And so the first pre-season for Forest with a short trip made across the Trent to take on Notts County. Blimey, the World Cup hasn’t even finished yet.
Poor old Notts. Meadow Lane is falling down, etc. I’ve always had a soft spot for the Barcode Boys on the other side of the Trent.
This dates back to the mid-1970s when we were given freebie tickets to watch the Pies at school. Forest were in no such need of having to entice young ankle biters into the World Famous City Ground even back then.
Charlie Palmer Day was not so great, but I do have fond memories of watching Colin Wanker’s team during their consecutive promotion years down at the Lane. We had the last laugh though a year later when Lars Bohinen completely destroyed the Magpies midfield.
But yeah poor old Notts, the more they hate us the more we like them. Bring back the County Cup I say.
I did ponder about forking out the £1.99 for the Forest stream. I’m such a tight arse that I even did a momentary search for some dodgy internet feed. In the end I buckled and reluctantly handed over my dosh.
It was worth it alone to hear Jason Lee on comms. He has a foot in both camps.
Forest had an incredibly strong starting 11 for OG’s first match. In charge. I wasn’t expecting that.
I also wasn’t expecting to see Yates still wearing the Captain’s armband. No complaints, Yatesy scores we’re in the Trent etc, but from which side will he be entering?
The new shirt still looks shit. I can’t get over that blob that is supposed to represent the mist rolling in. It was rather pleasing, however to see no sponsor’s logo as yet, leaving a rather fresh feel to the Garibaldi red.
It’s three years since we last played this slot in a pre-season. Both clubs have come a long way since then.
Forest more or less managed to improve with every transfer window; Notts have finally got themselves back into the old Third Division. It’s always good to know where you belong.
Kick off came Both teams were a little rusty, as to be expected. Notts are slightly ahead of us in their pre-season preparations. Hutchinson in particular seemed to struggle.
Also struggling was the fella doing the main commentary. I didn’t catch his name, and he certainly didn’t capture the name of Forest’s leading man. It seems that we have signed Morgan Rogers - surely some mistake.
The first goal came from Jesus. He walks on the Trent as the song says. It was a very cool finish as he ran straight down the middle.
Notts really struggled. They are even worse at set pieces than Forest. I didn’t think this was possible.
I did doze off ever so slightly at the start of the second half. I woke up feeling rather confused, seeing the complete change of personnel. This meant the annual appearance of Omar Richards.
When’s the next flight out to Greece?
Kalimuendo took his goal very well. He reminds me very much of Keinan Davis, being something of a battering ram up front.
We may just have solved our striker dilemma. There’s no need to go splashing the cash with Kalimuendo looking so sharp. Cheers Dyche for setting him back six months or so with a complete lack of confidence.
Elsewhere and Taiwo looked more than capable as well. I love the way he surprises us each season, always proving the doubters wrong. He looked mean and fighting fit.
And so a 2-0 win on the other side of the Trent for OG’s first outing. We picked up no injuries and there looked to be plenty of depth in the squad.
Next up: some more new signings and some shiny new toys please.