Daryl Murphy and the men who love to play against Forest

Daryl Murphy's arrival at the City Ground does at least one thing. He won't - barring a 'Bendtner at Derby' moment - be scoring against us this season.

The former Newcastle and Ipswich man has five goals in ten games against Forest (including both goals in 2014's 2-2 draw below) - his joint best record against any opposition (although his five against Rotherham came in just five games, so it's a shame they've disappeared down the trap door).



Since I love a good stat that got me thinking about who else always seems to do well against us, the pesky players who save their best for the times when they're up against the Tricky Trees.

Thanks to the superb resources of the Transfermarkt website I was able to satisfy my curiosity. So, here are the men who have their career best goalscoring ratio against Forest:

Rudy Gestede: He's netted seven goals in seven games against Forest, tormenting us with his strength and aerial ability for Cardiff, Blackburn and Aston Villa. He's back in the division with Middlesbrough now, although the arrival of a new £30 million strike force in the North East might at least spare us from seeing him on August 19th if he's still there. His next best tally is four, against Birmingham, so we're far and away his favourite side to play against.

Matej Vydra: The Czech striker might have drifted around clubs since his arrival in England, but his failure to settle down hasn't dampened his enthusiasm for playing against Forest. He has eight goals in seven games, including Derby's first goal in the 2-2 at the City Ground in March, and two assists.

Darren Huckerby: Huckerby's loan spell at the City Ground was a joy to watch, even if it was a huge shame that we never made his move permanent. It was also a welcome change from seeing him put Forest to the sword. He has seven goals in five games against us, his best record against any side. Included in that tally were two hat tricks - one for Coventry in 1999 and one for Manchester City in 2002.

Matt Le Tissier: While Mark Crossley might have been the only man to save a Matt Le Tissier spot kick, the skilful Saints man more than made up for that with eight goals in nine games against us. He scored eight against Aston Villa too, but took 15 games to chalk them up.

Sam Vokes: Burnley are one of those sides who always seem to have the better of us in recent times. It's perhaps no surprise, then, to learn that Vokes' most prolific finishing has been against Forest, with eight goals in 14 games.

Jonny Howson: The Leeds, Norwich and now Middlesbrough midfield man loves a goal against Forest. His tally of six goals (in nine games) is double his best against anyone else.

DJ Campbell: Just hearing his name is enough to give me shudders after 'that' play-off performance for Blackpool at the City Ground. He has six goals in seven games against Forest in total, with three assists.

Stephen Dobbie: Speaking of play-off goalscorers (must we?), Stephen Dobbie also makes this list. While he has a better tally against some teams north of the border, Forest is his favourite English club to play against - with four goals in ten games and three assists. He's also never lost any of those ten games he's played against us. He can stay in Scotland.

Tommy Smith: The tricky Tommy Smith is yet another of those players whose name you hate to see in an opposition line-up. A consistent performer over many years, he has five goals in 12 games against Forest, with four assists. He has also put five past Reading and Coventry, but those have come in 14 and 21 games respectively.

Jason Wilcox: Wilcox was more known for setting goals up than putting them away, but the talented winger plundered five in his eight games against Forest. Two came in Blackburn's 5-1 win at the City Ground in 1996.

While those are the men who have their best goalscoring record against Forest (for recent times at least), there are others who also relished the chance to play against us but just so happen to have a slightly better record against someone else.

Last season's loanee Ross McCormack, for example, has eight goals in 14 games against Forest. That's his joint best tally - but his eight goals against Charlton came in just nine games.

Alan Shearer's career best record came against Leeds - with 20 goals in 20 games - but he plundered ten in nine games against Forest. Of the teams Shearer played five or more games against, Forest is the only one he didn't lose to.

Then there's Gregorz Rasiak. He has seven in seven games against Coventry - but did manage five in four games against Forest. Robbie Fowler scored six in seven appearances against us, Ian Rush scored 10 in 24 and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer netted six in four including that ridiculous four-goal salvo as a sub in the infamous 8-1 home thrashing by Manchester United in 1999.

Dwight Yorke scored five times in nine games, Glenn Murray has five in seven, and Chris Wood five in eight, his second best tally.


Anyway, since the season hasn't even started yet let's at least look on the bright side. With Murphy on board we've at least snared one nemesis. I'll admit that I haven't always been his biggest fan in the past but his capture makes a lot of sense in the context of our current predicament and could turn out to be an astute bit of business to accompany the up and coming attacking talent on the books. The numbers also speak for themselves. His good record against Forest has come at a time when he's been one of the second tier's most consistent scorers. Let's hope he can spend the season finding a few new victims to prey on.

📝 #NFFC are delighted to announce that striker Daryl Murphy has joined the club on a three-year deal. https://t.co/v7bcMt3ac6 pic.twitter.com/ZXysLBY3CE

— Nottingham Forest FC (@NFFC) July 21, 2017

The two words that sum up my ambitions for this season

The week before the season starts is, traditionally, the week to get carried away. This is the calm before the storm, the period where blind faith and boundless optimism take over and when we dare to dream. To misquote Del Boy: "This time next year readers, we'll be playing the billionaires."

Still, while every fan should be allowed to dream, there's a difference between hoping for/wanting success and expecting it. Anyone in that latter camp ought to take in this cracking stat I saw tweeted by @ForestRav:

#nffc average league position this century = 16th in the Championship. Anything better than that this season will be a positive. #benchmark

— Ravi (@ForestRav) July 29, 2017

The fact that our average position post Premier League has been 16th in the second tier should serve both as a timely reminder of the level we've been performing at in recent times but also, as the man says, be a useful benchmark going forward. I genuinely think we've got the makings of an exciting young squad but we can't expect too much too soon - and finishing above 16th would put us above our average and show we're heading in the right direction after five seasons of continual downturn under the Fawaz regime.

Yet, while this might be a useful statistical target to judge ourselves against, there are other important measures that we should gauge the success of the season by. Points and positions clearly matter, but there's more to ponder in 2017/18 too. Last season I made seven targets for the season (safe to say we didn't do too well) this my ambition boils down to two words: stability and entertainment.

It's time for stability

Yes, we've been saying this for some time, but it really is time we had some stability at the City Ground. We need the new off-field managerial structure to establish itself, clean up any mess left behind by the previous regime and start making more of a success of the commercial side of things. The club needs to conduct its business in a professional way and to regain and retain the respect of fellow clubs as well as businesses in the Nottingham area. It also needs to involve the fans in a meaningful and appropriate way.

On the pitch, we need to end the season with the same manager - a feat not managed since 2010/11 and Billy Davies' first regime - and be able to consistently perform at a level that ensures we're clear of the relegation zone as a minimum. We need to try to stem the constant flow of injuries to the playing staff too.

The signs so far have been positive on both fronts but there's still a lot of work to do.

Talented side could provide entertainment

Establishing stable foundations for the club is essential. However, I'm also hoping for an entertaining campaign. I've got a lot of faith in Mark Warburton's ability to fashion a side that plays an attractive brand of football and can give anyone at this level a decent game. I think he's starting to piece together a decent squad that can achieve this too.

Following Forest has rarely been dull but often for the wrong reasons. If Warburton can send out a stylish passing team, we'll be interesting to watch for the right reasons again.

It's fair to say that the wider public expect little of us this season. While the odds vary, the bookies put us way down the list of promotion candidates - and suggest we'll be nearer the bottom of the league than the top. That's hardly surprising since we only stayed up on the last day of the season and have since lost our star striker. Being under the radar is certainly no bad thing.

If we finish above 16th we'll have had an above average season statistically. If we have a season of stability and provide some entertainment then we'll have been successful. Until Friday, we can but hope...