Posted January 20th, 2010
by Rish
Some bloke called Stuart Pearce who says that he used to play for us is now saying that we are going to win the league as we have “spent a few bob in the summer”.
As we are planning on spending, not selling, Forest have rejected a “derisory” offer from Newcastle for James Perch, with Billy Davies not holding back (that makes a change for him) on his disappointment at the story being leaked. I say quite right too, and unless we can retain Shorey, we will need Perchio even more.
Speaking of Nicky Shorey, it has been confirmed that he will miss a single game following his red card against his old club. Unfortunately that is the last scheduled game of his loan period, but interestingly there is no comment such as “Shorey is likely to have played his last game for the club”.
Billy Davies is making a case that his signings have proven excellent value for money, and it is hard to argue if Campo really cost £250k; my Dad was also suggesting that £250k for Ando is proving to be a bargain. In fact, out of the players that Billy has signed, only Joel Lynch has not made a real impact this year (although he played well at centre-half during the early season injury crisis, and is potentially one for the future), and Goldie has been the only one who has looked overpriced at times (although he has made excellent contributions at others).
It is with a sense of inevitability that Arron Davies has left the club, although with a little more surprise that the powers-that-be have also decided to release Joe Heath, Aaron Mitchell and James Reid. Good luck to you all (especially Heathy – he looked OK I thought).
Finally, this little gem from the Championship Manager website: “Radoslaw Majewski is too good for the Championship”!
Tags: aaron mitchell, arron davies, billy davies, david mcgoldrick, james perch, James Reid, joe heath, joel lynch, Lee Camp, nicky shorey, nottingham forest, Paul Anderson, radoslaw majewski, stuart pearce Posted in News
Posted November 8th, 2009
by Rahoul Baruah
We lined up unchanged from last week’s heroics at Cardiff with Billy again playing McGoldrick as a lone striker in front of a packed midfield.
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Campo |
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| Gunter |
Morgan |
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Wilson |
Cohen |
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McKenna (c) |
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Moussi |
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| Garner |
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Majewski |
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Anderson |
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McGoldrick |
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The game itself started with an impeccably observed minute’s silence for Remembrance Sunday today. And then settled into a pattern of defensive organisation from Bristol and frustration for us. Joe Garner looked particularly frustrated out on the right (but looked great when he played centrally) and Moose was more of a headless chicken than usual. But it was fantastic to see us try to play our way through them, rather than just resorting to hoofball. And Adebola, when he came on, made a real difference – probably the best I have seen him play for us, in front of his old club.
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Tags: bristol city, chris cohen, chris gunter, david mcgoldrick, dele adebola, Guy Moussi, joe garner, kelvin wilson, Lee Camp, nottingham forest, Paul Anderson, paul mckenna, radoslaw majewski, wes morgan Posted in Match Reports, Podcasts
Posted November 1st, 2009
by Rish
Sorry it has been a while, leaves on the line or something. This isn’t a proper match report as I only watched on the TV, but I can safely say that this was a cracking match that I think made a decent advertisement for football at this level. The stoppage-time equaliser by Lewis McGugan will make the headlines, but I have been reassured that the equaliser was down to the fact that my almost-six-year-old niece made a wish and it came true! 
Forest lined up with Campo in goal, ex-Cardiff man Chris Gunter alongside Wes, Casual Kelv and Chrissy Cohen at the back, the three Ms of McKenna, Mooooosssssse and Majewski in the middle, with Joe Garner and Ando on the flanks and Goldie as the lone striker. We started much the stronger, with Ando having a strong (and to my mind cast-iron) penalty shout turned down when young full-back Matthews clipped him, and Goldie firing wide after some route-one play involving a punt forward from Campo and a flick-on from Joe Garner. Ando had Matthews on toast in the first half, and he really should have put Forest ahead when another header from Garner gave him a shooting chance which he put just wide from an angle.
Cardiff are no mugs however, and they came back into the game after the first twenty minutes or so. Jay Bothroyd was having an excellent game and his flicks allowed Michael Chopra and Peter Whittingham space to try and exploit, which led to a brilliant double-save from Campo, first from Whittingham and then he was quickly up to thwart Joe Ledley. Just a few minutes later, an excellent volley by Whittingham was parried over by Campo at full-stretch. It should be said that Forest were not necessarily defending badly, but Cardiff were willing to shoot on sight. Whittingham picked up a caution for a late (but not malicious tackle) on Gunter, which prompted a minor melee, and Casual Kelv deservedly saw yellow for bringing down Bothroyd when he was attempting to maraud into the Forest box.
I would have taken 0-0 at half-time, but I would also have taken off Madge, who was struggling to get involved in the “link-man” role. Happily, he got himself going a bit more in the second period, although there was still a paucity of chances at both ends (although the play was generally very good and entertaining from both teams). The best chance was Ledley stabbing the ball towards goal, Campo got a hand on it before Madge cleared off the line, despite Wes almost getting in his way. However, just after withdrawing Madge for Big Dele Adebola, Cardiff took the lead. It was a flowing counter-attack, ending with Bothroyd sweeping the ball home from just inside the box; Chris Gunter was screaming for offside, although he was playing Bothroyd on, and I was annoyed that Chris Cohen lost his man.
Cardiff seemed galvanised by their goal and Forest just couldn’t get hold of the ball. However, there weren’t a huge amount of efforts on goal, and eventually Forest brought on G-Man McCleary and Lewis for Garner and Moose respectively (Joe must remain annoyed at not getting a chance upfront – I actually thought he had a decent match today). However, the G-Man tried his hardest, using his ability to run at defenders with the ball, and this created a decent chance which Goldie could only sidefoot gently towards goal, giving Marshall an easy save. Goldie also had a chance from an acute angle, with Marshall parrying his left-footed effort around the angle of post and bar.
As the stoppage time board was held up, and just as I was starting to give up hope (and Cardiff were looking to corner flag it), there came a goal out of almost nowhere. The ball came to the edge of the box from the left-hand side, and after a bit of pinball involving Dele, Lewis and the Cardiff rearguard, Lewis hit a thunderous left-footed volley past Marshall into the far corner, giving the Cardiff custodian no chance at all.
I jumped off the sofa in celebration and jarred my knee 
There were still four minutes of stoppage time to play, and it was still end-to-end, but as the final whistle went, it was 1-1. Cardiff probably had more chances, but I thought a score draw was a fair result on the balance of play.
Gold stars to Campo for a confident performance in net, Wes and Casual Kelv who were majestic (and hasn’t Kelvin’s game come on in leaps and bounds this season? He seems to be walking tall, as opposed to the slouch of last season); the skipper who directed things from the middle of the park, and Goldie who was particularly effective when he dropped back to his more natural link-man role, but who tried his hardest up front as well.
Silver to Gunter (who was singled out for boos by the Cardiff fans), Ando (started well but faded), and Joe Garner.
Nobody in a Red shirt had a poor match today, but an honourable mention to Chrissy Cohen – have you noticed how Billy no longer seems to talk about wanting to get him back into midfield? He was up against one of Cardiff’s best players in Chris Burke, and his positional sense was tested, but he kept going, did well with a number of clearances and did his best going forward, especially in the second half when we tried to rescue the point.
This match was a real test, but on the whole I think the Reds continue to show remarkable resilience and, despite creating fewer chances today, were still good value for the result. Nice one Billy and the lads!
Tags: Cardiff City, chris cohen, david mcgoldrick, kelvin wilson, Lee Camp, nottingham forest, radoslaw majewski Posted in Match Reports
Posted October 18th, 2009
by Rahoul Baruah
Sorry folks – the late kick off meant that we didn’t get chance to record a podcast after the game yesterday. So you’ll have to make do with a traditional match report.
On the way to the ground, Radio Nottingham announced the line up as a 4-5-1: Campo in goal, Gunter and Cohen at full back with Wes and Wilson in the middle. All the Ms in a midfield trio of Majewski, McKenna and Moussi, with Tyson and Anderson out wide and Dex as the lone striker. My immediate thought on hearing this was that it was one of those 4-5-1/4-3-3 things that never seems to work and Billy had his heart set on a point.
Luckily, I was wrong. It was much more of a 4-4-1-1, with Madge playing just behind Dex. And, for the first twenty minutes or so it really really worked. My brother commented that Madge could win this game for us single-handedly and this “in the hole” position suited him. We were making all the running and forcing saves from Harper.
But as the half went on, Newcastle became stronger. In particular, Smith (who was outstanding) and Nolan took control of the midfield and Carroll started to get the better of Morgan and Wilson with his niggly fouls and constant complaints to the referee. In fact, by about thirty minutes in I was looking to the bench. We were getting very little out wide and the two Newcastle players had the centre of the pitch sown up. But despite that, the chances were falling to us, which made me even more worried – was it to be another of “those days”? (Especially as Marlon was playing against us – old club syndrome and all).
Well, no. A nice bit of passing play resulted in a defence splitting pass for Dex to run onto. He took it around the keeper and shot agonisingly slowly into the back of their net. One nil up, just before half time. Newcastle looked angry and had us on the back-foot for the remaining couple of minutes before the whistle.
The second half started and Newcastle continued where they left off. Smith and Nolan bossed the midfield and their physical, niggly play took us out of the game. The game was really narrow – Tyson and Ando were switching flanks regularly but neither could really get in to the game – and when it went through the centre, Newcastle just snuffed out any of our threats.
By now, Madge had faded out of the game and was replaced by McGoldrick, who was outstanding. Not only did he support Dex but he was also involved in several amazing tackles in the centre of the park, snuffing out Newcastle attacks before they reached the back four.
The Geordies made a change, bringing on Gutierrez – this changed things slightly as now they had an outlet on the wings. And actually it probably worked in our favour as the centre became less congested. However, it has to be said that if they had anyone who could finish (sorry Marlon), they would have been three up in the second half. As it was, the corner flags and Row Z were in the most danger from their shots. But eventually they did get the ball in the back of the net – although the linesman ruled it out for offside. I, personally, thought it was good; the replay on the TV that night showed the official was correct.
Ando got clattered and was replaced by Lewis and I was fully expecting to see Dele Adebola replacing the now-knackered Blackstock. In fact Dele stripped off and was stood by the fourth official when Newcastle took Marlon off, replacing him with Ranger. Marlon left the field to a standing ovation from about half the Forest fans (which I was very pleased to see, as I still love him as a player) and the Forest coaching staff immediately called Adebola back to the bench. A few minutes later, McKenna was replaced by Garner, who promptly got his customary booking. I thought this was really interesting – Adebola was the obvious substitution – play it long and he can hold it up – very useful when you’ve been under the cosh for forty five minutes. But bringing Garner on instead suggested we wanted to play it and control the game more.
And that was probably that. Newcastle could feel aggrieved to come away with nothing, especially after their second half performance. But their finishing was woeful and their physical play was annoying (and very un-Calderwood).
For us, I think there were a few negatives. McKenna and Madge faded very quickly, suggesting a lack of fitness. Tyson wasn’t really in the game today (at one point he tried to take Enrique for pace and Enrique just strolled past him) and Camp looked very short of confidence (especially after the ref gave him a talking to following an incident with Carroll).
But the positives outweigh the negatives. Firstly, we beat the best side I’ve seen this season. Smith, Nolan, Enrique and Khizanishvili were the four best players on the pitch (Smith the best by far) yet we still took the three points. Despite extreme provocation from Carroll, Wes and Wilson dealt with their strike-force. Cohen proved why he is now first choice left-back with some excellent positional and passing play. The Mousse was outstanding, covering the entire pitch and rarely misplacing the ball when he had it. Ando worked really hard for little reward and David McGoldrick was a revelation. And Dexter, what can you say about our top-scorer? He just quietly goes about his business, with no fuss, getting the odd goal and working really hard for the team. What a man.
But the absolute best thing about yesterday was us. When Billy Davies had yet another rant about the negativity at the City Ground I just wanted him to shut up. But fair play to the man – when he speaks, even if it sounds like bollocks, it’s always for a reason, always designed to plant a seed. And today, even when we were struggling, the fans never turned on the players, barely even let their nerves filter through to the pitch. And it showed at the final whistle as the players, once again, made a point of thanking us for their support. So, it has to be said, that this was my best game of the season so far and truly Billy Davies’ victory.
Tags: chris cohen, chris gunter, david mcgoldrick, dexter blackstock, Guy Moussi, joe garner, kelvin wilson, Lee Camp, lewis mcgugan, marlon harewood, nathan tyson, newcastle united, nottingham forest, Paul Anderson, paul mckenna, radoslaw majewski, wes morgan Posted in Match Reports, News
Posted October 1st, 2009
by Rish
I am once again joined by the Maradona of the Midlands for a discussion on the joys of three points, two goals and another clean sheet. I also give him the chance to atone for his post-Hillsborough Man of the Match controversy (my choice would have been Goldie even though he only played the second half) … make up your own mind!
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Tags: billy davies, david mcgoldrick, dexter blackstock, joe murphy, Lee Camp, luke chambers, nottingham forest, Paul Anderson, scunthorpe united Posted in Podcasts
Posted October 1st, 2009
by Rish
Billy Davies made two changes to the line-up, with the injured Adebola and Wilson replaced by Anderson and Chambers respectively:
Camp
Gunter Morgan Chambers Cohen
McKenna (c) Majewski
Anderson Garner Tyson
Blackstock
Subs: McGoldrick for Garner, Moooosssse for Madge, Lynch for Tyson. Not used: Smith, McGugan, Earnshaw, Adebola.
It was great to not only get a win, but a relatively comfortable scoreline with a clean sheet and a bit of daylight between us and the opposition. While Forest were worthy winners, with a strong performance and lots of chances created, occasional heebee-jeebees at the back meant that 4-1 might have been a more appropriate scoreline.
Forest attacked from the off, and Messrs Majewski and Cohen have clearly been working on their delivery from set-pieces, as there were three “oooh” moments in the first couple of minutes, all from corners. However, the best chances fell to Chambers (excellent save from Murphy, followed by a goalmouth scramble where somehow the ball stayed out of the net), Ando (cracking header inches wide into the side netting – a proper training ground routine from Majewski’s corner), and Garner (snatched at his mid-range shot just like he did at Plymouth on Sunday). In other news, Scunny keeper Murphy was booked for handling outside the area, but was lucky that the ref did not penalise him for dissent as well (throwing the ball down like a stroppy teenager, then refusing to come when called, like, erm, a stroppy teenage).
0-0 at half-time was OK, but seemed familiar. I was rather disturbed to see the players brought out for a warm-up, much like you would see before the match. I had disturbing visions of a Phil Brown half-time team talk, when I texted the absent Rahoul with this news, he remarked that he preferred the vision of Big Neville Southall having a good old sulk!
Goldie was introduced for the disappointing Garner at the break, but I guess the most disappointed would be Joseph himself, as he has now played everywhere across the front line, except for centre-forward, which I thought was his position (and he probably does too). However, the substitution was a masterstroke, as Goldie was here, there and every-bloomin’-where, and making incisive passes and movements in a way that Garner just hadn’t been able to. I guess this is why we have competition for places!
The ability of Wollaton’s finest to play little throughballs from the “hole” behind the centre-forward meant that the other front men were really able to break through the Scunny defence. Tys in particular burst through a couple of times, but displayed his irritating tendency to have a leaden-footed second touch, on one occasion allowing the keeper to smother, and on another pushing him wide enough that he could only shoot past the angle. Another Goldie throughball led to a collision between Dex and Murphy, which eventually saw the painfully slow withdrawal of the Scunny custodian, but not before he made a fine, point-blank, reflex save from Gunter who must have wondered how it didn’t go in.
So far, so much like all the other games where we create chances but don’t score any. However, a sustained period of pressure from the Reds finally paid off, when a succession of crosses into the box from open play and corners led to Chris Cohen’s fine delivery being decisively headed home by Luke Chambers. Relief. Only a few minutes after that, Ando took a really heavy touch when clean through, it looked as though the chance had gone, but it gave some of the others a chance to catch up with Mr Speedy Gonzales; when he got the ball back he played a cracking cross, hard and low into the box and Dex poked home from all of a yard out. Great.
Billy then pretty much shut up shop, including putting only four men into the box for a corner, and Kenzie heading to the corner flag with about five minutes left(!). Campo picked up a stupid booking for dissent (not giving the ball back when he conceded a throw-in). Mooooossssse and Lynch were introduced as subs and there was a hairy moment when Jonathan Forte (who had given Wes a decent game) bundled through before getting in a shot which Campo got a touch to; in slow motion, it looked for all the world as though Scunny had pulled one back but the ball bounced back off the post and Campo gathered it in his arms.
In the end, a very good result against a relatively high-flying team, and Billy and the players and fans were pleased as punch. Post-match, the wee man alluded to the moaning minnies in the crowd, and Mattyboy has left an interesting comment on NFFCBlog about the, erm, “interaction” between crowd and manager. Actually, although it was a bit quiet, I thought the Forest fans were generally very positive (or at least they were in my part of the Trent End), and I think that this will only get better if results continue to reflect the performances.
Tags: billy davies, chris cohen, david mcgoldrick, dexter blackstock, joe murphy, luke chambers, nottingham forest, scunthorpe united Posted in Match Reports
Posted September 19th, 2009
by Rahoul Baruah
Hard to beat. That’s us.
Apart from on today’s showing.
Earnie got his wish and made the starting line-up – with recalls for Tyson and the Moose.
So Billy selected:
Campo,
Gunter, Morgan, Chambers, Lynch,
McKenna (c), Moussi,
Cohen, McGoldrick, Tyson,
Earnshaw
To be honest, it didn’t really work. Although we did make chance after chance after chance.
And, finally, as we were leaving, one of the TVs in the Trent End was smouldering – resulting in the fire brigade being called out. Which was nice.
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Tags: blackpool, chris cohen, chris gunter, david mcgoldrick, Guy Moussi, joel lynch, Lee Camp, luke chambers, nathan tyson, nottingham forest, paul mckenna, rob earnshaw, wes morgan Posted in Match Reports, Podcasts
Posted September 13th, 2009
by Rish
Forest did well to come away with a point after a bit of a niggly, physical, hoofball performance (but it was an entertaining match).
Billy sprung a couple of surprises by leaving out Tys and Madge (paternity leave and injury respectively), but including Lynch, Lewis and the Mooooosssse in the squad; the team was:
Campo
Gunter Morgan Chambers Lynch
McKenna (c) Cohen
Garner McGoldrick Anderson
Blackstock
Subs were: McCleary for Garner, Adebola for Goldie and Lewis for Dexter. Smudger, Casual Kelv, Earnie and the Moose were the unlucky ones.
Rahoul couldn’t make it to Hillsborough, so the Maradona of the Midlands has kindly stepped in to assist with the podcast.
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Tags: david mcgoldrick, dexter blackstock, lewis mcgugan, nottingham forest, Paul Anderson, paul mckenna, sheffield wednesday, wes morgan Posted in Match Reports, Podcasts
Posted September 9th, 2009
by Rahoul Baruah
Nottingham County Council doesn’t like the City Council’s choice of location for the World Cup stadium.
Russell Slade is pleased to have wingers now that Arron Davies has joined him on loan.
David McGoldrick wants to play in the Championship – good job he came to us eh?
Our fixture against Scunthorpe has been put back 24 hours to give us a bit of time to recover after playing Plymouth on the telly the Sunday before.
And Julian Bennett hopes to return to training in the next few weeks.
Tags: arron davies, david mcgoldrick, julian bennett, russell slade, world cup Posted in News
Posted August 29th, 2009
by Rahoul Baruah
Good grief. What a game.
Firstly, sorry – no tweets during the game as O2 decided to fail big-style. But even if I had a signal, I doubt I would have had time to report much as it was pretty action packed.
Sport Billy picked a side packed with forwards (unsurprisingly), lining up as follows:
Campo,
Gunter and Cohen at full-back,
Morgan and Chambers at centre-half,
McKenna and Majewski in the middle,
McGoldrick, Garner and Tyson playing just behind Dexter Blackstock up-front.
A truly fantastic first half strike by Madge put us ahead within two minutes and we were three up by half time. A fightback by the Sheep had us nervy and worried throughout the second but Billy’s antics gave the team enough “fight” to hold on for three points. And then Nathan Tyson sparks a near riot after the final whistle (we <3 you Tys) prompting an FA investigation.
If you weren't there, what were you doing? This was unmissable!
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UPDATE (Sunday 30th August 19:30): from the reports I've been reading (from people who weren't at the other end of the pitch) and having seen this video of the incident, I’m now of the opinion that Tys was trying to run between A Block and Victor’s Veranda. This was somewhat foolish as he did run in front of the Derby fans, but I don’t think he was trying to go anywhere near them (he is clearly the right side of the six yard line). However, he was then pushed by the Derby player, which is what kicked the whole incident off. If the Derby player hadn’t reacted this would have been little different to Savage’s celebration last year (which didn’t bother me – surely players are allowed to celebrate a local derby victory).
Reports of Savage inciting our crowd before the game seem to be balls and griping on our part; at least from the videos I’ve seen.
The ever-excellent NFFCBlog has an alternative video of the incident here.
Tags: billy davies, chris cohen, chris gunter, david mcgoldrick, derby county, dexter blackstock, joe garner, Lee Camp, luke chambers, nathan tyson, nottingham forest, paul mckenna, radoslaw majewski, wes morgan Posted in Match Reports, Podcasts
