Pre-Season

[Trents]

The goals are here. Also am I the only one not so fussed seeing Lolley off the boil in the middle of the transfer window.

 

[Captain Sinister]

Arvin Appiah/Tyler Walker: I find the lauding of one and the dissing of the other hard to understand.
And I find the latter's lack of game time this pre-season hard to understand.
Appiah on the several occasions he has made an appearance hasn't impressed me at all.
As I said in my view of the Real game, he came on and his most significant contribution was the number of times he gave the ball away.
Walker... I just don't understand why he hasn't been given more time to show the talent that saw him score 26 times in league and cups for Mansfield last season.
Yet the Club seem intent of shipping him out on loan to perm deal to Coventry.
Hopefully Appiah will blossom into a key man for us, but last night Real just swatted him like a pesky fly.

 

[Captain Sinister]

The goals are here. Also am I the only one not so fussed seeing Lolley off the boil in the middle of the transfer window.

Well, couple of things are clear from the highlights of the goals:
1 Muric does make a very good save with his feet then pushes the loose ball out to the Real guy who is totally unmarked - where was Watson?
2 The pass that bisected Worrall and Dawson was a delightful ball and the Real striker ran intelligently to make it his and probably should have finished it himself.
3 It was Robinson who lobbed the ball back for Adomah to latch on to and their keeper did well to block Adomah.
It all goes to show that we are not always able to recall a scene with accuracy!
Apologies for my slur on Muric over that first goal!

 

[Abdooonk]

Genuine questions:

What did Ben Watson DO tonight? What did he start/stop/create/disrupt?

Did he ACTUALLY touch the ball before the 81st minute?

Played really well again. That's why he's starting every game.

 

[Barry]

I thought we looked a mid table championship side... potentially lower without further additions.

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[Ravi]

Arvin Appiah/Tyler Walker: I find the lauding of one and the dissing of the other hard to understand.
And I find the latter's lack of game time this pre-season hard to understand.
Appiah on the several occasions he has made an appearance hasn't impressed me at all.
As I said in my view of the Real game, he came on and his most significant contribution was the number of times he gave the ball away.
Walker... I just don't understand why he hasn't been given more time to show the talent that saw him score 26 times in league and cups for Mansfield last season.
Yet the Club seem intent of shipping him out on loan to perm deal to Coventry.
Hopefully Appiah will blossom into a key man for us, but last night Real just swatted him like a pesky fly.

If I was Lamouchi I wouldn’t want to be relying on Appiah as first choice replacement off the bench. We haven’t seen anything yet to suggest he will make an impact yet. Hopefully he will be more effective in the Championship.

 

[adam09]

Genuine questions:

What did Ben Watson DO tonight? What did he start/stop/create/disrupt?

Did he ACTUALLY touch the ball before the 81st minute?

Made a couple of decent tackles first half but time and time again he went missing. I'm not sure if he's meant to be pressing fairly high up the pitch or not but when he does, it nearly always goes around him and the space he leaves is exploited - eg their second goal. Why he was pressing in the 87th minute when we're tired and they are fresh? Discipline. Just sit in, no need to press, keep them in front of you. I don't think he offers anything particularly important going either way. As I said last couple of games, I'd rather see Yacob given a go.

This is David Vaughan all over again, except Vaughan was twice the player.

 

[Red bandit]

Forest made a dream start when Joe Worrall blasted home on the volley from a corner in the 4th minute, but Real hit back following a misjudgement by Muric in the Forest goal, when he came out to try and cover a through-ball threat, struggled to get to the ball and palmed it straight out to the incoming Real forward who made no mistake, ramming the ball along the ground and into the unguarded net on 12 minutes.
Forest played lively fast-paced football and created several chances, not taken, before from another corner the Real clearance found Dawson who volley a chipped pass over the defenders. Semedo challenged the Real goalie for the bouncing ball, which broke kindly for Grabban, who rounded the stricken keeper to put Forest 2-1 ahead.
The second half was a tight affair with Real coming out fired up and putting a lot of pressure on the Reds, who were relying on fast breakaways. Grabban squandered a lovely through ball that put him 1 on 1 with the Real keeper, who saved as Grabban was indecisive and tamely shot at the keeper.
On 60 minutes Real changed all of their players in one go, bringing on what appeared to be their first team, who were technically very slick, and 2 or 3 yards faster than Forest.
Still Forest, playing on the break, were able to cause Real trouble, but yet again Grabban was indecisive, and stood statue-like when presented with the ball on the edge of the box, not even getting a shot away.
Muric made up for his earlier error with several very good saves, but it felt only a matter of time before Real would equalise.
Before that though, on another break away Grabban, in the box , was held as he cleverly turned the defender, and he was thrown to the ground as he was about to reach the ball.
It was an obvious penalty, but neither the ref nor the linesman saw it, and the chance was gone.
On 87 minutes the Real equaliser came.
It followed a spell of concerted pressure, and with some clever footwork an opening was created and the Real forward slotted home from 10 yards.
Overall it proved a thoroughly entertaining game.
Real are a class above most Championship clubs and the indications are that Forest will not be outplayed by many teams in the new season.
There are a couple of obvious problems to be sorted: we need a decent striker – Grabban may score his 15 or so again this season, but he is so wasteful.
The other problem is that against real pace and good technique, Watson is exposed as being slow and a bit cumbersome.
Agains t Palace last week he was a candidate for “star man”, but Palace lacked any real quality or pace.
Tonight he was by-passed a lot and caught out of position on several occasions.
My player ratings:
Muric: 8 – apart from the first goal he was confident, aggressive and decisive. Distribution and command of his box were superb.
Cash: 7 – has the makings of a very good right wing-back. Linked up well with Lolley; recovered his ground and defended well.
Dawson: 7 – a leader and an experienced player who should start when he is able. Led by example tonight.
Worrall: *star man* 9 – excellent goal and a very accomplished all round performance. No mistakes in tonight’s game.
Robinson: 7 – playing as a left wing-back suits him; long throws are useful; exposed for pace in the second half when Real brought on their first team!
Watson: 6 – put in a shift, but way too slow when faced with the speedy opponents.
Lolley:6 – can’t do it all on his own; final ball sometimes not that great and he needs to find his shooting boots!
Semedo: 7 – a talented player who worked hard box to box, but prone to making silly passes.
Silva: 8 – this guy is a tiger in midfield and so creative. When we have him and Carvalho together we could be awesome!
Adomah: 7 – honest hard worker and caused problems when he ran at defenders.
Grabban:6 – I don’t understand how this guy scores frequently.
Subs:
None were on long enough to really impress.
Appiah though may be a great prospect, but tonight he was way out of his depth and gave the ball away in some dangerous positions.

Brilliant summary Captain, better than the Post’s.
Have you thought of starting your own newspaper? I’d look forward to my copy of the “Daily Sinister”.

 

[EmmersonForest4]

It is difficult to base anything off pre-season games because ultimately, you end up playing different teams at different stages of their pre-season.
Olympiacos started this season this week for example and were much further along, Palace kick off a week after us and Real Sociedad kick off a week after them.

As it stands, I'm putting Sabri in the same camp as Warburton. Like MW, Sabri is trying to play some attractive possession based football from the back, but Sabri is bringing in the heavy press especially in the opposition's half.
Like MW though, it does feel like he doesn't quite have the parts to get it completely right.

The club has 12 days to recruit the 3-4 quality players it's going to take to get us into the top six. For me, a right back, a CDM, another winger and a striker.

Why a right back? Cash brings a work-rate and more attacking threat to the right back role but I feel like he's going to get targeted a lot by Championship teams. Darikwa is far too inconsistent in his defensive capabilities and going forward, his delivery is a little lacking.
Why a CDM? We're not going to get Colback back, i've accepted this, but we're going to need a strong CDM to protect the defence and also, allow Silva and Carvalho to play together. Semedo seems a little too slender, Guedioura loves to get forward as does Yates too. Watson, I'm not convinced.
Why a Winger? We have Adomah and Lolley, with Ameobi/Appiah/Cash all able to play there but we need a combination of speed and good delivery, someone who can put a defence on their arse besides Lolley.
Why a striker? To push and support Grabban but also, we need someone with pace up there. This team seems to want to play at speed so having someone that can get us up the pitch quickly is key. Grabban playing 30/40 yards from goal is a waste.

I agree with that completely and we probably need 2 strikers as well. It’s nothing 10 mill can’t sort out. I just hope maranakis isnt deluding himself about this squad of players.

 

[EmmersonForest4]

I thought we looked a mid table championship side... potentially lower without further additions.

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I just think we are very slow for the style we are trying to play. There is a basis of a really good side there though we just need to add 4-5 quality additions. If Lamouchi gets us into the top 6 then that’s on par with Davies doing it in his first full season. As I said Lamouchi with this squad will have to be a top turd polisher like Davies.

 

[Captain Sinister]

If I was Lamouchi I wouldn’t want to be relying on Appiah as first choice replacement off the bench. We haven’t seen anything yet to suggest he will make an impact yet. Hopefully he will be more effective in the Championship.

Appiah is another Academy graduate who has shown great promise at that level, but the transition from the the boys teams to the mens is a big one and the lad will not thrive against seasoned Championship defenders until he develops a bit more strength and speed.

 

[Alf-engelos Mindminackers]

Brilliant summary Captain, better than the Post’s.
Have you thought of starting your own newspaper? I’d look forward to my copy of the “Daily Sinister”.

I'd buy the "Daily Sinister" on name alone :tophat:

 

[Matt]

The goals are here. Also am I the only one not so fussed seeing Lolley off the boil in the middle of the transfer window.

Gonna say I think Semedo is largely at fault for both goals. Loses his man both times who then goes on to score. I can see why he’s so annoyed after the second.

 

[Ravi]

Appiah is another Academy graduate who has shown great promise at that level, but the transition from the the boys teams to the mens is a big one and the lad will not thrive against seasoned Championship defenders until he develops a bit more strength and speed.

He looks strong enough, and I doubt he’ll get any faster. It looks to me like he’s used to more easily beating youth team defenders but the same tricks don’t work against more experienced players. He will need to adapt to a higher level and learn to bridge the gap between youth team football and the Championship as you say.

From what I’ve seen, Johnson is closest of the newer academy players to having an impact this season. He looks like he is already close to the level required.

 

[Steve Stone's Mullet]

I think Arvin is still playing a little bit within himself. He normally takes a few more gambles/risks on the ball to beat players but I think he's not wanting to lose the ball.

Hopefully his belief will grow as time goes by.

 

[Desisbest]

He looks strong enough, and I doubt he’ll get any faster. It looks to me like he’s used to more easily beating youth team defenders but the same tricks don’t work against more experienced players. He will need to adapt to a higher level and learn to bridge the gap between youth team football and the Championship as you say.

From what I’ve seen, Johnson is closest of the newer academy players to having an impact this season. He looks like he is already close to the level required.

Morning guys and gals. Been a lurker for ages but niw joining in proper. 30 year reds supporter frok Mansfield, living in exile in Leicester.

Can anyone tell me why there is so much negativity?? I watched the game last night and it was disappointing to give the goal away late on, I saw a lot to be happy about. Despite being a friendly, we matched a Seria A side, bettering them at times.

Happy to join the debate gents, lets be more positive about a brill new season! We support a fantastic club and we as fans are so important, lets give it some tea time next Saturday!!!

 

[Rzar]

Morning guys and gals. Been a lurker for ages but niw joining in proper. 30 year reds supporter frok Mansfield, living in exile in Leicester.

Can anyone tell me why there is so much negativity?? I watched the game last night and it was disappointing to give the goal away late on, I saw a lot to be happy about. Despite being a friendly, we matched a Seria A side, bettering them at times.

Happy to join the debate gents, lets be more positive about a brill new season! We support a fantastic club and we as fans are so important, lets give it some tea time next Saturday!!!

Because this place is full of moaners

 

[Cortez the Killer]

I’d look forward to my copy of the “Daily Sinister”.

Try living with my missus.

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[Steve Stone's Mullet]

Morning guys and gals. Been a lurker for ages but niw joining in proper. 30 year reds supporter frok Mansfield, living in exile in Leicester.

Can anyone tell me why there is so much negativity?? I watched the game last night and it was disappointing to give the goal away late on, I saw a lot to be happy about. Despite being a friendly, we matched a Seria A side, bettering them at times.

Happy to join the debate gents, lets be more positive about a brill new season! We support a fantastic club and we as fans are so important, lets give it some tea time next Saturday!!!

Plenty of us are really excited mate.

The style Lamouchi is keen to bring is what a lot of us like to see and i'm personally excited to see it develop. We do still need x2 new players as a must imo, but I think they'll come before the deadline closes so not worried.

I'm genuinely so excited for next week and beyond on and off the pitch. Feels to me like it's just getting better in every department at the minute, so much to be enthused by. Don't let discussions on here over minor issues make you think we aren't excited!

 

[Barry]

I counted 3 players walking, in shot for the first goal conceded.

At the point the three players were walking, the keeper had been on the floor for a second or two.

So the keepers on the floor and you dont react.... crap.

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[Ravi]

Morning guys and gals. Been a lurker for ages but niw joining in proper. 30 year reds supporter frok Mansfield, living in exile in Leicester.

Can anyone tell me why there is so much negativity?? I watched the game last night and it was disappointing to give the goal away late on, I saw a lot to be happy about. Despite being a friendly, we matched a Seria A side, bettering them at times.

Happy to join the debate gents, lets be more positive about a brill new season! We support a fantastic club and we as fans are so important, lets give it some tea time next Saturday!!!

Welcome.

I agree there was plenty to be positive about last night's performance.

 

[Desisbest]

I'm getting that! Being surrounded by bin dippers has reinforced my commitment to those men in red

 

[Desisbest]

Thanks man, I agree we need a few more before the weekend, but I'm confident things are in place. I keep reminding myself of what pre season used to be like!

 

[Billy's Cuban Heels]

I'd buy the "Daily Sinister" on name alone :tophat:

Is there space in the market for such an obviously left-leaning journal?

 

[Red bandit]

Is there space in the market for such an obviously left-leaning journal?

Left leaning?
I thought the Tories were the “nasty”, sinister party.