Posted February 10th, 2010
by Rish
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
Posted February 7th, 2010
by Rahoul Baruah
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:
Campo
Gunter, Morgan, Wilson, Perchio
Cohen, McKenna, Moooooooooose, Tyson
Blackstock, Earnshaw
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
Posted December 14th, 2009
by Rahoul Baruah
Forest Player wasn’t working for me on Saturday so I didn’t really listen to the match. But looking at the highlights, it looked pretty one-sided. And we still came away with three points (and only two behind the Baggies, who play tonight)!
Paul Anderson was a key man for us and he came in for some stick during the game, given that he had earlier helped Swansea to promotion. Lee Camp also did sterling work, as he did earlier in the week away at Sheffield United. And Paulo Sousa doesn’t reckon it was a fair result. To which I would say that it’s always nice to grind out three points away from home.
Elsewhere, Forest old-boy Brian Laws leaves the cursed Hillsborough hot-seat “by mutual consent” (and Wednesday chairman, Lee Strafford, no longer accepts comments on his Facebook page, which is a shame as it was fantastic to see the fans communicate so closely with the chairman of a club). And sunny delight Paul Hart looks set to rejoin Harry Redknapp at Tottenham, taking over youth team duties there.
Tags: brian laws, forest player, Harry Redknapp, Lee Camp, lee strafford, nottingham forest, Paul Anderson, paul hart, paulo sousa, sheffield united, sheffield wednesday, swansea city, tottenham hotspurs Posted in News
Posted September 15th, 2009
by Rahoul Baruah
Pompey may be a bit of a mess and most people’s favourites for relegation but Paul Hart is vowing to fight on, despite rumours of his impending exit (like most of his first team squad).
Brian Laws isn’t happy after Sport Billy claimed Wednesday were playing a long ball game. I think winding up and frustrating the opposition is going to be a big feature of our game-plans from now on. And it’s not just me – Kenny Burns reckons our resilience is becoming plain for all to see.
And that resilience should hopefully get us three points tonight, as under-pressure Roy Keane joins the queue to sign Danny Shittu
Tags: billy davies, brian laws, danny shittu, ipswich town, kenny burns, paul hart, roy keane, sheffield wednesday Posted in News
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 February 1st, 2009
by Rish
After the pleasing, if rather nerve-wracking victory on Tuesday (never did get a chance to write that match report – in summary, absolutely sublime pass by McCleary for Tyson’s goal, Arron Davies was frustrating, and Lewis did his now customary trick of disappearing for 70 minutes of the match – oh yeah, and the referee and linesman were poor again), the Billy Davies bubble burst with the new manager’s first defeat at the hands of Cardiff City.
By the sounds of it, we can have few complaints, although others report that the referee was far from convincing. I am not too worried by the defeat, Cardiff are in an amazing run of form (especially at home), but I, like many others, are concerned by the Reds’ lack of fit first-teamers.
This paved the way for the spotlight to fall on our hapless CEO, and it seems as though Mark Arthur is either a genius at mind games, or is trying to make excuses for yet another January of incoming transfer inactivity. This is all the more intriguing considering that the new manager has said that he would like some more bodies in the squad. Watch this space I suppose, and let’s hope that (unlike in previous years), we don’t have important players leaving (I am sure that everyone has heard whispers about Earnshaw and McGugan), whilst relying on the emergency loan market for any new faces…
Tags: Cardiff City, mark arthur, nottingham forest, sheffield wednesday, transfer window Posted in General
Posted January 28th, 2009
by Rish
Apologies for the fact that I haven’t had time to write a proper report yet. Hopefully I will be able to do so in the next 24 hours or so. Rahoul couldn’t make the match last night, so I thought that it might be fun to recount my text message updates that I sent to him:
- 8.24pm: Forest deservedly 1 down, then moved to 4-2-3-1 with McCleary on left, Tys on right and Davies behind Earnie. Great run & perfect pass by McCleary for the equaliser
- 8.26pm: Jeffers sent off got 2 footed tackle on Heath. Lucky not to break his leg
- 8.28pm: Until 5 mins ago it was like a bad performance under Colin
- 9.23pm: We haven’t played well but McGugan free kick headed in by Chambers. We can barely string 2 passes together tonight
- 9.40pm: 2-1 up against 10 men in injury time, and we’ve gone 5-3-2. Are you Colin in disguise?
Tags: billy davies, francis jeffers, garath mccleary, lewis mcgugan, luke chambers, nathan tyson, nottingham forest, sheffield wednesday Posted in Match Reports
