eighteensixtyfive

Nottingham Forest 1 – 0 Swansea City: match report

A six-pointer against the team in fourth place. Lose and their game in hand puts them in pole position. Win and we gain some breathing space.

However, Billy was forced into some changes today;

Wilson and Earnshaw had both injured themselves in training yesterday, meaning we essentially ended up playing our away side at home. New boy Georgie Boyd slotted in on the left wing, finally allowing left-footer Chris Cohen to take the left-back slot. But disaster struck early as McKenna sustained a serious injury, only to be replaced by Lewis McGugan who had a point to prove.

And if you’re travelling to Preston next Saturday, you can book yourself a coach; and if you’re making a night of it you can find yourself a hotel (or travel to Bristol in April).

 

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Tags: chris cohen, chris gunter, dexter blackstock, george boyd, Guy Moussi, Lee Camp, lews mcgugan, luke chambers, Paul Anderson, paul mckenna, radoslaw majewski, wes morgan   Posted in Match Reports, Podcasts

Nottingham Forest 1 – 0 Middlesboro: match report and podcast

6 points from two tricky games, and a record of nine consecutive home victories. Crisis?

The now traditional home 4-4-2 saw us line up as follows:

Scrappy, physical, untidy. These are all just words. As are three points and clean sheet.

 

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Tags: chris cohen, chris gunter, dexter blackstock, james perch, kelvin wilson, Lee Camp, middlesboro, nottingham forest, Paul Anderson, paul mckenna, radoslaw majewski, rob earnshaw, wes morgan   Posted in Match Reports, Podcasts

Coventry City 1-0 Nottingham Forest: has the bubble burst?

So much to report upon…

As we already know, Forest didn’t sign anyone in the transfer window (Just Got Back has expressed this far more eloquently than I could, before reporting on last night’s match against Coventry), and Billy had a rant about the lack of signings, especially the failure to tie up Raddy “Radi” Majewski. And worse than that, we have started to lose games, when only a couple of weeks ago, we felt like we would win every … single … match … we … play.

Has the bubble burst? I hate to say it, but possibly:

• Billy playing mind games with his superiors in the media suggests that he is frustrated, and a frustrated manager may not stick around for long.
• We have the perennial “square pegs in round holes” situation, a weaker squad than we had three weeks ago, and Billy’s apparent willingness to tinker with the balance of the team to make a political point.
• Chris Cohen was apparently decent at left-back last night, but he has driven our midfield for the last four to six weeks, and with Tys and G-Man McCleary apparently out of favour/form, he leaves a gaping hole on the wing that is, unfortunately, not the same shape or size as Joe Garner.
• The players are starting to look tired, particularly Paul McKenna, and against Sheffield Wednesday, there were indications that, having been beaten into submission at D*rby, they have got the fear.
• The reason why our players are good, but not necessarily great, is that some of them are either brilliant, or rubbish: Moose, Earnie, Ando, McKenna, Garner, Goldie, even Dex – all of them either make an amazing contribution or look like rabbits in the headlights. McKenna and Moose, in particular, have really flattered to deceive in the last week or two. Our form since October was usually about the team playing greater than the sum of its parts, but all the proverbial cogs do need to be working for the machine to function*

What does this all mean? Firstly, that I am probably feeling unnecessarily negative after a hard week and a half for the Reds; secondly, that it is worth remembering that only two or three months ago, we were all saying that upper mid-table would be a victory this season, and even Billy was saying only a couple of weeks ago that promotion in one season is too much; all is not lost, as we are still only four points from the top of the table, and the play-offs would hardly be a disaster… Finally, remember that there is always the emergency loan market (ahem)!

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In other news, Amy Fearn coming on as a supersub referee last night was the first time a woman has officiated a League match. Our luck against Sheffield Wednesday has been recognised (especially as both Billy and Alan Irvine admitted that it shouldn’t have been a penalty), but nonetheless, Dex-On-Fire took his chance and ended up in the Football League Team of the Week (NB this link opens as a PDF). Finally, Radi Raddy Majewski’s thunderbolt against Derby has been nominated as one of the top 20 goals of 2009 in the Football League – vote for it here!

* Sorry if I am mixing my metaphors here!

Tags: alan irvine, amy fearn, billy davies, chris cohen, coventry city, dexter blackstock, Guy Moussi, joe garner, just got back, paul mckenna, radoslaw majewski, sheffield wednesday   Posted in General

Nottingham Forest 2 – 1 Sheffield Wednesday: match report and podcast

After last week’s setback (and its subsequent fallout), we finally get back in action in front of nearly 4000 Wednesday fans.

A couple of changes see us line up in a 4-4-2:

This saw Tyson replace Anderson on the left (probably giving Ando a rest) and Moooooose replacing Majewski in the middle – a controversy that Billy brought to everyone’s attention in the post-match interview. As you’ll hear, we have our own feelings on this; Billy and the club are both playing a dangerous game.

As for the game itself, it was pretty poor from us, Wednesday looked well-drilled and organised, but the match really belonged to the officials who were as poor as anything I’ve seen in a long while.

 

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Tags: billy davies, chris cohen, chris gunter, dexter blackstock, Guy Moussi, james perch, kelvin wilson, Lee Camp, nathan tyson, nottingham forest, paul mckenna, rob earnshaw, sheffield wednesday, wes morgan   Posted in Match Reports, Podcasts

Nottingham Forest 5 – 0 Queens Park Rangers

My first midweek game in ages against an “ambitious” side with lots of money and love of merry-go-rounds saw 23500 at the City Ground – a decent attendance for a cold Tuesday night, especially as QPR didn’t bring that many.

Mr Davies saw one change from the team against Reading, with James Perchio replacing the suspended Nicky Shorey at left-back. From the sounds of it we are working hard to secure a loan extension for Shorey, so I hope it’s not the last we see of him in a red shirt.

So the line-up was:

And again our unbeaten run continues, our fantastic form continues and our amazing football continues. The players look so confident they could beat anyone and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves – we barely broke a sweat as we banged them in.

One more goal would have seen us go top, above Newcastle – if I were a Geordie I’d be very nervous right now – when was the last time you complained about only winning five nil?

Lastly, Billy was on Radio 5 – he was stressing the importance of building your infrastructure slowly, of taking your time to go up. But the interviewer said if we carry on like this, we’ll have no choice – we’ll be up this year. To which Billy replied “I still have unfinished business in the Premiership – it holds no fear for me”. Absolutely awesome.

So what are you doing on Saturday?

 

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Tags: chris cohen, chris gunter, dexter blackstock, james perchio, kelvin wilson, Lee Camp, nottingham forest, Paul Anderson, paul mckenna, Queen's Park Rangers, radoslaw majewski, Robert Earnshaw, wes morgan   Posted in Match Reports, Podcasts

Nottingham Forest 2 – 1 Reading

After our cup exploits against Birmingham, Billy reverted back to his (probably) first choice line-up, in an orthodox 4-4-2 – with a surprise return for Earnie and no place, even on the bench, for the Moooooooooooooooose.

The first half was as good a performance as I have ever seen; obviously brimming with confidence and ability. But the second half saw complacency sink in and if it wasn’t for Lee Camp it could well have no points, not three.

 

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Tags: chris cohen, chris gunter, dexter blackstock, kelvin wilson, Lee Camp, nicky shorey, nottingham forest, Paul Anderson, paul mckenna, radoslaw majewski, reading, rob earnshaw, wes morgan   Posted in Match Reports, Podcasts

Nottingham Forest 2 – 0 Coventry City

Another game undefeated for Billy’s men.

Five changes from the draw at Watford saw us line up, initially as a 4-4-2, but later as a 4-3-3 (Cohen moving to left midfield and Tyson joining Dex and Earnie up front).

Campo,
Gunter, Morgan, Wilson, Shorey,
Cohen, McKenna, Majewski, Tyson,
Earnshaw, Blackstock

Coventry set out to make life difficult for us and it worked – for most of the game, things were pretty dour. But two fantastic goals, pretty much out of nothing sealed yet another victory for us.

Points to note: both Earnie and Dexter were outstanding, Raddy got his own chant as he was substituted and McCleary, Lewis and Dele terrified the knackered Coventry players when they came on at the end. But it was the defence winning the plaudits today, with both Morgan and Wilson truly outstanding.

 

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Tags: chris cohen, chris gunter, coventry city, dele adebola, dexter blackstock, garath mccleary, kelvin wilson, Lee Camp, lewis mcgugan, nathan tyson, nicky shorey, nottingham forest, paul mckenna, radoslaw majewski, rob earnshaw, wes morgan   Posted in Match Reports, Podcasts

The juggernaut rolls on… News roundup

In the week that saw an amazing result, followed by a quietly satisfying one last night, little Robbie Earnshaw was rewarded for his “proper” hat-trick (c. Rahoul) with a place in the Championship Team of the Week.

However, that does not stop Billy Davies insisting that Forest are not ready for promotion, although he does drop in a teaser about potential new signings. Vital Forest are optimistic about a number of targets, including making Nicky Shorey and Raddy Majewski permanent players, and signing Gareth Bale on a temporary deal with the option to buy.

On the subject of last night’s draw at Bramall Lane, it seems that Lee Camp either gained us a point, or Dexter Blackstock cost us two (really?). Ned Kelly was happy with the result and Campo’s performance, although the custodian himself is keen to heap praise upon the in-form centre-half pairing of Wes Morgan and Kelvin Wilson. Things not looking too bad at the moment are they?

Tags: billy davies, dexter blackstock, kelvin wilson, Lee Camp, ned kelly, nicky shorey, radoslaw majewski, Robert Earnshaw, wes morgan   Posted in News

Nottingham Forest 5 (five) – 1 Leicester City

The East Midlands premier, most important, highly charged local derby was an excellent affair.

After ten minutes of hoofball we took control of the game, playing excellent, incisive, passing football at pace – and Leicester had no real answer. A couple of bits of referee weirdness, a guest appearance by the 2nd Mercian regiment on their return from Afghanistan (who got a fantastic reception from the crowd and a goal dedication from Rob Earnshaw) and goals galore.

Phew – what a day – the best entertainment I’ve seen at the City Ground in ages.

Unfortunately it’s a solo podcast today as my brother was away (and he will be for the next few weeks), so a bit shorter than usual and probably less professional (haha).

 

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Tags: chris cohen, chris gunter, dexter blackstock, kelvin wilson, Lee Camp, nicky shorey, Paul Anderson, paul mckenna, radoslaw majeski, robbie earnshaw, wes morgan   Posted in Match Reports, Podcasts

Nottingham Forest 4 – 1 Doncaster Rovers: match report and podcast

The biggest win of Billy Davies’ Forest career saw us line up in a 4-4-2 formation:

Aston Villa loanee and potential January target Nicky Shorey slotted in at left-back and an injury to the Moose saw us drop the two-defensive-midfielder-five-man-midfield formation.

But while the first half was quite subdued, Majewski, in particular, took the game by the scruff of the neck to see us batter Donny in the second half.

 

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Tags: billy davies, chris gunter, dexter blackstock, garath mccleary, kelvin wilson, Lee Camp, nicky shorey, Paul Anderson, paul mckenna, radoslaw majewski, rob earnshaw, wes morgan   Posted in Match Reports, Podcasts