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!

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Is Joe Garner leave us? Plus Perchio, Matty and Moses: news roundup

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).

Nottingham Forest's Robert Earnshaw (right) celebrates with Chris Cohen

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!

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Nottingham Forest 1 – 1 Bristol City: match report and podcast

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.

    Campo    
Gunter Morgan   Wilson Cohen
  McKenna (c)   Moussi  
Garner   Majewski   Anderson
    McGoldrick    

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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Nottingham Forest 1 – 0 Newcastle United: match report (but no podcast)

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.

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Plymouth Argyle 0-1 Nottingham Forest: The Man Utd of the Championship

I cannot pretend that I was there, but it was refreshing to see Forest win, in spite of the curse of Sky (have we cracked that one now?). Forest lined up in a 4-4-2, with league returns for Casual Kelv, Madge, and Big Dele (but little Robbie Earnshaw was out with a pelvic injury, adding fuel to the conspiracy theorists’ fire):

Campo

Gunter    Morgan    Wilson (Chambers)    Cohen

Garner (Anderson)     McKenna (c)     Majewski    Tyson

Adebola (Moussi)    Blackstock

Not used: Smith, McGugan, McGoldrick, Lynch.

And they started quite well, but without causing too much danger for Plymouth. Madge looked bright and created problems, and Forest were also attempting to use the two wide men (makes sense with two big guys up front). The style of football was still a bit scrappy, but they were trying to pass it nicely. There weren’t many attempts on goal though, Dex headed over when he really should have hit the target, and Madge’s slinky run followed by a shot just over the bar was the highlight of the first half an hour.

By this time, Plymouth had come back into the match, with the dangerous looking pair of Gow and particularly Mackie causing problems. The latter was guilty of the kind of miss that seems to happen a lot when you are down and out, sticking his foot out but diverting the ball agonisingly wide from the edge of the six yard box; he then made a jinking run, with several red shirts around but none willing to make an intervention (sound familiar?), forcing a save from Campo’s feet at the near post. A decent effort, but following Charlie Adam’s soft goal last week, a lesson that we really should already have learned.

But, lo and behold, Forest took the lead in first half stoppage time and it was from a surprising source. Chris Gunter has already shown his prowess going forward this season, and running in from the corner of the box, he played a neat one-two with Dex, before a lucky bounce left him one-on-one with the keeper. I cannot continue without mentioning the lucky moment – Plymouth debutant James Chester slipped over, and as he fell, the ball bounced off the top of his bonce (from all of a yard off the ground), straight back into the path of the young Welshman. It was a good finish though as he had to wrap his left foot around a ball that was slightly behind him. After all the talk of bad luck recently, it made a pleasant change for things to go our way.

I must mention the other controversy – the fourth official had put the board up for one minute of stoppage time, and the goal apparently came after one minute and ten seconds. I guess this makes us the Manchester United of the Championship.

In the second half, we had a slightly mystifying decision from the ref who pulled play back for a foul on Dex, just as the big man passed into the path of, erm, the other big man (Dele) who was clean through on goal. I thought the ref had already played the advantage but apparently not. However, we can safely say that the balance was redressed when the officials failed to award a penalty for a challenge by the combined might of Casual Kelv and Chrissy Cohen – it seemed as though the Plymouth man was certainly clipped, but the ref gave Kelv the benefit of the doubt. I was not 100% sure, but I know that if it had happened the other way around (especially at the City Ground), I would be baying for a penalty.

The match kind of petered out after that. Forest looked reasonable, and the Pilgrims looked deflated and defeated, in the way that you do when you cannot remember what it is like to win a match. Casual Kelv had hurt himself in the “penalty” incident, and was replaced by Luke Chambers (defender on the bench? Surely some mistake?), and Ando came on for Joe Garner (who despite his endeavour is NOT a right winger), before the Moooosssse replaced Big D in the closing stages to shore things up.

There was not much to write home about. We had a bit of luck, and we were rarely in too much danger, but maybe that is more down to the Pilgrims’ precarious position than anything else. Nonetheless, three points are not to be sniffed at, and we can only beat the opposition in front of us. The contribution of Tys and the big lads upfront should not be underestimated (despite the fact the Dele looks like a great big lump at times), although stand-out performances were from McKenna and MOTM Raddy Majewski.

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Nottingham Forest 3 – Derby County less than 3: match report and podcast (UPDATED)

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.

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Nottingham Forest 0 – 1 West Bromwich Albion: match report and podcast

Heyup. We’re back. Did you miss us?

First home game of the new season sees Sport Billy choose a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of 22000 expectant Forest and Baggies fans. We had the chances but Di Matteo’s instilled an Italian ethic in his West Brom side that ultimately won them the three points.

Our line up:

    Campo    
Gunter Morgan   Lynch Cohen
  McKenna   Majewski  
Anderson   Garner   Tyson
    Adebola    

 
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Many thanks to NFFCBlog for the chants.

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What’s in a number?

It’s been a while – thanks to Rahoul for holding the fort so ably (his detailed analysis of Lee Camp’s transfer was especially memorable). As usual, he deals with the facts and I am going to write a frothy piece about nothing in particular.

You see, the trouble with being a football fan is that you spend the summer waiting. Little things take on huge importance – take, for example, the revelation that the replica Forest shirts will not now be able to display the sponsor’s logo on child sizes, and it will be optional even on adult shirts. This is apparently because the display of Victor Chandler’s logo can be seen to encourage gambling, which is illegal for minors and immoral for various religious and ethical persuasions (I have shamelessly culled this information from the comments on NFFCBlog).

We also spend the summer looking for clues – this morning the official site continued to describe Perchio as the “Forest skipper“, which I for one was not expecting – well, to tell the truth I was expecting Rob Jones to be the new captain, but his move to Scunny has put paid to that. 

Then we get spoon-fed little titbits by the meeja, notably the esteemed Nottingham Evening Post, who proudly informed us of the numbers on the squad’s training kit – McGoldrick wearing 17 (which was his shirt number for Saints), but controversially Dele Adebola with a big number 9 (well not that controversial, as he is a big number 9!), and Smudge wearing 21 (before the signing of Lee Campo). Cue cries from people bored/sad/obsessive speculating whether this meant the end for Tys as a Forest player, and whether this meant a new keeper would be arriving (which duly happened about two days later).

Ignoring (for the moment) the fact that squad numbers probably won’t be officially announced until the team return from Portugal, you can see how this sets a certain type of fan’s mind racing (guilty as charged -not that I get obsessed with trivial details or anything). As it turns out, Tys seems to be wearing number 11, with Ando sporting number 7; Casual Kelv had a number 6 on his chest (does this mean that there won’t be a new centre half?), and I presume Campo would wear number 1. However, where does this leave Captain Perchio? His current number has gone to the young recruit from Liverpool, his previous number has gone to the new recruit from Southampton. There is no number 2 that I could see, so if Perchio is going to fill in at right-back then he might wear that, although I should imagine that the potential signing of Chris Gunter may influence that. If Perchio is to remain skipper then I am sure he would want a number in the first XI!

The most interesting one is that Joe Garner is wearing number 14 – does that mean that Billy is saving number 16 for Preston skipper Paul McKenna?

As I said above, it really isn’t that important unless you are someone like me who attaches unnecessary weight to this kind of thing (and of course the fact that I am a bit bored today doesn’t hurt). However, I find one aspect particularly fascinating: would there have been so much speculation about Tys moving on if Adebola hadn’t worn number 9? It is increasingly apparent that the lazier hacks often fish messageboards for some juicy gossip, regardless if this can be substantiated in fact.

The new season is now less than a month away – in the meantime, according to Marthur, we should hopefully see more new arrivals (Danny Fox?), we will see a new kit (actually it would seem as though they are changing the home and away kits at the same time and possibly going for a more 1980s theme – urgh!), and I am sure that there will be more twists and turns on the way, before a ball is even kicked.

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Nottingham Forest 1 – 0 Coventry City

Billy chooses what, on paper, looks like a 4-4-2 but actually turns into a 4-5-1 for this “must-win” home game.

Smith in goal, with a back-four of Gunther, Morgan, Chambers and Perchio. In midfield, Anderson, McGugan, Cohen, Osbourne and Garner and Dexter Blackstock leading the line.

We forgot to mention it during the actual podcast, but we give the man of the match award to Luke Chambers. It was pretty close run, between McCleary, Blackstock, Chambers and maybe Cohen – but given the torrid season Chambers has had, this game (where he played in his favoured position for the first time) showed what a decent player he can be.

 
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We’re Doomed!

UPDATE: I think I’m over this now – still not sure what that interview was supposed to achieve but I’m sure Billy has a masterplan in mind. Bring on the Sheep!

The knives are out. Billy Davies, Mark Arthur, Nigel Doughty; no-one escapes the wrath of the Forest fan in the run up to yet another game against the Sheep.

And the source of this malaise?

The fact that our small, injury-ravaged League One squad is still struggling in the Championship, was not strengthened during the transfer window and the fabled new-manager effect simply has not happened (or at least was very short-lived).

Before Calderwood went I said a change (of some kind, not necessarily of manager) was needed; at the very least a big centre-half, a big centre-forward and someone to offer some leadership. Now, in February, we have a new manager but no new players. Fair play to Billy – watch him from the touchlines and he is offering the leadership. He went for Rob Jones to play at the back and Dele Adebola up-front. So it looks, on paper, like he had identified the same weaknesses as me.

But we didn’t get either and the consensus is that this is the board’s fault. Could be, I don’t know enough about what went on. Is Jones worth more than £600000 or is he another Lynch? Should anyone ever pay any money for Adebola? Were the board just tight or did they just not want to pay over the odds for players who may not be good enough to keep us up (can you tell which one of those two I feel falls into that category?) If they were tight then it’s definitely a false economy – League One will cost far more than the extra £400000 that was reportedly the difference between our valuation of Jones and Hibs’ (although I’ve also seen it written that we offered £1m for him).

However, for whatever reason, we didn’t bring anyone in during the window. So we have to make do with what we’ve got (and what we can loan in).

And this is where my problems begin. We know that they are young and inexperienced. We know that the Championship is a big step up from League One. We know that we have an injury crisis on, forcing us to play players who aren’t first choices. But that is the hand we have – unless we loan four or five players in tomorrow, then that is the hand we will have when playing Derby. We are where we are.

So why slag them off Billy? We all know that confidence is a vital component of success in football. Do you honestly believe that telling the only players you have available that they will never make it at this level is going to make them perform better this weekend?

In goal we’ve got Smith. The best thing that Calderwood did this season (apart from getting us to play some pretty football that had been sorely lacking for quite a few years) was bring in Lee Camp. Whilst some people think Campo is the second coming of Peter Shilton, I’m not so convinced. The defence needed a kick up the arse and Campo gave it to them. But in terms of actual keeping ability there’s not so much in it (Smith’s terrible kicking aside) – witness Campo’s flapping at a cross when we played against QPR.

At centre-half we’re looking OK. Breckin and Wesley are the first choice pairing; having Breckin back in the fold is a definite bonus, but Calderwood wasn’t lying when he said the old man isn’t fit enough to play every week. Wes has been immense after a dodgy start to the season. Chambers is an able deputy (note, this is centre-half) but Wilson appears to be getting worse under Davies, and he wasn’t playing great to start with.

At full-back is where the real trouble now lies. Moloney has been a breath of fresh air this season, but Davies does not appear to trust the youngster to do the job. Leaving Chambers to play at right-back and we all know it’s just not his position. Things are worse on the left with Bennett out injured – leaving Heath who tries hard but isn’t ready, Wilson, who looks like someone playing out of position (funny that) or Lynch. Nuff said.

In midfield, it’s no secret that I am a great fan of Perchio – he’s not the best defensive midfielder in the world but it’s a vital (unsung) role and he does it well. The Moose should be back soon and he had a great start to the season, but seemed to go missing for a few games before his injury. Cohen is many people’s favourite for player of the season – certainly his work-rate is incredible. Thornhill is probably my favourite of the youngsters – intelligent, beautifully timed runs with excellent passing. And then there’s Lewis McGugan. Probably our most talented player, certainly the one we could sell for the most money. But he seems to have gone backwards recently. Billy plays him a bit deeper than Colin did and he looks like he’s struggling with it – and when Lewis plays badly, Forest plays badly.

And then, up-front. Earnie’s out injured and this is a big loss, as our only Championship-quality player. Tyson works his socks off but isn’t an out-and-out goal-scorer. And he can’t do it all by himself. Leaving Garner. The target for Davies’ post-match interview and another youngster with obvious talent but not necessarily the work-rate or application Billy wants. From the little we’ve seen of him so far, he appears to be one of those who does nothing for 89 minutes then produces a piece of magic that turns the game. However, I can’t see much more magic coming from him under this manager.

We’re in the shit. We know that. The players know that. The manager knows that. The board (probably) know that. And when you’re up against it you need to be pulling together. Unity can make up for a number of deficiencies. Unfortunately, I don’t see much of that around the City Ground at the moment. Sorry to be so gloomy, but things aren’t looking good.

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