This isn't good is it? Here we are on the eve of the season, trying to get excited by the new manager and a fresh campaign, and we're presented with another off field mess.
It night be tempting to think that the reduced capacity of the City Ground isn't too big a deal. 24,357 is higher than most home league attendances (sadly) and, importantly, we won't have the farcical spectacle of the last pre season game and first league fixture having to be moved or played out in front of no-one.
Yet it isn't good enough. It makes the club look a laughing stock, and shows a further level of incompetence that brings the club's attitude toward safety into question. Frankly it's a disgrace that this has been allowed to get this far and Fawaz should hang his head in shame. I've always felt that he's a well-meaning owner - I still think that - and I'm grateful for the money he's pumped into the club. But a slapdash attitude to safety? That's poor, incredibly poor.
What message does this send to the casual fans, the parents thinking of bringing their child for the first time? The club's duty of care to the fans on match days should never be in question. We can all debate or argue about tactics, performances, managers and signings but at the end of the day it's a game and our safety when we turn up to watch shouldn't be a matter needing discussion. Despite what many of us might think about local councils, they don't - in my experience - take drastic action like this lightly.
I shan't stray into speculation, but the fact that Alan Bexon has been in, out and then back in the position as safety officer hints at an internal problem that has been allowed to get out of control. The fact that the council isn't yet satisfied that Bexon will be supported in his role and that it is yet to see some basic paperwork is worrying. Why haven't we made this a priority?
The supporters also deserve to know what an '80 per cent capacity' City Ground means in practice. Will it be sufficient to just not sell any more than 24,357 or do we need to shut sections of the ground? Are people going to be turfed out of their season ticket seats and shifted elsewhere because of this? Would they be compensated for this?
Sadly this isn't just one unfortunate cock up either is it? When seen alongside the transfer embargo and late payment of bills and wages, this just feels like the next episode in an ongoing farce. What next?
This also gets to the heart of the problem at the top of the club. It might all be a misunderstanding or a paperwork mishap but it shows a disregard for the detail of the day to day management of the club (over a pretty important issue). If the club can't handle this then is it any wonder it can't manage the difficult task of plotting a return to the Premier League? On field success is surely unlikely while isn't well-led. The current lack of an adequate safety plan has, in recent years, been mirrored by a lack of strategy for success on the field. We don't do plans, we don't do detail. As long as that's the case we almost certainly 'won't do' top flight football either. It's all linked.
You have to hope that change is around the corner. The appointment of a director of football is a positive step and you presume that other positions should follow, if and when the takeover goes through. If and when, that is, the FA makes a decision on the charges levelled against the would-be owner. The suggestion is that Fawaz would probably stay on anyway. If one of his first team managers had overseen a mess as bad as this, he'd have been sacked. Perhaps he should dwell on that.
Tuesday, 26 July 2016
Wednesday, 20 July 2016
Nottingham Forest 2016/17: Seven key tests to judge success this season
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It's just two weeks on Saturday until the new season kicks off and offices and pubs up and down the country will be full of fans of rival clubs asking 'so, how are your lot going to do this season then?'.
How exactly do we answer that as Forest fans? I'm sensing a mild optimism among some of us about matters on the field (setting aside those alarming stories about the would be owner for the time being). Yet while that mild optimism exists there is also a sense that we're leaping into the unknown once again. Yes, we might like the look of our Phillippe, but we're stumped when it comes to knowing whether it'll all work out.
We've got a new manager who may or may not succeed when faced with the particular challenges of the Championship, uncertainty off the field with a still-to-fully-complete takeover and an 'unfinished' squad with some gaps left to fill. We're also in a league in which several big players hold a huge financial upper hand and many more have the benefit of several years of squad building under their belts.
With all of those variables, only the most super-optimistic of us could surely expect or demand promotion. I don't think that's negative and I'm not saying it's impossible to challenge for the top six, I'm just saying that it'd be unrealistic to set that as the only goal for the coming season and the sole way to judge success.
Here are seven ways that I think we can judge success instead:
Points and positions: Whether this become 'year one' of the Marinakis era or not, there is an immediate need to arrest the slide of the last four years. The first year of his reign saw us finish in 8th with 67 points, then 11th on 65, 14th on 59 and, last season, 16th on 55 points. Montanier has to reverse that gradual decline. A points tally and position that bettered the last two seasons would be a big step in the right direction. Context matters more than mere points and positions but 65 points and/or top 10 would be a decent aim.
Managerial stability: We've now been through five consecutive seasons in which we've ended with a different manager to the man in the dug out on opening day. If we don't end 2016/17 with Montanier at the helm then it's unlikely that the upcoming campaign will have been a success either. If he survives, it's likely to mean that things have been largely positive on the pitch.
Off the field turmoil: The club's reputation isn't helped by the threat of court action for unpaid bills, late payment of staff, Ben Hamer style transfer farces and the current situation in which the ground capacity has been reduced to zero. Whoever the owner is, whoever is pulling the strings, this has to stop. If the off the field operation of the club is quiet, no court action is threatened and all bills are paid on time it'll be a step up from recent times. The club also needs to reach out and do all it can to involve the supporters trust and at listen to the voice of fans (and not the Twitter mob).
Playing style: This is perhaps more subjective than some of the other points but is, nevertheless, a useful barometer of how the campaign can be judged. I'm not naïve enough to think that you can play like Brazil in the airport in that 1998 Nike ad every week. I want us to have a clear and effective style that helps us to compete, score goals and win games. That's easier said than done, but it's essential for success now and in the future.
Commercial: We need to be much more savvy about the way we make money. An investor, provided they are 'fit and proper', is to be welcomed but the club must do much much better at bringing in revenue to help it thrive in the long term. It's abundantly clear from going to away games or, in fact, popping over for a T20 at Trent Bridge, that others do this far better than us. Selling shirts, tickets, sponsorship (the kit sponsor is a step in the right direction) must all improve - as must the match day 'experience', as naff as that sounds. A simple thing such as having a better pint on offer would be a massive start. Some of the commercial side of football might make us feel queasy but we can't fight against the tide.
As the excellent Swiss Ramble pointed out in an epic post on Forest's finances:
That speaks volumes. The finances have to improve if we're to avoid future FFP-style penalties. For all the worries we might have about Marinakis, the smoother running of a football club certainly seems within his capabilities.Surprisingly for a club of Forest’s admirable tradition, their commercial income of £3.1 million, up from £2.6 million the previous season, was one of the smallest in the Championship in 2014/15, way behind Norwich City £12.8 million, Leeds United £11.3 million and Brighton £8.9 million. In fact, it was only ahead of four clubs: Charlton Athletic £2.5 million, Brentford £2.4 million, Millwall £1.9 million and Wigan £1.5 million.
Signings: We need an end to signing mediocre players on big wages such as those we've had to offload in recent years and no more poor loanees coming into the club ahead of youth players who are better (Akpom ahead of Walker, Ebecilio of Grant etc). I've been heartened to see Montanier have a long look at some of the up and coming talent at the club in the friendlies so far. If they're added to with smart acquisitions - be they cash signings or quality loanees - from Pedro Pereira then we can properly improve the squad. If this time next year we're having to buy in the same old positions to replace another batch of failed newcomers we'll know it hasn't been a successful season on that front.
Attendances: Linked to many of those points above is the worrying downturn in attendances experienced last season. While many factors feed into the number of paying punters through the gate, one look at the attendances at the end of the season will give you another useful measure of success.
Address all of these points and we'll be in for a heck of a ride. Big ticks against the majority should at least mean we've got something to smile about come May.
Tuesday, 28 June 2016
Bonjour Philippe Montanier, Olá Pedro Pereira
Bienvenue Philippe Montanier. Welcome to the City Ground mad house. Let's hope it's a little less mad with you at the helm.
Today came the fresh new start we've been waiting for. Of course, we've been here before. Most managers come in and sweep us off our feet with their opening press conference. They're media trained to say the right thing after all.
Yet, cynicism aside, Montanier did his duty well. With his Gallic good looks and decent English (the interpreter only provided small assistance) he made a smart introduction. His CV is not to be sniffed at either, even though it is difficult to gauge how relevant this will be. His record at Rennes was mixed but at Real Sociedad he pulled off the amazing feat of getting the San Sebastian side into the Champions League. Both clubs, it should be noted, were performing at a higher standard than the one Montanier now finds himself. Perhaps it's getting Boulogne into the French top tier, at the start of his managerial career, that is most relevant and impressive in a Forest context.
Esteemed French journalist Philippe Auclair described the appointment as an 'ambitious good' and described Montanier as being quite a catch, although did stress he's yet to decide what type of coach he really is.
It's clear that it's not so much his words that he needs to translate as his management style and adjusting that to England and the Championship and only time will tell if that happens.
That translation should be helped by the fact that Montanier is fitting into a structure at the City Ground, albeit one that is still under construction. The new boss, a head coach, comes in after new director of football Pedro Pereira joined the club. In many ways you could argue that Pedro is the more important of the two appointments and it will be he that sets the tone for the club going forward.
I found it striking, for example, that German side Schalke recently made a decisive move for Mainz sporting director Christian Heidel to try to challenge at the top of the Bundesliga. Heidel has been an important part of the club that launched the coaching careers of Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel and the Gelsenkirchen club want him to replicate that magic on a bigger stage.
It's clear that big clubs value people like this very highly. These are the men who sit behind the scenes, establish a clear playing style and strategy and pinpoint the right managers and players. They're there before anything else and underpin the structure with the sort of smart thinking that we've seen scarcely little of in recent times.
It's also wrong to see this as a 'continental style'. Football has moved on since we were last sitting at its top table. With the sums of money so eye-wateringly large and the competition so fierce, the vast majority of Premier League and top Championship clubs fall back on a solid structure to chart a path to success. We need to match this. It's not about being continental, it's about being professional.
Pedro has completed his first task in finding a manager that he wants to work with. It sounds like he's also got a few signings up his sleeve too. He needs to provide the best possible tools for the coach to do his job and in turn needs support from Fawaz and the new investor, should he come to the fore. The element of support is often what has been lacking - in terms of patience if not money - in the past. While Fawaz and Marinakis play a part in this, so too do we as fans. We wanted change, a clear structure and some better football to cheer about. The first two have begun, let's hope we get the third come August. In turn we need to be welcoming, patient and supportive. I'm game if you are? Allez les Rouges?!
Philippe Montanier says he is excited to take on the challenge of managing #NFFC. https://t.co/9eDPhkNY0d pic.twitter.com/90bXm4eNp6— Nottingham Forest FC (@NFFC) June 28, 2016
Today came the fresh new start we've been waiting for. Of course, we've been here before. Most managers come in and sweep us off our feet with their opening press conference. They're media trained to say the right thing after all.
Yet, cynicism aside, Montanier did his duty well. With his Gallic good looks and decent English (the interpreter only provided small assistance) he made a smart introduction. His CV is not to be sniffed at either, even though it is difficult to gauge how relevant this will be. His record at Rennes was mixed but at Real Sociedad he pulled off the amazing feat of getting the San Sebastian side into the Champions League. Both clubs, it should be noted, were performing at a higher standard than the one Montanier now finds himself. Perhaps it's getting Boulogne into the French top tier, at the start of his managerial career, that is most relevant and impressive in a Forest context.
Esteemed French journalist Philippe Auclair described the appointment as an 'ambitious good' and described Montanier as being quite a catch, although did stress he's yet to decide what type of coach he really is.
It's clear that it's not so much his words that he needs to translate as his management style and adjusting that to England and the Championship and only time will tell if that happens.
That translation should be helped by the fact that Montanier is fitting into a structure at the City Ground, albeit one that is still under construction. The new boss, a head coach, comes in after new director of football Pedro Pereira joined the club. In many ways you could argue that Pedro is the more important of the two appointments and it will be he that sets the tone for the club going forward.
Fiorentina wanted me to stay, says #nffc director of football Pedro Pereira: https://t.co/0RNi0MpsPO pic.twitter.com/0MtzOaAZ8m— Nottm Post Sport (@NottmPostSport) June 18, 2016
I found it striking, for example, that German side Schalke recently made a decisive move for Mainz sporting director Christian Heidel to try to challenge at the top of the Bundesliga. Heidel has been an important part of the club that launched the coaching careers of Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel and the Gelsenkirchen club want him to replicate that magic on a bigger stage.
It's clear that big clubs value people like this very highly. These are the men who sit behind the scenes, establish a clear playing style and strategy and pinpoint the right managers and players. They're there before anything else and underpin the structure with the sort of smart thinking that we've seen scarcely little of in recent times.
It's also wrong to see this as a 'continental style'. Football has moved on since we were last sitting at its top table. With the sums of money so eye-wateringly large and the competition so fierce, the vast majority of Premier League and top Championship clubs fall back on a solid structure to chart a path to success. We need to match this. It's not about being continental, it's about being professional.
Pedro has completed his first task in finding a manager that he wants to work with. It sounds like he's also got a few signings up his sleeve too. He needs to provide the best possible tools for the coach to do his job and in turn needs support from Fawaz and the new investor, should he come to the fore. The element of support is often what has been lacking - in terms of patience if not money - in the past. While Fawaz and Marinakis play a part in this, so too do we as fans. We wanted change, a clear structure and some better football to cheer about. The first two have begun, let's hope we get the third come August. In turn we need to be welcoming, patient and supportive. I'm game if you are? Allez les Rouges?!
Saturday, 21 May 2016
A social media summer survival guide for Forest fans
The football season may end, but football doesn't. Instead of fixtures and on the pitch action - at least until the Euros - fans face a long summer of speculation. Especially so if you're a Forest fan, with takeover news, managerial rumours and - eventually - transfer gossip on the menu.
Social media is the 'grapevine' to pick up the latest news on all of this but, as we all know, it can be hard to know what's right and wrong. At best, you're right up to speed with the very latest. At worst, you're mired in a timeline of clickbait, banality and untruths.
From bitter experience, here's a few lessons to help you cut through the garbage:
Follow the right people. I've always thought we're lucky, as Forest fans, to be served by a decent set of journalists and have a good selection of people in the national media who support the Tricky Trees. Here are the essentials (sorry if I've missed anyone off):
Clearly you'll want the official account, and Fawaz
Paul Taylor
Nottingham Post Sport
Radio Nottingham
Robin Chipperfield
David Jackson
...and then the national journalists who are Forest fans
Daniel Taylor
Nick Miller
Daniel Storey
...and the journalists who seem to know their onions about Forest/the Midlands
Alan Nixon
John Percy
Pat Murphy
Don't be too trusting. The above list isn't exhaustive and wisdom doesn't solely reside with that lot. However it's important to keep an open mind. Some people on Twitter do have genuine information about the goings on at the club. Many don't. Journalists such as the one's mentioned should, by and large, have stood up their stories through one or more trusted sources, people on Twitter won't have done. That's why people on Twitter might sometimes appear to have 'got it first' - they don't need to bother getting it verified. Sometimes journalists get information that they are not able to publish as it would compromise their source. Basically, you can pick up juicy titbits on Twitter that journalists won't have put out, but it pays to consume all of your gossip with a tablespoon of salt. Whenever you see a rumour it's well worth asking - 'who has this come from?'. If it's some bloke who has never tweeted before who looks like they've paid for some made up followers then ignore it. Also, no-one who has ever seen a player 'looking round houses' or 'shopping in West Bridgford' is telling the truth.
Tomorrow never comes. The worst Twitter rumours always promise news at a certain time or by a certain date. Many a hyped 'press conference' has never materialised, many a deadline gone by without delivering on a promise. Don't allow yourself to get sucked into being glued to your timeline at the 'promised time' and don't get angry or frustrated when it emerges it was garbage all along. It normally is.
Parody accounts aren't funny. Twitter is only ten years old but it probably ought to be growing up. One of the oldest and lamest of jokes is the 'parody account'. Some of these can be funny, granted, but for every one that is there will be countless rubbish ones.
Fakes are a pain too. Parodies are set up to make you laugh, fakes are set up to catch you out. Brace yourself for false Fawaz accounts and fake Henri Lansburys. People often set up spoof Sky Sports News accounts and tweet transfer 'breaking news' and 'done deal' snippets at various points in the summer. Colin Fray is a favourite for Forest fakers too. He isn't on Twitter but someone will, at some point in the summer, set up an account pretending to be him. Expect it, expose it and don't fall for it.
Give Paul Taylor a break. There are plenty of people who love to give Paul Taylor stick but most of it seems unfair to me. He wasn't the man behind the infamous 'It's Baggio' headline - and we should probably drop that now anyway. He's a Notts fan, yes, but so what? He isn't responsible for the annoying ads on the Post site either (they're a sad reality that we have to accept if we want to get our news for 'free') and he doesn't write the more clickbaity stuff that every paper is sadly forced to do to meet web targets and keep people in jobs. Paul Taylor keeps fans up to date, runs an interesting weekly web chat and does a good job of making sense of the mess that is our football club.
Don't feed the clickbait monster. There are hundreds of websites and social media accounts that leech off football fans. Yes, 'HITC', I'm looking at you. These accounts will make a whole story from a single tweet, regularly rehash the bookies odds and trot out endless unfounded transfer and managerial rumours. Even in the last week or so you'll have noticed Forest being linked to a number of transfer targets, despite the fact we have no manager, no scouting network and are in the midst of a takeover. They'll continually link us to Steve Evans too, despite the fact the club has said he's not a candidate on two or three occasions now. It's garbage, avoid it all.
Don't bother with 'banter'. There are some opposition fans who will genuinely want to discuss news and views with you and this can be one of the joys of Twitter. But those from D*rby or other clubs who are on the 'wind up' need to be ignored. Plenty of people go 'fishing' looking for a bite and an argument. Leave them alone, they'll soon crawl back under their rocks.
Polls? The jury is out. Should Twitter have made it so easy for polls to be created? A - Yes, I love seeing the same question asked every day. B - No, I'm sick of the sight of them. C - Some of them are good (In The Top One's superb 'World Cup Of Shirts for example) but I'd be happier if there weren't as many of the buggers clogging up the NFFC hashtag. I'm saying C.
Fawaz being on Twitter is a recipe for disaster. Some might think it's refreshing that a club chairman is on Twitter and interacts with the fans and, on paper, it is. Yet this also opens him up to any Tom, Dick or Harry with a smartphone. Sometimes I fear that when Fawaz says he's trying to 'please' the fans he's referring to a very narrow cross section. I regularly wince and cringe at some of his posts and 'interactions'.
Social media is the 'grapevine' to pick up the latest news on all of this but, as we all know, it can be hard to know what's right and wrong. At best, you're right up to speed with the very latest. At worst, you're mired in a timeline of clickbait, banality and untruths.
From bitter experience, here's a few lessons to help you cut through the garbage:
Follow the right people. I've always thought we're lucky, as Forest fans, to be served by a decent set of journalists and have a good selection of people in the national media who support the Tricky Trees. Here are the essentials (sorry if I've missed anyone off):
Clearly you'll want the official account, and Fawaz
Paul Taylor
Nottingham Post Sport
Radio Nottingham
Robin Chipperfield
David Jackson
...and then the national journalists who are Forest fans
Daniel Taylor
Nick Miller
Daniel Storey
...and the journalists who seem to know their onions about Forest/the Midlands
Alan Nixon
John Percy
Pat Murphy
Don't be too trusting. The above list isn't exhaustive and wisdom doesn't solely reside with that lot. However it's important to keep an open mind. Some people on Twitter do have genuine information about the goings on at the club. Many don't. Journalists such as the one's mentioned should, by and large, have stood up their stories through one or more trusted sources, people on Twitter won't have done. That's why people on Twitter might sometimes appear to have 'got it first' - they don't need to bother getting it verified. Sometimes journalists get information that they are not able to publish as it would compromise their source. Basically, you can pick up juicy titbits on Twitter that journalists won't have put out, but it pays to consume all of your gossip with a tablespoon of salt. Whenever you see a rumour it's well worth asking - 'who has this come from?'. If it's some bloke who has never tweeted before who looks like they've paid for some made up followers then ignore it. Also, no-one who has ever seen a player 'looking round houses' or 'shopping in West Bridgford' is telling the truth.
Tomorrow never comes. The worst Twitter rumours always promise news at a certain time or by a certain date. Many a hyped 'press conference' has never materialised, many a deadline gone by without delivering on a promise. Don't allow yourself to get sucked into being glued to your timeline at the 'promised time' and don't get angry or frustrated when it emerges it was garbage all along. It normally is.
Parody accounts aren't funny. Twitter is only ten years old but it probably ought to be growing up. One of the oldest and lamest of jokes is the 'parody account'. Some of these can be funny, granted, but for every one that is there will be countless rubbish ones.
Fakes are a pain too. Parodies are set up to make you laugh, fakes are set up to catch you out. Brace yourself for false Fawaz accounts and fake Henri Lansburys. People often set up spoof Sky Sports News accounts and tweet transfer 'breaking news' and 'done deal' snippets at various points in the summer. Colin Fray is a favourite for Forest fakers too. He isn't on Twitter but someone will, at some point in the summer, set up an account pretending to be him. Expect it, expose it and don't fall for it.
Give Paul Taylor a break. There are plenty of people who love to give Paul Taylor stick but most of it seems unfair to me. He wasn't the man behind the infamous 'It's Baggio' headline - and we should probably drop that now anyway. He's a Notts fan, yes, but so what? He isn't responsible for the annoying ads on the Post site either (they're a sad reality that we have to accept if we want to get our news for 'free') and he doesn't write the more clickbaity stuff that every paper is sadly forced to do to meet web targets and keep people in jobs. Paul Taylor keeps fans up to date, runs an interesting weekly web chat and does a good job of making sense of the mess that is our football club.
Don't feed the clickbait monster. There are hundreds of websites and social media accounts that leech off football fans. Yes, 'HITC', I'm looking at you. These accounts will make a whole story from a single tweet, regularly rehash the bookies odds and trot out endless unfounded transfer and managerial rumours. Even in the last week or so you'll have noticed Forest being linked to a number of transfer targets, despite the fact we have no manager, no scouting network and are in the midst of a takeover. They'll continually link us to Steve Evans too, despite the fact the club has said he's not a candidate on two or three occasions now. It's garbage, avoid it all.
Don't bother with 'banter'. There are some opposition fans who will genuinely want to discuss news and views with you and this can be one of the joys of Twitter. But those from D*rby or other clubs who are on the 'wind up' need to be ignored. Plenty of people go 'fishing' looking for a bite and an argument. Leave them alone, they'll soon crawl back under their rocks.
Polls? The jury is out. Should Twitter have made it so easy for polls to be created? A - Yes, I love seeing the same question asked every day. B - No, I'm sick of the sight of them. C - Some of them are good (In The Top One's superb 'World Cup Of Shirts for example) but I'd be happier if there weren't as many of the buggers clogging up the NFFC hashtag. I'm saying C.
Fawaz being on Twitter is a recipe for disaster. Some might think it's refreshing that a club chairman is on Twitter and interacts with the fans and, on paper, it is. Yet this also opens him up to any Tom, Dick or Harry with a smartphone. Sometimes I fear that when Fawaz says he's trying to 'please' the fans he's referring to a very narrow cross section. I regularly wince and cringe at some of his posts and 'interactions'.
Sunday, 8 May 2016
Brilliant Britt strikes to end the season on a high
It was the perfect way to end a decidedly imperfect season. Britt Assombalonga stepped off the bench, bagged the winner for a 10-man Forest and left us all singing his name as the curtain came down on the 2015/16 season. Perhaps only the home win against the Sheep could rival this as the campaign's most satisfying moment.
Ending the season on an Assombalonga winner was heartwarming but also fitting too. Ordinarily, if we'd been pegged back to 1-1 and then reduced to 10 men then the very limit of our ambitions would be to cling on to a point. In fact, even with 11 men we've struggled to turn draws into wins and defeats into draws. With Britt we had the firepower we'd so badly needed to make a difference.
Look at the final table and you'll notice that we conceded just two more goals than Sheffield Wednesday and four more than the Sheep the sixth and fifth placed sides. Yet we scored 23 goals fewer than both sides. Of course it's too simplistic to put this solely down to one man, but the Britt shaped hole in our strike force is there for all to see. That he returned with a goal in this game at least gives hope that he can return to his deadly best from the start of next season.
The identity of the first goal scorer also helped to make the occasion special too. Chris Cohen, for so long a treatment room buddy of Britt as he recovered from a third serious injury, rose to head home a superb curling cross from Ben Osborn.
At that point, Paul Williams' men looked capable of running riot at the expense of their already-relegated hosts. The home side's midfield gave up far too much time and space to allow Forest to play in. Cohen stepped forward very ably into Henri Lansbury's usual advanced midfield role and Chris O'Grady returned - presumably for a last appearance - and made a nuisance of himself.
Oliver Burke, let loose at last, was also making hay down the right flank, beating Dean Lewington for pace and strength and generally warming to the task in hand.
Then came two setbacks that shaped the game. First Nicky Maynard - who spent the summer on trial at the City Ground - swept home after the brightest and breeziest bit of some bright and breezy MK play. That caused the visitors to doubt themselves all over again. The passing was less crisp and the decision making slapdash. Josh Murphy, the architect of the goal, had the beating of Eric Lichaj and looked dangerous.
Then, renaissance man Danny Fox harshly saw red for a sliding challenge. From my vantage point it certainly looked like he'd won the ball and while he had undoubtedly slid in so too, surely, did Jordan Spence. Fox's main crime seemed to have been to win the ball and tackle. Still, his reaction probably didn't help too much when the referee made his decision.
That left Williams with a tactical headache. He resolved the issue with the first of three well-timed substitutions on a day that was surely his finest showing as manager too. On the face of it, shifting the effective Burke up front, hauling off O'Grady and putting Mancienne at the back could be seen as a negative move, with no recognised striker left on the pitch. However, the interim boss realised that he needed all of his ten men to run hard and display the sort of movement, pace and energy that isn't O'Grady's game.
That's not to say Burke was completely effective on his own up front. The young winger ran at defenders, twisted and turned and put in a good shift but did lack support from his colleagues.
The hosts continued to be bright and breezy, firing in plenty of shots and crosses but mostly to little avail. That said, Kevin Long and especially Nick Maynard - him again - should've done better with their chances.
It was clear something needed to change and Williams, to his credit, delivered again around the hour mark. Robert Tesche was replaced by Britt Assombalonga and, soon after, Burke was replaced by Ryan Mendes.
The Cape Verde man's fresh legs breathed life into the ten men, with his pace and trickery proving a real handful for the Dons back line. He capped off one cracking run with a shot that seemed goal bound. The fact it kissed the bar summed Mendes up. So near yet so far.
Luckily his fellow sub proved more clinical. The winning goal began with an outrageous flick from Ben Osborn which got him past his man and allowed him to tee up Assombalonga. With time, Britt weighed up his options, fooled the keeper and stroked the ball into the corner of the net to send 4,000 travelling Trickies into raptures.
A goal from Britt, the calming influence of a mature and fit again Cohen, three points and an away win. It was a small glimpse of what we hope to see next season. Now we just need a manager, a CEO and a few signings. Another quiet summer then...
He's back - well and truly. #NFFC pic.twitter.com/OearVdW72o— Nottingham Forest FC (@Official_NFFC) May 7, 2016
Ending the season on an Assombalonga winner was heartwarming but also fitting too. Ordinarily, if we'd been pegged back to 1-1 and then reduced to 10 men then the very limit of our ambitions would be to cling on to a point. In fact, even with 11 men we've struggled to turn draws into wins and defeats into draws. With Britt we had the firepower we'd so badly needed to make a difference.
Look at the final table and you'll notice that we conceded just two more goals than Sheffield Wednesday and four more than the Sheep the sixth and fifth placed sides. Yet we scored 23 goals fewer than both sides. Of course it's too simplistic to put this solely down to one man, but the Britt shaped hole in our strike force is there for all to see. That he returned with a goal in this game at least gives hope that he can return to his deadly best from the start of next season.
The identity of the first goal scorer also helped to make the occasion special too. Chris Cohen, for so long a treatment room buddy of Britt as he recovered from a third serious injury, rose to head home a superb curling cross from Ben Osborn.
At that point, Paul Williams' men looked capable of running riot at the expense of their already-relegated hosts. The home side's midfield gave up far too much time and space to allow Forest to play in. Cohen stepped forward very ably into Henri Lansbury's usual advanced midfield role and Chris O'Grady returned - presumably for a last appearance - and made a nuisance of himself.
Oliver Burke, let loose at last, was also making hay down the right flank, beating Dean Lewington for pace and strength and generally warming to the task in hand.
Then came two setbacks that shaped the game. First Nicky Maynard - who spent the summer on trial at the City Ground - swept home after the brightest and breeziest bit of some bright and breezy MK play. That caused the visitors to doubt themselves all over again. The passing was less crisp and the decision making slapdash. Josh Murphy, the architect of the goal, had the beating of Eric Lichaj and looked dangerous.
Then, renaissance man Danny Fox harshly saw red for a sliding challenge. From my vantage point it certainly looked like he'd won the ball and while he had undoubtedly slid in so too, surely, did Jordan Spence. Fox's main crime seemed to have been to win the ball and tackle. Still, his reaction probably didn't help too much when the referee made his decision.
That left Williams with a tactical headache. He resolved the issue with the first of three well-timed substitutions on a day that was surely his finest showing as manager too. On the face of it, shifting the effective Burke up front, hauling off O'Grady and putting Mancienne at the back could be seen as a negative move, with no recognised striker left on the pitch. However, the interim boss realised that he needed all of his ten men to run hard and display the sort of movement, pace and energy that isn't O'Grady's game.
That's not to say Burke was completely effective on his own up front. The young winger ran at defenders, twisted and turned and put in a good shift but did lack support from his colleagues.
The hosts continued to be bright and breezy, firing in plenty of shots and crosses but mostly to little avail. That said, Kevin Long and especially Nick Maynard - him again - should've done better with their chances.
It was clear something needed to change and Williams, to his credit, delivered again around the hour mark. Robert Tesche was replaced by Britt Assombalonga and, soon after, Burke was replaced by Ryan Mendes.
The Cape Verde man's fresh legs breathed life into the ten men, with his pace and trickery proving a real handful for the Dons back line. He capped off one cracking run with a shot that seemed goal bound. The fact it kissed the bar summed Mendes up. So near yet so far.
Luckily his fellow sub proved more clinical. The winning goal began with an outrageous flick from Ben Osborn which got him past his man and allowed him to tee up Assombalonga. With time, Britt weighed up his options, fooled the keeper and stroked the ball into the corner of the net to send 4,000 travelling Trickies into raptures.
A goal from Britt, the calming influence of a mature and fit again Cohen, three points and an away win. It was a small glimpse of what we hope to see next season. Now we just need a manager, a CEO and a few signings. Another quiet summer then...
Sunday, 17 April 2016
Fantastic Mr Fox helps stop the rot in Rotherham
This is what progress looks like. It may not have been always been pretty, it could well have gone either way, but a toughed out 0-0 in South Yorkshire was just what the doctor ordered.
I'm sure I wasn't the only travelling Tricky concerned about what we might see on Saturday. A rampant Rotherham, managed by Neil Warnock, didn't seem the ideal fixture for a hapless side that had registered a meagre one win and one draw in its previous 11 outings.
A managerless (Paul Williams, bless him, doesn't really want this poisoned chalice does he?) mishmash of a side would surely be outfoxed by a wily Warnock and outfought by his confident charges.
Yet, it wasn't to be. Building on a promising second half against Brighton, Forest held their own. Yes Richard Wood could - and should - have done better with a series of headed chances but the fact that the best chances fell to him is testament to the way in which the Millers' attack was largely kept in check.
Chief frustrator for the Men in Black was Danny Fox, the man brought in from the cold by Williams and Reid after yet another injury crisis. A full back by trade, Fox has slotted in to the heart of the defence - a position he did play under Stuart Pearce - and deserves high praise for his performances. Pearce himself once said Fox possessed one of the best left feet at the club. We laughed at the time but Fox's distribution at the New York Stadium showed that his dreadful displays at full back haven't done him justice.
Perhaps most impressive of all was that Fox was strong in the tackle, good in the air and quick to intercept any danger - proving he was up to the physical test that the hosts posed and making him a good foil for the also-solid Matt Mills.
It was a day for unlikely star men. Ryan Mendes, an often frustrating figure, was undoubtedly Forest's main - if not only - attacking threat. His pace proved a major headache for the Rotherham back four, forcing Warnock to tweak his tactics at half time to try to nullify him. While he was quieter after the break, he was still a threat - setting up Lansbury, drawing a save from Lee Camp and dancing into the box Knockaert-style in injury time (sadly without the same end result).
The Cape Verde man is desperately close to being a decent player yet if he could finish - or provide more killer final balls - he wouldn't be on loan with us. Saturday proved that, if nothing else, pace alone is enough to give most Championship sides a real headache.
Speaking of unlikely star men, quite why Lee Camp was given man of the match for barely two saves was a mystery. Sadly he went on to prove the decision right by making a smart stop to deny Mendes.
Had others around Mendes been sharper then more points were there for the taking. Henri Lansbury's afternoon was best summed up by the fact he slipped on his backside when put through by Mendes, while Dexter faded badly in the second half. Neither were helped by the fact that Gardner and Tesche were never fully in control and able to give them the service required.
Rotherham's superior crossing ability and Greg Halford's long throws ensured the hosts always posed a threat and the 2,001 away fans could never sit comfortably. Maybe it was these nerves that resulted in Warnock only receiving one chant by way of abuse - or maybe it was that people feared Fawaz might still have to go back to him with a begging bowl in the summer.
A strangely inactive staff in the dugout made just one change - to run down the clock in injury time - while an animated Warnock threw on fresh legs and tried to orchestrate a winner.
A point was probably fair though and it should prove useful for both sides, keeping MK Dons at arm's length. It also meant that a fifth defeat in a row wasn't forthcoming (something we'd apparently not 'managed' since 1992. Even under Megson) and was the first clean sheet since Freedman departed.
One more coherent display against Blackburn would surely be enough to end the relegation nerves. If Fox and Mendes can step up to the plate, is it too much to ask for one last push from the others to see us over the line?
I'm sure I wasn't the only travelling Tricky concerned about what we might see on Saturday. A rampant Rotherham, managed by Neil Warnock, didn't seem the ideal fixture for a hapless side that had registered a meagre one win and one draw in its previous 11 outings.
A managerless (Paul Williams, bless him, doesn't really want this poisoned chalice does he?) mishmash of a side would surely be outfoxed by a wily Warnock and outfought by his confident charges.
Yet, it wasn't to be. Building on a promising second half against Brighton, Forest held their own. Yes Richard Wood could - and should - have done better with a series of headed chances but the fact that the best chances fell to him is testament to the way in which the Millers' attack was largely kept in check.
Chief frustrator for the Men in Black was Danny Fox, the man brought in from the cold by Williams and Reid after yet another injury crisis. A full back by trade, Fox has slotted in to the heart of the defence - a position he did play under Stuart Pearce - and deserves high praise for his performances. Pearce himself once said Fox possessed one of the best left feet at the club. We laughed at the time but Fox's distribution at the New York Stadium showed that his dreadful displays at full back haven't done him justice.
Perhaps most impressive of all was that Fox was strong in the tackle, good in the air and quick to intercept any danger - proving he was up to the physical test that the hosts posed and making him a good foil for the also-solid Matt Mills.
It was a day for unlikely star men. Ryan Mendes, an often frustrating figure, was undoubtedly Forest's main - if not only - attacking threat. His pace proved a major headache for the Rotherham back four, forcing Warnock to tweak his tactics at half time to try to nullify him. While he was quieter after the break, he was still a threat - setting up Lansbury, drawing a save from Lee Camp and dancing into the box Knockaert-style in injury time (sadly without the same end result).
The Cape Verde man is desperately close to being a decent player yet if he could finish - or provide more killer final balls - he wouldn't be on loan with us. Saturday proved that, if nothing else, pace alone is enough to give most Championship sides a real headache.
Speaking of unlikely star men, quite why Lee Camp was given man of the match for barely two saves was a mystery. Sadly he went on to prove the decision right by making a smart stop to deny Mendes.
Had others around Mendes been sharper then more points were there for the taking. Henri Lansbury's afternoon was best summed up by the fact he slipped on his backside when put through by Mendes, while Dexter faded badly in the second half. Neither were helped by the fact that Gardner and Tesche were never fully in control and able to give them the service required.
Rotherham's superior crossing ability and Greg Halford's long throws ensured the hosts always posed a threat and the 2,001 away fans could never sit comfortably. Maybe it was these nerves that resulted in Warnock only receiving one chant by way of abuse - or maybe it was that people feared Fawaz might still have to go back to him with a begging bowl in the summer.
A strangely inactive staff in the dugout made just one change - to run down the clock in injury time - while an animated Warnock threw on fresh legs and tried to orchestrate a winner.
A point was probably fair though and it should prove useful for both sides, keeping MK Dons at arm's length. It also meant that a fifth defeat in a row wasn't forthcoming (something we'd apparently not 'managed' since 1992. Even under Megson) and was the first clean sheet since Freedman departed.
One more coherent display against Blackburn would surely be enough to end the relegation nerves. If Fox and Mendes can step up to the plate, is it too much to ask for one last push from the others to see us over the line?
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Millmoor is just across the road from the new ground
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Rotherham: Home of legends
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Tuesday, 12 April 2016
Blackstock and Lansbury: The accidental attack that almost toppled Brighton
No-one is sitting comfortably yet are they? No matter how much logic tells us that a nine-point cushion from the relegation zone with five games to go is 'enough', it doesn't pay to take anything for granted with a side that has won one in the last 11 games.
The Calderwood promotion came after we'd been 11 points off with seven games to go. In that respect a 2-1 defeat at home to Brighton should offer scant hope and, yet, strangely there was a crumb or two of comfort.
For about the first half an hour of the second period Forest produced their best football of the Paul Williams caretaker regime. After a tepid first half we landed upon a vaguely useful formula by accident and should have taken at least a point against a below-par Brighton as a result.
Plan A had been to ask Jamie Ward to be Jamie Ward and annoy his way to a goal. There was a lot of running and chasing but, let's be frank, the usual lack of end product followed by the all-too-familiar injury.
In his place came Dexter Blackstock. I recently described Dexter to a colleague as a man who resembles a bag of limbs jumbled up and rearranged in the wrong order. Sometimes things work, other times arms and legs flail and the ball flies off in all directions. Sarcasm aside though, it's clear that Dexter isn't the sort of player to be a like-for-like swap with Ward.
Williams instead pushed everyone a little further forward and it paid off. Lansbury's 'free role' almost became a second striker position as Blackstock was given some support. Osborn was more comfortable on the left and suddenly we attacked with energy and purpose and had the game in our hands.
Blackstock, fittingly, got the goal. It was arch Blackstock too, a brilliant header from a whipped free kick after he'd fought to muscle himself into an inch of space.
It confirmed that Dexter probably is the best we've got available (wince at the thought if you like). It's surely worth a manager asking themselves what a defender would least like to face and Williams, a decent defender himself in his day, should know that a physical Blackstock is the best answer from our severely depleted arsenal.
Dexter might well have enough left in the tank to scramble us over the line to safety this year. He won't be able to plough a lone furrow up front on his own these day though. Equally we haven't got two strikers useful enough to play a pair. That may well mean that Lansbury playing in and around Dexter as a second striker is the best thin sheet of paper we have available to tentatively stick over the cracks in our 'strike force' right now.
The formula provided a couple more chances to the accidental attack take the lead after the equaliser. The first, to Lansbury, was fired over and the second, an awkward header to Dexter, squirmed wide. At that point Dexter was dominating Connor Goldson and looked in the mood for another goal.
Yet, sadly, the chances dried up. Vaughan and Gardner had to come off, Cohen tired and Brighton sent on the subs. Knockaert bamboozled us again and Steve Sidwell swept home an ill-deserved winner. It summed up the season - we simply weren't ruthless enough in both boxes to capitalise on the opportunities in the game.
You'd have to hope that the midfielders might be fit again for the tough looking trip to a rampant Rotherham. We also might as well bottle that unlikely Blackstock/Lansbury formula in the short term and see if, somehow, it can stop the freefall and cobble together a more comfortable finale.
Having bagged his 44th in Garibaldi Red, Dexter is slowly edging towards being the first man to score 50 for Forest since David Johnson. Lansbury himself had scored 18 across the last two seasons but just two this time around. He's apparently been craving a more forward thinking role and, while this was probably further forward than he meant, it's time for him to deliver and rediscover his goalscoring touch. It's not ideal, it's not what any of us would've stuck down on paper as a first choice attack and it's not the solution in the long term but little else has worked recently.
The Calderwood promotion came after we'd been 11 points off with seven games to go. In that respect a 2-1 defeat at home to Brighton should offer scant hope and, yet, strangely there was a crumb or two of comfort.
For about the first half an hour of the second period Forest produced their best football of the Paul Williams caretaker regime. After a tepid first half we landed upon a vaguely useful formula by accident and should have taken at least a point against a below-par Brighton as a result.
Plan A had been to ask Jamie Ward to be Jamie Ward and annoy his way to a goal. There was a lot of running and chasing but, let's be frank, the usual lack of end product followed by the all-too-familiar injury.
In his place came Dexter Blackstock. I recently described Dexter to a colleague as a man who resembles a bag of limbs jumbled up and rearranged in the wrong order. Sometimes things work, other times arms and legs flail and the ball flies off in all directions. Sarcasm aside though, it's clear that Dexter isn't the sort of player to be a like-for-like swap with Ward.
Williams instead pushed everyone a little further forward and it paid off. Lansbury's 'free role' almost became a second striker position as Blackstock was given some support. Osborn was more comfortable on the left and suddenly we attacked with energy and purpose and had the game in our hands.
Blackstock, fittingly, got the goal. It was arch Blackstock too, a brilliant header from a whipped free kick after he'd fought to muscle himself into an inch of space.
Here's a look at Dexter Blackstock's equaliser for @Official_NFFC #SkyFootball https://t.co/xuhPl2ojfl— Football League (@SkySportsFL) April 11, 2016
It confirmed that Dexter probably is the best we've got available (wince at the thought if you like). It's surely worth a manager asking themselves what a defender would least like to face and Williams, a decent defender himself in his day, should know that a physical Blackstock is the best answer from our severely depleted arsenal.
Dexter might well have enough left in the tank to scramble us over the line to safety this year. He won't be able to plough a lone furrow up front on his own these day though. Equally we haven't got two strikers useful enough to play a pair. That may well mean that Lansbury playing in and around Dexter as a second striker is the best thin sheet of paper we have available to tentatively stick over the cracks in our 'strike force' right now.
The formula provided a couple more chances to the accidental attack take the lead after the equaliser. The first, to Lansbury, was fired over and the second, an awkward header to Dexter, squirmed wide. At that point Dexter was dominating Connor Goldson and looked in the mood for another goal.
Yet, sadly, the chances dried up. Vaughan and Gardner had to come off, Cohen tired and Brighton sent on the subs. Knockaert bamboozled us again and Steve Sidwell swept home an ill-deserved winner. It summed up the season - we simply weren't ruthless enough in both boxes to capitalise on the opportunities in the game.
You'd have to hope that the midfielders might be fit again for the tough looking trip to a rampant Rotherham. We also might as well bottle that unlikely Blackstock/Lansbury formula in the short term and see if, somehow, it can stop the freefall and cobble together a more comfortable finale.
Having bagged his 44th in Garibaldi Red, Dexter is slowly edging towards being the first man to score 50 for Forest since David Johnson. Lansbury himself had scored 18 across the last two seasons but just two this time around. He's apparently been craving a more forward thinking role and, while this was probably further forward than he meant, it's time for him to deliver and rediscover his goalscoring touch. It's not ideal, it's not what any of us would've stuck down on paper as a first choice attack and it's not the solution in the long term but little else has worked recently.
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