only concerned with selling papers and getting hits on their websites - the truth is secondary, and yet local media can still feel chuffed with their “performance”.
Tags: abuse, Cardiff City, dave jones, nottingham forest Posted in
Everything but the goal: Nottingham Forest 0-1 Cardiff City
Having reported the other night on how I couldn’t see how we would get a win, Saturday’s match was both a fillip and a kick in the nads teeth. It was good, because it proved to idiots like me that playing decent football can get you out of trouble, and yet it was bad because we remain rooted to the foot of the table.
In yesterday’s podcast, Rahoul and I couldn’t help but comment that Forest played well, but also that there was a nagging suspicion that if we didn’t score in the first 45, we would be in serious danger of losing. No surprises there - I suspect that everyone in the City Ground had that nagging doubt.
Despite Joe Garner’s heroics, ostensibly as a lone striker, but in reality with Lewis pushing up alongside him, the ball just wouldn’t go in. Garner hit the post after great work from McCleary, Lewis had an unsuccessful effort, and Chris Cohen had a 20-yarder saved (fairly comfortably, in all honesty). Garath McCleary, not content with being the most creative player on the park, also had a go himself, spanking it narrowly wide with his left foot, before James Perch made a great burst forward only to be denied by a slight deflection. When the whistle blew, everyone was wondering how Forest weren’t at least two or three goals to the good.
Half-time saw the unusual sight of a sub peeling off his tracksuit and warming up, and sure enough, Nathan Tyson took the place of Paul Anderson on the wing; Ando had apparently complained of tightness, so best not to risk it. Cardiff also made a substitution (their second of the game), with captain Darren Purse (whom we commented on in the podcast) being withdrawn. Tys played down the left, and generally looked like you would expect - a forward who hasn’t scored in a long time.
As usual these days, Forest were undone by a cheap goal conceded not long after the interval. Lewis made a necessary but clumsy challenge on Steve McPhail, and Ross McCormack made no mistake from twelve yards.
According to the precis in ITV’s “The Championship“, that was it - game over, and Cardiff were unlucky not to win by more. What lazy reporting: it neatly ignores the fact that although Forest were shell-shocked and poor for a good twenty minutes, they did come back into the match. McCleary had come agonisingly close; some decent work from Lewis gave him a shooting opportunity which went millimetres wide of the far post. Garner had, despite his best efforts, become peripheral and was replaced by Earnie, with Lewis dropping a bit deeper and Tys moving a bit further forward. The little man almost reaped quick rewards, with a one-on-one effort which Heaton in the Cardiff goal diverted around the far post. I think it was at this point (and despite a speculative volley from Earnie) that we realised that it wasn’t going to happen. There was still time for a rare decent cross from Tys to just elude Cohen at the back stick, thanks to an intervention from the Cardiff full-back.
A word on the crowd: we commented on the podcast that the Cardiff fans were great, and I have to confess that I did not hear the unsavoury chanting that came from the Lower Bridgford; I did hear unsavoury taunts from the A Block towards Dave Jones, but it was also clear that something had happened to prompt the abuse (I have read elsewhere that he directed a “Nescafe handshake” towards the Reds’ fans, rather than the “thumbs down” indicated on a Cardiff site). So credit to the away support for creating so much noise, less so for the nature of the noise.
It would also be remiss of me to ignore the telephone comments broadcast on Radio Nottingham when we were battling through the traffic on Wilford Lane: so many of them were “I have just listened to the match, and Calderwood has to go…”. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but if I was at work and walked into another department’s team meeting and told them that they were doing X, Y and Z wrong, they would quite rightly tell me to piss off. If you didn’t go, you wouldn’t know!
To the CC-baiters: he couldn’t have done much more today, he picked a decent line-up, made the substitutions that he had to, and cannot be blamed for the profligacy in front of goal. I have said before that I don’t regard him as a saint, but he did little wrong in this match.
Winners and losers in the Forest team? Well, Garner certainly adds a welcome dimension to our play - despite not being the biggest, he is strong (held off Purse for most of the first half, prompting the Cardiff skipper to resort to foul means on several occasions), and he can hold the ball up well. However, a lot of players tend to get through their first game after injury on adrenaline, so I hope that he can sustain such a level of performance. Many (myself included) commented that the prospect of him linking with Earnie could significantly increase our chances of actually scoring once in a while. At the back, Wes had his best game in a long while, although his defensive partner “Casual Kelv” was poor again today and Luke Chambers (playing as a centre-half!) was perfectly competent and immediately looked more effective than his hapless skipper. Lewis was brilliant, but then disappeared for half-an-hour, and the decision tomove him back to a more conventional centre-mid position almost paid dividends as he got much more involved again. However, MOTM goes to the brilliant Garath McCleary, playing without fear and looking most likely to make things happen. The lad looked absolutely shattered at full-time.
As if the current position was not bad enough, the next few weeks see a horrid sequence of fixtures - we never win at Selhurst Park and are all dreading the trip to Pride Park, followed not long after by high-flying Birmingham City. However, a few weeks ago, I think we would have feared being the team against whom Derby break their duck, and now the tables are turned; in many senses, there is nothing left to lose, and if they play as well as they did this weekend, at least there is a shred of hope…
Tags: Cardiff City, dave jones, garath mccleary, joe garner, lewis mcgugan, match report, nottingham forest Posted in
Nottingham Forest 0 - 1 Cardiff City: Match Report and Podcast
A fantastic performance, with everything except goals from us. And once more the second-half sucker punch knocks the stuffing out of us.
Today’s podcast has a run-down of the game, some kind words for the Cardiff fans and a rant about phone-ins. And our answer to the “should we sack the manager” question.
| Camp | ||||
| Perchio | Morgan | Wilson | Lynch | |
| Anderson | Fletcher | Cohen | McCleary | |
| McGugan | ||||
| Garner |
Tags: Cardiff City, nottingham forest, podcast Posted in
Forest v Cardiff: half-time mini report
Nil nil, basically a 4-4-2 with Garner and McGugan upfront. Some defensive lapses, notably from Casual Kelvin, but Camp looks good. Worrying though, we have made a lot of chances without putting one away. Hope we don’t come to regret such profligacy.
Tags: Cardiff City, nottingham forest Posted in
To boo or not to boo?
Paul Anderson on the Ipswich match:
I noticed as soon as we scored they got behind us and the fans can be a massive factor and help if they get behind you.
It does make a difference because when you hear moans and groans it does not help but it was good, the fans were quite positive which is good to hear.
I have said many times that negative fan reaction during the game irritates me. I even wrote an article about it for the BBC. However, I also recognise the argument that as a paying customer, you feel as though you have the right to express your opinion.
I wonder if it makes any difference when a young lad, playing his first couple of matches for the club, notes that boos and negativity from the stands adversely affects the players?
Tags: nottingham forest, Paul Anderson Posted in
Glass half-empty: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Ipswich Town
Colin Calderwood was caught speeding on his way home from the match last night. As the policeman approached his car, the bronzen one was heard to exclaim, “I’m sorry officer, I just wanted three points!”
Forest (4-4-2): Camp; Chambers, Morgan, WIlson (c), Bennett (Lynch 45); Anderson, Fletcher, Cohen, McCleary (Martin 74); Cole (McGugan 66), Tyson. Subs not used: Davies, Thornhill.
Ipswich (4-4-1-1): R Wright; Volz, Naylor, McAuley, D Wright; Walters, MIller, Shumulikoski (Stead 77), Quinn (Haynes 90); Garvan; Counago (Lisbie 71). Subs not used: Supple, Bruce.
I usually try to play Devil’s Advocate when things are not going well. Hell, I even tried to give David Platt the benefit of the doubt (after the humiliation of Big Ron, anything seemed worth a go - how wrong was I?). Colin Calderwood is not the devil incarnate that many fans seem to portray him as, but despite a reasonable first-half showing, I left this match grateful for a point, and unsure as to how we are going to win a match in the foreseeable future (and it hurts me to write that).
Rahoul and I have commented recently about how Forest always look more likely to win when they get an early goal, and it was great to see that we scored one - except Garath McCleary was offside when he diverted it in. Bummer. Despite Walters’ long-range effort that spanked the home crossbar, Forest still looked more likely to score, although there was a paucity of real chances at both ends. In the end the deadlock was broken when a corner came out to McCleary on the far corner of the box, who looked up, saw the gap and rifled low into the net at the near post. A well-taken goal, and young Garath looked delighted, racing over to the dugout in what was presumably a show of support for his beleaguered boss.
There were two main talking points before the half was over: Jules was battered by his own keeper as Camp came out to take a cross, and eventually he was subbed just before half-time looking in some discomfort; secondly, Tys had a header ruled out for offside - from the far end, it looked as though he had run from behind his defender, but the flag did go up very early.
The second half was immediately disrupted as, from the kick-off, sub Joel Lynch banged his head and fell heavily, requiring a few minutes of treatment. I don’t know if this took the momentum away from Forest, but Ipswich were now in the ascendant, and the Reds conceded when Paul Anderson’s poor challenge on Alan Quinn conceded a penalty. No complaints from where I was sitting. Despite Camp getting a hand to it, Tommy Miller’s penalty found the bottom corner.
As has been reported before, the concession of a cheap goal early in the second half saw the confidence drain away (although play had never been less than a bit nervy), and if any team were going to win, it was Ipswich. Although there were not that many clear cut chances, it was all too easy for them to break through our midfield and defence. As the half wore on, Andy Andrew Cole was subbed for Lewis, prompting a 4-1-4-1 formation with Fletcher anchoring, which only showed up our lack of decent centre-forwards; Tys and Cole didn’t win a single thing in the air all match against their large centre-halves, and while Cole was not anonymous, his most telling contribution was an awful challenge for which he was deservedly booked - he certainly never got near the Ipswich goal. The final substitution was a bit mystifying, with McCleary removed in favour of Martin - Garath had gone off the boil a bit after a decent first half, but we all knew Anderson would struggle to last 90 minutes, and he pulled up towards the end. Was this CC’s reaction to the barracking he apparently received on Saturday?
I am struggling to pick a man of the match - on the first half, it would have been McCleary, but there was classic relegation form in the second, with everyone’s heads down and no-one looking like they wanted the ball. The new keeper did OK, one moment in the first half when he came for a cross and quickly bowled it out was particularly appreciated by the fans. Wes got in some brilliant last-ditch blocks, but aside from one sublime chipped pass towards the end, he continues to let himself down by pretending that he is any good on the ball. Chambers did OK in the first half and looks more comfortable in a 4-4-2 (Anderson is very quick and energetic and helped him out a lot), but was poor in the second, and it is surely too much to expect a centre-half to provide decent crosses into the opposition box.
As I have stated before, I am not a fan of swapping manager too frequently; when a new man comes in mid-season, it is usually a “sticking plaster”, where the brief is to halt the relegation form, and any medium- to long-term strategy goes out of the window - see the tenure of Joe Kinnear for details. The new man is usually gone within twelve months, with high severance payments, a significant turnover of players and ill-feeling at boardroom and dressing room level, as well as us fans who continue to bankroll all of this turmoil. However, most of the players can probably do a job at this level, although only a few look sophisticated enough to really make an impression; the worry I have is that CC and Kerslake seem to be running out of ideas. The manager admitted that the performance wasn’t great, but that the team “had hearts as big as buckets”; however, we should really be beating teams like Ipswich at home if we want to stay up, and after they equalised, that never looked likely.
Update: Jules has broken his collar bone, which presumably means that they will be attempting to extend Lynch’s loan period…
Tags: garath mccleary, ipswich town, Lee Camp, nottingham forest, Paul Anderson, tommy miller Posted in
Forest obtain Camp signature
Childish giggles aside, it is surely welcome news that we have got a new goalkeeper. The decision to continue loaning out Dale Roberts and Paddy Gamble (and their apparently less than reliable form in their rare pre-season and friendly appearances) tells us what we already know (as I suppose, did the unfortunately aborted signing of Dimi Konstantopolous).
All I really know about Camp is that he used to play for Derby, was very highly rated, and played all last season as QPR’s number one. It would appear that Camp will replace Smudge in goal tomorrow night, presumably in the hope that he will yell at the hapless Forest back four.
There has been much focus on the Forest supporters barracking the manager on Saturday when Paul Anderson was withdrawn. This seems harsh, at the least - forcing a player to continue, who is still recovering from a muscle injury, may only do more harm than good (and would the fans who booed want Anderson to miss more matches?). So, I do not blame CC for this.
However, I do blame CC for continuing to play the Chuckle Brothers, Chambers and Morgan, who clearly aren’t good enough at this level in their respective positions. Wes made another cheap mistake to allow QPR’s opener (despite the forward’s best efforts to put it over the bar), and we have seen Chambers turned inside and out all season. I would like to see Breckin back (at least he doesn’t try to do overly fancy stuff, unlike Titus Wes), and think that he and Wilson would (theoretically at least) make a decent partnership (although I cannot remember them playing together in a back four). I also remember Brecks and Chambers playing quite well together at centre-half a couple of years ago. I heard that Brendan Moloney had a cracking match at right-back for the reserves last week - what harm can it do to give him a run-out?
I am going to tomorrow’s match with a friend of mine who hasn’t been for a few years - I am already stealing myself for his criticisms of the standard of defending/attacking/general performance…
Tags: Lee Camp, nottingham forest Posted in
Queen’s Park Rangers 2-1 Nottingham Forest
Not a proper report, this one, as I haven’t actually been to the game, nor have I listened to it on the radio. In fact, I pretty much ignored the first half as I wanted to avoid the disappointment/be pleasantly surprised (delete as applicable - of course, after 45 minutes, it was neither).
From what I could tell, it was 4-4-2, with Anderson and Fletcher, but no Perch or Earnshaw. Lynch came on for Jules at left-back, and Anderson and Fletcher were replaced by Davies and McGugan respectively; unfortunately, we were 2-0 down by then, and by the manager’s own admission, this was down to more mistakes at the back. I have no idea if Forest played better after the subs came on, but we did do something that hasn’t happened in a while - we scored a goal, albeit a free-kick, rather than from open play. Still, we are not in a position to be picky.
For what it’s worth, the stats were fairly even at the end of the match, but we all know that this rarely tells the whole story. I have also, predictably, heard reports that the cries for Calderwood’s head became that much more vociferous in the second half.
If you were at the match, what happened? Is it the manager’s fault, or the players? Will the return of the likes of McGugan, Garner, Earnshaw and Anderson from injury make a difference? I will be going to both the home matches this week, so will be intrigued to see if anything changes (I am not particularly optimistic though)…
Tags: lewis mcgugan, nottingham forest, Paul Anderson, Queen's Park Rangers Posted in
