Live match thread – Forest vs Preston

Must be frustrating as hell playing on the same team as Mendes and Oliveira. Mendes in particular has a selfish streak which can't be justified by him scoring lots of goals as he rarely hits the target. Oliveira has a little more leeway as he is the leading goalscorer, albeit still single figures in March. Rarely gets his head up when he has the ball in the opposition area. A simple tap to Gardner would surely have led to a simple second goal, for example.

I am grateful that they have come and given Forest a dog out this season but I reckon they'll soon be footnotes in Tricky Tree history.

Must be frustrating as hell playing on the same team as Mendes
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Agreed. He is very good at breaking away from our own half at speed - but (as you imply) it's a bit pointless if it doesn't end with a decent pass or shot.

Just watched the hi-lights, if both Mendes and Oliveria would make a short pass in the box, it would have been at least 3-0. Plus the header that Mendes missed, it looked harder to miss that.

I am not, not pro-EU either.

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Phew!

Overall I thought last night's performance was very pleasing although some faults were still very apparent.

Poor decision making in the last third. Giving the ball away too easily too often.

On the positive side the team are still putting in the effort (for the manager?) and the defence looked very solid except for some dead ball situations. A very good performance from Chris Cohen among others. Plenty of pace when we attack although I still think the midfield looks unbalanced, but that may improve when Lansbury returns.

Think Cohen was played at left back to provide some thrust up that flank and help Osborn. Cohen generally helps to get the team playing with a higher tempo so he is a must pick if fit IMO.

Lansbury in for Tesche and the midfield would be looking pretty good. Vaughan deserves a bit of a break so I would keep him to come on as sub and help maintain momentum as he did last night.

Gardner looked like his old self which is a big positive. I'd love to hear what he said to Oliveira when he failed to square the ball to him in the second half...

Agreed Will, but I just think that the central midfielders, although good players play similar roles. None of them seem to want to break beyond the ball or the strikers. Especially when Oliveira drops deep I would like to see Lansbury, when he is fit. looking for the ball beyond the CB, I feel Osborn and Burke could also do the job if they were given a more central role. Jamie Ward has done it occassionally

Stress & Pie:

FOREST 1 NOB END 0
Quickly...

The goal. That goal was so memorable they should name a Day after it - the Day of Classic Counter-Attack or something. It was a thing of simple beauty, though as Mendes scampered forward we were worried that the options open to him might melt his brain. Thankfully, he chose simple, to Osborn, who chose simple, to Oliveira, who scored, leaving most of the Nob End players trailing haplessly at the wrong end of the pitch. Sweet.

Mendes. What an odd little chap he is. If he put as much work into hitting the target as he does rehearsing his agonised how-did-I-miss routine he would be magnificent. Then again, he wouldn't be here. Having said that, a fit Mendes has become a vital part of Forest's counter-attacking threat, and is beginning to remind us of the player he was when he first arrived.

Nob End. Are a perfect example of the kind of dogged mediocrity that the Championship has spawned this season. So many teams go about their football with the mindless intensity of a man chopping wood. The difference between Forest and Nob End was that Forest bristled with (mostly unfulfilled) potential, while Nob End bristled with whatever the opposite of potential is. Entropy?

Joe Garner. It was at times amusing to watch Garner behaving like an electrocuted rat, except of course that his sole intention was to con the referee and gain advantage by cheating. Eventually his mind went completely and he had to be taken off for everyone's safety.

Simon Grayson. We really haven't liked this bloke since before he got Chris Cohen sent off at Leed, mainly because of his face, which troubles us.

The referee. Pfft.

Dorus de Vries. Not only is he a great goalkeeper, but he keeps that defence on their toes. There's no doubt who's the boss back there. We think he's our player of the season.

The victory. We were very nervous before, and near the end of, the game, but the victory was a deserved relief. It went to show that the most important thing in football is the result. If you can play entertaining football as well, that is a bonus, but it is nowhere near as important as the result. If Forest had been on a winning streak, that crowd would have been bigger. The "I don't go because the football's sh*te" excuse is a bogus one, firstly because the football has rarely been sh*te, and secondly because a few wins would obviously increase the level of enthusiasm around the place.

The season. Eleven games left. Thirty three points. Everything from play-off glory to a relegation scrap is possible. As Old Uncle Boff used to say: Death comes to us all, so enjoy it while you can. Or something like that.


www.stressandpie.co.uk

Good old Uncle Boff.