Official Europa League Matchday Thread #8. Nottingham Forest v Ferencvárosi TC. 29/01/2026. 20:00

[apondaway]

Sangare was fantastic again.
McAtee performed really well and was rightly prasied by SD post-match.
Yates was forgettable first half and then very good second half
Ndoye had a good game, though how he was advertised as 'just as quick as Elanga' was clearly a lie.

I would have liked to have seen one of the academy boys get a run out instead of our first teamers - felt like an unnecessary risk at 3-0

I feel like with time NDoye will be a weapon. He's on the Sangare trip, hopefully a little faster. He's good on the left and we need to keep him there. CHO/Ndoye and Hutchinson/Bakwa are two really nice wide pairs on the left and right.

 

[Notcher]

Abbott tonight was like Abbott at the FA Cup semi - in all the right places and open, but nobody wanted to give him the ball much. Pity

I think they're protecting him and themselves a bit. He still looks very unsure when he's carrying the ball out and his passing isn't as crisp and as quick as it needs to be at times. I think the older pros managed him well.

 

[uptight9]

I feel like with time NDoye will be a weapon. He's on the Sangare trip, hopefully a little faster. He's good on the left and we need to keep him there. CHO/Ndoye and Hutchinson/Bakwa are two really nice wide pairs on the left and right.

Yes, he was a lot better there! Could it be the opposition? In any case, loved how he threw that defender to the ground early on. It's got to have given him confidence.

 

[Des's dirty Y-fronts]

I feel like with time NDoye will be a weapon. He's on the Sangare trip, hopefully a little faster. He's good on the left and we need to keep him there. CHO/Ndoye and Hutchinson/Bakwa are two really nice wide pairs on the left and right.

Bit hopeful with Bakwa being partnered in a nice pair. 'You ain't seen nothing yet' literally applies to him because we've seen diddly squat. Hopefully he can show something, anything, given time

 

[ozthecoz]

Great game and first time McAtee looked like part of the team

What was Doms yellow card for ? looked a nothing tackle at the time?

 

[Nedski67]

I was really impressed with McAtee tonight - constantly in the game, nice touches and making things happen - was pleased they got him to take the penalty, he deserved his goal.

Also really good to see the other players reaction to his goal and performance - they clearly like him so despite what some may think, he’s obviously got the right attitude behind the scenes.

Also, when did Yates turn into Maradonna? He was over everything tonight.

 

[Nedski67]

What was Doms yellow card for ? looked a nothing tackle at the time?

I was wondering the same thing- couldn’t see it from where I was sat

 

[Wes' Organ]

Abbott tonight was like Abbott at the FA Cup semi - in all the right places and open, but nobody wanted to give him the ball much. Pity

I really liked Murillo playing him the ball in a really tight spot then just running on for the return, showed really trust and it came off too.

 

[Notcher]

Great game and first time McAtee looked like part of the team

What was Doms yellow card for ? looked a nothing tackle at the time?

He pulled the players shirt. It was definitely a yellow card. Annoyingly though about 30 seconds later the same player pulled Dominguez shirt, the ref gave the foul but didn't book the player.

Refs really don't help themselves sometimes

 

[garibaldi]

Really exciting game to watch with some good patterns and moves. Yes they are a crap team but we've played plenty of them this season and dropped to their level.

It was great to see a midfielder in Yates to drive with the ball and pass forward instead of sideways and backwards like Ando and MGW love and great to see Dominguez get within 10 yards of Jesus in the no.10 centrally and not on the byline or deep midfield.

Jesus is putting himself into Forest European folklore with his goals and was very good today. He looks a lot better when the no.10 supports him.

Ndoye was good first half whereas Mcatee was good second and hopefully their confidence will grow as they looked like they belonged at a club like ours tonight.

Yates MOTM and was head and shoulders above his peers.

 

[Steve B]

Really exciting game to watch with some good patterns and moves. Yes they are a crap team but we've played plenty of them this season and dropped to their level.

It was great to see a midfielder in Yates to drive with the ball and pass forward instead of sideways and backwards like Ando and MGW love and great to see Dominguez get within 10 yards of Jesus in the no.10 centrally and not on the byline or deep midfield.

Jesus is putting himself into Forest European folklore with his goals and was very good today. He looks a lot better when the no.10 supports him.

Ndoye was good first half whereas Mcatee was good second and hopefully their confidence will grow as they looked like they belonged at a club like ours tonight.

Yates MOTM and was head and shoulders above his peers.

Spot on

 

[Larry Lansbury]

Ferencvaros were toss, pretty much just as bad as Malmo were. They had an opportunity to break into our box but just passed back to their goalie instead. But that was a good, pro performance from Forest. Much more space available in midfield and it was good to see Dyche using it towards the end. Great to see McAtee looking hungry. Sangare and Milenkovic both looked far too good for the opposition. Igor Jesus arguably man of the match, although Yates went from a cack 1st half to outstanding 2nd half and might have shaded it.

Said earlier in the thread we need pace. I'm not changing that opinion. When it's Dom or McAtee running through there's not much point playing the pass in the PL. Having said that Igor showed some pace and strength for his first goal.

Only had a few attacks but still hit post and bar

 

[DizzyBala]

I said to my dad that I couldn't understand how Ferencvaros had managed to go the seven games unbeaten because they were really quite poor. Perhaps not Malmo poor but like Utrecht/Sturm Graz poor.

I thought we were good value for the win but I actually think we probably could have played even better. It is probably stupid to complain when you win 4-0 but honestly, the level of teams in this competition has been pretty shit in my opinion, it's never felt like we were outclassed in any of the games. I thought we got lucky a few times defensively here but we also were unlucky and a little wasteful going forward too. I say this part because I think those margins are what get you to the later stages.

You won't find someone on this forum that has a lower opinion of McAtee being a Forest player than me but he was very good tonight. Played like someone that is perhaps hoping someone puts in a late bid. I thought N'Doye was a lot better as well, and again it felt like a shop window performance. N'Doye is frustrating because I feel like he gets 90% of the way there to being really really good then it slips. Sangare was quality once again. Dominguez covered every blade of grass as per usual. Yates also had a redeeming performance tonight.

I was actually a little disappointed to see that he used all the subs and brought Murillo, Morgan, Callum and Aina if I'm honest, I don't think we really improved too much with them on and I think it would have actually been quite nice to see Jimmy Sinclair or Ben Hammond get some minutes.

Ultimately though, I feel vindicated I didn't refund my ticket and end of the day, you can't argue with a 4-0 win really.

 

[Trents]

Abbott looked a bit iffy tonight, thought he started well but ebbed off after that.
Think he needs a loan to a Championship side to figure out he can be actually decent.

He should have been given a season long loan in the summer. A season constantly playing, even down in League 1/2 does so much for the development. See Yates, and Jonno

 

[JonnoSnr]

Great game and first time McAtee looked like part of the team

What was Doms yellow card for ? looked a nothing tackle at the time?

He was booked for the pass he made 3 seconds before it I reckon.

 

[JonnoSnr]

I said to my dad that I couldn't understand how Ferencvaros had managed to go the seven games unbeaten because they were really quite poor. Perhaps not Malmo poor but like Utrecht/Sturm Graz poor.

I thought we were good value for the win but I actually think we probably could have played even better. It is probably stupid to complain when you win 4-0 but honestly, the level of teams in this competition has been pretty shit in my opinion, it's never felt like we were outclassed in any of the games.

Yeah the overall quality of the competition is poor it has to be said. We've played 4 of the top 8 and another one last night who would've made it with a win and none of them were great.

It's a shame as 'Europe' is seen as reaching the proper big time but in this competition you basically play a bunch of lower-league/bottom end Prem teams until the latter stages and even then there's no monster nobody wants to play like we had in 95/96.

The first game in Seville was by far the best game of football to watch overall but since then they've been a bit of a chore to sit through to be honest. It makes it all the more frustrating we haven't finished top 8. Really us and Villa should be 1 and 2 to be fair.

 

[Dogtitius]

Gotta say the keeper and right back for the oppo last night had generational stinkers. The keeper himself looks like Basshunter.

 

[Mostly Donkey]

I said to my dad that I couldn't understand how Ferencvaros had managed to go the seven games unbeaten because they were really quite poor. Perhaps not Malmo poor but like Utrecht/Sturm Graz poor.

I thought we were good value for the win but I actually think we probably could have played even better. It is probably stupid to complain when you win 4-0 but honestly, the level of teams in this competition has been pretty shit in my opinion, it's never felt like we were outclassed in any of the games. I thought we got lucky a few times defensively here but we also were unlucky and a little wasteful going forward too. I say this part because I think those margins are what get you to the later stages.

You won't find someone on this forum that has a lower opinion of McAtee being a Forest player than me but he was very good tonight. Played like someone that is perhaps hoping someone puts in a late bid. I thought N'Doye was a lot better as well, and again it felt like a shop window performance. N'Doye is frustrating because I feel like he gets 90% of the way there to being really really good then it slips. Sangare was quality once again. Dominguez covered every blade of grass as per usual. Yates also had a redeeming performance tonight.

I was actually a little disappointed to see that he used all the subs and brought Murillo, Morgan, Callum and Aina if I'm honest, I don't think we really improved too much with them on and I think it would have actually been quite nice to see Jimmy Sinclair or Ben Hammond get some minutes.

Ultimately though, I feel vindicated I didn't refund my ticket and end of the day, you can't argue with a 4-0 win really.

I don't think MGW did anything at all to make a difference when he came on. Spent the first few seconds on the ball show boating, stalled play and ultimately reminded me why, against better sides, we get no traction in the final 3rd. Ndoye did really well on the left, went past defenders a few times in the first half. Mcatee was tidy, you can see the player he wants to be, just seems to be that it's currently at a level lower than we need him to play at. Also there were a couple of moments I was shouting at the TV for him to run after the ball, one in particular where you could see he was hoping it would go faster and roll out so just jogged after it like a tortoise. Almost seems like everything is a training game for him and he only concentrated effort on the main exercise. Did show MGW how to take a pen though and our set pieces looked miles better with him taking them. Maybe he can be improved. I don't know.
Someone earlier commented on Yates looking like Maradonna which I get because I'd said he looked like the two of them had been doing lines in the toilet at half time. Really not seen him play with that swagger before. Again though, did we find the level that suits him?
Great result, shame we didn't turn up for some earlier games in this comp. We should have made too 8, missed opportunity based on that game.

 

[Flaggers]

Why was the kick off not taken from the centre spot?

 

[JustARed]

They hit the post twice, but apart from those fine margins, we completely controlled that game, and should probably have been 5 or 6.
Controversially, I really didn't like the subs of CHO and MGW. I actually felt the game became less controlled and more disjointed when they came on. That could have been the the state of the game at that time of course.

Loved Yates play last night - his passing is still temperamental, but his desire, and his (unusual) forward thinking play (those drops of the shoulder!) were wonderful - we're lucky to have one of us on the pitch.

 

[YellowBelly Red]

Yeah the overall quality of the competition is poor it has to be said. We've played 4 of the top 8 and another one last night who would've made it with a win and none of them were great.

It's a shame as 'Europe' is seen as reaching the proper big time but in this competition you basically play a bunch of lower-league/bottom end Prem teams until the latter stages and even then there's no monster nobody wants to play like we had in 95/96.

The first game in Seville was by far the best game of football to watch overall but since then they've been a bit of a chore to sit through to be honest. It makes it all the more frustrating we haven't finished top 8. Really us and Villa should be 1 and 2 to be fair.

One of those MGW missed penalties goes in, and we finish 4th. That's the annoying part. Now we have 2 extra games, which we could have well done without.

To my mind, there's only 4 or 5 decent teams in the EL, and we are one of them.

 

[Ewan Husami]

Biggest complement was that we looked nothing like a Dyche team and played some great intricate stuff. Hopefully the pennies dropped that we have the players. Subs were an unnecessary risk

 

[Battered Sausage]

Also, when did Yates turn into Maradonna? He was over everything tonight.

Duh duh dooo

Lincoln maradonna.

 

[Joe Baker's Dog]

On a cold WFCG night we saw that McAtee could be something special for us......Yates had his best game in a long time.......Sangare class........Jesus scored 2 crackers........AND a proper referee too. Their fans were very noisy until we scored.

 

[Rzar]

Ferencvaros were toss, pretty much just as bad as Malmo were. They had an opportunity to break into our box but just passed back to their goalie instead. But that was a good, pro performance from Forest. Much more space available in midfield and it was good to see Dyche using it towards the end. Great to see McAtee looking hungry. Sangare and Milenkovic both looked far too good for the opposition. Igor Jesus arguably man of the match, although Yates went from a cack 1st half to outstanding 2nd half and might have shaded it.

Said earlier in the thread we need pace. I'm not changing that opinion. When it's Dom or McAtee running through there's not much point playing the pass in the PL. Having said that Igor showed some pace and strength for his first goal.

They are not a bad side, not many of these European clubs are.

But you can see they cannot deal with a PL clubs physicality. The only side that could were Mitjiland who bullied us, when that is the case you see more they are good sides. You don’t realise how physically dominant PL players are until you see them against other divisions.

We could definitely win this competition if we put our eggs in this basket.