Forest Boffin

After the fans had gone home from another disappointing result at The City Ground , as I mentioned in my last article, Billy Davies claimed that there wasn't that much wrong, that our problems lay in one area alone; clinical finishing. I didn't agree 100%, so have been looking into this in more detail. A major branch of Davies' argument was that Forest are creating chances, and if true, then logically it must lead us to the conclusion that the team and tactics are capable of getting the goals to win games. Anyone there against Ipswich will remember us creating these chances, but just how many do Forest create? If we look at the amount of attempts on goal ( see left ), for all the teams in the division, we can see that The Garibaldi more than hold their own. Davies' side has been creative enough to have 290 attempts on goal so far this season - the 4th most in the league. 14.5 attempts on goal, on average, is more than enough to find the net - it tends to suggest ...

Forest are still searching for that lovin’ feelin’ at The City Ground after failing to score for only the second time this season against Ipswich. It was a disappointing afternoon for a few reasons, but Mick McCarthy’s men were always going to be difficult to beat. Ipswich included Luke Chambers and David McGoldrick, both of whom have been playing well. “ McGoal-drought,” as some Forest fans labelled him, has been scoring regularly; feeding off the hard work of the Ipswich midfield and strike partner Darryl Murphy as Town have tended to play quite direct during the games I’ve seen. Chambers is in the familiar situation of being played out of position at right-back, which is something Forest perhaps should have capitalised on more. The Reds continued to employ a 4-2-3-1 system, with Nathan Chalobah replacing Gonzalo Jara. The system is probably Billy Davies’ reaction to the problems in defensive midfield; teams were finding too much space in front of Forest’s central defenders,...

A recurring bone of contention since Billy Davies returned to Forest has been anxiety over the quality of our strikers; you will often hear fans musing that what Forest need is a 20 goal a season goal-scorer – it is apparent that Davies himself has been attempting to bring such a player in. Simon Cox in particular has been under pressure concerning the amount of goals he scores at Forest – and at first glance, neither he nor Henderson (Forest’s only two real options up front) score enough goals – they are on 5 goals each after 19 league games – in comparison, Ross McCormack has netted 15 already for Leeds United. However, McCormack has been on the pitch for each one of the 1811 minutes of Leeds’ season so far. As far as goals scored are concerned, a fairer reflection is gained when we ask how long does it take, on average, a player to score a goal when they are on the pitch? Looking at the stats for The Championship’s forwards, McCormack still has the best goal-scoring record – h...

Forest continued their disappointing home form on Friday night, making it only one win in six games as they lost 3-2 to a sassy Reading side. It was another entertaining evening with plenty of fluctuating emotions, but as good an advert for The Championship as it was, it’s another damaging home defeat. Forest only made one change from their dominant game against Burnley with Dan Harding replacing the injured Chris Cohen. Retaining the 4-2-3-1 system, Billy Davies planned on his two ball-playing defensive midfielders passing the ball out to a front four of Raddy Majewski, Jamie Mackie, Jamie Paterson and Simon Cox ( see right, all diagrams on Forest Boffin can be enlarged if clicked ), building possession as they did against The Clarets , but it didn’t pan out like that as Reading’s tactics initially triumphed in every aspect of play.   The Reds’ main problem was in possession, with Reading playing an energetic pressing game, harrying the ball. Forest are a possession tea...

Forest fought their way back from a goal down to draw against an impressive Burnley side on Saturday, and were unfortunate not to take all three points in an enthralling encounter. This was never going to be an easy game when you consider what Sean Dyche has achieved at Burnley since his appointment last October. It is the free-scoring duo of Sam Vokes and Danny Ings grabbing the headlines, but Burnley’s real strength lies in the defensive improvements Dyche has implemented, organising and installing a defensive ethos into his team in a successful effort to slash the amount of goals they were haemorrhaging – the biggest improvement has been in away games; last season saw them concede an average of 1.5 less goals in away games under Dyche than before he arrived. So it was always going to be difficult to break Burnley down. Billy Davies opted to stay with his new 4-2-3-1 formation, but even considering The Garibaldi were missing some key players, the line-up always looked more...

Forest have assembled one of the strongest squads since their relegation from The Premiership . There have been mixed fortunes during various changing systems employed, but how have the players done through the first third of the season, starting with the defenders?   1. Karl Darlow - 1433 minutes played, 1.73 points per game* Darlow continues to impress. The 23 year old has consolidated his position this season, clinging onto the goalkeeper’s jersey with a string of excellent performances. I’ve been waiting for the first real blunder from the academy graduate – I’m still waiting after 35 games and 3343 minutes of his Forest career. With a particular habit of making saves when all seems lost, Darlow seemingly has no weaknesses – if he keeps this up he’ll be in the running for Player of the Season . This season, his minutes between goals conceded is the best of any Forest ‘keeper since the 2009/10 season ( see left – all graphs and diagrams on Forest Boffin can be enlar...

A continued look at how Forest are conceding their goals, which in turn is highlighting the main defensive problems Billy Davies is having to solve. This project is subjective, but also not set in stone; corrections, opinions & contribution are welcome. 12. Bournemouth (1-1) Marc Pugh I think everyone in the ground half expected The Cherries to equalise, and from a tactical point of view it's a revealing goal, exposing a recurring problem for Forest. The Garibaldi were under significant pressure, due to not being able to keep possession up the pitch, but they are caught out because of the gap in front of their back four. As the ball comes into this unguarded area, Kelvin Wilson comes out to deal with the problem. I've struggled to fault Forest's defence at all so far this season, and here, again, they are doing their job. Wilson advances to stop Bournemouth striker Tokelo Rantie being able to just turn and have a free shot on goal. This leaves a gap in the ...