Forest Boffin

After a mini-revival, Forest's play-off hopes were crushed ruthlessly by Bournemouth on Saturday. If you want to know why Forest have been conceding so many goals recently, you need only look at how The Cherries tore Forest apart. I've been intrigued - and at times appalled - by what has been occurring in Forest's midfield since Davies' departure. The stark contrast for Gary Brazil's first game in charge was that the front four players were operating as a separate entity to the back six; there was a big gap between the two groups, possibly caused by, or contributing to, The Reds' more direct approach to going forward (see my match report  for a more detailed discussion on this). I believe this mentality has continued with some players - the midfielders have, at times, been leaving the defenders to face the music alone, culminating in the game at Bournemouth. The issue is less obvious for Bournemouth's first goal - the main error was in central defence ...

When a manager unnecessarily plays a player out of position, he puts himself in the firing line. Such is the case with Billy Davies playing Greg Halford up front. This fancy has been causing discussion all season, with Halford being preferred in the position on several occasions. The 29 year old utility man led the line against Watford in January, despite there being 5 (five) natural forward players on the bench, causing widespread confusion in the stands. Again, on the way out following our recent draw against Doncaster, it seemed to be the main topic of conversation. Davies himself has a self-professed aversion to “round pegs in square holes” – so why play Halford out of position? The simple answer to this is that Halford doesn’t have a position. He has always, wherever he has played, been branded with the dreaded utility-man label, but is this a reason for him to play up front? No, but Davies has stated that he feels Halford “has got a lot of threats.” What are these threa...

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...

The previous two articles in our series looking at defensive issues ( here and here ) underlined a vulnerability down Forest’s flanks, touching upon the defensive weaknesses of our midfield. Unwillingness from our wide men to form an understanding with their full-backs, and a general lack of knowledge and organisation throughout, resulted in extra pressure being imposed upon the centre-backs – how did they fare? Different styles of play under different managers brought various challenges for the centre-backs. Under Sean O’Driscoll Forest sat quite deep which suited Danny Collins as he started the season reasonably well. Partnering either Daniel Ayala or Greg Halford, he enjoyed the possession football thanks to his reasonable (for a centre-back) technical ability - although later, when the going got tougher, he did begin to make costly errors on the ball. Collins appears poorly admired by the fans ( see below ), who claim he does not have the physical attributes for a first choice c...