Forest Five Asides: QPR, Marinakis, Mancienne, Lichaj, Villa

Starting a new blog format at the end of a season might not be the brightest idea I've ever had but, nevertheless, I'm doing it anyway. My new 'Five Asides' posts will aim to give a short, sharp views on five key talking points to fit between longer rants/posts. Well, that's the theory anyway.

Any comments, thoughts or suggestions are always welcome...

QPR and the ghost of Megson

The trip to Loftus Road tomorrow brings back bad memories of the last time we were relegated to League One. The 2-1 defeat in West London put the final nail in the coffin, confirming our pathetic demise. Worst of all, I went down to the game on a supporters' bus that had the BBC's Natalie Jackson among its passengers. It meant that we had to hang around in a car park while she conducted her post match interviews, leaving us to stew and fester for a while on the fact we'd fallen through the trap door before we could go home. It was grim. No-one was really in the mood for a 'looking forward to League One' vox pop on the way back either - it was time to pretend to sleep.

The fact that QPR is our penultimate game this season too isn't, of course, the only parallel with that last relegation under Gary Megson. The Derby home and away results were identical in 04/05, Rotherham also went down that year and it was also a season in which just two away wins were earned (those, like the two this season, were also both in the same week).

The positive thing is that we now have a better manager and a better team. The 04/05 lineup was: Gerrard, Curtis, Morgan, Taylor, Melville, Robertson, Evans, Powell, Gardner, Commons, Dobie. If we can stumble over the line, there might be light at the end of the tunnel.

The ghosts of 04/05, our record against Holloway teams (3 wins in 15) and the pitiful away form this season mean that I still can't rest easy when it comes to survival though.

Takeover talk as the Greeks wait in the wings

It seems that the takeover of the club is edging closer - although it also seems like we've been saying that for some time. Sky Sports today reported the fact that Fawaz is going to sell the club to Evangelos Marinakis but it's not really clear if this was based on anything that we didn't already know from other media outlets. ('Sky Sources' covers a multitude of sins doesn't it?) 

There are question marks over the Greek investor, of course, but the fact that he's run a club - and a big one at that - suggests that things should surely be better under him than the current regime. We've had a lot of false dawns, let's hope this isn't another. The club is at a crossroads - again. Survival and new ownership could give us a huge boost going into the summer but neither is certain.

Need to be convinced by Mancienne

📝 #NFFC are delighted to announce that defender Michael Mancienne has signed a new two-year contract with the club.https://t.co/ERafDF8TZZ pic.twitter.com/5T5uWQqE7H

— Nottingham Forest FC (@NFFC) April 28, 2017

I'll admit that I'm not exactly bowled over by the news of Michael Mancienne's new contract. I wouldn't have been at all bothered if we'd have let him go when his deal came to an end in the summer. He's got a great pedigree but I've been disappointed with his performances and always worry that we'll concede a goal from a cross when he's in the lineup. The fact that he's struggled to establish himself - even over a converted-to-centre-half Danny Fox - isn't a ringing endorsement either.

It is a positive, however, that he appears to have taken a pay cut (since he was rumoured to be on £25k a week or so) and it might well be the case that Warburton can get more out of him and utilise his talents in his style of play. One thing is for certain - we've got to stop messing about with him in midfield.

Eric The Red deserves the crown

While voting for the official 'player of the season' carries on until Wednesday, many supporters club branches seem to have opted for Eric Lichaj as their choice and the American will surely take the main crown too? It might seem odd to say that in a season in which our defensive record has been so poor but I do think Eric deserves the nod. He's been consistent, has given his all and provided leadership at times when things threatened to go off the rails. He looks like he loves to play for us, provides a decent attacking threat when given the chance and has even bagged a couple of goals. Frankly, we could with a couple more characters like him.

Who are the only other contenders? David Vaughan? Ben Osborn?

Let's hope the award isn't as much of a curse as it has been in recent times, though. Of those last five winners, Garath McCleary, Michail Antonio and Dorus de Vries all left pretty quickly, while Chris Cohen and Andy Reid both suffered serious injuries not long after earning the title.

Would Villa's fans rather they lost?

Aston Villa did us a decent favour by beating Birmingham on Sunday. Interestingly, having put their city rivals in the mire, they now travel to Blackburn to take on the team directly below the Blues. I wonder how many Villains actually want their side to lose tomorrow to pile more misery onto Harry Redknapp's men? For our sake, let's hope the team isn't 'on the beach' anyway (although it worries me that the influential Mile Jedinak looks set to be missing for them). The hope same goes for Huddersfield, who go into their game against Birmingham merely waiting for the play-offs to begin.

I really don't want a nerve-jangling last day and, while I appreciate that we need to pull our finger out and get the job done ourselves, any more favours will be more than gratefully accepted.

More sunshine and good times for Dougie

I could get used to this. Another Saturday, another superb win for Dougie Freedman's side. It wasn't easy - it took skill, effort and tactical nous to get one over Aitor Karanka's title challenging Middlesbrough - but it was another highly entertaining encounter to carry on the Scotsman's reign in some style.

Fresh from his first defeat, at The Valley on Tuesday, Freedman was forced to shuffle his pack again. I worried that switching Eric Lichaj to left back might spoil his near-flawless displays under the new manager and that the midfield selection - with Mancienne and Gardner in the middle - might be a sign that we were going to be a shade on the defensive side in the face of the threat posed by the likes of Adomah, Tomlin, Kike and the returning Patrick Bamford.

That wasn't really the case, though, in an entertaining first half that was just shaded by the home side. Still, it was Boro - a good technical outfit, well marshalled by one-time (well many times actually!) Forest target Grant Leadbitter - who took the lead through the man himself. Leadbitter's teasing, chipped dink to the far post found the net after a short corner which had predictably caught Forest napping.

That felt unfair based on the run of play and rightful parity was restored when Gary Gardner levelled matters in some style. Having just planted a header wide he made amends with a superb long range curled effort. Sky will have to name its 'Goal of the Day' award after the on-loan Villa man at this rate given the magnificent strike he fired home at the Madejski last week. His performance had deserved it too - a smart display full of clever touches, turns and passes which showed another side of his game, with Mancienne in the side to be the deeper man.

The second half was much more a case of dogged determination and discipline. Boro controlled the ball better as they looked for a way to forge ahead in a super-tight title race. Here Freedman earned his corn once again - setting up a solid shape that restricted to visitors to long-range efforts. It was tough to watch as we struggled to get enough of the ball but it was a system that retained just enough of a threat to conjure a winner.

Michail Antonio had been denied a penalty after what looked to be a pretty deliberate and clear hand ball from Kalas but made sure that that didn't matter by setting up Dexter Blackstock for a well-taken winner. I know some are frustrated at Michail's lack of defensive cover but you do wonder if it's a ploy for him not to track an overlapping full back so that he's in position to spring a counter. Even if it's not you can't be too harsh on him - the pace and power he shows on the left is a handful for anyone at this level and he's a joy to watch going forward. We'd be a much worse side without him.

You couldn't help but be delighted for Dexter too - netting his first goal at the City Ground since Boxing Day 2012 when he scored the 4th in a 4-2 win over Leeds United that was to prove the final game for Sean O'Driscoll. Dexter was a menace for the Middlesbrough back line all afternoon with the sort of hard working and physical display that was the hallmark of his earlier days at the club.

From then on it was what Freedman called a 'superhuman effort' to see the game out. It's the sort of steel we simply didn't have under Pearce. I needn't have worried about Lichaj who once again proved the unsung hero cutting out crosses and getting in tackles alongside Lascelles and Wilson, who both did well. The returning Todd Kane proved rusty in the first half but just about held out as part of the Freedman shape.

It all made for a cracking three points and, just as we feared we had done the Sh**p a favour, the icing on the cake came with news of two injury time goals for Birmingham down the A52.

I'm still not allowing myself to whittle about the play offs. I'm massively enjoying the football served up by Freedman's side and I really don't want to spoil it with all that stress, especially since it's still an awful way off and tough trips to both East Anglian clubs and Brentford await. I'd prefer to dwell on the fact that it's some time since such an entertaining run of performances from a Forest side.

I was also heartened by Freedman's pre-match interview. In some respects it was the sort of interview you'd like to hear from Fawaz. He was positive, enthusiastic and knowledgable whilst realistic to the challenge ahead. It sounds like he's effectively drawn up a 'business plan' for the future on how to recruit and develop under the limitations imposed after breaking the FFP spending limits. It's something that you doubt anyone else involved in the club has done, save maybe for a piece of paper in Fawaz's office somewhere with 'get to the Premier League' written on it.

I'm sold on Dougie now and I wish Fawaz would get on with confirming he will be with us next season. With the embargo looming over us we'll need to be super smart in the transfer market. Targets need to be identified now and chased as soon as possible. We need a plan and Freedman is clearly a man with a plan. His long-term stay on Trentside really shouldn't be dependent on him pulling off some unlikely promotion miracle. Days like this have earned him the right to try to deliver in the long-term, it's time that common sense prevailed.