As I posted on our Facebook page, I think that the best team won. But it was close. There were indications that Newcastle were a little nervous before the match, and that we put on one of the best shows by an away team at St James’ Park. But does that matter when they got three points and we didn’t? What did we learn from last night?
- Something we already knew: we don’t take enough of our chances. Dex was unusually quiet and should really have done better in the first half.
- Again, nothing new, but we really work hard. When Forest are trying, the opposition will always have problems against us. But that leads to…
- One of the key differences between us and Newcastle – that little bit of finesse that experienced players such as Nolan can add, which meant that they threatened more in the final third than we did.
- The other major difference last night – the luck that we got earlier in the season (e.g. the penalty against Sheffield Wednesday) is now going to other teams (the ricochet off Raddy that led to Ameobi’s opener, or the seemingly endless string of key refereeing decisions that West Brom seem to have been getting recently).
- More positively, having battled manfully but rather uncomfortably at left-back, Perchio was absolutely outstanding at right-back. Tackling is his chief asset, and as he was playing on his “right” side he looked much more comfortable and made some outstanding sliding tackles, not least the effort on Lovenkrands in the first half. Campo was also brilliant last night in difficult conditions, and Moose proved that he is not always a headless chicken.
- Rather obviously, the final point: the play-offs beckon. West Brom have got a tough run-in but it will be a major surprise if we catch them, not least because we are running out of games.
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