Forest Boffin

 Perhaps a leading factor in the disappointment felt by Forest fans this season has not been results alone, but also the feeling that we have the best squad of players in recent times. This got me pondering what the best Forest XI would be, since our promotion to The Championship in 2008 - how many of the current players would be in it? This is, of course, a subjective issue. As football is a results business, I thought it interesting to look at some win ratios*, and have picked a team based purely on that. How does our team of winners compare to the players we have seen week-in week-out in 2014/15? We can see straight away there are some surprises in our team of winners ( see right, click to enlarge ). The defence is almost as expected - I have included Chris Cohen at left-back because I wanted to recreate a balanced team rather than shove the best win ratios onto the pitch haphazardly. I don't think many would argue about the inclusion of Lee Camp, J...

My latest article looks at how big a blow the injuries to Andy Reid and Chris Cohen have been. Not only are they good players, more importantly they were working as a partnership; their replacements have struggled to work as a unit to the same extent, and it's severely damaged subsequent performance levels. You can read it here, on top Forest site Seat Pitch: http://seatpitch.co.uk/2014/11/22/forest-boffin-column-midfield-dilemma/

Unbeaten Forest are second in the Championship table - any criticism should bear that in mind, however there has been a noticeable drop in creativity since the injury of Andy Reid, and this week we've discovered he might not play again this year. Losing their main creative force is a hammer blow for Forest and asks serious questions of their promotion credentials. Some may take issue with my labelling of Reidy as the main creative force; he has scored no goals this season, and contributed only one assist. Other players have taken up the role of putting teams to the sword in the attacking third, but while the likes of Michael Antonio and  Britt Assombalonga are the cutting edge, when on the pitch Reid has been the creative hand wielding the blade. Under Pearce, Forest have been playing a more direct style, hitting teams fast rather than hogging possession. This is a shrewd move, as direct, high energy football is a proven route to victory at this level....

After an interesting end to the transfer window from Forest's point of view, there has been much discussion concerning the gap left by the departure of Adlene Guedioura. With no replacement already secured, we have all been asking who will play in the defensive midfield role; I've been analysing Forest's options. Firstly I thought it important to examine how Billy Davies has set up our midfield when on the defensive. Ever since his return, Billy has employed a midfield diamond, which has been successful because it has played to the strengths of our players. Guedioura has sat at the base of the diamond; he is not a  'holding' midfielder, he was played in this position because of his ability on the ball. He is a typical swashbuckling midfielder, with lots of vision and the ability to play decisive passes. The downside to this was when Forest did not have the ball, because although Gueddy is reasonably good at winning it back, often he allowed himself the be dragge...

I must immediately confess that Andy Reid is probably my second favourite Forest player that I’ve seen in person. Everybody loves a home-grown talent, but Reid’s affection for the club, passion, and his style give him a lot of credit with me personally, and added to that he's a real creative talent. The player's return excited me more than the signing of any other player since I started supporting Forest over 20 years ago. As far as I was concerned, we had just signed what would be the best player in the league, and having missed the first game of the season I bought my ticket to the Notts County Carling Cup game, in part, specifically to watch Reidy. I couldn’t have been more disappointed. I'm a big fan of defensive play, and Reid’s performance highlighted, in 30 foot square neon letters, that it is impossible to function as a team if the midfield aren’t bothered about defending. One innocuous league cup win sent me from enthusiasm and hope for the new season into fe...