No such thing as a free hit - especially when Forest are usually the ones being hit. Christ. The PL is ruthless. How to kill any optimism for a team that is still looking for a new manger bounce? A midweek away trip to Man City. Strap yourself in. This could get ugly.
In Better News: we were wearing all red once again. As ever, I love this. It helped that City were wearing Malmo blue. STRONG Munich ‘79 vibes here. A 1-0 away win would be nice.
The situation is clear for Forest for what remains of this horrid, horrid PL season: out shoot West Ham - and possibly try and drag #lolspurs into it. Whatever West Ham can do, we can do better. I think? Good luck with Haaland and Foden back in the City starting line up.
What’s happened to those 115 charges, btw?
Forest switched to a back three.
DEFEND! DEFEND!
DEFEND! DEFEND! DEFEND!
Oh bloody hell. We’re in for a long evening here.
We started off half decent for the first thirty minutes or so. Forest never really threatened to break through, but the defending was strong as they soaked up the pressure.
There were the occasional glimpses of the magical football that this group of players is able to string together - even away at The Etihad. And what a crap name for a football ground that is, btw.
The inevitable City goal came. The defending wasn’t quite as tight as it should have been. But it wasn’t a disaster. Don’t fall apart, stick to the plan, hold tight.
And then it happened. MGW has been outstanding under Pereira. His basic instructions seem to be: you have the talent, this is YOUR team. Do what you want, run the show. The back-heel was brilliant. There was even a half attempt at badge kissing with the celebrations.
Now then. Don’t poke the bear. Sit back, defend. An away point here is a bloody decent result. But the bear was poked. City were annoyed and took the lead once again.
Hey hoe. I was still relatively happy that we hadn’t collapsed with a 5-0 drubbing. Goal difference may yet be key come the end of the season.
I was about to say that Anderson was having another average under the radar game. And then somehow he managed to be on the right end of a classic 1-2 move, and he had the finish to match.
Bloody hell. We’ve only gone level once again. We couldn’t, could we?
Time for TAIWO! I love it that he is somehow still earning a living as a PL footballer. We know he’s probably a Championship starter at best. But don’t fault the enthusiasm.
The defending for the final fifteen minutes or so was immense. It felt like Forest of last season all over again. Coming away from The Etihad with a point is superb, even if West Ham did win away at Fulham.
The fixture list has been a little bonkers. We share the same fixtures as West Ham, with Forest playing Fulham next, whilst West Ham face City. That end of season shoot out has seen us edge ever so slightly ahead.