Finally for today, somewhat unsurprisingly, Leicester’s Jack Hobbs wants revenge on Saturday after we spanked the Foxes in December. In the meantime, Chris Gunter has noticed that our away form has slipped a little recently, and has suggested that we try and start winning these matches again. Good idea, young man!
A welcome victory against a team that we NEVER seem to beat (albeit one who are on a poor run away from home). We have now won eight on the trot at home!
Billy Davies reverted to the more normal home line-up:
Campo
Gunter Morgan Wilson Perchio
Cohen Majewski McKenna Anderson
Blackstock Earnshaw
Forest started well, with Chrissy Cohen coming in from the right to fire wide from the edge of the box, and it wasn’t long before we took the lead. Raddy’s corner was headed in by Ando (Ando?!) and little Robbie Earnshaw poked home on the goal-line. Only four minutes on the clock!
Forest continued their good play, with a return for some of the one-touch “champagne” football, although we did not realyl work their keeper enough. Raddy wasted a good opportunity on the counter-attack after a superb through ball from Chrissy Cohen, as the young Pole took one touch too many rather than having the shot, and Dex directed the ball straight at Mark Bunn in the Blades’ goal from another corner.
What was starting to take the eye was the rather, erm, physical approach that our opposition were taking. Rahoul couldn’t make it, so when he asked for a text update, I replied that they had “reverted to type i.e. dirty”. Darius Henderson is your archetypal “big strong lad up front”, and he is not scared to use his physical presence. I am not quite sure how he escaped a booking for repeated fouls in the first half, although the only caution in the first half was to Raddy, who committed a late tackle and chopped his man in the process. I am not quite sure how their centre-half escaped a red card for a challenge on the edge of the box which looked two-footed to me (reminded me of Garath McCleary’s deserved red on Saturday), but I sit in the Trent End, so perhaps any readers who are up in Victor’s Veranda could help me out?
Sheffield United almost scored when Nyron Nosworthy’s deep cross was misjudged by Perchio and forced Campo into a late intervention to palm the ball away from the far corner, but Forest should have scored with the best move of the match; excellent play from Gunts and Chrissy set up Ando just inside the box, but his first-time shot was just over when should really have hit the target. I was hoping that we wouldn’t regret the missed opportunities.
The second half started with the dismissal of Darius Henderson. I don’t know what for as I watched the ball, but two or three Forest players went mental at the ref and the linesman was flagging. Oddly enough, the ref produced the red card without consulting the lino, even though he clearly didn’t see the incident but his assistant did. Seems strange to me, although Henderson didn’t seem to argue too much.
I have to say that ten-man Sheffield United were excellent in the second-half. I guess the red card galvanised them, and their workrate was exceptional. However, they ratcheted up the dirtiness, and the referee failed to show any real authority. As an example, Lee Williamson fouled his man, and then kicked the ball away; I think the booking was for dissent, rather than the foul, but the ref called Williamson towards him, and then as the midfielder continued to back away, the ref walked towards the player instead. Way to go to stamp your authority on the match, Mr Referee! Also, the Blades were constantly stealing yardage at throw-ins, which would have been fine, except the ref kept telling them to move back, then failed to act when they took another ten yards.
Nonetheless, Yeates followed Williamson into the book (again, apparently for dissent, rather than the foul), and I don’t understand how makeshift right-back Jamie Ward did not get booked for repeated fouls on Ando. Towards the end, Sheffield United’s left-back Kallio took down Gunts in full-view of the ref and lino, and the ref was not going to punish the defender until the assistant encouraged him to do so. Well done linesman, and although Kallio argued his case, he missed the ball and took the man.
Back to the actual football, and we were being pressed back by the ten men of Sheffield United. As so often, Forest were guilty of sitting too deep, and they looked a bit tired and backed off too much, allowing space to the opposition. There were a few hairy moments, although Campo did not have too many nasty moments to deal with, other than a couple of mid-rangers from the dangerous Yeates (one missed and one saved). Forest did create a couple of chances on the break, a decent effort from Chrissy was parried by Bunn, and Ando, looking knackered and on his wrong foot, could only direct the rebound into the side netting. Ando was soon replaced by Tys, and the least-popular-man-in-Derby soon forced an excellent save from Bunn as he drove for the far corner after a good pass from Earnie (who soon made way for Goldie).
With Forest looking tired, Raddy was withdrawn for the Mooooossssse, who made a decent cameo as an energetic box-to-box player in the last five minutes, but there was still time for Perchio to make the tackle of the day, as Stephen Quinn bore down on goal in stoppage time. An excellent intervention from a player who still looks rather uncomfortable to be playing on his wrong foot, and one that probably earned us two points. Well done James.
Billy commented afterwards that we look tired, and I don’t think many Reds fans would disagree with him (although he also used the interview as an opportunity to remind everyone that our squad in weaker now than a month ago). Ando has only just come back from a rest, and looked knackered after sixty minutes, Robbie Earnshaw was in a similar position, and while Chrissy was his usual industrious self, he seemed half a yard behind at times today. Fortunately, we have a better squad than last season, so can still call on the likes of Lewis, Goldie, Tys, G-Man and Big Dele. Man of the match today is probably between the two central midfielders: Raddy showed some amazing skill in the first half and a prodigious workrate in the second, but for me the main man today was the skipper, who showed that he still has it with some superb tackling and imposing himself on the match even as the Blades threatened. Nice one.
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.
With the news confirmed that Matt Thornhill has left for an initial month’s loan (possibly to be extended) at Cheltenham Town, Vital Forest report that combative-and-mardy-but-kind-of-likeable forgotten man Joe Garner could also be leaving the City Ground on loan, to either Carlisle or Millwall.
In the meantime, Colin Neil Warnock has said that Forest have not bid for Victor Moses (despite reports elsewhere suggesting that he could be a Red by next Tuesday), and Messrs Hughton and Calderwood still hope to prise James Perch away from Forest (with Chris Hughton refuting Billy Davies’ earlier claims that Newcastle were playing dirty tricks by publicising the bid).
Other Reds in the news include Lee Camp confirming that he thinks talk of an England call-up is ridiculous (in case you are interested I would pick Hart, Green and Robinson in that order – let Campo play in the Premier League first), and Chris Cohen waxing lyrical about Billy’s touchline antics and tactical nous. The comments on the latter article show just how popular a player young Chrissy has become, and deservedly so!
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”!
Transfer rumours abound, with Ipswich interested in Dele Adebola, and Billy Davies quashing rumours about Victor Moses, while reflecting on our cup exit to Birmingham. In the meantime, Billy also says that we should “make the most” of Nicky Shorey before his likely return to Aston Villa.
Elsewhere, not-actually-Irish former striker Tony Cascarino is so impressed by the Reds’ form that he suggests that we are going up, while Lee Camp is keen for a promotion push. There is an excellent appraisal of our current situation on LTLF, showing that there is much to learn from our defeat the other night, that might help maintain our imperious form in the league.
In other news, James Perch is delighted to be back ahead of schedule, whilst poor old Paul Hart is looking for a job again after just five games in charge at QPR.
Finally, I am not sure that I will ever get bored of this goal from last week
Posted December 18th, 2009by Rahoul Baruah1 Comment »
We will be facing Chelsea in the fourth round of the FA Youth Cup.
Billy Davies is looking to win against his former club Preston North End this weekend (I won’t be there so no match report I’m afraid). And more importantly, Billy’s not had any contact from any other clubs about his availability.
As I’m sure you’re all now aware, one of the two linked clubs, Queen Park Rangers, have instead opted for ex-Forest grump and diamond-afficianado Paul Hart, with some speculation that James Perchio could be on his way there.
Another of Harty’s team (in my opinion, the most important member of that side), Riccy Scimeca has been forced to retire.
Meanwhile, Billy Davies is still pursuing Gareth Bale (and I’m sure it’s not for nothing that Nicky Shorey has been given the number 3 shirt). And lastly, Billy may be going back to Liverpool to bring in another of their youngsters, Nathan Eccleston, on loan.
The biggest stories this week seem to have surrounded full-backs, both at the club and linked with moves to the Reds.
James Perchio, who is hoping to win a spot at right-back, has made it through a friendly against Barnsley without too many ill-effects; Chris Gunter, the current incumbent of the right-back slot has picked up a knock and pulled out of the Wales squad (while little Robbie Earnshaw joins the squad but might not play as he has only just returned to the first-team scene). Over the river, Notts County have finally admitted that they hope to turn Brendan Moloney’s loan move into a permanent deal (keep hold of him Billy, he’s a good ‘un).
On the other side of the pitch left-back Joel Lynch says that he really hopes to get his chance in the first team, but rumours abound linking us with Tottingham’s Gareth Bale and Aston Villa’s Nicky Shorey, both of whom are out of favour at their respective clubs, but would be expensive acquisitions, methinks.
In official news, half season tickets are on sale again, and Dexter Blackstock has started running again; hopefully it won’t be long before this Dex is on fire (sorry).
There was an interesting comment from Billy Davies ahead of Wednesday night’s LittlewoodsRumbelowsCoca-Cola Carling Cup Tie against Bradford which seems to have gone under the radar:
I’ve said all along that we want to be a club that wins games of football – it doesn’t matter whether it’s the League Cup, friendly matches or bounce games. That’s the mentality we need in the club and that’s what we’re trying to do.
This reminds me of a comment that Frank Clark made when he was Forest boss, along the lines of “success breeds success”; basically, try and win every game you play, as this can only raise your confidence levels and make you more likely to keep winning.
I like this attitude. The one thing that Forest have struggled to do under the stewardship of Colin Calderwood was to maintain a winning streak (with the honourable and notable exception of the extraordinary run that eventually gained us promotion). A lack of consistency has cost the club dear over many years. Instilling a winning mentality is vital – just look at Arsenal’s “Invicibles” or Manchester United for most of the last fifteen years.
However, as usual, there is a gripe. Billy Davies has been moaning about not signing any defenders. Obviously I sense that he is making political comments for the benefit of Marthur and the transfer committee, but it seems strange that he has signed so many forwards and midfielders, and not acquired a single centre-half. It seems even more odd that apparent number-one target Rob Jones has joined Scunthorpe (can they really offer better terms than Forest?), and that Forest fan Shaun Barker has joined the woolly ones. We knew we were short in defence, how come we have let these two (and others) get away, and do we now regret letting Brendan Moloney and Joe Heath go out on loan?
The good news is that Chris Gunter should be back for tomorrow’s match against West Bromwich, along with his Welsh teammate Robbie Earnshaw. The indications are that Nathan Tyson should be fit, despite being carried off following a “robust” challenge at the end of Wednesday’s match, and that Chris Cohen (captain against Bradford) will continue at left-back.
Finally, I would like to draw your attention to a piece by the excellent Galaxy42 over on Vital Forest, in which last year’s skipper James Perch gives his blessing to the hypnotic powers of Paul McKenna as skipper, and admits that it may be Christmas before he kicks a ball again. Get well soon Perchio.
