Matchday 25 - Nottingham Forest v West Ham United. Saturday 17th February. Kick off 3pm.

[RianBrice]

I argued that we were a mid table side a few months ago during our bad run but to be quite honest this side has the makings of a top six team.

Elanga and Taiwo are unplayable at times and in Felipe/Boly/Murillo/Omo we have the makings of a top six defensive partnership. Sina is absolute top quality and we also have great depth in the squad with the likes of Sangare, Williams, Danilo and Dominguez. If we stay up this season we should be pushing on and challenging the top six next year.

I admire your confidence… you haven’t had a lunchtime tipple have you?

 

[Irish Wolf]

Also, let’s be honest, Dominguez was clearly either trying to stop the kick being taken quickly and maybe provoke a reaction. Phillips needed to keep a cooler head of course.

He has been learning from the Yatesy fella.

 

[Larry Lansbury]

Thought we played some really good football yesterday-particularly in first 20 mins or so and then second half. Looked like a prem side! There was clear patterns of play-particularly when Centre backs had ball and passed it out wide to full backs or wide forwards tight on touch line with them then having several options and runners. It worked numerous times and was really slick. U could see 2-3 passes in front and where the ball was going to end up. Really encouraging-but still lots of work to be done.

 

[youreds1986]

Time will tell, unfortunately there seems to be much more to managing Forest than managing the on-field side of things. Nuno is far less likely to stand for any interference and I'm convinced that Cooper put the final nail in his coffin by taking a stand against those in the ivory tower.
Nuno has to be able to play the long game if he is going to have anything like the same impact on our progression as Coops has.

I don't disagree regards the off-field issues. It's f***ing shambolic.

Whether Nuno is here for a long time or a good time remains to be seen. But I think it's fair to say the next 6-18 months looks a hell of a lot rosier on the field than it did 2 months ago.

The potential points deduction is another matter.

 

[adam09]

Neco went down instantly because his foot got stood on. Maybe you’re confusing real life with slow motion replays.

INSTANTLY

It definitely would have looked like a dive if his left foot was stood on and his right foot magically didn't go on the floor and lifted up. That's what players like Rashford and Jota do.

 

[PynchonForest]

I re-watched the first half and I was perhaps a bit harsh. I don't think we were poor, but certainly, during parts of teh half, we weren't great and could have conceded twice. Neco was a bit better than I gave him credit for. Not certain how MGW was man of the match. Dominguez, Murillo and CHO were all better.

 

[casual_dave]

With regards to Nuno vs Coop’s style… I actually think Nuno is playing the way Cooper wanted to all along.

Think how good we were on the transition in the championship. We were full of power and pace. We tried to do that when we first got promoted but were no where near good enough.

I think Cooper had too much baggage after the first season back. He knew that it wasn’t going to take too many bad results for him to lose his job. I think he was too scared/ scarred to go for it even though the playing squad is significantly better than it was.

IMO the only player from our Champ team who would get into the 11 is Brice. The improvement in the other 10 starters plus the squad in general is astounding.

I will always love Cooper for what he did for us, but I think a year in the Prem where every mistake and defeat was amplified plus an irreparable relationship with a trigger happy owner meant that he was always going to go this season.

Nuno has got all of the upside of these players with last year’s experience and none of the baggage. He will take us to the next level thanks to Steve Cooper’s incredible foundations.

 

[Erik]

I re-watched the first half and I was perhaps a bit harsh. I don't think we were poor, but certainly, during parts of teh half, we weren't great and could have conceded twice. Neco was a bit better than I gave him credit for. Not certain how MGW was man of the match. Dominguez, Murillo and CHO were all better.

It's OK. Don't worry.

You are a referee so you are never going to see the game the way normal, sensible people do.

 

[dr_horse]

We have gone, in 2 months, from the fans blaming every player for being utter shit, and mercenary, and claiming we need a whole new side (or that we would be better with Spence, Zincs and Davis) to us all praising every last one of them for looking genuinely top drawer.

If that's really the case and not just an aggregation of the most extreme 5% of opinions then it shows the fans are idiots.


Sent from my M2101K6G using Tapatalk

 

[Bonalair]

Saturday 17th February 2024: Nottingham Forest v West Ham Utd (Premier League; Kick Off 15:00):

With a failure to win a game in 2024, today’s fixture felt like we were moving into “must win” territory. The Reds having lost 6 of their last 7 home games against Wet Sham, who were posted 6-0 on their own muck-heap last week, and who also haven’t had a league win since 29th December 2023 meant that something was bound to give today. Forest turned in one of their most accomplished performances of this season, while the Hammers, despite looking decent on the break, failing to break their 2024 duck.

The game was played at pace, with end-to-end play. Forest soon created the first of many chances, with Elanga seeing an early effort from nigh on point-blank range well saved by keeper Oreola with his legs. Moments later a blocked shot fell kindly to MGW, whose instant blast was again well saved by the keeper, and then he made a superb reflex save to palm the ball around the post.

It wasn’t all one-way traffic, but the Hammers, despite flying forward at pace, and in Antonio’s case, with physicality, they were unable to get away any shots worthy of the name. From one such attack, Forest cleared their lines, with the ball quickly reaching Taiwo on the halfway line. He controlled the ball skilfully, and spun Kurt Zouma who realising if he let Taiwo go the striker would have a clear run at goal. Thankfully Zouma didn’t elect to try a feline punting drop kick, but he wrestled Taiwo to the ground, and the crowd were given an early taste of the abysmal refereeing to come when the ref only awarded a Forest free kick, without booking Zouma.

Forest’s greater threat going forward failed to produce a goal though (thanks mainly to inspired goalkeeping) until the very last minute of the half. Following a forest corner from the right, Dominguez came out of a melee with the ball. He slipped a neat pass to Awoniyi who, on the 6-yard line span his man yet again, and slotted the ball into the bottom corner.

Forest attacked the Trent end goal in the 2nd half, and continued to taunt and tease with some intricate and brilliant lightning-fast passing. MGW was at the heart of most positive moves, and despite seeing with my own eyes I can still hardly believe him receiving a long ball up the halfway line, when he was pressed by 3 West Ham players. He brought the ball under instant control, flicked it over a defenders outstretched leg, and turned on a tanner to burst through. Murillo and Danilo were playing beautifully weighted 40-, 50- and 60-yard passes, and CHO and Tavares on the left, and Elanga and Neco on the right were having a field day.

As in the first half chances were created by the swift attacking play by Forest only to be blasted high and wide, and then when on target, Areola made a series of splendid saves, on beauty saw an Elanga volley destined for the top corner tipped over the bar. Williams was put through down the right by another MGW beauty of a pass. Neco out-paced the defence, only to suffer and ankle tap that felled him inside the box. “Play on” waved the dunderhead with the whistle, and VAR eventually agreed with him. They were the only people in the ground who felt it wasn’t a penalty.

Kalvin Phillips – a failure at Man City – having had no influence on the game - was yellow carded twice in the space of 3-minutes late on, making the west Ham task even more difficult, and with only minutes left Forest overcame the disappointment of not getting the penalty, with Neco Williams again bursting through the ponderous Hammers defence, before firing a low cross that CHO met at the far post to slide the ball home for a tension releasing 2nd goal.

Player Ratings:

Sels: 7 – with only 3 shots on target to deal with (none of them at all threatening), and only 1 or 2 simple crosses to deal with (both of which he caught nicely there was only really his distribution to talk about, and that was good;

Williams: 8 – Neco is showing that he is able to learn and improve his game, defending excellently to day, and playing spirited runs down his wing, culminating in the 2nd half with him being tripped but denied a stonewall penalty, and then providing a beautiful low cross for Hudson-Odoi to stroke home for the much-needed 2nd goal;

Felipe: 9.5 – my personal MOTM with a near faultless performance. OK, he slipped and let Antonio in, but that was his one mistake;

Murillo: 8 - benefitted immensely from having Felipe beside him, which sounds like a criticism of Omobamidele (which it isn’t: it is just that Felipe has masses of experience and has played for many years at the top level). Murillo has the pace and the class to go far and Felipe beside him ensure that his inexperience doesn’t result in problems for Forest;

Tavares: 7 - now he has a few games under his belt he is playing with more confidence, mind you his shooting boots seem to have gone missing;

Dominguez: 7 - paired alongside Danilo, the 2 of them complement each other and are forming a more attack minded defensive midfield partnership;

Danilo: 7 – it is easy to forget this precocious talent is only 20 years old, and playing only his 2nd season in England. Some of his quick passing interchanges were breathtaking;

Hudson-Odoi: 7 – our goal a game hero over the last 3 games played a considerable part today, taunting and teasing Wet Sham’s defence with his pace and trickery. He will be a steal at the reported £3m if he continues to play like he did today. Put his goal away calmly;

Gibbs-White: 9 – his first touch is sublime, and some of his fleet-footed trickery is unbelievable. He surely must get a full England call up soon, and we will do well to hold on to him in the summer, even assuming we retain our Premier League status;

Elanga: 7 – this lad for me is a better prospect than Brennan Johnson, however he missed a couple of chances, and saw his best effort brilliantly saved by WHU’s star man – their goalkeeper;

Awoniyi: 8 – getting back to his unstoppable best. Zouma should have had a 1st yellow card wrestling Taiwo to the ground after Taiwo had spun him like he was a lightweight, but the ref didn’t give it. When the same happened in the 2nd half Zouma was yellow carded, and it really should have been his 2nd and he should have been in an early bath with twat-head Kalvin Phillips.

Substitutions:

Origi (on for Awoniyi): 5 - it is easy to be hyper-critical of Origi, given he is paid an alleged £87k per week, but that said he looks like a Championship player at best. He did pull a couple of tricks out of the bag – an audacious back-heel volley late on being the only thing of note;

Yates (on for Dominguez): 5 - only had 10 minutes or so, and those 10 minutes were notable for committing no fouls, winning 1 foul, and being ruled offside to see Elanga’s “goal” ruled out

Omobamidele (on for MGW): not marked as on only for the last 5 minutes to give MGW a bit of a rest.

Referee/VAR: 1 – waved yellow cards for some trivial stuff, and kept them in his pocket for some serious stuff. How he failed to spot the trip on Neco is beyond me, and for VAR to then say “No Penalty” after an eternity of time is even more unbelievable.

Conclusion: today was one of those days when I think expectations for a Forest victory were somewhat muted, given the 0-6 home defeat the Hammers suffered last week. However, the addition of Felipe to the Forest back 4, and the sparkling form of almost all the other players resulted in this being a game that from my seat in the LBC was a joy to watch. We didn’t look like conceding, kept the fouls and corners conceded to a minimum thereby nullifying the threat Ward-Prowse poses with his best-in-class dead ball deliveries. The supporters were in good voice, and deserve a special mention for the standing ovation and applause they gave Michael Antonio when he was subbed off. That was an act of true class.

Note for Bonfy: a return to my pre-match regime (shave, shower (with hair wash), Lucky shirt donned, chips and double fish cake at the Bridgford Fish bar) was crucial in our win.

TLDR

 

[Professor Wolfgang Schnell BSc. PhD.]

It's OK. Don't worry.

You are a referee so you are never going to see the game the way normal, sensible people do.

I feel that, over the years, Pynchon probably gets more grief on here than just about anyone.

Can't believe he still bothers

These refs have amazingly thick skin.

 

[Professor Wolfgang Schnell BSc. PhD.]

TLDR

He had chips and fish cake.

 

[Eddie Yates]

It's OK. Don't worry.

You are a Canadian you are never going to see the game the way normal, sensible people do.

That's more like it

@PynchonForest only joking

 

[Lady Penelope]

Simply to say that I really enjoyed watching Forest playing on the front foot, attacking with intent and lots of players, and marvelling at the prospect of these wonderful young players developing into a top, top side over the next twelve months. It is a joy to behold.

 

[Larry Lansbury]

I re-watched the first half and I was perhaps a bit harsh. I don't think we were poor, but certainly, during parts of teh half, we weren't great and could have conceded twice. Neco was a bit better than I gave him credit for. Not certain how MGW was man of the match. Dominguez, Murillo and CHO were all better.

I think the match sponsors Man of the Match was Neco-which I thought was spot on. He was up against a quality player and showed great tenacity defensively and then made some great runs forward. He can get a little excited at times, hopefully that bit of composure and calmness will come but he busts a gut to drive us forward.

 

[Statto]

I think the match sponsors Man of the Match was Neco-which I thought was spot on. He was up against a quality player and showed great tenacity defensively and then made some great runs forward. He can get a little excited at times, hopefully that bit of composure and calmness will come but he busts a gut to drive us forward.

Someone seems to be sitting down with him and improving the mental/tactical aspects of his game, which last season were rightly pointed out as weaknesses.

He has all the physical and technical skills as you'd expect from a Liverpool academy player but it was always the case that if he worked on his decision making he would improve.

He's still a young lad so there's no reason why he can't progress with the side over the next couple of years really.

 

[tomw94]

Loved being at the City Ground yesterday, probably first time since being back in the Prem we controlled a game from start to finish.
Could and probably should have been 4-0, keep playing like that and we will pick up lots of points.

 

[Mr. Blonde]

Loved being at the City Ground yesterday, probably first time since being back in the Prem we controlled a game from start to finish.
Could and probably should have been 4-0, keep playing like that and we will pick up lots of points.

I think we were similarly dominant against Villa earlier this season, but yeah deserved winners and could easily have been 4-0 for sure

 

[Major Oak Morgan]

Someone seems to be sitting down with him and improving the mental/tactical aspects of his game, which last season were rightly pointed out as weaknesses.

He has all the physical and technical skills as you'd expect from a Liverpool academy player but it was always the case that if he worked on his decision making he would improve.

He's still a young lad so there's no reason why he can't progress with the side over the next couple of years really.

I do believe that he has taken on some help outside of the club - looks to be doing the trick!

 

[PynchonForest]

It's OK. Don't worry.

You are a referee so you are never going to see the game the way normal, sensible people do.

Well, since Forest have just hired Mark Clattenberg, you can feel free to argue with him. I, for one, would love to chat with him about anything to do with refereeing.

 

[Berkshire Red]

I think we were similarly dominant against Villa earlier this season, but yeah deserved winners and could easily have been 4-0 for sure

First half against Villa was a dominant Forest. We sat back a very long way in the second half. Thankfully Villa couldn't play a decent final ball in.

Saturday was, against a lesser side, a more dominant performance.

 

[donny]

I do believe that he has taken on some help outside of the club - looks to be doing the trick!

I think this is where the likes of Stephen Reid help out.

In other thoughts..

How much more potent did we look in transition, with both full backs pulling in when attacking, especially Nuno having a good little attack.

 

[valspoodle]

Well, since Forest have just hired Mark Clattenberg, you can feel free to argue with him. I, for one, would love to chat with him about anything to do with refereeing.

You put up with a lot Pynchon, but it's good to hear the other side, so to speak.

From my side, it's all in good spirit with no hard feelings meant.

 

[tomw94]

Who were the two on the side of the pitch pre kick off for MOK, the elderly lady and younger man?

 

[apondaway]

Possible penalty: Cornet on Williams​

What happened: In the 81st minute, Neco Williams ran into the area under pressure from Maxwel Cornet. The Nottingham Forest player went down inside the box, but referee Thomas Bramall waved play to continue and Cornet came away with the ball. The VAR, Tim Robinson, checked for a possible penalty.

VAR decision: No penalty.

VAR review: When does a challenge in the area cross the necessary threshold for a VAR penalty? This provides a good case study and how different considerations can affect judgement.

You can understand how the referee missed the contact, as Cornet doesn't make a challenge for the ball or the opponent. Yet the West Ham United player stands on the left foot of Williams, causing him to stumble and go to ground.

The VAR will very rarely get involved where a defender hasn't attempted a challenge, usually leaving it on-field. Which begs the question of when unintended contact has the consequence to bring the VAR into action.

Is it a penalty if the referee gives it? Definitely. Is it a situation for the VAR? It should be. Yet the Premier League increasingly wants its VARs to only get involved in the most obvious of fouls, rather than those that could cause any debate.

Perhaps the VAR felt that Williams went down slightly late, but there was no delay in his running stride before the fall, and it should have been a penalty.

The VAR penalty Manchester United were awarded against Chelsea, when Enzo Fernández stood on the foot of Antony, was far less impactful on the opponent.

Tim Robinson was acting as a VAR in the Premier League for the first time this season, though he was on duty in the FA Cup last month. He previously worked in Stockley Park in the 2019-20 season, when PGMOL used EFL referees to act as VARs for some matches.

The VAR Review: Toney's penalty claim vs. Liverpool; Newcastle's offside spot kick

Should Brentford have been awarded a penalty against Liverpool? And why did Newcastle United get a spot kick when the player was offside?

www.espn.com