A Week of Hysteria

Apologies again folks for the slightly scattergun approach in updating the blog. I have been busy preparing for Christmas and had a number of life changes I am adapting too. This should all settle down.

I would write a review of the Ipswich game but I think that ship has sailed somewhat and would be a bit of a waste of time to write a match report.

That said the failure to beat a side we are usually successful against and the fact it as goalless has whipped up a storm of hysteria again. Now that were are getting deep in the season there are fans who think that because we aren’t in the top 2 yet or that we are yo-yoing in and out the playoffs that this is failure.

May I remind those people that there is always a Johnny come-lately to the playoffs. That nothing is decided in December and that in all reality these people basically change their mind on the state of play with every result.

Last week after winning against Wednesday and being in the top 6 they’d have all been happy. But following a slightly cryptic Billy interview where we assured us all he gets along with Fawaz despite anything thinking the opposite and then the Ipswich draw that suddenly it was all hand to the pump and time to panic.

Some of what has been said on the net this week is utterly laughable and I’ll cover that later. There are some users I could do a Twitter Idiots special on with the pearls of utter nuttishness than fall from their head through their fingers on the keyboard and on to your screen.

This weeks menagerie of weird rumours was that Jim Price has left/ been sacked / walked the plank. Furthermore are the rumours Billy wants out, but wants sacking to get his new shiny four year contract paid off. There are numerous fanciful transfer rumours flying around too.

I think what it illustrates, and I will look into later, is that students are bored. When they break up from Uni many have nothing to do and seems a handful must be happy just making up rumours. In my head I am thinking and it seems this happens every time around school and Uni holidays, so in my head I’m thinking bored kids and teenagers just make up crap for attention of for Lolz or whatever they think they are doing these days, rather than the actual creating frictions and fissures in the fan base.

It’s ridiculous. It’s not even Christmas, we are on the edge of the playoffs with a number of top players returning from injury and people seem to want to make out this is failure. Maybe your retarded standards but those of us in the real world realise teams don't often just sit in the top 6all season. There are peaks and troughs, and to use a Billy phrase. Up s and downs, Twists and turns.

Enjoy the ride

I would also like to finish this piece, which is my first in a while by paying a momentary tribute to Kev Finnegan, from Vital, who passed away. I often disagreed with his views, but he’s been a contributor to the online Forest community for so long and that can’t be forgotten, he will be missed.

Photographergate

It really is a strange set of events that panned out at Millwall and has subsequently gone back and forth somewhat surrounding the spat between Dan Westwell and Billy Davies.

What initially started as a strange press release from Forest about the actions of Westwall, alluding to inappropriate action. Davies had been seen haranguing the photographer after the match and on initial investigation it all seemed like Billy war with the Post had reached a new level of idiocy.

And then a lot more same to light. For instance that Westwell had been banned from Mansfield in 2007 and been in court for making rude gestures at former chairman of the Stags Keith Haslam. Now Haslam was a very unpopular figure and quite what those gestures were or were not trying to incite is unclear.

Bu even so that’s many years ago against a much disliked chairman at a club... but then there’s more. Westwell then claimed he had been treated harshly at Chester City and made to sit alone, despite many witnesses pointing out quite the contrary, and that pictures of him sitting alone were fabricated post match with other photographers.

This is taken from a Chester City forum about the incident where he apparently was intimidated and made to sit alone. (Link Here)

“As a Football Club we are very disappointed with the tact taken by Mr Dan Westwell, he seems to have circum navigated some of the facts, at present we are considering an Official response to the article but as fans of CCFC I think you should be made aware of the facts. I must point out that we have no axe to grind with Mr Westwell but simply would like the full facts to be known.
Mr Westwell was arrested for an alleged Public Order Offence and bailed until 9th February 2007 over an incident at Mansfield's Field Mill ground the previous Saturday.
He applied for two press badges for the Chester City v Mansfield game and was originally granted them.
We were advised by Mansfield Police to consider the granting of these press badges, because of the above incident but they did recommend that we should allow him in.
After considering all the facts at our disposal we decided that Mr Westwell could be allowed into the ground and was given two Complimentary tickets,he was not allowed pitchside but was allowed to take still photography from behind the perimeter wall from the West Stand.
Mr Westwell was not "constantly watched" by stewards and nor was he put in an area of The West Stand away from other fans. “

Already it seems a man with a very strange agenda. And this isn't going away, here are some quotes taken from something published today on a site that calls itself the home of regional journalism, so we know whose side they will be on. (Link)

“Nottingham Forest later issued a statement on their website describing Dan’s conduct as “unprofessional” but Post editor Mike Sassi said that the allegation is completely unsubstantiated.
“Dan Westwell is a professional sports photographer who has an excellent reputation for his pictures and his journalism,” he told the paper.

In the comments section itself on that site, what appears to be Dan commenting says this

"During the second half I was sat along the touchline in between the half way line and 18 yard box taking photos of the game & Forest bench (as I was doing it for the paper in Nottingham and ironically, giving some pics to Forests programme too!). Billy Davies sent one of his staff out to tell me to stop taking pics of him so I said “ok fair enough” and went back to sit on my camera case along the 18 yard line. Within a few minutes I’d got Jonathan Greening standing behind me watching me edit my pics on my laptop and one of the subs standing 2 yards in front of me blocking my view of the pitch.At full time Billy Davies came straight over to me rather than the Forest fans and started screaming in right in my face “WHERE ARE YOU FROM? WHERE ARE YOU FROM?” The stewards had to pull him away from me. The Millwall fans were going mad & the stewards moved me ‘for my own safety’ even though the Millwall fans were telling BD where to get off and asking me what that was all about. The police asked me as well. I saw a photographer & asked him if he got pics & he got some of Billy right in my face which have gone all over the place now. That is it. Forest then tried to cover their own back (and embarrassment) by making a statement 24 hours later (!) saying I was being unprofessional, this was after Davies himself said in his post match interview that the incident was “nothing”! However they didn’t state what I was doing to make that observation! And they still haven’t done

Which is interesting as it’s practically verbatim word for word said elsewhere. I have been fairly critical of Davies in the past and his methods with the media, but this puzzles me., I can’t believe he’d go nuts at a photographer for nothing, and neither do I think that he did is excusable, you just move on, but I can't help wondering what else there is to this to bring about Davies reaction, and coupled with some liberal use of the truth before it seems odd.

It seems he might not be the most reliable man to listen to with his side of the story, but hell, what can he be doing other than potentially trying to antagonise Davies into a reaction shot or something. Both sides just seem daft on this. Davies for getting involved and the Photographer for gleefully playing this all out in public.

Forest Draw With Burnley - Dyche Snipes.

I actually quite like Sean Dyche as a manager, and although I have frequently laughed at his wheezy raspy voice, he has a decent record, especially working on budgets.

That said his comments post match against Burnley left me feeling he’s just a bit moany and every time an opposition manager says stuff like this it just strikers of bitterness that they don’t have the resources. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Well we’ll discuss this later after looking at the match,
We exposed last week that Burnley are a bit of a bogey club for the Reds, we don’t have the best record against them at all, but they aren’t the only club in that group. So going into this game against a club we do struggle against who now happen to be flying it was clearly a worry.

With the pre game news of injuries and viruses hitting the centre of defence there was a great many people commenting on the fact they thought we’d get battered. The usual array of positivity anyway, or those who either see triumphant win or resounding defeat as the only pre game possibilities.

Of course the truth was, as a number speculated that Hobbs would be fit. The problem with Billy Davies announcing these injuries in the way he did is that he’s tried it before; we all know when he says this he’s actually sure that he will have someone to play there. He’s a terrible liar! So many people kind of thought, well I bet that means Hobbs WILL be fit. Which he was. Lichaj came back in the side, and Jara moved into midfield to cover for Vaughan. The rest was as it was against Leicester.

Jara is starting to look quite an accomplished figure in that holding role, taking the ball down and playing it wide or forward. Rather than a Moussi figure of just putting his head on it or trying to get clear. Cox kept his place following his strike v Leicester, and with Majewski playing his advanced role in the gap behind the striker, it was quite an attacking shape.

And things went well, very well. We had the better of the game; with the highlight being a Lansbury free kick coming back off the bar which Majewski then put the rebound wide. It was a good effort and had the keeper beaten. It seems in the absence of Reid then Lansbury is the free kick taker extraordinaire.
But Burnley of course took the lead. A lot has been said, written and gesticulate about this decision. For me it’s a simple case of turning the tables. Had that been at the other end, had that been Forest crossing the ball and had that been a decision to be made at the other end, every Forest fan would have sure it was a penalty, and citing that his hand was in an unnatural position. That reason alone to me says penalty. The simple truth is if had your hand is anywhere outside of your body and it strikes it, there is a very strong chance it will be given. There will be days the same thing happens and nothing given, it’s just one of those things. What rankles is that linesman gave no signal at all and he had a better position and yet the penalty was given by the ref, behind play and not as well positioned. It’s a small point, but for me it is a little annoying. That said, for me, it was a penalty despite what anyone says. Jara had his hand raised, although only slightly, and that more than likely means penalty. And as I said, the strongly voiced opinions, those shouting loudest it shouldn’t be given would be up in arms had the same thing not been given for us had rules been reversed.

And for the next five minutes were extremely shaky. Heads had dropped. Visibly. It just seemed an air of “well we tried really hard, had the better, and yet we’re losing.... what can we do?” before after that period we rallied. And when we did, we scored. Laughably right after one reliable Twitter idiot, clearly never at games, claimed Paterson is useless and should be withdrawn. Because Paterson clipped in a delightful cross begging to be scored. There had been good movement around the area and slick passing on the right, in the manner we are used to on the left. Jara clipped it inside to Paterson who got past his man and sent the ball high to the back post. It was unmissable, and played on an absolute plate. Cox nodded home and we were level again.

The second half saw us retain the best of the game, and yet we still retained an element of risk and danger, Chalobah replaced Lichaj and Jara went to right back, but his first five minutes apart, Chalobah played very well. He even had a decent chance that at the time looked close and placed, but on a replay didn’t quite look as cultured and close.

Other close efforts fell to Hobbs, and Lascelles. A near post effort at the death was nearly back heeled in by Forest but was saved and then cleared. Had we scored it would be deserved, we nicked it, except we didn’t. It stayed level.

There was a dampener in that Cohen got injured, at first it looked horrific, a player staying down, not moving saving for waving frantically is almost always bad news. Cohen was doing just this, but after a couple of minutes he limped back in to play and tried to support Abdoun who had replaced Majewski. Paterson too had been replaced by Henderson, leaving us with no sub options, but that’s by the by, our captain and vital cog in the machine looked badly hurt, especially when limping off again after trying to play on. The news on that is still not clear at time of writing.

So all in all a creditable draw. For one a depleted team, a second we went behind, but furthermore we looked down and beaten and dragged our selves round and got the spirit flowing.

A word on Dyche comments. He was a bit snippy claiming he had a smaller squad which, yes he does, but he was taking a dig at Davies saying how despite our crisis, we still had 32 players to chose from, and how they’d offered only £4.99 for Paterson whereas we paid a million. Very clever and funny Sean, making you look like paupers. That £5mill for Austin must really hurt your pockets. Furthermore we didn’t have another recognised centre half. Chalobah can play there, but two 19 year olds a centre back? No. I’d like him to name those 32 players we could have selected from.

It just seems the wealth we have still seems to get resentment from other teams who can’t help taking digs. In attempts to big up their good achievement versus us, it’s now used rather than the illustrious past. Just celebrate your win/draw. Don’t start blathering on about each other’s wage bill.

Forest Hunt for Return to Form Against Foxes

A lot of people have been expressing their fears about this upcoming away fixture against Leicester. Following up with a home game against Burnley means we rally straight up against it this month, with our poor form. The immediate thought is following our bad performances against poor teams, we surely must therefore get battered against teams playing well.

This could be perfectly true of course.

That said, there were similar discussions about whether we went into this games complacent, especially against Bournemouth. Had we held on there and against Blackpool things would look a lot different.

Additionally there is the aspect of now that we are the underdog in these fixtures it is up to us to be the Bournemouth or Yeovil. Remember the of repeated mantra of the Championship is anyone can beat anyone on the day, and to so thoroughly write off our chances before he teams are announced is odd. It is also the Forest fans way. No doubt the usual harbingers of doom will be deciding we will lose (good old reliable Hannah keeps suggesting we will go down which perfectly illustrates just how much we listen to that particular loon) We could just as easily beat Leicester or draw as lose. Its how football is.

And Billy gets the best out of teams when the chips are down. Remember in his first spell when he first arrived he said he genuinely couldn’t see us getting much points in a run of fixtures that we went on to do exceptionally well in. Our seasons always fell apart just when we looked like confidence was high. Billy works best at getting players to believe, and that is key at the moment.
I don’t know, obviously, the inner machinations of the dressing room. How Billy deals with various situations throughout the season, but he definitely knows how to get under performing players performing, so with a team in a bad form, just as some people decided he’s not the man for the job is the perfect time for Billy to produce his magic.

What did make me laugh with my previous story is how many people commented on it without obviously reading it. The title was “Calls for the Managers Head.” Nowhere did I say in that we had to sack Billy. Yet people went off one demanding to know why I’d be as stupid as to demand he goes, and not read the article where I pretty much said the same thing. That said it was all from Facebook and you can’t even rely on people to react sanely and rationally on there.

We are a top 6 side facing two other top 6 sides. These should be big exciting fixtures. Yet many fans have already written off our chances. Pessimists yes? Realists? I say no. We all know this game, you win some, and you lose some. The odds are so often upset. We can do this. The season is not going badly. It’s time for some perspective to be taken from a lot of fans.

For me, the lack of media presence is now costing us. There’s no essence of positivity because it’s been mostly bad news lately, and with the lockdown there’s no chances for players to speak out, or the management to say we can do this. This is where the media lockdown fails us. Retaining people’s excitement and enthusiasm through bad patches.

So let’s keep our heads up. The season isn’t over, not by any stretch. We had good form before we can have good form again.


Here is an infographic that was produced by the good folk at Epiphany; it’s quite an interesting piece. Enjoy.

Provided by Sky Bet, Title Sponsor of the Football League.

Strikers Strikers Everywhere, But Who Will Score Us Goals?

What we need right now.

The usual frenzy of transfer activity is of course focussing right now on strikers. It’s this year’s very in thing. Gone are the days of left backs being wanted, that’s so 2011 fashion.

But yes, this fabled 20+ goals a season striker which we need, and must have is top of everyone’s virtual shopping list. Sylvain Ebanks-Blake has had his name added to that veritable list. Of course what hasn’t helped this clamour is that Sheffield Wednesday just renewed one striker and got another in, and went and scored a bloody good but very overdue win.

With the summer demand for Billy Sharp to be signed (despite only having a 1 in 3 goal scoring ratio) and with him going to Reading, it’s been hard to judge if he’d have been the right man, he’s spent his entire Reading loan career injured just about, so whether he went there and banged them in, it hasn’t happened, but not that it might.

So now we cast that net around for a striker, and the talk was a week or so ago that we are looking wider and further, on the continent for that guy to put the goal in the net. It almost speaks not of desperation but exasperation to me. That we thought there’d be the quality in this country to get, but it’s just not there. Whether through availability or just not having the requisite quality around, or because there’s more value for money there.

A few people chucked around Patrick Bamford's name, after his impressive displays for MK Dons, and the fact to increase his development, Chelsea might see us as a good place for him to go from January. This negates some vital aspects. There is a rumour, and I stress rumour, that Bamford’s departure from Forest was somewhat acrimonious. The club angry that their talent they had nurtured was advised to move away, apparently by family. There is also the fact Chelsea might not be our best friends with the whole Chalobah thing. This forgets that Bamford fell out with the old regime, things have changed.

Of course previously we have seen plenty of other names in the past few months since Raffik Djebbours snub or whatever it was. Some of the names are hilarious (I saw someone suggest Adebayor), but others would seem good targets. Hooper and Austen always looked farfetched. And it seems any time any striker gets a brace now some fans scream he should and could be in our team.

And what I haven’t yet done is mention our current strikers. I have done in other blogs. I do think admittedly Cox is out of form, though the unfair fickle abuse many hand out is wrong. People who don’t understand form just saying we need to get rid when this guy has proved himself at higher stages than us. Tudgay and Henderson are Championship cloggers. Blackstock, well he’s not around now. Derbyshire remains on the fringes and you wonder what it’d take to just give him a bit more of a go, and Ishmael Miller is Ishmael Miller. It does certainly seem like it needs a little reinvigorating.

And it needs to happen soon. The longer the drought goes on the more it rests in the mind. The more it will affect form. Wanted; someone to score goals. When we went up in the past it was always with a bona fide goalscorer. We need one again. Maybe not in Collymore or van Hooijdonk’s class. But someone who knows where the back of the net is.

Calls for the Managers Head

Billy and Fawaz Happy Together

From the outset here let me get my position straight. I don’t agree that the manager should be removed. Not by any stretch of the imagination. We are in the top 6, we are having a mere blip, and we are still in a strong position.
I may not like Billy Davies the man, and when previously here I always thought he’d end up leaving, potentially for a bigger job. But lots changed in that time. He never got that big job, and I think Billy realises there’s a good match at Forest.

I don’t agree with the media management going off, and Billy’s ongoing shenanigans in avoiding actually answering questions and having a smug air of aloofness about him. I do agree with the fact he is by far our most successful manager of the past few years and has done better than a host of other names.

So to see people on the internet discussing the removal of Davies and discussing potential replacements to me is utterly ridiculous.

The culture these days of manager sackings gets a ridiculous degree now where managers get given little time as it is, without the increased supporter pressure. I always want a manager to be given time and patience to achieve their aim. For one, it takes time to turn a team around and yes now the team and squad is nearly virtually Billy to the core and he’s had ample opportunities to mould the squad to where he wanted it.

But it gets tiring every time a club make a signing that then subsequently does well that fans immediately cry why didn’t we sign them. Yes I hark to last weeks article about everyone being an expert but it’s true. There’s one man who this is ultimately up to, and it’s not you. Unless you happen to be Billy Davies, and if so thank you for reading my ramblings.

I digress; we are not in a bad position. Hell if we were here at Easter I’d be pleased with the promise of the playoffs. Too many seemed to put all their eggs in the automatic promotion basket, but in a division with some other big spenders and with an FA Cup winner in there, you have to admit that maybe we aren’t one of the best two teams.

Now again some will suggest that this is down to the managers purchases. The funds were there. But remember we were in for big names like Charlie Austin, just competing with QPR will always be hard to match. Yes we can afford to spend cash but does mean that we should therefore just over spend for the sake of it? Of course not.

There's been a suggestion that when actually given what he wants and when he has the board on side that Billy actually just can’t do it. He relies on creating an us v them attitude, we’re against but we can succeed. Which when he has what he wants doesn’t work.

When he before Billy wanted Shorey to be signed, but we refused to stump up the cash. Now with a chairman seemingly willing to do pay what might be the cost (think what we are possibly spending on Chalobah) he can’t coax the best out of players. Maybe he used potential signings as carrots to dangle in front of what he did have to play better. Prove they didn’t need Shorey. Now he can get those guys.

But all this said. We are in the top 6. It’s not even December. To call for the managers head right now just seems ridiculous. Stability breeds success. Not chopping and changing.

Dip Becomes Wobble

I always enjoy the different naming conventions with football on when things are a wobble, crisis, disaster etc. What was looking like a dip in form can officially it seems be upgraded to a wobble. These of course happen. Most teams will go through something similar. When and how it happens seems to alter the terminology.

The lack of form against Bournemouth and Yeovil has now stretched out to the game versus Blackpool. What is especially galling is that Blackpool had clearly come for a point and we still conspired to lose the game in injury time.

Ignoring the fact that the goal looks like it shouldn’t have stood. Ignoring the fact we feel we should have had a penalty (is that really such a bonus with our similar form with those) we still managed to let Blackpool score when they hadn’t really been pushing. Yes they missed an extremely poorly taken penalty (not very well struck, decent height and fairly central) but it’s not like they really pushed us.

It’s November now, and it really strikes me that even at this stage that Billy Davies isn’t sure what the best team is. That’s because we’ve never really had a fully fit squad for him to choose from. Never mind the best team but which best system to play. The 4-3-2-1 was favoured early on at times last season, whilst occasionally reverted to the 4-1-2-1-2 diamond formation we implement quite often.
So it was a frustrating game, but there is more then immediately meets the eye. My opinion, different from one or two other blogs is that we were unlucky to end up losing. It’s easy to look at things in terms of goal scoring opportunities, and Blackpool did have clearer ones, but they also looked less likely to score for periods of the game.

What was annoying was the way the striker’s role ended up being. You’d think with a big man up front he’d act more as a target man, especially with the set up of two wide men. The initial view would be that the Henderson would be the huge aerial threat from crosses from Abdoun and Mackie. In reality he was an increasingly deserted figure up front. Lansbury not getting forward as much as Majewski in the free role to play more behind the front line. Instead you see your target man often dropping deep to look for the ball. This isn’t what he was therefore. Unless his role was somehow to act as a role to gets the ball in to wide men cutting inside, but with Mackie on the right that is not likely. He’d need to be on his wrong wing to be cutting in side.

Is it the midfield the battle is being lost? Well some times. The strikers though and the midfield have a disconnect. The ball goes u the pitch and comes back when it is lost. Possession not being retained and the defence come under attack again. Chalobah was meant to seal that plug but he’s not working. Whether he prefers a different role, or as many say, he just isn’t bothered and knows what ever happens ultimately his success doesn’t rely on Forest succeeding.

But it’s more the manner against Bournemouth and Blackpool in consecutive home games we have conceded late goals to cost points. Is this complacency, or a lack of concentration, or just luck? Well that’s for Billy Davies to look into.

Everyones an Expert

Following the last couple of subpar results, and forgetting the fact we are in the top 6 and going along quite nicely, it appears everyone this week is a better expert than the actual management on the club about what best to do.

This has varied from people deciding who is any good, what formation we should play and right down to who we should or should not sign.

This is all natural of course; this has been the same with football forever. Why else do we go, why else do programmes like MOTD exist? It’s to discuss where things go right and wrong and to assess the bigger picture. Journalists make a career of it. Ex players try their hand at punditry. We in the stands all like to think know what best to do. I welcome I applaud it and I know its part of the game.
Where it starts to get me is in the modern era of Social media. Whereas people vocalising one opinion in a wide sea of voices disappeared, there are some on these platforms who think, maybe rightly, that their voice is louder.

Whereas usually with these things you talk with your friends on these subjects you know their opinions, in the deep ocean of social media your exposed to all sorts of crack pot ideas (which I have in the past openly laughed at and mocked) Maybe it is a rich tapestry of life, but it’s when things haven’t quite gone right that it annoys me. Everyone with an opinion that is gospel.

But what really I find odd and the advent of social media has helped this is directly broaching these subjects with the stake holders. I.e. telling Fawaz in a tweet who you believe he should sign. This is frankly ridiculous. Yeah the club are going to listen to random bloke on Twitter ahead of all the scouts and staff they employ, Fawaz will go above the head of Billy and sign someone that Joe King from Hucknall thinks would be a top addition.

I’m as guilty as some at times for perhaps lambasting people I think with an opinion different from mine. People are entitled to opinions, but again where I draw the line where I think people are stopping stressing an opinion and just outright talking utter rubbish.

For instance, those people writing off the season already despite being in a perfectly good position. Of course these are the ones that are never happy. The first to defend their right to boo, or deride players, because it’s a cathartic process for many or simply because they do believe we should be doing better.

And maybe we should, but that doesn’t make you an expert. People who deride the managers decisions make me laugh, you aren’t paid to do his job. You can perhaps comment or whatnot but this guys the most successful Forest manager since Frank Clark. Thats quite a stretch of time.

The Guardian Hit Back

The Guardian through an article by David Conn have hit back at Forest this week. With an ongoing spat between the club and the Newspaper, following Daniel Taylors supposed incorrect use of press passes, the Guardian were banned from the City Ground. Taylor followed this with a piece that largely pointed the finger of blame at Jim Price.

Well now the Guardian has now followed up by basically suggesting that Jim Price, who is rapidly becoming the infamous Jim Price, would not pass the fit an able person test to be a director of a club. This is following his suspension from law following the collapse of the Scottish law Firm Ross Harper.Now that’s as maybe, by the letter of the law then therefore he wouldn’t be allowed to be a director that much is apparent. But the thing is he is not a director but an advisor. Now this is possibly a mere technicality of his job title, but the fact remains he is not a director.

Therefore it doesn’t directly apply to him.

Now maybe the lines blur and there are a great many shades of grey here, the role he plays s very much a middle man between Fawaz and the various parties they negotiate with. He isn’t the money man, and it’s not as if he’s a Munto Finance esque character, or any other of the various nefarious characters to infest football in the past. He’s just a mid management guy.

He plays active roles in negotiations and has enough jurisdictions within the club to apparently have signed contracts on behalf of Nottingham Forest, but at the end of the day what does it matter?

Ok people will point out the Ross Harper's demise and suspension as being factors which should have us worried. The practices that allegedly occurred there aren’t really directly related to his Forest role. The main element of this report just seems to be muck raking by (much respected) reporters and a Newspaper reacting to its slight.

Which is laughable. We aren’t going to sell a lot of papers for the Guardian. We aren’t big news. The world cares about the Premier League and the Championship is pretty much a side show, so why the Guardian should be doing this? Well for one maybe they do actually have grievances and want to bring up that that all isn’t glorious at the head of Forest. Coupled with the post match press conference in which Billy Davies alluded to and was angry with the “carry on Kuwait” headlines and wouldn’t answer some questions, one asks why the club would put this out on their official YouTube channel. Well probably because it can and does now, as practice, but also in part so fans can see that post match the journo’s all wanted to ask off the pitch questions. The "Carry On Kuwait" thing of course refers back to a sub heading that came from Daniel Taylor in an Observer column where he was pretty much suggested the whole Fawaz – Billy thing was doomed, Davies was a “belligerent” presence and that we should watch this one closely”. Essentially it’s this kind of thing that is being punished by Forest and now the Guardian are playing a tit for tat game of trying to point out why they are in the right.

Again neither side is looking exceptionally good in all of this, but with Forest beating Derby on Sunday and potentially with another win tonight’s it’s just badly timed as Forest look set to be flying high again.
Maybe it has been said, but watch this one closely.

The Guardian Ban and Ongoing Media Relations

Well it’s not new news and I’m sure everyone has seen that this news has been revealed by guardian/Observer correspondent and Forest fan Daniel Taylor. It’s based on the fact that Taylor apparently wanted free tickets to the game on a Press Pass but as he wasn’t reporting on that game wasn’t allowed one.

Now this is where a lot of debate begins, and I didn’t want to wade in, but hey ho, it’s a slow news day. On the one hand I can see some fans view that why should journalists essentially turn up to watch a game for free. Furthermore essentially as a means to watch his own team. Taylor cites that as part of his job and for his profession watching a lot of football is necessary, and that is something I can certainly see.

However, when it’s to watch the team you follow things might seem a bit murky. It’s on the surface an abuse of a perfectly good system. That said I’m sure x amount of other club won’t mind, and at the end of the day you’d want to foster a good spirit between a journalist who supports your team as he will always more inclined to report favourably.

Well yes and no. Taylor hasn’t always reported favourably on Davies, and Jim Price for that matter. He has commented on some of the previous debacles of the Fawaz regime (the Brighton credit card, George Boyd etc) but I regard this as good. If he weren’t a Forest fan these might not get mentioned at all in the national press or if they were handled by some less sympathetic, and although it’s negative it’s still nice to get national attention. Bear in mind that on discussing many a matter at the top levels of football Taylor will frequently refer back to a Forest context, this I have seen on more than one occasion (and I make no apologies for explaining I am, if anything though still rarely, a Guardian/Observer reader.

But then there is how the regime under Price deals with the media, which until now I didn’t see as overly bad, but now is getting silly. When it’s a provincial row between the local rag and the local radio, I didn’t worry, but if you start getting the Nationals attention for you act then this is only going to affect how the whole nation perceives your club.

Now ok, right now some of you are probably thinking “I don’t care” well that’s all well and good, but if we have aspirations of top level football with it will come more attention and scrutiny from the national media. Again you might not care, but think on the pressure that might develop if everyone’s concentrating on crazy Forest and what mad japes they got up to this week, and how that could negatively affect the whole vibe within the club. If the world of football is laughing at you, then if things aren’t going right, then there is ammo to be chucked. The feeling will translate to the stands, to the players, and essentially it affects the whole persona and representation of the club. What I’m trying to say is think Blackburn.

Now, it shouldn’t be that way. We got bad press last season, some of it warranted for various bad decisions and odd ball moments. The whole McLeish era (and era feels an odd word to use for such a brief period) is basically pretty much the period I’m referring to, but also the not very well timed dismissal of O’Driscoll, the culling en masse of back room staff, this wasn’t well handled, and so the media represented it as such.

Now the club seem to be trying to punish the media for publishing negative news. I sort of get the angle they may have taken, that they think well top stop all this negative attention we’ll just cut off the head of the snake to avoid it. But that is so incredibly naive and short sighted as to be ridiculous. What the hell do they think the media will do instead, go meekly into the night with their tails between their legs? Of course not, it will in fact create a worse impression and create worse press. This is from a Forest fan in Daniel Taylor, what if he wasn’t a fan of the club, think of the negativity then? Ok Taylor had good links with the past regime which were largely culled, but he still would want the best for the club. He can’t enjoy painting us in a bad light as much as some Twitter trolls would have you believe otherwise.

I’m not going to quite go on a Vital-esque crusade of “truth” against Jim Price. I find that angle frankly ridiculous and unhealthy. I just want the club to realise the path it’s chosen in alienating and shunning the media is a ridiculously bad decision. A lot of people are saying well we can control that now with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, we can put our own content out and not worry about the national media, it’s obsolete, but that’s again ridiculously short sighted. We don’t want some kind of nightmare world where only good press is published. Does this mean that us bloggers have to worry about having season tickets removed for writing bad things? How far would it go to an Orwellian nightmare? That’s a long stretch to go to, but it almost does feel like Price and Davies have the “Thought Police” out, and will ban anyone who dare publish anything anti club.

Again, I’m not anti Davies and Price, I’m just disappointed with the methods being taken by them in handling media affairs. What they have done has turned this club round into challengers, with Fawaz’s cash, and with Davies managing, Price clearly has done well in the transfer market, so I can’t criticise that side, but what I don’t like is trying to control a media profile of the club through careful manipulation of who it allows in. It’s a dangerous game. And one that doesn’t need playing at all. It just seems they think they are being immensely clever whilst actually very stupid.

5 Things We Learnt This Summer

1. The Chris Gunter money goes a long way
the old fallacy that all the money that the al-Hasawi’s were using was simply the remnants of the Chris Gunter loan money and a lot of creative accounting seems to have finally been smashed. This summer we made largely actual signings, and the one long term is a means to an end on a permanent deal, but avoiding paying a fee.

2. Players are not always honest
A little bit harsh as Guedioura wasn’t ever really lying, as no-on ever asked the question, but after all the palaver about #nffcfamily and how he loves Forest the first sign of a Premiership club sniffing round him and he was in his car faster than you can say, well, Guedioura. So for me all the love he proffered feels a little cheapened, but I’ll still always have a high regard, at least he went for a higher level of football and not a sideways move.

3. Billy Davies is as cantankerous as ever
And that’s not a criticism by any stretch, but his time off hasn’t dimmed his ways. The media blackout, though maybe not solely his call, must have had his say in there somewhere, his recent reprimand by the FA for confronting the ref post Wigan match. These things point to the fact he is still a fiery little bugger.

4. Transfer Window Closures Under the al-Hasawi's are Eventful.
If it’s not George Boyd and his eyes, it will he won’t he Guedioura transfers and the 3 offers in place for people. In the past Forest fans could put their feet up on deadline day and rest at the rest of football as they all scrambled, in the knowledge we’d be doing no business, nor would we look like it. At least now when we do no business it’s dramatic and gets us talking.

5. If all else fails, sponsor yourself.
An ingenious approach to life by Fawaz after not getting sponsorship in the summer was simply deciding that he’d put his own Air Conditioning company on the front of the shirt. A company so well known and loved that before the announcement, its Facebook page had 200 odd likes. Hardly a super power of business. It is admittedly only up to 343 likes on Facebook, but that’s an increase in Facebook traffic of nearly 60%. So imagine for the corporate website! Fawaz is clearly a genius, rather than simply using a means to get round FFP by using his own company to sponsor his own football team.

Media Relations Disintegrate

In a new turn of the battle between club and media, the Post have gone live with an article today that talks about how Forest have now decided on a complete media blackout. No interviews, no post match reactions, no pre game build up interviews.

The Post in an article that is meant to be revealing though, just write it in a manner that is more than ever so bitter. They say “No post-match reaction on Radio Nottingham, no player reaction in the Post, either online on in Monday's newspaper.” But just remember that Radio Nottingham have started using Paul Taylor recently in its coverage. Relations between those two are good.

I tend to think that the club can do as it pleases. But that it should as part of its club – fan relations should at least entertain the local media’s overtures to providing staff for PR. However, they have no obligation, other than the stipulated pre and post match press conferences. They are set down in stone by the League. But for the rest, well media access is a privilege, not enshrined in stone.

However, the post write such a one sided piece on this suggesting that basically in ignoring a paper that is regularly out of touch, and has in the past been critical of Davies, suggests it’s the fans the club is letting down.

It forgets the majority of fans have access to the internet, which Forest have finally started to realise the potential of, utilising YouTube for club fan communications.

Why have the Post done this? Because for circulation they rely on Forest, whether for sales or to click links. If they aren’t getting Forest news then they aren’t selling papers to Forest fans. So they need to suggest the club is almost making an evil play.

The Post clearly points the finger at Price, who is becoming a divisive figure. That divide isn’t 50/50 though. As long as the club do well, the majority of fans don’t care, save for Vital who are on a bizarre rampage of “truth” about which no-one cares.

But why have Forest have done this? Well, you already have to see what Radio Nottingham did this week. The club have clearly decided that all media is going to be shunned. And for me it’s not a huge surprise, when you consider the generally bad press that was being chucked around in February.

I’m not excusing the club though; it is quite a petulant response. Throwing the toys out of the pram, but to be honest they hold the power here. They hold what the media wants in the interviews and access. In not providing that, it severely restricts what might or might not get out, especially if you consider if you believe Twitter just how many leaks there must be at Forest.

It could backfire though. Without those column inches being filled by articles related to players and suchlike, the Post will have to fill them somehow, and it has already started to do so by the article in question. It will be merely a first of many.

What I really dislike is the Posts angle on it though that the club are letting the fans down. I don’t agree there at all. Not in the modern era where newspapers are a dying breed. The Post has had a revamp, as many local papers have done, and all because they are struggling.

Is this a game of cat and mouse? Undoubtedly. Both know that the Post without decent Forest news won’t get revenue. Both will know the struggles of local papers. The club really would do well to keep the Post on side and use them more wisely. But their attempts to do this are fairly extreme. Their attempts to control what is in the media, well it’s slightly clandestine to be honest.

The Post will contend that this is all Forest, and can’t understand why the club would make this move. They point out “Since Davies – and Price – returned, the paper has been nothing but supportive.” Making out that they are the innocent party, but neither side is.

But remember these words the Post printed back in 2011 “But the simple fact is, Nottingham Forest had to Part Company with the outspoken Scotsman. They had no choice at all... His position had become entirely, emphatically untenable.”

That’s not supportive in the slightest, and makes no mistake Davies will remember such lines and have taken note. Now yes a different time and a different era, but would you maintain good relations with a paper that revelled in your dismissal?

To be honest both sides are in the wrong. Forest should use the media, and the Post shouldn’t take its access to the club as a right. I’m not saying what we get is a sense of propaganda to be fed, but you can understand with all the negative press coverage in the past year why they might do this. They clearly think new Media is the way forward. Hence the al-Jazeera deal. But in the mean time they need to remember traditional forms of communication are still used. And they clearly forget that now the Post are embittered towards Forest.

The Team That Doesn't Know When It's Beat

Two games in a week where being behind at 90 minutes means nothing. This team will play till that final whistle and it is bringing us the chance of success. Whereas in the past we may have licked our wounds and whimpered about losing, they knuckle down and eked out a point in both games, which were both tricky propositions before we even kicked a ball.


And seeing as the rest of the Championship all seem like they don’t want to be promoted, tripping over each other and themselves in the run in, these 2 points although we could have hoped for more, may seem huge in the great scheme of things. Palace are way off form, Leicester seem to have imploded, and so what should have been us slipping in and out the playoffs (in reality with where we were 1 month ago, we should really be chasing the pack rather than being the pack) we sit in there with a bit of leeway.

It’s with strange emotions I review this weekend’s football. On the one hand the sheer elation that we got that point against Brighton, and the utter gift that it was, is coupled with the fact that we simply shouldn’t have been behind in a game we were the better team for in large portions.

That said I think any fan with any sense saw this for the dangerous tie it could be. The Seagulls may have recently had their wings clipped, but they have been near the top of the table all season for a reason, have a good manager, and have signed some extremely good players. The likes of Bridge and Upson have played at the very highest level so Brighton are no mugs.

Despite that, we could and should have been ahead at half time. Reid deciding to clip an effort to the back post rather than put his laces through it and let it go. It’d have had a better chance of going in, least of all ricochet to another player moving in to score.

Majewski for me though never got going and I just hope my worst worries and theories about him only being to play well in month long bursts isn’t coming true. McGugan looked far more likely to make something happen, as he ultimately did, to equalise after we fell behind. That goal was kind of contentious. The goal resulted from a corner which resulted from a free kick that was questionable. Therefore a bit of a moan, but it was one of those things. How long after anything happens in a game is the previous passage of play responsible. To use that argument you could go back any distance in any game.

There has been the flash point that had seen Lua Lua “raise” his hands, although how high you have to raise them appears to be the issue. There are a number who after seeing the incident later on TV decided that it probably didn’t deserve a red but for me once you motion aggressively towards another player you lose many of the rights to argue your case. Be it a motion with the head or use your body to charge them, if this is in a scuffle similar to what developed you run the risk of a red for sure. I do contend that sending him off might have made this a less enthralling contest but I also think it speaks volumes that he was then removed by his manager at half time, and forget any other excuse; it was to pull him out of any further confrontation.

Of course Ulloa would score, but for us to get back into it illustrated this team’s resolve. McGugan down the right flank, firing in powerfully but that took a deflection to take past Ankergram who seemed extremely annoyed with himself after the goal. At this stage we could have gone on and won it, but instead we let our guard down and Buckley gave them the lead back. I genuinely at this point couldn’t see us getting anything. Battling back to draw level as it was had took its toll and surely the emotion of going back behind would see spirits drop. Well maybe in the past but now, although it was a tame goal when it came, we just keep going. I’m sure by now we all have seen it that equalising goal, Lansbury’s effort was weak and straight at the keeper, to the point I sat down when he shot, thinking it saved, and so I didn’t see the keeper spill it till the roars came. Thank god for the new big screens.

2 days later we again very late on salvaged a point when all looked lost and again from the midfield. I didn’t see the game, and had to work so didn’t hear much of it either, so my analysis will be fairly weak. I will say this, McGugan took a brave penalty and to be honest you know McGugan will back himself every time in that situation. We might not always agree with him, and often he might fail, but he is on a crest of a wave right now, and so it continues. The midfield goals save us again.

What had been discussed before and during the game was our previously bad record at Turf Moor, especially scoring goals, so as well as getting a point, even scoring is a mild victory. What a difference a manager makes though. Under McLeish and probably O’Driscoll I doubt we’d have got a point in either game. We’d have wilted. Under Davies there is a tenacity to keep going until every clichéd and proverbial analogy can be made about the very end. They will always try. And it’s that tenacity that looks increasingly likely to be rewarded with a playoff spot. This isn’t down to just skill, ability, and luck. They all play a part, but if we we weren’t trying till the death and playing it seem’s for Billy, those characteristics wouldn’t matter a jot. We’d still have lost. But to keep going, to keep trying, even when for 96 minutes it hasn’t been happening, there is clearly something more to the team and squad right now than the traditional qualities. They demand to succeed. They won’t be beaten. And it’s this zeal and passion which is that difference a manager can make.

I’ve recently started reading the Secret Footballer, and he speaks about the manager can make that difference. For one guy they might not try as hard, or put that extra yard in to make something happen. It is clear Davies gets them to do that. Perhaps more than any other manager right now up there is getting. Because to see the way the other teams are slipping whilst we charge into the playoffs makes you wonder how far skill and ability has taken them and how much passion and desire and that grit needed has deserted them. Make no mistake, I remember the days previously under Davies where we would have the January February drop in form, so it’s clear he can’t keep it firing the whole season, no manager can, but for what we needed and at the time, he was the shot in the arm we needed between going for broke and wilting and fading. Mowbray doesn’t seem to have it, Pearson doesn’t either. Warnock probably does but that is where the luck and skill part also play their part, his Leeds team is just not good enough. Had Leicester or Boro had Warnock I doubt you’d have seen them fade away completely. Because when most have played their cards, or put it is all season, when it came to the vital parts of the season they were left wanting. We aren’t.

Access All Area's : Propaganda Tool?

Ok the nature of this piece is going to be a critique and a moan if you will, but first off I do appreciate the new openness of the club, and inviting in the cameras and Natalie Jackson to talk candidly about the club and peoples desires for the club and where to take it.


That said it does merely smack of spin. That since the great falling out in January and February and the calling into question of Fawaz ownership of the club this has been a big PR exercise to mend a few fences and rebuild a nice big bridge.

First off the whole spiel about this being an access all areas expose and insight into how the club is run is a little over the top on bravado. We didn’t’ see anymore than most other clubs would expose and any manager worth his salt will be putting in similar methods as Billy does. That I guess or employ a lot more people to assist in it.

The pains they went to show that Billy does love the academy, and that he goes to games and is trying to involve on the hand does dispel the rumours he was always against it, and that is good to see, but again it’s like we are going too far the other way to trying to prove it.

What we just had was the interview at Fawaz house. Now don’t get me wrong he said all the right things, but he was hardly going to get tripped or tricked into saying the wrong thing by Natalie Jackson. It’s not an uncommon rumour that Fawaz looked at Everton first and in that regard his whole I always loved Forest thing he sort of said (Ok he said Clough) was a bit farfetched. On the same hand if you’re paying (presumably the BBC didn’t spend our license fee on this) for a journalist to go to Kuwait and stay there, you’d sort of want control of the script. Because it was, those questions clearly would have been vetted with only a little artistic license for expanding on points.

The attempts to illustrate how rich Fawaz was though were a little disconcerting. Look at my warehouse full of (at least all of which red) cars, some of which worth vast sums. Look at my palatial manor, with the interview being done in front of suitably cool football wallpaper motif (not an obvious crass image, but still retro and suited enough to be regarded as kooky)

Yeah ok, I think the whole manner which this was tackled bothered me and like many fans I should just lap it up, but it just seemed like a political broadcast on behalf of Fawaz, bought to you by the one journalist Billy knows dares not write anything bad about him so as to not to lose her favoured position to get all his exposes.

I don’t think we needed that last part. I thing genuinely show the training and the efforts put into games but the last part really cemented it to me as basically Forest manipulating the BBC into showing the happy warm side of the arrangement. Get Fawaz to admit errors, look a bit furrow browed, but then make sure you say all the right things about the future.

I am firmly behind this regime at the club. I doubted Billy, and I did briefly doubt Fawaz, though I was never one of the great many people in January and February who decided he was poison (I saw one fan say he’s the worst thing ever happened to Forest, and had a bit of argument with another who ranted about how we’d been bought by the wrong group and should have waited, we couldn’t) But I don’t think we need saccharin piece on how the club is all together.

A number of people lap it up completely. Most I know seem to take some of it with a pinch of salt. I.e. we are only seeing what the club want us to see. But it did feel like a mini version of the much derided “Being Liverpool”

It clearly illustrates a new direction in terms of PR and media relations at the club following all the sackings; maybe it’s a good thing that there is clearly new openness. But there’s a line I think we sailed too far over. We don’t need illustrations of how wealthy Fawaz is; I simply don’t see the need. I haven’t seen other chairman doing this, and there is always a case of them trying a little too hard to prove this begs the question, why is there the need?

This new direction of utilising the media although clever is also firing a little off target. Any key element for me would be at least a little more self effacing, and Natalie Jackson is hardly the greatest journalist to ever forge a career. There are more capable people out there who could do that better job, but clearly aren’t the favoured choice of Billy, just look at the lack of Radio Nottingham pieces.

I am not trying to be over critical here before people suggest an unprovoked attack on the club. I am not that guy. It’s just a comment on how the facts and to a degree fan opinion is being moulded and manipulated in a very clever PR ruse. January and February have largely been forgotten now. Those question marks and frustrations forgotten and it’s not largely been down to spin, no it’s been down to success on the pitch.

Settled Midfield Reaps Benefits

At the start of this season we signed a glut of midfielders. Considering we were already quite blessed in this position it seemed a strange one. Already in possession of Majewski, McGugan, Moussi, Greening, Reid and Cohen in the midfield we added Gillett, Coppinger, Lansbury, Guedioura, and since the summer McLaughlin.

Lansbury has been able to settle in team under Davies

It led some wags to choose a XI of just midfielders. But what it also led to was a lot of chopping and changing, some of it enforced, some of it for the sake of it to use them all. This led to a very unbalanced side and players badly out of form. Guedioura looked a shell of the player he was last year, Lansbury never settled, McGugan and Majewski seemed peripheral and unneeded.

Fast forward to now and a lots changed there. Instead of the tinkering, there is consistency, and as a result the team is winning.

We started the season with an element of consistency. The same midfield 4 was frequently used right up till we lost a couple against Leeds and some lot called Derby. We went with Gillett, Guedioura, McGugan and Reid. This consistency as I say was partially enforced, Lansbury and Cohen both injured at this stage. The last game of this run of the midfield saw Guedioura get sent off against Palace and so the chopping and changing began, and the form faltered.

If you look from the end of November up to and including the Watford game, a run which many wanted SoD to be sacked during, the form was inconsistent, with horrible defeats, but also quite good results it would look now (0-0 at Brighton doesn’t look bad) Gillett started in that run, but didn’t finish, Moussi taking over, Guedioura and Cohen were used in a majority of games but would be dropped (and sometimes bought on at half time) and Lansbury and McGugan switched in and out the team. Coppinger played a couple of times. In fact the prevalence of early substitutions does smack a little of a manager trying to tinker to get things right, and although now we look fondly back at O’Driscoll period on charge, there were glaring inconsistencies. I for one think we would have got it right, but it was a case of trying to juggle too many balls.

Radi blossoming in new role

The problem is there no –one gets a consistent run of form and it told. When McLeish came in he had a midfield which was largely out of form, he didn’t know his best side, and besides, a midfield is superfluous in a McLeish team as the ball gets humped over them (I again implore you to seek out Aliaksander Hleb’s quotes on this from his spell at Birmingham)

So how was it Billy was instantly able to galvanise this midfield into one that is a constant, in form, and above all free scoring. Well he seemed to decide on a different set of personnel and although in the familiar 1-3 layout, with one deep the other attacking, gave a certain artistic license to Majewski, who revels in such a role. Lansbury gets to be the box to box midfielder, and Guedioura gets treated more a quarter back to control the play. Gillett played this role before but with the quarter back element. Instead of long balls forward, he was more like a rugby scrum half, getting the ball and passing sideways. Guedioura's range of passing far outstrips Gillett’s, and though both don’t shirk the physical side of the game, Guedi is bigger and stronger, and can shrug off challenges.

We have also now settled on a formation. O’Driscoll by and large used the 4-1-3-2 at home but was prone to adjusting to a 4-2-3-1 formation, which didn’t work. Indeed when we altered to this against Wolves for a while we struggled to control the game. The sole forward with less support struggles to maintain possession. Additionally, having the 2 men sitting deeper means we don’t attack in the same force. I am also acutely aware I supported this formation saying many modern teams play it. They do, but that’s in the Premier League.

Whether it was a case of SoD trying to keep people fresh, and that he did have knocks to contend with we will never properly know. But we were doing better before he kept trying to adjust the midfield, and the formation. Billy has faithfully stuck to his 4-1-3-2 and it’s paying dividends. He hasn’t tried to evolve the game to involve more width; he sees what we have and is making the best of it. Players like greening and Moussi are kept involved, but are not integral. The only usual change is to see McGugan come into the fray for whoever looks like they need removing. And he is a great foil to be able to bring on.

I guess the challenge becomes when a result or two goes against us, and maybe then chopping and changing might be seen. When you’re in a great run you don’t makes too many changes, except in our case when the strikers just aren’t firing. I keep seeing people suggest involving more width, or that we should change the structure, but why the hell do anything when the team doesn’t changing? People seem to want to tinker for the sake of it, and what we illustrated above shows that doesn’t work. I think as said before that too many people play Football Manager and think because what happens in a fictional cyber world will play out exactly in reality. It doesn’t work like that.

It’d be interesting to see what happens if Guedioura got injured, would Davies favour this system with either Moussi or Gillett, would he reshuffle to a 4-4-2, a flatter formation with Reid wide or Lansbury on the right? All conjecture. Why change what’s working unless we have to? Consistency. It is the watchword of the day for me, and it shows how obviously it is needed.

Guedi the new DM

Whisper It No Longer, Promotion is a Real Possibility

Although I looked at the issue before and made certain projections and guesses about what we would need for promotion, I have tried to remain somewhat calmer on the issue than deciding that we are on the up. With some very dangerous fixtures coming up there were plenty of pitfalls and traps to stop our bid to reach the playoffs.


Well, things change. Not only have we overcome a very tricky fixture that I had factored at best as a draw, and a potential defeat, but the possibility of surpassing even the playoff aim remains very real. Not just real, but also within our grasp.

I scoffed not long ago at people suggesting we could make it. With 10 games left we’d need 31 points to reach the average points tally for promotion, and would need to win 8 games to reach the lowest over the last few years. But this year’s championship is a strange beast. Compare the points range to League One for instance and it is frankly scary. Anyone below 9th is embroiled in a relegation scrap. Above and it’s all open save for Cardiff moving clear at the top. 15 points spate the playoffs from relegation give or take. Derby in 9th would be the mire had they not beaten Leicester hovering 2 points above the drop in around 19th. The lower mid table is that tight. In League 1 the range is more like 30 points between playoffs and relegation.

What that suggests is 1, how tight the league really is, and 2 that such a thin spread of points means that the points needed to go up, might drop accordingly. Everyone seems so keen to slip up that it leaves the race wide open.

And now following that away win at Hull it is on. The race is open, and we’re driving a big tree shaped object right into that gap. I haven’t looked at the odds but over the last few weeks our odds must have tumbled quite dramatically. We still remain an outside by position and by our fixtures. But that forgets the momentum we have built.

Unfortunately the international break may well scupper that. Some are saying it will be a rest and a break to reinvigorate forgetting that we have our fair share of internationals that will be off representing their various nationalities. It’s only a break if you aren’t playing, and Guedioura, Cox, Lansbury and Majewski, all pivotal players in recent weeks will be off with their nationalities. I’ve tried to find out if Jara is away with Chile but the squad lists I found aren’t conclusive. But that’s an integral core of the squad who won’t be getting rests or having their feet up as many seem to think the international break is for, but instead will be busy.

Davies had spoke about the players looking leggy, but bear in mind he hasn’t rotated people at all to counteract that in the midfield or defence. Up front has seen various changes to combat injury, illness or specific targets the team wants. Bear in mind the one position struggling to hit the high levels expected is the one where we have been rotating. The strikers have struggled to net a lot, whilst the settled midfield went on a free scoring run of form. The defence have looked more secure. So the notion they need a rest for looking leggy is already looking slightly misplaced. The midfield was rotated earlier this season and didn’t reap the rewards of a settled structure and personnel.

The win against Hull has firmly established our credentials as promotion chasers, even for Claridge and Manish Bhasin to contend we are in there. Not just because of our form, but the fact the rest of the contenders seem intent on not going up. Watford, Leicester, Middlesbrough, Palace have all gone onto dodgy form, Brighton wavered until yesterday and we know about Hull. So not only are we hitting form, but everyone else is losing theirs.

The win on Saturday may well have been a backs to the wall job late on, and Bruce may rightfully claim they could and should have got more out of it, but you have to score those chances you get which Hull didn’t. It was always going to happen that Boyd scored for Hull after the whole Eye-gate thing at the end of January, but that episode bought about where we are today indirectly. And under McLeish we would have wilted. Instead we buckled down, got a goal through big Darius, and then snuck a winner and battled to a win clearing off the line in the last moments after McGugans goal. Radio Nottingham spoke of a slice of luck, and that occasionally you need to utilise it, and we surely did that on Saturday.

We could easily have only taken a point from that, and I think many would have been content with that, but as the wins continue to come so does the level of expectation rise, and I hope that doesn’t lead to pressure implosion we sometimes see with Forest, usually in the playoffs. We’ve played with the pressure firmly off of late. And we have reaped the rewards. The pressure will be on in a new way soon. And now we have to manage that. The fairweathers who demand wins for the few games they go to, as they only come out when we’re winning will be out in their droves. We just need make sure these legacies of the past; of imploding when the pressure and focus comes back to us doesn’t happen again. Maybe that’s why an under the radar, unheralded run has helped. No-one really saw us as contenders. Now they do, and so do we.

Forest In the Playoff Zone After Wolves Win

So we have a playoff berth. And now the battle becomes retaining that spot. It’s a battle that Middlesbrough and Leicester seem to be intent on losing, as their seasons continue to implode. Indeed, most of the top 6 apart from now Forest seemed intent at the weekend to throw away promotion.


I have no doubt over the next 2 months we will fall out, climb back into and yo-yo between being in the top 6 and out of. It all becomes crucial to remain in there come May. To be able to rob Leicester of it could be all the sweeter.

Wolves, although fighting relegation were not a bad side, and I echo what Dean Saunders said about the fact they easily could have got something out of it. What puzzles me is how a Championship team can leave Kevin Doyle and Steven Hunt on the bench in a struggle. These are quality players they don’t seem to be using, and I can only assume due to financial reasons with something like appearance related fees or contractual obligations. But it is bizarre to see quality players on the bench of a team struggling.

That said we took our chances and in a Boxing analogy probably took it on points. But when Wolves equalised it could easily have gone the other way. And as I have said repeatedly, under McLeish I have no doubt we would have crumbled, with self belief all but shot. Now we go up the other end and hit them right back.

It is also interesting that the midfield have suddenly become some free scoring, and again I have written at length about the new midfield set up and its allowing of a bit more creative freedom. And it is reaping rewards. Lansbury and Majewski are free scoring, McGugan also chipping in when he comes on. But the goals are also often lovely sweeping team moves, combinations of good play being finished well. Lansbury’s first goal was an example of this, many passes working together before Lansbury finished low into the corner from the edge of the area.

Wolves equaliser had its element of controversy about it. The corner they scored from came via a free kick awarded, although rightly for a foul, after the ref played an advantage which seemed to have passed to another passage of play before being pulled back. Now I’ve seen it a few times lately so maybe it’s a new directive, but there’s no way that play should have still been pulled back. Allowing an advantage is all well and good, but how long do you allow it to go on? Of course it depends on the passage of play, but to pull it back when he did was in my opinion wrong. And it resulted in a goal. Had we missed the playoffs by a point, well then this sort of thing adds up.

Anyway we needn’t have worried as we were back in front within 2 mins, with Lansbury finishing beautifully from outside the area. It’s been refreshing to see players rejuvenated under Davies, and Lansbury is a prime example. There were rumours of him being moved on under McLeish, but Davies seems to be able to motivate creative midfielders like no-one else.

The third goal was a wonderful but ever so typical McGugan goal, just a very well struck shot into the top corner from around 20 yards. Wolves at this stage were down to 10 men, when Ward felled Halford as last man and was given his marching orders.

And a word on Halford, playing up front for the first time for Forest, but a role he’s played in regularly elsewhere. His introduction up the field helped restructure Forest. We started well with 2 strikes, but when Dexter came off and we put a midfielder on it invited Wolves onto us too much. We need that balance of two up front to maintain possession up the field, as too often we simply didn’t have the bodies up front, Wolves could push forward and they looked good in that system. Halford coming on up front enabled us to keep the ball away from our own half and move forward. Halford being good in the air was able to win possession, as well as another good Cox performance with no goals. The lack of goals would be a worry, but Cox team contribution has been strong so in that regard it’s not. The goals will come again soon for the Irish international though. He still gets in the right positions and it’s not as if he’s playing badly.

So all in all another good day by the Trent that see’s us pop up in the playoff zone. The next 9 games will be huge, but what is happening now is Billy Davies is merely cementing himself as a club legend. If we stay in the top 6, anything beyond that really is a bonus, because of where we were at the start of February. Those McLeish days seem a life time ago.

In Praise of George Boyd's Eyes

Now maybe fate gave us a good hand here, maybe it was all part of a plan, but had George Boyd not failed his eye test, maybe Alex McLeish may not have walked so readily. We discussed and explored before the possibility that all of this was a cunning elaborate scheme of Fawaz to scurry his way out of a costly sacking of McLeish after soon realising it as a horrendous mistake. But due to the slightly bizarre weaselling out of the Boyd deal, we have ended up in such a positive happy position that on that fateful deadline Day seemed a million miles away.

Boyd in his Forest days

The divisive atmosphere at the time was quite poisonous with many fans angry we didn’t sign a player most never wanted anyway. I remind you all that the same players we had before then are now making the need for a deal for Burke or Boyd look completely negligible. McLeish targeted the midfield as an area he needed to improve, that same midfield is now, admittedly only for 3 games or so, now ripping it up in the Championship. Yes I am getting carried away, and I don’t hide my shame in doing so.

Lansbury, Majewski, or perhaps Reid would have made way for Boyd to have to be included. Extra completion may have stifled some performance in that regard. It may have made Lansbury shrink into shell even more. Perhaps it instilled a backs against the wall mentality that a lot of the football world were decrying us for pulling out of a deal on wholly legitimate grounds.

But that day more than any made McLeish feel unwanted and in an untenable position, and save for wanting face his old demons at Birmingham, he’d have gone then and there. The team was in awful form, creativity stifled, and a general feeling of despair, coupled with Fawaz wielding his sweeping brush on all and sundry in his path.

That was all less than 4 weeks ago. People claimed we were doomed. Relegation was on the horizon, financial meltdown a possibility. A general feeling of doom and gloom. Now look at it. Playoffs discussed with increasingly seriousness, previously fringe players looking quality, and no need for any new attacking left footed midfielders who aren’t all that pacey. Precisely the opposite of Deadline Day. Even Peter Odemwingie got back on the field for West Brom, it seems like Deadline Day was a weird parallel universe not quite related to the current situation.

If, and I mean that loosely, as it was clearly the straw the broke the camel’s back, if it was George Boyd’s vision that freed us from the prospect of McLeish then I say whoever that eye doctor or optometrist or whatever he was, even if he was being told to make a dodgy report is a bloody genius. We may well have still been stuck with McLeish, and the players themselves have spoken how under Davies they have new belief, which makes you wonder what the hell Big ‘Eck was doing. Clearly he was doing something fundamentally wrong. Right now I would think we’d be 4 points worse off, putting us doing in 13th or so, but also without this good feeling, without this good form. Without the hope. Without A hope. Kudos to you, Eye Test Person. We may never know who you were, but you played an integral role in turning our season round.

Billy Is Our Saviour

Thanks again to forum member Nagash for the following graphic work (you can follow him on Twitter at @Nagash1337) with Billy being featured as our "Saviour" and the rest of the players his audience (including the al-Hasawi's)

How We Missed a Trick With Billy's Big Screen Video

Davies, before the big screen video, which I can't find any images from

I was mildly disappointed last night with one aspect of the whole match experience. It wasn’t the game, the goals, hell it wasn’t the fact we had the best performance in the John Pye Garibaldi Golden Goal Challenge yet (hard luck pal)

No, it was the fact that we didn’t follow-up Bolton’s experience with a new chapter in Billy’s Big Screen Adventures.

The Bolton game was built up by the pre game of Video of Billy giving s a rousing speech on his return, talking about his new found friendship with Fawaz and how he of course he had unfinished business. (#unfinishedbusiness)

We have missed a trick!! Why not repeat it this week, with Billy’s new thoughts after a few days.  He could tell us how trainings been going, or who he is advising and recommending this week to be signed.

Indeed, we could have themed weeks. He could don a mystic Meg wig and start giving his predictions on various matters. And in true Mystic Meg style he could have given us sneaky details on who will succeed this week.  “This week, the numbers 9 and 28 will be lucky, and the name McIntosh will be happy. Finally People from Glasgow will be celebrating”

Mystic Meg

In fact, what with Billy being far more newsworthy than Sean O’Driscoll, who’d have been rubbish on the big screen in this regard, mumbling about possession and pass completion rates, and not being nearly as famous as Billy, we could have weekly updates on what news Billy has been involved with. Whether it was East Midlands Airport bound flight updates, or Tommy Sheridan escapades, truth is life on the Billy Rollercoaster was always much more fun.  Why not even special guest appearances from his lawyer!!

We may as well get our money’s worth out of these new screens, and we all know Billy would love to be on them more often.

Cheers though Billy, it was rousing and it got the crowed going, and all joking aside it was good to see the old boy hasn’t changed.

We certainly have got Our Billy back