Forest Home 16/08/2014 - Match Thread

[Jugs]

Also, where is Rob Hall?

[Bruce Rioja]

Just back- Haven't read a single post on here so don't know how much of this has already been said, agreed with / disagreed with.

Firstly - where the feck was Feeney? Medo on the right reminded me of Jamie Pollock minus the effort. Then, in yet another of his tactical masterstrokes young Douglas replaces Medo with the hapless Pratley who, in the end, was lucky to stay on. What goes on in Freedman's head?

Ginger - Perhaps the best game I've seen him have. A superb double save in the first half. Sound handling, excellent positioning, claimed everything, always looking to play it out from the back quickly - speed of both thought and action not matched by those around him. Unlucky not to keep the pengie out.

McNaughton - Man of the Match for me. As solid a full back display as you could hope for. Got on the overlap a time or two and delivered an absolute peach of a cross for Davies to inexplicably head over.

Ream - Skinned by Burke a time or two early on, but grew into the game and was absolutely sound in the 2nd half. Received little by way of options from team-mates when looking to release the ball.

Spearing - fecked up for the penalty and his following display of petulance simply proved that he knew he had. An absolutely inexplicable challenge. Worked hard thereafter.

Mills and Wheater - Ultimately sound enough but both went missing for Forest's first goal.

Chungy - Clearly either the guy I saw today or the player that I saw last week at Watford must be an impostor - this can't have been the same guy. Showed everything that he didn't last week. The cynic in me says that someone must be watching him and he knows it!

Medo - Out of position (though he's played there before) but looked to me as though he couldn't be arsed. I blame Freedman for playing him on the wing, but I blame medo for not even giving it a go - at least Jamie Pollock knuckled down and gave it his best shot.

Davies - If you can't finish a ball in like the one from McNaughton, Son, then you've absolutely no place on the football field. Least of all, calling yourself a centre forward. A busy fool.

Mason - Either get this lad in the weights room or get someone alongside him that has been. Finished with a lovely cushioned header - needs a Toshack for his Keegan.

Danns - Our only creative out looked like too much was being asked of him. That he was replaced by Trotter told me that Douglas settled for the point at a time when I for one hoped that we might look for a win.

Subs.

Pratley - was Pratley. Came on to play right wing ahead of Feeney. Unbelievable. Was shit at it.

Beckford - Only had two minutes. Just enough for him to get caught offside and then dispossessed by a challenge that my nine year old neice could have made.

Trotter - As ever, a wardrobe on casters.

[thebish]

McNaughton - Man of the Match for me. As solid a full back display as you could hope for. Got on the overlap a time or two and delivered an absolute peach of a cross for Davies to inexplicably head over.

great to hear that cos he was a bit ropey at watford!

[truewhite15]

Also, great credit to the fans, they're a real testament to the club.

Trying to work out whether that's sarcasm or not.

In the 1st half, particularly after both goals, the fans were great, singing and everything. But throughout the second half, they wouldn't sing for love nor money, and after a credible 2-2 draw (albeit one which, had the boss been a little more adventurous, we could have won), there were boos. AGAIN.

I'm beginning to think some of them just think that's the way to greet the end of the game, to be honest. "What a game. We've won 5-0. BOOOOOOOOOO."

[SmokinFrazier]

We drop so many points because of our negativity. We are clearly a better side when we try to attack, so why do we play like we're petrified of our opposition? It's not like we're playing Bayern, Barca and Real every week, and yet we play like we are and the only incentive is to avoid an embarrassing loss. Even against unimpressive teams who are there to be beaten, we cower and hold onto a draw. That negative mindset is a significant hindrance.

[twilight]

Great report Bruce, enjoyed reading. I, like you cannot understand what exactly Freedman "sees" when at the game. He sure is a negative Manager

[bobby]

Went to my first match for a good while having been out the country, and overall wasn't too disappointed by what I saw.
I felt that both goals we conceded could have been avoided. The first, Chungy's poor defensive work allowed a good cross to come in which some weak defending failed to clear, and then Spearing had a moment of madness with a totally unnecessary foul and conceded the penalty which went straight through Bogdan, who otherwise had a very good game.

I was impressed with McNaughton who was my man of the match, and also thought Cravies put in a good performance.
Mason looked good and gives hope for more goals than Beckford ever has.
The main problem as I saw it was that tactically we are not set up to attack. It was long ball after another, and we looked most dangerous when we tried to play it on the deck. If this continues we will struggle to get goals, and ultimately could be Freedman's downfall. We're in need of a playmaker and I had hoped Feeney or even Hall (who I've never seen play yet!) would come on.

Here are my player ratings, didn't give the subs a rating, just my thoughts on their contribution

Bogdan- Good, solid, confident performance - 8
Ream - For the most part a good performance, sometimes slow to close down and slightly wasteful, however coped well with us on the backfoot for long periods - 7
Mills - Solid enough - 7
Wheater - Got a goal and seemed to bolster the defence, hoping to see him more this season - 7.5
McNaughton - Cut out lots of their approach play and our best player today - 8.5
Medo - Forgot he was on the pitch when it was announced he was being substituted. Anonymous performance. - 4
Spearing - Recklessly gave away the penalty, struggled with a few long balls from Forest, but gave the assist for Mason and his passing was good - 6
Danns - Not at his best today but tried his best and was active - 6.5
Chungy - Still nowhere near his best and he needs to work on his defensive side of the game if Freedman keeps setting us up to sit deep - 6.5
Davies - He's no world beater, for sure, but lots of effort and took down some difficult long balls very well. Missed a sitter towards the end, however forgiven for making us more of an attacking threat - 7
Mason - Looked lively when he was involved, unfortunately our tactics were such he struggled to impose himself on the second half - 7

Trotter - Big lad, didn't do much wrong but also didn't really make an impact
Beckford - Gave possession away cheaply in our own half towards the end, didn't look convincing from the little I saw
Pratley - Helped our attacking play and took a yellow to break up a promising attack of theirs towards the end. Don't understand the hate towards him for today, felt he did his bit without really excelling

[Harry Genshaw]

I don't understand any criticism of the supporters. Thought we were fine today with applause at the end of both halves. There might have been the odd grumble when Pratley came on but I didn't notice any booing.

Agree with motm for McNaughton, with Chungy & Boggers close seconds.

From my seat I thought Mills was caught flat footed on the penalty. It seemed he'd missed the through ball to their striker so Spearing tried to dive in and win it. Only seen it the once so I could be talking bollocks

[Jugs]

Also, great credit to the fans, they're a real testament to the club.

Trying to work out whether that's sarcasm or not.

In the 1st half, particularly after both goals, the fans were great, singing and everything. But throughout the second half, they wouldn't sing for love nor money, and after a credible 2-2 draw (albeit one which, had the boss been a little more adventurous, we could have won), there were boos. AGAIN.

I'm beginning to think some of them just think that's the way to greet the end of the game, to be honest. "What a game. We've won 5-0. BOOOOOOOOOO."

It must come down to where we were both sat/stood. Where I was, there were no boo's and, okay, the singing came and went, but into the last 15 minutes there was more singing than quiet. At times, it was booming, the fans were really urging the team on.

[BWFC_Insane]

Just back- Haven't read a single post on here so don't know how much of this has already been said, agreed with / disagreed with.

Firstly - where the feck was Feeney? Medo on the right reminded me of Jamie Pollock minus the effort. Then, in yet another of his tactical masterstrokes young Douglas replaces Medo with the hapless Pratley who, in the end, was lucky to stay on. What goes on in Freedman's head?

Ginger - Perhaps the best game I've seen him have. A superb double save in the first half. Sound handling, excellent positioning, claimed everything, always looking to play it out from the back quickly - speed of both thought and action not matched by those around him. Unlucky not to keep the pengie out.

McNaughton - Man of the Match for me. As solid a full back display as you could hope for. Got on the overlap a time or two and delivered an absolute peach of a cross for Davies to inexplicably head over.

Ream - Skinned by Burke a time or two early on, but grew into the game and was absolutely sound in the 2nd half. Received little by way of options from team-mates when looking to release the ball.

Spearing - fecked up for the penalty and his following display of petulance simply proved that he knew he had. An absolutely inexplicable challenge. Worked hard thereafter.

Mills and Wheater - Ultimately sound enough but both went missing for Forest's first goal.

Chungy - Clearly either the guy I saw today or the player that I saw last week at Watford must be an impostor - this can't have been the same guy. Showed everything that he didn't last week. The cynic in me says that someone must be watching him and he knows it!

Medo - Out of position (though he's played there before) but looked to me as though he couldn't be arsed. I blame Freedman for playing him on the wing, but I blame medo for not even giving it a go - at least Jamie Pollock knuckled down and gave it his best shot.

Davies - If you can't finish a ball in like the one from McNaughton, Son, then you've absolutely no place on the football field. Least of all, calling yourself a centre forward. A busy fool.

Mason - Either get this lad in the weights room or get someone alongside him that has been. Finished with a lovely cushioned header - needs a Toshack for his Keegan.

Danns - Our only creative out looked like too much was being asked of him. That he was replaced by Trotter told me that Douglas settled for the point at a time when I for one hoped that we might look for a win.

Subs.

Pratley - was Pratley. Came on to play right wing ahead of Feeney. Unbelievable. Was shit at it.

Beckford - Only had two minutes. Just enough for him to get caught offside and then dispossessed by a challenge that my nine year old neice could have made.

Trotter - As ever, a wardrobe on casters.

Agree with most of this. Apart from - Craig Davies, ok he's limited. But he put in a hell of an effort and held the ball up pretty well at times. He's no juke but harsh to say he was totally ineffective. He is the best we have in that role. As for the chance, it was on an absolute plate. But he was there and the next one he hopefully buries! I suspect if Freedman gets his way that he will be a sub soon anyhow.

Also Trotter for me helped in a midfield where we were being completely over run. Forest were on top and Trotter helped stop some of that. I think he's ok.

Pratley was a terrible sub, I can see why Feeney didn't start in that narrow diamond system but he sure as hell should have come on for Medo. At half time!

Lee looked a different player today I hope he keeps that up, but I feel that not playing on the wing helps him. Tucking in suits his game more for me.

[officer_dibble]

Dear douggie
Please learn how to use substitutes x
Love o_d x

[Prufrock]

Just watched FLS. Mills missed it but 35 yards out with plenty of cover. What the f*ck was Spearing doing. That goal all on him.

[Norpig]

Overall better than I expected, first half was good apart from Spearing making a complete cockup. Second half was more like I expected pinned back for large periods with no outlet, why did Feeney not come on s an outlet. I thought Medo and Danns where both unsure of where to play, I thought Medo was playing behind the front 2 and Danns was playing wide right. However, neither covered themselves in glory, from what I saw of the Middlesborough Leeds game yesterday our next opponents do not look as troublesome as first feared.

Please can someone explain why C. Davies gets knock off the ball so much he is a big unit and should be bossing defenders about but yesterday he rarely won a header unless it was placed on his head. I am just confused why he des not go for the ball with more conviction, he could be a real threat in this league with a bit more confidence in himself.

[EverSoYouri]

I agree with most of Bruce Rioja's assessment.

There's no doubt we were second best for most of the game, though - especially second half (another masterly halftime talk from Dougie?).

So much for keeping possession and playing the ball on the ground. As the game wore on, our single tactic was to lump it forward and hope Davies or Mason could get on the end of it. Apart from the aesthetic drawbacks of this, it's always going to fall short with Craig Davies unable to hold the ball up and neither he nor Mason having genuine pace to run past defenders on the break.

The game seemed to pass Danns by and, if Chungy is at last coming back into form, why not play him through the middle - he can run at defenders and play well-weighted through balls (it's what he does for South Korea).

Bogdan and McNaughton were very good indeed. Ream needs more support - often outnumbered down the left.

We also need more movement from our midfield, more evidence that they want the ball and are making themselves available.

Feeling optimistic we might even make mid table this season.

[Bruce Rioja]

Craig Davies, ok he's limited. But he put in a hell of an effort and held the ball up pretty well at times.

Got knocked off of the ball way too easily for me. But hey, we differ. He's one of these players that I desperately hope will come good, but I'm just not getting enough back to believe that he might. Summed up perfectly by his missing the target from a ball in that most strikers would give an arm to receive.

[NiceHotCuppaTea]

Liking these longer HD highlights from offish.

[BWFC_Insane]

Craig Davies, ok he's limited. But he put in a hell of an effort and held the ball up pretty well at times.

Got knocked off of the ball way too easily for me. But hey, we differ. He's one of these players that I desperately hope will come good, but I'm just not getting enough back to believe that he might. Summed up perfectly by his missing the target from a ball in that most strikers would give an arm to receive.

If he's our main striker all season then we are buggered. I'd agree.

But he showed enough yesterday to suggest he is useful. As someone else says with a bit more confidence and self belief he'd be a handful, especially off the bench.

I certainly think he's a vast improvement over lazy bones Beckford.

We still obviously need someone with more quality up there to play with Mason - who I like but needs the right partner.

[IggyTheDawgster]

Looked outside the box to me that.

But, Whether it was or wasn't, Spearing should really be giving the referee that decision to make.

[TANGODANCER]

Whilst delighted to see Wheater score (and he did it calmly and well), wtf was he doing as our only player in a position to do that? Good goal but if the ball had been cleared he was way out of position for a non dead-ball situation. A pure question based on just a quick view.

[BWFC_Insane]

Whilst delighted to see Wheater score (and he did it calmly and well), wtf was he doing as our only player in a position to do that? Good goal but if the ball had been cleared he was way out of position for a non dead-ball situation. A pure question based on just a quick view.

He was up for a set piece.