Might we see some wood for the trees? - Forest (H) 22/08/15

[Loyal White]

Not sure why managers keep playing Mark Davies deep.

To me, you're wasting his abilities by having him pick up the ball in the wrong area.

His best run of form came when playing in front of Muamba and Holden the season we went down.

He'd be much better suited to the number 10 role, especially whilst Clough is out of sorts.

[Worthy4England]

Mark Davies is a massive let down. I'm sick of hearing people slag off hard-working players like Danns and Feeney, who are limited but always give their best, while that lazy prick gets off scot-free despite his regular disappearing acts.

Yup. Mavies at his best is clearly a good footballer. He doesn't deliver often enough. Folks'll crucify Feeney for a bad cross, but he's been there to get the ball and put a bad cross in. When Mavies disappears, it's playing with 10...

[Jugs]

I thought Mavies was excellent yesterday in a deeper role, and think he's enjoying being the captain. He used the ball well, and he helped to stifle Forest's midfield alongside Danns. Then he did very well to find Dobbie in space for the goal. I would like to see him drive forward more with the ball at his feet, like we know he can; but I think he had a good game overall yesterday.

[NiceHotCuppaTea]

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

No change for Freedman then, throwing points away at the death

Yeah, thank God that never happened to us again once he left.

Some very different opinions on here, which is interesting.

When I said I thought it might be an unlucky 1-1 I had the scoring in the opposite order: we dominate, score, then concede late on. I suppose it's emotionally better this way, and I'm very glad we scored. I hope we can kick on and I'm very glad we played a back four; personally I wouldn't invert the wingers but whatever, let's hope Dobbie's goal is a catalyst for a change of luck.

[bobo the clown]

Two well taken goals tbf.

... & what a poor penalty. Plus, what did we get the penalty for ? The foul on Madine in the first half being corrected I wonder ?

[Jugs]

Great finish from Dobbie. I know a few fans were unsure about him, but he's got a goalscorer's pedigree. Maybe he'll be this years' Klasnic!

[Burnden Paddock]

Two well taken goals tbf.

... & what a poor penalty. Plus, what did we get the penalty for ? The foul on Madine in the first half being corrected I wonder ?

Watching it live, I thought it was a very soft penalty. Saw it again on TV last night (admittedly after a few drinks. Damn you LE!) and thought the same. Having watched this, you can see that Mills quite clearly 'throws' his right shoulder into Clough's back. Challenges like that quite often get missed or ignored. Good to see one go in our favour! Shit pen though.

[Prufrock]

It's for Mills in the back of Clough. Soft, but can see why he gave it. Would have annoyed if it were against us though.

Thought the one on Madine first half was though.

[LeverEnd]

Lennon's midfield selections have been rubbish for a while. Walker on the right? Ridiculous. I've seen nothing to suggest that he's ready to be a reg first-teamer, and today he was a waste of space. The lad isn't without talent and I hope we can develop him but he got in last season because we were desperate. Spearing should be playing somewhere but Lennon has clearly ruled him out.
I've only missed the Boro game this season so far and today was the worst I've seen us play of the 4 I've seen. Forest were rubbish and so were we.
Mark Davies is a massive let down. I'm sick of hearing people slag off hard-working players like Danns and Feeney, who are limited but always give their best, while that lazy prick gets off scot-free despite his regular disappearing acts.
Plaudits today to the back 4 plus Amos, bollocks to the rest of it.

I may have been somewhat under the weather when I wrote this! So much so that I've only just got up.

Still don't get Walker selection though. his dead=ball delivery is very good but otherwise his contribution is not enough. As for Mark Davies, he does good things but never takes a game by the scruff of the neck and it frustrates me. He was nowhere to be seen in the 2nd half at MK, yesterday he was better but still not involved enough. Against a good team that midfield yesterday would've cost us dearly. Also thought Davies would have taken the pen, but it seemed pre-arranged that Madine was having it. Probably time to unarrange that now!
Also, I thought the back 4 defended very well, but their use of the ball was poor. If we are going to lump it as much as we did yesterday, we should go back to that 4-2-3-1 thing rather than the diamond, then at least there are people around Madine for the knock-downs.

[ChrisC]

It's for Mills in the back of Clough. Soft, but can see why he gave it. Would have annoyed if it were against us though.

Thought the one on Madine first half was though.

I was sat right in line with the Madine challenge and I thought it was a dive. There was slight contact but Madine threw himself to the floor.

[LeverEnd]

It's for Mills in the back of Clough. Soft, but can see why he gave it. Would have annoyed if it were against us though.

Thought the one on Madine first half was though.

I was sat right in line with the Madine challenge and I thought it was a dive. There was slight contact but Madine threw himself to the floor.

Exactly this. Madine did not endear himself to me yesterday.

[BWFC_Insane]

It's for Mills in the back of Clough. Soft, but can see why he gave it. Would have annoyed if it were against us though.

Thought the one on Madine first half was though.

I was sat right in line with the Madine challenge and I thought it was a dive. There was slight contact but Madine threw himself to the floor.

Exactly this. Madine did not endear himself to me yesterday.

Tries hard Madine. Something just isn't quite right about him though and can't put my finger on it. Like taking away the penalty I still wasn't convinced totally by the rest of his game yesterday. Mind he's playing with a lost young man at the minute.

[Dr Hotdog]

It's for Mills in the back of Clough. Soft, but can see why he gave it. Would have annoyed if it were against us though.

Thought the one on Madine first half was though.

I was sat right in line with the Madine challenge and I thought it was a dive. There was slight contact but Madine threw himself to the floor.

Exactly this. Madine did not endear himself to me yesterday.

Tries hard Madine. Something just isn't quite right about him though and can't put my finger on it. Like taking away the penalty I still wasn't convinced totally by the rest of his game yesterday. Mind he's playing with a lost young man at the minute.

Madine's performances up front reminds me of the time we stuck Mills up there for a fiery jaunt against Liverpool earlier this year.

[boltonboris]

We will see over time, but I'm far from convinced we were/are as good as is being made out. Forest were awful. And in the end we got a draw and Forest could have won. Apart from our penalty Antonio probably has the best chance of the game when he puts it straight at Amos.

We created chances yes, but I don't feel the tempo is right. We are too pedestrian for large periods of the game and struggle to create real pressure at times.

End of the day I think finishing is going to be a big problem because I'd say Clough is our best finisher but isn't playing well at all so far.

Silva looks good, but I'd wait and see if he produces a bit more end product from his runs.

That goal either kicks us on or is a false dawn. I hope it's the former but still think we have a good way to go. I think we've got enough in the squad bar, perhaps a goalscorer, but I don't think we've found the right formula yet.

And the centre of our midfield was very weak and we really did get away with it. Back four all absolutely excellent. Especially Dervite and Wilson. Superb.

Fvck me you're full of the joys of life. Forest could've won??!?! We had enough chances to win the game 3 times over. Yet you prefer to see the fact that they could've had one more goal to add to their tally?

Silva needs to improve his end product? It was his first game and he was visibly tired before half time.

Let up and try to be positive. You never know, you might like it

[boltonboris]

Very proud of the lads today. They worked exceptionally hard and with a rub of the green we'd have won comfortably.

The defence were solid with Moxey and Prince, in particular, outstanding. Wilson I thought had a tough day but he's not going to be up against that sort of quality every week.

I hope all the Danns and Feeney haters are giving their heads a shake this evening. Danns held it together in the middle of the park and we looked far more dangerous once Feeney came on. Mark Davies disappeared for the second game running and Clough looks like a shadow of the lad from last season. Madine actually played very well, penalty aside, but he's crying out for an ALF a like up front with him.

Onwards and upwards

when did mavis last have a game-changing impact?

Saturday when he set the feck* goal up

[boltonboris]

Just out if interest BWFCi, where did he get the team selection wrong?? Given the players available, it's the 11 I would have gone with and worldie goal apart, would have given us 3 points. Vela was awful on Tuesday night.

Lansbury and Antonio are in their way out of Forest, so I suspect DF will struggle this season.

Midfield. We didn't have nearly enough control. We still could have won if Madine had scored the penalty. So could Forest if Antonio had scored his one on one.

I'm not sure what else he could have done. Vela and Feeney were both poor on Tuesday. If he'd dropped Davies we'd have less creativity. He could have played Spearing, Trotter or Medo but in place of who?

Walker. Vela or Spearing in middle, Davies out wider but a narrower midfield.

Yeah, out wide players in the middle and central players out wide. That'll improve us. Mark Davies (with the exception of the back 4) was our best player. Never wastes a pass and EVERYTHING that happens, goes through him

[bobo the clown]

^^ Boris !! How very dare you ?

It's given fact that he's idle and overrated and plays well in barely one game in ten.

[thebish]

when did mavis last have a game-changing impact?

Saturday when he set the feck goal up

that's genuinely good to hear! I've always liked Mavis (when he's ever fit) - but when you have to rely on those who go to the games to give a real impression - and they give such mixed and wildly diverse views about his contribution - then it's hard to get a handle on it!

[Norpig]

I was pleased with the way we played on Saturday if the penalty goes in we would have gone on to win easily. We were in total control of the game leading up to the penalty! After the miss I thought we lost our composure and you could almost see the confidence drain from both players and fans alike. Forest came back into the game for a 15 minute period after the miss but failed to create anything clearcut. I think we rallied a bit at the end of the first half, we started the sencond half well and the crowd was fully behind them. I was pleased with the atmos on Saturday, we created chance after chance and it looked to be one of those days when Vaughan hit the worldie with their first shot on target (well first shot of any note). To be honest I had given up hope when the bloke with the board announced 5 mins as we looked to have run out of ideas. Up step the unlikely hero in Dobbie, I think most people in the crowd thought the shot would be wide like most other shots on the day but to our surprise it nestled in the back of the net. It was like we had won promotion, another 2 points dropped but it could have been much worse, it could also have been much better also (story of our season so far).

Thought Silva looked promising he looked to take the game to the opposition he looked to moved forward with the ball with his every possesion. Hopefully we don't train this instinct out of him as I think he will create space for other in the team.