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For the first time this season, we catch up with the latest action at the City Ground with NFFC Blog |
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It all started so well, a draw infront of the Sky cameras against much fancied Reading; the highlight of the 0-0 draw undoubtedly being new signing Guy Moussi knocking over Sonko with a left-footed drive. The cries of "Mooooosssse!" he attracts from the crowd sounds like booing; at first he wondered how he'd become so unpopular so quickly! A routine despatchment of Morecambe in the cup saw new boy Earnie snag his first competitive goals for Forest, as well as the first appearance for Manchester United loanee Lee Martin. Forest first travelling experience was to the familiar place of Swansea, and unlike the last few seasons in League One, Forest actually played quite well and ended up getting beaten - whereas previous visits saw us play badly and scrape a draw. Oh well! Next up was Watford at home, and d'you know what? Forest not only registered their first (and to date, only) win of the season, but they played bloody well too. I was chuffed, but still concerned about slack defending that let the visitors snag two goals of their own. We played well in the next round of the cup too, forcing extra time against Sunderland (where more slack defending let them equalise late), but ultimately losing 2-1. So all was looking okay; sort out the generosity of our defence at times, and score a few more and we were looking more than a match for the Championship. Then we went to Molineux. It's fair to say that Wolves tore us a new one; and the 5-1 scoreline with which the came finished was flattering - to us, the losers! This was followed up by a disappointing home showing to Burnley - particularly from a referee who assisted both goals with dubious penalty and freekick awards - whoever thought that referees would get better after promotion were wrong! Another 'unlucky' showing at Deepdale saw Forest register three consecutive league defeats, this time Preston profiting from our clown defending. Another 'shit referee show' at the City Ground happened at the same time as a frustrating 0-0 draw against Charlton. Alan Pardew's side are a bunch of diving, play-acting, dirty bastards - and the referee fell for it every time. Forest annoyingly created more than enough chances to finish this game off, but elected to miss them in a series of comedy errors. The referee compounded a hopeless performance by red carding substitute Matt Thornhill. The referee, is indeed, a wanker, it seems. So is Alan Pardew.
It's been a busy old time of it on the transfer front; Junior Agogo eventually left to play in Egypt, Grant Holt went to Shrewsbury and Brett Ormerod went back to Preston. The more surprising, and if we're honest, disappointing departures were Sammy Clingan to Norwich, and Kris Commons - the self-professed Forest fan - to the sheep bothering embarrassments down the A52. What a two-faced scummy bastard, eh? Needless to say, he is not a popular man in Hood Town. Rumour has it he was recently out for drinks in one of the border towns and had to move somewhere else due to the heckling he was getting. Serves you right, fatty. Incomings have been quite exciting though, with the inconsistent Commons heading down the A52, up the other way in his Hummer at the same time was the deadly Oompa Loompa figure of Robert Earnshaw. There is no striker with better credentials at this level than Earnie, and I was thrilled at the capture at the time, and haven't been disappointed with his performances on the pitch either. On the loan front, we picked up Paul Anderson on loan from Liverpool - an exciting winger who excelled at Swansea last season; unfortunately he has promptly picked up an injury so we're yet to see him in action. We also picked up the hitherto unheard of, yet now established cult figure, Guy Moussi from France. The strange decision to sign 'Andrew' Cole was confirmed, and whilst I was chuffed at the time, I've been less impressed with his pitch-time so far, but it's too early to be writing anyone off just yet. Finally long-term target (and currently injured) Joe Garner was prised away from Carlisle, and Lee Martin was loaned in from Manchester United. Off the pitch... There were early opportunities to laugh at Derby, which is always a bonus. The amateur porn star in charge cuts a wonderfully hapless scally figure for ridicule, although of course, currently we must do so with the knowledge that they're a point ahead of us. It's still fun though. They're officially record-breakers for the most consecutive league games without a win, and went just shy of a full year without a league win, which is a phenominal achievement of shitness, no matter what level you're at! The old 'Clifton Doughty Super Bowl' stadium move plans reared their head again; this time Holme Pierrepont being the proposed site of a new 'sports district' for Nottingham. This idea appeals more than the out of town idea, however I'm still opposed to the idea of shifting from the City Ground. Apparently if England don't get the World Cup in 2018 then redevelopment of our existing ground will be on the agenda - so I for one am looking forward to see what a spectacular pigs ear we make of the Olympics in 2012 to have FIFA panicking about the World Cup. Linked to the lack of need for a 40,000 or 50,000 soulless flat pack arena of turgid boredom are concerns over our attendance figures. It's true there's a credit crunch, and it's very true that Forest do little or nothing to encourage visits in the form of offers like our loathsome neighbaaaaa's do, but even so, I have been openly disappointed at the number of fans electing to come and watch newly promoted Nottingham Forest back in the Championship. Should we be worrying about our attendances? I think so. Bizarrely Forest attempted to turn the Sunderland cup game in to a Brian Clough-themed carnival. This time it was Setanta cameras who rolled into town, to film a more-than-half-empty City Ground with about half a dozen folks who'd elected to wear a green jumper for the tenuous reason that Clough had managed us, and played for Sunderland. Roll forward a few weeks, 20 September 2008, the four year anniversary of his death, at home to Charlton - not so much as a mention on the tannoy, black armbands or a minute's silence. Personally I thought that was a bit shabby without wanting to go all Scouse-like and wanting to mourn everything for ever. Diversions... According to Sir Alex Ferguson, whole sections of history never happened - including some that involved Forest. Much like apparently the top flight didn't exist before the Premiershit reared its' poisonous head, the inception of the Chumpions League heralds the start of the top European competition too. Purple-nosed tosser! I could rant for hours about this, but shall spare you for now - but well, why doesn't Fergie pop over to Real Madrid, Benfica, Internazionale, Ajax, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Forest and Milan and point out that his Manchester United side could be the first to retain the top prize?
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On the pitch...