Its abit us odd winning first day in. After 80mins I think the crowd were expecting udders to equalize for the mandatory first day draw, but we hung on. And to say hung on, makes it sound like udders could score at any minute... but they werent that much into the game. Udders player were thinking only route 1 football and clearing safe balls for throw ins by the end of things.
But saying that, Udders was a sharper suit than last time and very much doubt the same relegation fears will be held by them this year. We earned the 3 points, and there were fine individual and paired efforts, but still abit wayward from chasing top two.
An overall team assessment would be superficial at this point in time, but players have showcased themselves individually.
Darlow was same old darlow, picked out crosses, calm, commanding, and pulled off a fantastic save 10 seconds into the second half. Hes not losing the shirt yet.
Some are critical of cohen, but he had a fantastic game, even as captain
Lichaj looks like a steal. Jara may not be the most defensively adept, but is great running forward. Alternatively lichaj does not run forward, and rarely passes his man. BUT, he more than makes up for it by snuffing out anything that heads his way. Solid defender, same with hobbs who was strong both in the air and on the ground.
However, I remain critical of collins. Whilst he didnt give away the mandatory goal away he did almost gift them one on two occasions. First, not even attempting to clear a high cross in the 8yrd box, leaving a udders player free to make a fluff of what should have been a goal. Likewise he turned a bread-n-butter pass back into a handball which luckily didnt get noticed by the ref otherwise a penalty would have been issued. Saying that, the ref awarded very little other than offsides.
Geddy had an off day.
Reid, first half played across the park which resulted in a very centralized attack but must have been bolloxed by billy and remained bolted to the left wing 2nd half. Confused how such a wide man, with such little legs has built up so much pace in pre-season. MOTM IMO.
Mackie may become a fan favorite. He ran his heart out, a true engine up front and would force his way up field to create chances. Same with cox.
Derbyshire had placement issues, was rarely in the right place but if he had been half a foot taller, would have headed one home. Not a lost hope just yet.
All in all, positive signs. But we truely lacked that 20 a season striker. And that CB issue wont resolve itself. I would rather blood lacellalle than collins. Both probably just as error prone but youth prospects atleast tend to grow.
3 points.
6th place.
Still have this abdoun guy to look at.
Still have a month of the window left.
Good start forest, keep it up
New boys
posted on 3/8/13
I know it's easy to spend money ..... But.... Don't rate Collins enough to call him first choice cb and I don't rate Derbyshire one bit. We must buy a striker and a centre half. ( at least one striker). Derbyshire and miller are not good enough to fire us into the prem. simple as that. You watch derbys new lad score a bag full this season for an average team at best.
posted on 3/8/13
Monkey
we were at the same game agree with your comments
Reidy MOM
Miller and Hendo scared them to death
posted on 3/8/13
Agree with your comments about Mackie - wanted the ball all the time and did not stop running all the time he was on. Used the ball well but also made a lot of runs to pull people out of position when he did not have the ball.
posted on 3/8/13
Monkey..i for 1 was a little bit critical of Cohen....but like i said in another thread...i thought he had a really good game today.
I was also very impressed with Lichaj & Hobbs. They showed they could do what defenders do best....get their foot in. Also Lichaj was decent at supporting the attacks as well.
I'm pretty sure they will start to gel nicely after another 4-5 games.
My only major concern of the day was Collins....stupid mistakes like the 1 he pulled today will get punished if we're not careful. The sooner Forest can get a quality partner for Hobbs the better.
By the way....does anyone know why djamel abdoun didn't feature today? i was hoping to see him in action down the wings.
posted on 3/8/13
gandy, didnt the bbc mention something about international permits? god knows
as for collins, how much can he get away with?
He was like it last season, through pre-season hes been at fault for 2-3 goals, and even back into the new season hes a liability. For goodness sake, stick halford there if we really need to, least hes fairly solid..
posted on 4/8/13
I initally thought it might be some kind of work permit issue too....but i looked on his wiki.....
...he's born in France (he even played for the u18's -19's & u20's French national teams)....so surely as djamel abdoun has EU membership to move around Europe freely?
posted on 4/8/13
It makes me laugh that Pep can make about 20 mistakes in a game and no one says anything, whereas Collins makes 2 and people are calling for his head.
Thought Collins had a decent game. Don't get me wrong we need another CB; but it just seems that Collins bashing is the latest bandwagon for forest fans to jump on.
posted on 4/8/13
It's usually the way Hoons because when a midfielder makes a mistake it rarely leads to a goalscoring opportunity but with a defender it will and highlights the error more. Pep does seem very hit and miss and certainly takes time to gel. If he's going to play the DM role to allow Lansbury more attacking flair then he needs to improve his defensive duties. Collins has the ability to be a solid player in this league but if he continues to be a liability then people will keep criticising him.
posted on 4/8/13
Cohen played great yesterday, really led by example should have been MOM. Lichaj as well was good as well and put in a commanding performance. Mackie and Hobbs and Patterson look like they have real promise as well.
Still think we need a CB with Hobbs as Collins would be good back up (where has halford gone!?) and an out and out striker as well even though when Miller and hendo came on they did quite well but think they would be best used in away games or in the last 10-20 mins of a game!
1st game though
1st win
1st goal
1st clean sheet
Good Result!