Double Injury KO For Reds

The news last night that Henri Lansbury would be out with 3 months with a horrendous sounding fractured lower back. It is understood he sustained the injury in the game versus Yeovil. It had me racking my brain thinking of exactly what and when he did. I can recall an early nasty looking coming together with their full back McAllister but this was right at the start of the game.

But that’s beside the point; the main thing is the huge loss that this represents as Lansbury has been integral to so much of what we have done right. The combination of him, Reid and Vaughan for me started to turn this season around, and without them, we may lack that bit of extra quality that could see us go up automatically. Considering we are already seeing fixture pile up. Extra pressure on those players remaining who may have seen rotation and resting could bring about a breaking point.

What it represents is extra pressure on the existing players, and also Billy and Fawaz to try and secure a player to fill in for the prolonged period of absence for Vaughan and Lansbury. Dorrans name has already appeared, as has Guedioura's. A few are even touting Jonathan Williams also from palace name around as they have announced they are looking into a loan for him as he won't get much playing time with Ledley's arrival at palace. Wes Hoolahan who has completely fallen out at Norwich and has promotion experience is another obvious potential target that said he's potentially in temperamental mood, but that does mean he has something to prove. He would be a player to get forward, and might not fir that deeper role, but at times like this in this injury crisis you have to look at what the best available options out there. Is he better than the alternatives already in place?

Moussi has shone again recently, and one has to think he will be stepping up to play more after looking earlier this year like his Forest career was all but over. Majewski will surely have a strong chance to claim a spot and see Reid drop deeper out of necessity. Any regular reader knows that I get extremely frustrated by Majewski, his lack of consistency being a major bugbear. Greening was on the bench against Preston and this might well occur a few more times. Whether it could mean playing time for a youngster coming through from the ranks is also a possibility. Osborne has appeared on the bench, but he's more of an attacking midfielder, David Morgan who always looked likeliest to break through for the past few years is on loan at Tamworth, and only making their bench. Jack Blake is a name mentioned before and he had a period with Mansfield on loan in October. So it makes the loan market look far more likely.

Lansbury will be back. In time for maybe the playoffs, as will Vaughan (and maybe Cohen) so it's not as if their seasons are over. It will take time for them to reintegrate and get back form when they do return. I'll be honest, both Vaughan and Lansbury's injuries are new ones to me, I have no idea of the long term impacts of whether they will be prone to such injuries again, or if it could have an impact on other areas of the body. With any injury for a period of time there is always risk of it flaring up in some other way. For now though, we just have to get through these next months without a major talisman for the team.

 

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

Resurgent Reds

Following the dual wins against Ipswich and Wednesday the renewed optimism and verve around the team is palpable. We face what could be a troublesome fixture against a struggling Wolves team on Saturday that could be a challenge as they scrap for survival, but the confidence that oozes from this team right now makes me doubt that. The Reds went to Sheffield, and beat Wednesday in a very convincing first half performance, and although by the end we were holding on a little, Wednesday didn’t really look like scoring. The same almost with a resolute Ipswich team. Hard to break down, but eventually we ground out the result.

The Owls get it completely wrong in the first half, and the two teams set ups saw Forest run rampant, and probably should have scored more than the now inevitable Majewski goal. It was a wonderful goal too, a great team move and unselfish play that led to Majewski having a comparatively easy slot home to put us one up and ultimately give us the three points.

The wonders of the current middle 3 being so interchangeable are that it makes them hard to mark as they can switch intermittently in their role. Though none are explicitly the central or the wide man, the set up sees Lansbury pull right and Majewski left, with Reid given space to play his passes to the two front men, with Guedioura coming in behind. But that’s simplifying it. They react to the pitch in front of them and pop up anywhere, making them very hard to defend. Certainly hard to man mark.

When Wednesday did get it right putting on a extra pacey wide man it forced us to adapt, to keep the midfielders in check to cover for the extra forwards and wide play, pulling Lansbury to help cover Jara, and Majewski to cover Cohen. Johnson meant that two pacey wide men were involved as well as Antonio, and between the two they created more forward play if not chances.

That said Darlow didn’t have a great deal to do, what he did he mostly did right, although his parry out at one point in second half could have caused a problem, the Reds always looked relatively comfortable. Even bringing on Lascelles to cover for Collins, though he could have given away a penalty for hand ball. There were a couple of calls for penalties for ball to hand type incidents and to be honest yes I have seen some of them given, but that doesn’t make them right.

A word on Collins, back in the side in Halford absence, he has become the easy man to dislike, in the way that Forest fans just have to have at least one unpopular player in the side. Gillett and Collins seemed to be archetypal of the loss of form in January/ February, and therefore have become the target of often quite unfair abuse. Collins of course was instrumental in the early season in settling down the defence in its infancy of being together, and yes he suffered a loss of form, but there's no need when he was announced in the team to be hyper critical and for some to even suggest they’d hoped he had played his last game for the club. And like it or not he is the club captain so was always going to get the arm band. For one he is a vocal contributor at the back. Too often people just think the longest serving player should be the captain, but that simply isn’t a great policy for choosing who should be the leader on the pitch. Davies is an expert at identifying his teams leaders, so if he stuck by Collins, and if he chose him to play, then get behind him,, Davies knows more than me or you, so if he thinks he should play, then play. Lascelles hasn’t played much competitive football this year, and is relatively inexperienced, to chuck him in there could well have been costly. And a few months at Stevenage don’t equate to experience before anyone tries to fire that one at me.

The Ipswich game was a tougher cookie to crack. That was until they decided to start getting themselves sent off. On an extremely misty night where from my Trent End seat the Bridgford End goal was quite often impossible to see clearly, the Reds eventually prevailed against 9 men Ipswich.

Ipswich had a call for penalty that some were adamant was in the box, following a foul I believe by Majewski. It was right on the border, and although their player fell in the box, the initial foul and contact was right on the edge. In my view the right call, I haven’t seen any replays though. Apparently the Sky Sports News reporter at the ground was adamant it was a penalty.

He was also adamant that martin shouldn’t have been sent off despite lashing out at Lansbury. Admittedly Lansbury did over react in going down, but it achieved the aim of getting Martin dismissed. He may or may not have gotten away with it had Henri not reacted. Basically had he stayed on feet the manager would not have been forced to act in the same way. That said Martin should have been booked for a challenge on Guedioura just before, which wasn’t even a free kick somehow.

And when the second red came for Stearman for what was a stupid yellow, it should have been easy. Ipswich though completely changed their team model to defend at all costs. The point which they’d have been pleased with was now all they could really hope for, and so they attempted to keep what they had. Credit to Mick McCarthy who has supported both decisions to a certain degree.

In that regard with a rigid rear guard to break down, and our incessant desire to pass the ball into the goal all night, the game required something different. Step forward Lewis McGugan. In a game with a packed defence we needed someone not afraid to take that shot on that might not be on. Guedioura aside, this time mostly shoot with clear opportunities. Majewski although scoring from range, is usually when he had space to compose, Lewis at his best doesn’t need much space, just that split second to see it’s on and it hit, like the goals from two years ago, often a shot out of nothing.

And with all that build up, a heavily deflected almost mis-hit left shot from McGugan won it. Leaving the keeper stranded, the ball went in. It should have been easily 3 points wrapped up. Go on and get a second whilst Ipswich have to come out of their shell a little. However we sat back and passed around in defence with minutes left. Indeed when 6 minutes went up I was almost fearing the worst. The old demons of not holding on, and giving up leads still haunt us. But it seems under Davies maybe they have been banished. Ipswich had chances, none clear cut, but chances. We simply tried to time waste despite a two man advantage rather than try to see the game out. Ipswich fans taunted this with cries of “we only have 9 men” and they were right to do so. We shouldn’t be holding on at home against Ipswich with 9 men, that’s a simple fact.

Six-Ual Healing

I was saving the Bolton game to be included with this, so although the title deals with Huddersfield, the main crux is both matches. But what a difference a week makes. I was a sceptic on the instant power of a change in managership, but wow, a huge change in the team that has to be simply down to management.

What is obvious following to heartening performances is that McLeish was a failed experiment and the whole thing is a huge relief all round. What wasn’t as apparent was just how much of a relief it’d be to the players. The way we played last night, and I turned to my friend and commented as such, was like the Leeds game. Right before McLeish. So what it looked like he was doing in that month or so he had control was ruin the heart, the passion and the desire. Ok, you’d expect to see maybe a change in formation, maybe a slight mixing up of personnel. But to see complete differences in people’s style, it’s remarkable.

The Bolton game saw us be more creative and makes chances galore. I initially thought the midfield set up looked all wrong, with no real defensively minded player in there to mop up, but Guedioura covered and when he got forward Lansbury or Reid or someone would cover.

We fully deserved the lead against Bolton when it came, and it genuinely felt like there could be only one winner. It was a good finish by Reid but more than that it was a quality move which he finished with aplomb into the bottom corner.

It was the old enemy though for us. Possession given away to easily and a cross with a simple finish. That goal has been conceded too many times this season, which means teams are doing their homework on us. Notably too it’s how we conceded against Huddersfield, and should have on more than one occasion as well.

Team v. Bolton

But what has changed in the belief and the drive. Under McLeish, and some games under O’Driscoll we’d have wilted, like we did against Watford. But no, in both games we didn’t allow that to happen, and although there wasn’t the time to sort it out v Bolton, though there were chances, against Huddersfield, we simply dusted off and got back at them.

And this is why I refer to the healing. It’s been like exorcism, of the previous month’s ghost. I’m not sure of the varying approaches but Billy seems to be able to coach his player’s minds. Whereas McLeish was probably drilling players on field matters and not much else, Billy gets in their heads, and makes them know they can do what they. Some say he gets that extra 10-15% out of them, but I think it’s more getting their ability out of them, whilst McLeish simple sapped their wills so they under performed.

Team v. Huddersfield

Moving on to the Huddersfield game, where simply to begin. Not only is this a sense of healing for the players, but what a galvanising shot in the arm for support is that. On a night with reduced entry prices bringing a bumper crowd, we impressed. This could see many of those come back, giving the support a boost in numbers. We usually with bigger crowds limp out in games. The crowd starts to turn quickly and there’s a bad blood, but even when we went behind it wasn’t an angry atmosphere, like we may have had under McLeish or Cotterill a year ago. No, this support waited. And got their rewards. Though the celebrations for the first goal felt kind of muted. Like half the fans were expecting the goal to be disallowed or suchlike, or just relief we hadn’t collapsed and died after going behind.

I have to say that when we 1-0 down, I was worried. I’d been running late for the game, coupled with the fact it was reduced admission which we always seem to lose. Mull of Kintyre went wrong in the build up, when the recording jumped into fast forward. All ominous signs.

There has been mixed comment on the array of scorers, with some very happy to see a whole team performance and the goals coming from midfield. Remember when we nearly made it last time under Billy, goals rained in from midfield, especially by McGugan, so to see a similar scenario now is good news. The team nature of some goals too was pleasing. Majewski’s second goal was a nice today move, culminating in a good finish. His third was just a great strike from range. Going back a moment too, Wards header from a set piece was also good to see us using set plays well, and getting the big centre halves scoring, like we used to do with Chambers, Lynch and Morgan. And those worried that the strikers have been mis firing lately.

On a personal level I was pleased for Lansbury’s goal. Not only to cap his best performances in red. But also because I have backed him to be a good player. His Arsenal pedigree and his previous promotion gaining experience made me think he’d be signing of the summer. Up till now he has disappointed, but now the fact I got him on my home shirt is starting to look justified. Davies seems to like Henri, and it was notable that Davies singled his goal celebration out and they had a personal moment together to celebrate that.

Finally, big Darius scoring helps. I’d like to have seen Cox get his goals scoring boots on again, but for Henderson to open his account with us been also important. I can see him being a late impact sub at home, and being used as a big strong target away, much liked Billy used Dele Adebola for.

All in all, very very positive movement from Forest. Not the 6 points some wanted, but still a massive stride in the right direction, and with some results going our way, the 6 points haven’t been as necessary. We are back in contention just about, and with a strong solid run, like Billy’s sides can go on, we might well be in the mix come May, which 2 weeks was frankly unthinkable.

It seems we are back to those heady days of Boxing Day. Via a very dodgy turbulent 6 week period where everything about the club was thrown into question and where we started to wonder what we were really in for. Exciting times ahead and all aboard the Billy Train. I for one am an unexpected willing passenger.

The Radi Contract Situation

It turned out yesterday that Radoslaw Majewski had tuned down a contract offer of a year extension from Forest. This has left a great deal of fans distraught. The cat calls and wails of it’s the usual Forest way of letting players go for free for not sorting out proper deals.


Perhaps it is, and perhaps it isn’t.

Consider we don’t usually get to know the ins and outs of contract negotiations till either a deal is signed like with Gillett, or on other hand that we know they are definitely off and definitely not signed a deal.

A great many point out to last season and the players we lost for free. That’s unfair though. Last season wasn’t normal. For one we were embroiled in a relegation fight, that meant we didn’t want to give new deals to players we wouldn’t be able to afford. Secondly our finances were in such a parlous state that we were in no position to tie people to deals. A third facet is the perceived injustice from longer term players, who were angry the likes of Derbyshire, Greening and Reid were parachuted into the squad on double if not treble their own wages, and wanted either parity, or a deal elsewhere. Hence Morgan left although for a fee, and ultimately Chambers, McCleary and Lynch.

The financial instability has gone, but the ongoing question of where our future lies has not. For if we get to the promised land of the Premier League, do we really want to be saddled down long term by players who won’t be good enough. And let’s face it; Majewski is not a Premiership quality player. A capable and often genius Championship player that transition may not be easy for the Pole. Therefore it seems the club are looking to keep people on short term deals so that we can easily then jettison them in the next year or two. Rather than be saddled with players for ¾ years, who frankly won’t be near the team. I assume this will be the case for virtually all our current team, who although are very competent Championship players, all of them are untried or failed at the top flight level.

Additionally to this is the fact we simply don’t know if this offer was an opening gambit from Forest to test the water. After all this news wasn’t broken by Forest. Radi’s own agent might release this to invite other more lucrative offers. This in turn could be a catalyst for Forest to increase their offer. Remember the Moussi situation, where his agent spun that half the world wanted him, which turned out to be false. Similarly with Tyson. People are so willing to blame the club; they forget the shadowy operations of agents, who would also see a player moving on a Bosman as a cash cow for themselves.

There are two ways this could go, one is Forest improve their offer. Or second and unlikely is that was our only offer. It’s funny how most people seem to base their knowledge of running a club based on Football Manager at times and yet seem to forget this most basic element of the game. Ho really playing that every makes a first offer that is what the player wants. Unless this is the same type of idiot who turns that option off. However, Majewski could be able to be negotiating with foreign clubs as we speak, and make no mistake if a British club was interested they would have sounded out Majewski’s agent. Therefore he will be more than aware what he could get elsewhere. And in the same way we are forcing Birmingham’s hand on a player they will soon lose for free; other clubs might hope the same for Forest.

This is a very murky time of year; clubs in these tough times increasingly will leave negotiations till they know what their future holds. Nobody wants high waged players in a lower division as much as I said about filler players in the Premier League, with the likes of QPR squad inundated with players they collected on their rise but never got shot of.

So it ultimately comes down to the fact we really don’t know the ins and outs, other than press releases in Poland, and that this may have been a simple first offer. We may make a better offer. At the end of the day there was a telling line from Majewski, or more likely his agent. We never got as far as discussing wages. Because after all, like Camp or Blackstock that too might be a stumbling block in negotiations. Like I said with other offers, he may well have a heightened sense of worth. Only the next few weeks will tell.

Lastly, McLeish might not even have him central to his longer term plans. Therefore only a shorter deal offered. As much as you might not like that, he is the manager after all.

But as always, the fact that so many people get so vocal about something ultimately out of their control. We don’t always know the full picture remember. Before you get angry, wait and see what develops

What Would Be Our Best Midfield?

I’ve talked at length about the various options in midfield without ever really analysing what might be the best options, discussing other peoples various roles and how this set up works. However the win and performance at Wolves has raised some question marks in my mind about which personnel is best.


Quietly I had wondered whether the midfield attacking three we had been using were the best options. I for one have been chomping at the bit to see what Lansbury can offer from the start. I think Cohen is making himself undroppable, and we all know what Guedioura is capable of, despite not hitting those heights this season yet.

I appreciate the role Reid can play, and his guile and technique with the ball cannot be questioned, but I always wonder about his mobility, and how a more mobile midfield three might be better. The lack of pace and drive has sometimes been a real issue in the midfield. With Jenas and Reid out, Guedioura and Lansbury stepped up and completely seized their chance this week.

I would like if possible to see this midfield set up given a couple of games to see how they run. All the requirements are there, set piece delivery, creativity, drive, finesse. Reid offers an ability with set pieces that a wonderful crossing ability, but I would argue so too does Lansbury.

Looks at the ball Lansbury played on Saturday, 40-50 yards over the top ball perfectly to Sharps path and feet to take on and score. Considering he was schooled by Arsenal it was a very un-Arsenal like ball, essentially being long ball, but it was so much more than just a punt up field than long ball and direct implies. It was crafted, judged and dropped into place for the striker to latch on to. Creative but direct. Very Reid like, but with mobility.

If Guedioura is starting to hit last season’s form and I know one swallow doesn’t make a summer but he was looking far better, and maybe the catalyst for this improvement was playing his old team, and as often happens he played out of his skin. If his form is now getting back to last season it makes him undroppable. He just needs to stop getting sent off. I had a feeling as he approached towards their goal on Saturday and let rip that he’d hit something dangerous, and lo and behold it was unsavable down in the corner. We’ve got our Guedi back.

Cohen I have been impressed with this season. I thought his form may suffer with the long layoff but he seems to have come back determined to make up for the year or so out of the game. There are those who are suggest he isn’t he player many others say he is, that’s its all effort and no class but I completely disagree. We are a better team with Cohen it.

We are yet to see anything of Coppinger, and with Majewski injured the other option would be to see McGugan in, but I think we all know that although he has obvious ability his temperament is questionable and this means with the new better options he is essentially unpickable.

Jenas and Reid will have their roles to play, the problem with Jenas is that yes he is quality, but will he be here after January? Is it worth trying to play someone else into form instead? Reid isn’t going to be able to keep playing all season and will need rests. Weeks like this where we have 3 games in 7 days will be too much for his fitness level. The options of rotation should keep players fresh, but you also want the consistency that playing regularly brings. This is what has hampered Guedioura as he has been in and out the team.

It all bodes well though. If an army marches on its stomach, a team’s promotion bid will rely on its midfield. Yes you need the strong defence, and the goal scorers, but the way we play, needs a strong midfield, and thats what we have.

Transfer Gossip - August 21

With the news after the game on Saturday that up to 3 players could come in and specifically a right winger, there have been a few names bandied about, mostly the same names, which tends to suggests there is credence to these rumours.
Here is a summary of where we are at in terms of gossip, rumour and guesswork, as always taken from around the net, and looked at entirely subjectively and ridiculed where fit.

In

The Kuwaiti’s
The long, ever running saga of work permits for Khalid al-Rashidi and Bader al-Motawa rumbles on. There is strong rumour that tomorrow is the big day we find out what’s happening. We shall see.

Adam Hammill
The Wolves winger is up for sale, and is the perfect fit for the fact we want a creative winger, coupled with Championship experience, and the fact we have expressed interest before it seems the perfect fit for the Reds. It is widely spread on the likes of Twitter, and people are expecting the now customary Fawaz tweet to announce the deal.

Thomas Ince
Whilst also being linked with Hammill, we were briefly also linked with Thomas Ince, a rumour the ever unreliable Paul Taylor suggested seemed unlikely, saying neither club had been in touch regards the deal, as far he knows anyway. He also knew that the Kuwaiti’s weren’t buying Forest. Suggests he doesn’t know a lot. Anyway, he would be an amazing acquisition, for me he is a very exciting winger good on either foot.

Morgan Ferrier
Never heard of him till checking Newsnow earlier, but he’s a 17 year old previously released by Arsenal, and now Watford and up for grabs. O’Driscoll has him briefly on trial at Crawley and has kept tabs on him, and appears to want to add him to our youth policy. Can’t hurt I guess, but I know as much as I have just written about him.


Out

David McGoldrick
Coventry have been linked for a move, whether it is loan or permanent depending on source. I’d say loan more likely as they are unlikely to want to saddle a potentially expensive player to a long term deal. Perhaps they have merely sounded us out on the possibility. We do have a glut of strikers, and IF Bader signs he would be a similar player, maybe that’s what we’re waiting for. McGoldrick simply hasn’t worked out here and perhaps it’s best he move on.

Radoslaw Majewski
Always seemingly linked with fringe Premiership clubs but with no real evidence or source, Majewski has now been linked with West Brom and Reading in recent weeks. A Fee of £1.5m as bandied around as likely, which sounds fair enough, more fair than the insane £4-5mill some people think he’s worth. I’ll never understand the people who worship him, yeah’ he’s handy but some make him out to be a world beater.

Matt Derbyshire
Unfortunately, no news here. Keep praying folks.

Majestic Majewski Fires Forest to Brink of Survival.

Forest have given themselves a huge shot in the arm towards survival this season with a wonderful hat trick from Radoslaw Majewski. The previously much maligned Majewski that is, and I as much as anyone has been a harsh critic of the Polish midfielder.
It seems now that Steve Cotterill has now found a suitable role for Majewski and will be looking to utilise him in this role effectively. This free role behind the striker but free from many of the normal midfield responsibilities plays to the strengths of Radi. He is not and will never been an effective midfield partner due to his lightweight nature and can’t tackle very well at all, when he tries.

Pushing him into a role which leaves Blackstock alone up front can be frustrating formation as it leaves the striker often exiled on his own up front. This is however why it is mostly used away, and it means we got bodies back. But then it works best when you have McCleary and Guedioura in the midfield as well, as these players initial thought upon gaining possession is to charge forward and counter attack at speed. The perfect away game style. Reidy too is there to support in an attacking context. It leaves the likes of Moussi to play their defensive midfielder role without having to have much in the way of thought to supporting the more attacking aspects.

Not quite in the Deschamps water carrier role, but more a de Jong type destroyer, not without his attacking responsibilities mind. Finally the midfield has balance and shape it lacked before. Greening couldn't play these roles effectively and McGugan can’t seem to motivate himself to play the Radi role, (which he was clearly earmarked for, hence the no.10 shirt) which Cotterill had tried him in earlier. Neither Radi nor McGugan make effective wide men, as it’s not their position. McCleary and Reid are wingers through and through so they can play it well. Even last year when we played well we had Anderson on one wing and often had to use Cohen on the other. Cohen would play this role in a Gudeioura role, although maybe not as effectively.



It came to bare wonderfully at Selhurst Park, where we ran out winners against Palace in a game up which that point looked finely balanced. Majewski was able to roam around and that’s why his goals came from all 3 sides. His first from the left wing, where he cut inside and lashed home, his second a centrally curved shot and his third came from the right hand side. This alone illustrates the new freedom this has given him and how he can now play. Before hand playing in a midfield duo in the middle simple didn't get the best from him as his defensive side had to be included so you lost an effective body in the middle which invited the opposition on.
Consider as well that oppositions have been focussing on stopping McCleary has he was the form man and it freed up even more space for the rest of the midfield and in particular Majewski.

Now with him freed up and Guedioura and Moussi playing the deeper role it allows more freedom. It is very much a style de rigeur at the moment. Using amore advance midfielder as support with attacking wide men, not too dissimilar from many of the top sides in Europe. It took time for us to get the right bodies to play it. Blackstock, the perfect foil to hold the ball up, in a way Tudgay and Miller haven’t been able, and certainly not Derbyshire. It has also bought the best out McCleary encouraged to rampage forward more and not worry as much with covering his full back as now we have two deeper sitting midfielders to cover that role. Reidy has been given more freedom too.

So all those who have suggested that it shows Cotterill was wrong. Well no, it illustrates the fact that as he said, he had a disjointed squad. He couldn’t play players where he wanted to play. When Gunter gets put on the right, we lose some of that verve we have with G-Mac in the team. The final piece in this puzzle was getting Majewski fit and driven and having a fully fit Blackstock back. This has all happened perfectly on schedule to bring us to the brink of survival and has shown that yes, we do have a good enough squad.

There were and are still lapses that stop us being a very good team. The defence still not off and allow other teams to attack. Thankfully this was mostly after we had the lead at Palace but they still had chances at 0-0 that might have seen a different result. Many had discussed removing Radi at half time apparently, putting on a more recognised striker. The problem with a sole striker is that the onus on him to win possession from long punts means more often than not the ball starts coming back, with the packed midfield though, there are more bodies to win in and cut passes out and starts the attack from there. A second striker to help win the ball doesn’t allow for that. Both systems have benefits and away from home this is proving perfect. Now we need to work at home too or another system to do so on Saturday and all but secure survival against Bristol City. Either that or home fans recognise that we don’t HAVE to play 4-4-2. Footballs evolved, so do the fans perceptions.

The Cult of Radi

Radoslaw Majewski, is no doubt a magician at times with the ball, and a highly skilled player, but can’t get anywhere near a relegation threatened team. Why is this? There are those who constantly chant and cheer for his inclusion into the match team. They argue that the introduction of a bit flair and creativity would be perfect for the team. Yet he languishes outside the 16.


However, on the other side is the fact that he is incredibly inconsistent and extremely prone to drifting out of games and remaining anonymous for vast swathes of a match. Radi can go for a long period of you forgetting he is on the pitch. And yet he is lauded by the fans still.

During the game with Coventry, the upper tier of the Bridgford End started cheering for Radi. When it was 0-0 and it was looking bleak, they chanted for the name of a player they thought could change it. Because people remember things like the Derby goal, the West Brom goal. These two goals were undoubtedly two of the best we have seen for a while, but what else? Yeah occasional good assists, but in the last year? No.
Thing is, I get he’s talented, but I have never been convinced he can do it consistently enough. And I still feel people have been blinded by those goals and overlook the overall performances. Around me, the main Majewski fans are also the type who never understood McKenna’s role. For them football is all about the flashy and not the blood and guts.

Majewski and McGugan for instance on the same team would not work. Two players going for the Hollywood, and no steel. And McGugans form last season was only going to result in one winner.

I see him as an equivalent of Andrei Arshavin. Supremely talented but just not doing it, but why? Has he had enough of the club? A lack of motivation? People criticise Cotterill saying he isn’t implementing him rightly, often on the wing, or that he should simply use him as a creative outlet, and yes he can create a spark, BUT, and capitals intended, but, how often is it this last year or so that he has provided that?

Let’s be honest as a winger he offers no defensive cover for his full back, in the centre he has to be implemented further up and that removes potentially a presence in midfield. It leaves us with a make weight when defending, and we have to defnd as a team. Having Majewski leaves you open. It’s one less defender.

But, when he is good he is a great creative player, the problem is I don’t think he wants to be here? And I think that dates from before this season. Once McGugan was starring last season it left Radi to be sidelined often. Majewski has to be in the team, to get a run of games, but you can’t carry him for those games he is finding form.



This season in the league, Radi has played 18 games, scoring twice. With goals against Southampton and Blackpool (sealing the win) but this was all towards the first few months. He hasn't featured since New Year Eve and last played 90 minutes in the away game versus Bristol City. You can draw a parallel in form between us performing badly and not scoring with his absences. When Cotterill started he used Majewski and we got several results before the form dived. So there is evidence that with Radi we played well. But some of the worst performances featured him too.
But Cotterill wants more steel in the team and that’s the one thing Majewski doesn’t offer. Let’s be honest as the central midfielder to partner the steel of either Moussi or such like, then Guedioura is far far better than Majewski. His passing range is better. His tackling is better, his shots are better.

Majewski is reportedly now a target for Reading. I think perhaps it is time for him to move on. For his own career as Cotterill clearly think he’s too lightweight. And basically because I think he has his time under Davies He wasn’t always a first teamer, and he clearly by his possibly mistranslated comments to the Polish media this week thinks he should be. His comments there suggested he believes his future lays elsewhere and fore when a player says that he has to move on. Players can’t have minds elsewhere.

The Majewski club will call foul. But this is a player who has done very little this season. Why sing for a player that isn't going to fit in with the style of play or the team? Ok so people also want that style of play to match what he can do, but that’s wanting your cake and eating it. Majewski for much of last season for me was a passenger. Unable to influence games as he once had, and when he can’t he merely drifted on the periphery. And that is where he has stayed.