I could only listen on the radio, but it sounded like Lynch had a good game. I think Forest would have offered him a new contract if it wasn't for the pre-season limbo we were stuck in, so our loss is definitely your gain.

play breaks down in our half, within a second or two we have backed off almost into our own box.. neither centre back goes forward to close the ball down, its either a simple pass through them or the opposition player gets close enough for a shot..
first half- the shot that hit the post, lots of other short passes through the back peddling defence, second half the goal itself..
advice from 38, go to the ball, close it down make them make a pass/have a shot under some pressure.. running away is not an option.. always , always try and keep the opposition as far from your goal as possible, sounds a simple solution, because it is..

Where was Peter Clarke for the goal?
Surely Simon Cox was his man.

We were given a bit of a footballing lesson last night by a superb Forest team, who in the main looked pacy,powerful and accurate(barring a few shots).

It's alright saying we should've got crosses in but Town are trying to play a different way to last season. We are trying to retain possesion and probe our way into a goalscoring chance. Half the problem in the first half was we just didn't retain the ball well enough, we kept giving it away and putting ourselves under pressure. It was like a wave after wave of attacks by Forest, Lord only knows how we weren't getting spanked 3 or 4 nil at half time

Cas, Arfield made way for Rhodes...Grayson wasn't going to play 5 in midfield again, not at home, so as Arfield isn't a new signing he was the one to miss out.

I don't think there is a lot wrong with Town, just a bit of tweaking and organising and maybe get players to support the attack a bit more. I'm happy enough with the individual players skills and fitness although I'm the same as others about Novak. He's a good worker but he doesn't bring that bit 'extra' to the game which might sound harsh when he scored 17 goals last season.

I'd give him a bit more time yet, and maybe with better midfield support he can concentrate on attacking the goals which is what he's best at..If we do bring in another main striker, there could still be room for Novak out wide...?

We will tell more from the team after Saturday because no disrespect to burnley, I don't think they'll be as good as forest or Cardiff but we still have to be on our game.

2,274 Forest fans there last night, gate for Town fans 13,200 ...don't know the actual 'attendance', not on the dodgy new Town Website this season.

Nearly done Burnley match, might put it up later tonight...before I lose my notes...

Jacko- he should have started 451 becuase we were getting hammered with Novak and Rhodes up top

People seem to think it's defensive but if played in the correct manner it's very affective as we showed at Cardiff

4-5-1...at home requires a player like hegginbottom to be playing..
one midfielder who goes where he likes, drifting in and out of the opposition half, linking the play to the striker..
all action, all running and moving and being hard to pick up..
simon wont play him.. looks like 3 holders to me..did last night till the last 10 minutes..
sporadic attacks and hope that someone does something special on their own or from set pieces..
if the aim is to be mid table then it does not take a great deal to end up fighting down at the bottom end..
the stuff up in the general direction of rhodes/novak last night was, in the main, sh-te..
put it in the channels and give novak a fighting chance and you will get the best from him.. get the ball into the box first chance you get(from decent positions in their half) and you will get the best from jordan rhodes.. we failed on quite a few occasions last night to get it in early, looked to be policy..

It doesn't have to be Higginbotham, in fact it doesn't have to be just one player. Clayton can spend 10 minutes or so hovering between midfield and attack, Scannell could spend 10 minutes or so pushing infield to try and have a go at the opposition defence, anyone can do so just as long as at some point when we want to attack we have someone doing something a little different to cause the opposition problems.

451 home and away for me, i thought that's what we played last night anyway, we didn't go 442 did we?

terrier..
forest had one player who didnt pick anyone up..was allowed to wander and pick the ball up wherever he happened to want to be.. we didnt/couldnt pick him up and he influenced a lot of the game..
he wasnt given any sort of defensive job to do and our "disciplined midfield" looked second best because of it..
forest had the pace to get people into our half and behind us..we dont..
one player with a brief to just go where he wants may be the best we can do at the moment, we need some more pace in the team..
I remember gary roberts playing against le-ds...he was all over the place in their half and they simply couldnt cope..
home game we won 1-0 nathans header.. gary unfortunately couldnt keep it going for the whole game but the first half he was unplayable...higgy could do it for 90 minutes week in week out, if required..

"It's alright saying we should've got crosses in but Town are trying to play a different way to last season. We are trying to retain possesion and probe our way into a goalscoring chance".

So you would discount Rhodes's gaol against Australia would you?

Lord 'elp us!

13,381 That was actual crowd last night, now that's poor to say it was our first game bk and 2tho from forest.

Our midfield got pulled apart last night, they were dragged to the wing, dragged back in defence, the number of times Forest had a guy stood in the middle with no Town player within 20 yards of him...yet at Cardiff we looked very disciplined and kept our shape really well until be went defensive in the last 15 minutes.

Am not against 4-5-1 provided the 2 outer players have pace, and the mid 3 have one designated to be deeper and the 2 in front try and support the attack a bit. Last night I don't know who was playing deep midfield, certainly if they had been 'in place' Forest wouldn't have scored their goal as they exploited the hole in front of our defence.

I agree about Higginbotham, he would add that pace and work ethic, rather him than Ward for me at the moment. I still believe we could play 3 at the back though, that might just give us the edge in midfield 3-5-2 seems a lot more potent provided the wide players track back and cover, which they are supposed to do anyway...one of the 3 CB's would move over to cover the wing wherever they were attacking from..

As for rotation, I totally agree. MKD played that way with players taking it turns at being the front and back man, thereby keeping up the energy levels.

It's a simple game really isn't it ??

Loui, 13, 381 ? out of a reported 15,300 ? That means only 11,100 Town fans turned up ? Bloody hell ! That's is poor. But where were the 'missing' 1,900 ???

I don't understand..........

Never fookin happy You lot, we win promotion and we play the 2 teams that will probably finish in top 4 and just because they were better than us well forest were not Cardiff which makes you lot even more saaaad than i first thought, You moan about how we didn't do this didn't do that, ffs what do you lot want to see fookin Brazil!! , did you really think it would be a walk in the fookin woods this season?? We're in the championship nit fookin lg shiiting one, get a fookin grip you lot and enjoy the championship, its been a11 years ya fooking sods. Thanks for reading x

Just me and Loui reasonably happy out of all us lot then,, Two games two reasonable performances,, Think some folk are expecting a bit too much from our young side,, Forest have spent a bit, Will be paying big wages to the likes of Reid,,, We tryed to play it about a bit rather than just hoof it, And i do think all our signings are far better footballers than what we had last year.

As for some of the tactical knowledge being spouted about what we should have done ???? Hindsight is a wonderful thing, All a bit after the mayors show me thinks.

Comment is Free...so shut up ! lol

It's only debate chaps, chewing the whatsits...which is what the site is for...Not sure many are 'moaning', just suggesting reasons for what happened.

Lighten up !

Shockingly dull atmosphere, Yet again,, 38 i dont give a stuff about Reading FC,,,, Our problem is a lack of a boys end,,, WTF is the Kilner full of old far ts ?? Why are they not in the far more salubrious Riverside ?? WTF is the FM lower a family end only ?? And WTF is a third of the away stand "tarped off" ??? I will add WTF was there a huge throng of folk at the ticket office ?? As for the attendance, How many folk have at least £23 going spare on a tuesday night ? Not many who i know.

Captain Dubstar- I wouldn't discount any goal.

At the same time the answer isn't always to cross the ball into the box, maybe just maybe the player out wide looked up and thought the better option was to go back..retain possesion and try another way. I can't knock a footballer for using the little brains that they have.

God you lot make me angryˋωˊ were is that tez i feel like smackin somone, (ˋ﹏ˊ)

Bozza...

Please show me where I said that the answer was always to cross the ball into the box. I can show you where just two days ago on this board, I stated, “I have always said, it’s what gets the job done.”

Your statement, which I repeat... “It's alright saying we should've got crosses in but Town are trying to play a different way to last season. We are trying to retain possesion and probe our way into a goalscoring chance.”... is very much a statement of fact, and as far as I can see, doesn’t allow for exceptions.

The current Premier League champions were drawing 2-2 at home with newly promoted Southampton at the Etihad Stadium last Saturday. They have a team which includes players I am sure you would welcome with open arms, were they to be available for Town. Here is a description from the BBC’s website of their winning goal which they scored some 18 minutes from the end of the game... “Clichy's cross bounced into the path of Nasri, who found the net with a fierce drive from 10 yards out.”

That cross was in fact, headed away poorly by Southampton defender Daniel Fox. Nasty things, crosses... not just for vampires!

Probing might be all right for discovering outer space, but I go along with Bill Shankly, who is reported to have given the following advice to Ian St. John... “If you're not sure what to do with the ball, just pop it in the net and we'll discuss your options afterwards.”

Beware probing. The owner of the goose that laid golden eggs killed it to find out how it worked, didn't learn anything, and then there were no more golden eggs.

EL AURANS..
hindsight?? best read some of my posts that are always on well before the games//
the comments i make on this post stand for the burnley game on saturday..
we dont have enough pace in the side.. we dont have enough players in the opposition half to keep any concerted pressure on them(most of the time)...
I was very pleased with the way we played at cardiff(just dropped too deep for too long right at the death)..
Last night we just couldnt keep up with the pace and movement of forest.. we didnt help ourselves by backing off at times...happy with the last 10 minutes pressure and the penalty.. jack is our 2secret weapon" that isnt secret anymore but as anyone with pace, you know its coming and you can plan for it, but once he goes by you you have 2 choices, let him go or foul him..

Couple of times in the first half where i thought Dixon could have whipped a ball in for Rhodes,