Forest Boffin

I'm sometimes lucky enough to be allowed to write on other sites; as promised to one reader, here is a link to my latest such away day , a look at our recent game against Derby, on my favourite Forest related site, Seat Pitch. http://seatpitch.co.uk/2014/09/16/fans-eye-view-forest-1-1-derby/

When Forest welcome Derby on Sunday, they are perhaps fighting to restore pride rather than for bragging rights. Stuart Pearce is the ideal man to accomplish this, but it is difficult to predict exactly how he’ll go about it. Steve McClaren likes The Rams to play a patient 4-3-3 system which will be similar to the one that destroyed Forest so efficiently in March. Most of their expected starting 11 were involved in that game, although we are fortunate that Jeff Hendrick and George Thorne are both out injured. Even if a little weaker, we know they will be motivated and nearly always put on a good performance in this fixture. Derby are a possession hording team. They like to probe for space from their own half, patiently holding onto the ball until they spot an opportunity rather than taking risks going forward – this is in contrast to Forest, who have been more direct under Pearce.   Their defenders see a lot of possession. Derby’s centre-backs have touched the ball, on a...

Forest continued their role as The Championship ’s pace-makers on Saturday as they earned a hard-fought victory against an enthusiastic Sheffield Wednesday side – who will think themselves unlucky. Wednesday operate a physical, high-octane 4-4-2 system. I expected them to focus on hoofing the ball forwards to their target-man,  Atdhe Nuhui; while the Austrian does receive a fair amount of direct play, our opponents did not base their game-plan around this and the amount of long balls they make is actually around average for the division. Indeed, they cut Forest open twice in the opening passages of play, as The Garibaldi were perhaps taken surprise by the enthusiasm of the home side, backed by a partisan crowd. The Owls  could easily have been ahead were it not for a fantastic tackle by Michael Mancienne, and some wasteful finishing. The Reds looked to have learnt their lesson from the Bournemouth game, fielding a five man midfield in what I deem a 4-2-3-1 s...