Dear John. I confess to having serious doubts about Victor starting in goal when the team news dropped an hour ahead of KO. Forest Focus has been saying the same thing all week. DODGY ‘keeper, dodgy ‘keeper, dodgy ‘keeper etc.

Fast forward to 4pm, and yep, I am a crap judge of character.

In Other Minor Team News: with Captain Yates out injured for a few weeks, it was pleasing to see Academy graduate Zach Abbott back on bench warming duties. That proud record of having a home grown player in every squad for the past eight four seasons, is something worth preserving.

And so #lolspurs rocked up at the World Famous, complete with a van load of freebie scarves, all paid for by the club as a Christmas present for every away supporter. wtf is this? I’m getting serious L******er happy clapper vibes.

KO came. Neco seems to be a human punchbag for any opposition thug these days. Hutchinson looks like a natural starter. Sangare is in the best form we’ve ever seen him at Forest. He will be seriously missed when he departs for AFCON.

The first goal showed that Sangare is the most unselfish of players. He knows his job, and he now performs it incredibly well. It would have been easy for a big fella to fluff his lines in a one-on-one situation. He showed sufficient grace to allow COH to take the honours.

“A man can have no greater love than ninety minutes and his friends”

…etc.

The second goal was a Colback doppelgänger - from the exact same side of the ground as well. But OF COURSE COH meant to shoot, right? This was the moment that I realised that little old Forest now have a team of players that can sprinkle some gold dust and piss all over the ‘stars’ of the fancy Dan Spurs.

Djed was decent, mind. It was lovely to see him receive a standing ovation from all four corners of the World Famous when he was hooked. We’ll never forget what he did for our club. I don’t think a returning Max Lowe would get the same treatment.

The second half then became something of a procession for Forest. The only sticking point was some shit refereeing. Murillo in particular had a right old ding dong all afternoon with Richarlison, a player who has a face that just invites you to have a sense of dislike.

It then all became about the clean sheet. Dear John, etc.

The third goal was a stunner - or as Brian Laws said on BBC Radio Nottingham:

“HE’S SWAZZED IT!!!!”

We’re going to miss Sangare deeply over the coming weeks. Douglas Luiz is a half decent ready made replacement.

And so farewell #lolspurs. Take your silly scarves back to North London. Thanks for coming, etc.

Hearing Hans Van Breukelen with Sir Colin of West Bridgford ahead of KP was a real treat. Even the Dutch Master can pull off a Brian Clough impression - albeit with a little local interpretation added in.

The team news dropped. No major surprises. You get the impression that Dyche removed all the best bits out of the Quality Street tin, and threw the rest up in the air to see what landed.

Surely we can beat a team from a Farmer’s League, right?

This was the first outing for the fabled Forest third kit. Third kits are shit. Apart from the legendary Umbro green back in ‘91 (?) that was never worn in a competitive match.

I only realised shortly after KO today the thinking behind our black and orange effort for 2025: it’s the exact same livery as the Europa League itself. Quite clever, although driven by marketing.

Marketing makes everything shite.

Forest were anything but shite in the first fifteen minutes. We had three chances and should have put the game to bed.

You got the impression that some of the lesser spotted players were competing for their PL places. McAtee, Ndoye, Kalimuendo - they all had a point to prove.

As for Victor in goal?

Dear John: I’m going to let you down gently, etc.

Luiz is the missing link. Even not fully fit, he still ran the show. Imagine what might have been if he had been available all season, and Nuno was still Head Coach.

…he would probably be sitting on the bench tbh.

McAtee meanwhile is a January loan move in the making. I’m not sure what’s gone wrong here.

Some Ange the Clown like defending then followed for Forest. SHIT THE BED. This wasn’t part of the script.

Kalimuendo did well after the break with his goal. He’s got a touch of the Taiwo about him: direct, a little unbalanced, but never gives up. Sheer determination allowed him to force home the first goal.

As ever, our set piece defending was shit. 1-1 Oh dear.

But wait! What’s this?

JESUS CHRIST, etc.

Jesus is proving to be the signing of the season for Forest. We got lucky with Chris Wood and his fitness last season. I don’t like to think where we would be this year without Jesus performing his last minute miracles.

And so a first away win in Europe for Forest in thirty years.

Blimey.

We made bloody hard work of it, mind.

MON: CHO.

The familiar routine and rhythm of a Forest match ahead of KO: the team news drops. Unchanged.

Oh.

There wasn’t a great deal of possibilities to change the starting eleven that beat Wolves in midweek.

Murilo was still missing. No worries. Morato more or less redeemed himself midweek, following the fuck up against Brighton.

I don’t know what Ndoye is still doing in the side, mind.

Sir Colin of West Bridgford reliably informed me that an away win at Everton would mean that Forest would be the first team to take six points off Everton and Liverpool away from home in two consecutive seasons.

Calm down, etc.

KO came.

Oh shit.

We got off to a very shaky start. Not on par with the Brighton nerves, but it didn’t look good.

An own goal with a cruel deflection off the Serbinator kinda summed up what was to follow.

Tarkowski did well not to be charged with common assault, let alone escape a red card after he twatted Ndoye from behind.

Everton are the new DIRTY Leeds. I’ve never liked them, tbh.

The midfield battle between Anderson and Garner was the only point of interest in the first half. A return of Garner to replace a likely departing Anderson in the summer would sit fine with me. He’d need to lose the silly tache first.

Some awful defending and a robust ref who refused to shift, led to a three on one breakaway for Everton.

I actually checked the Forest X feed to see if the Big Fat Greek hadn’t shitposted something about the ref being an Everton fan.

Three subs for Forest straight after the break. Something had to give. It was good to see Big Willy taking on the professional cheerleading roll, and encouraging young Zak.

The Captain went down with a hamstring injury.

Oh dear.

Like we need another injury right now.

CHO and Hutchinson both went AWOL on the wings. We miss Elanga more than we expected when he was cashed in to Newcastle.

3-0 down and the game was gone. Forest can’t play back-to-back matches. Filling a new 52,000 season when Blackburn are visitors in the Championship fills me with fear.

And so not a great away day. We’re right back down in the relegation bun fight. One step up, two steps back.

Hey hoe.

At least we might get D***y or Stags away in the FA Cup draw on Monday.

Another scrolling session down the Sky Sports menu ahead of KO.

If it’s a Wednesday evening, then we myst be on Sky Sports F1, right?

I wasn’t sure if Forest were kicking off in pole position at Molineaux, or if we had come to park the bus.

Don’t crash the car, fellas.

Molineaux didn’t sound like a happy place. If fact it sounded a lot like Midtjylland at home - a game that has now gone down in Forest folklore as a metaphor for a footballing shit show.

The home fans were apathetic. They couldn’t even be arsed to boo MGW.

Anderson ran the game. That’s pretty much all you need to know. It’s no hyperbole to hint that he’s the best midfield talent this country has had since Gazza. All that’s missing is the goals.

Forest went 1-0 up with a Jesus header.

Oh wait.

FUCK VAR, etc.

Sure, Ndoye was way offside. But why the five minute wait for the ref to rule on what everyone else had already seen?

Wolves were an absolute shambles in the first half. But they came out fighting at the start of the second.

Steady the buffers, Forest.

Morato has always got a mistake in him. Now would not be a good time to be reminded of this.

It was a bit of a huff and puff effort to get over the line. Just win, just BLOODY win. I’d take an ugly three points and GTFO of here.

Don’t come back. Never again. etc.

SEE YA, Wolves.

Thankfully Jesus had a Second Coming (stop it). He can perform miracles in the air, for such a short player.

I can’t get enough of seeing Woan and Stone celebrate on the touchline wearing the badge. You get the impression they feel the same.

Another VAR nightmare followed for the Yates penalty claim. Once again, absolutely no one in the ground saw this as a credible claim.

All it meant was that extra added minutes were added on at the end. Forest did well to see this one over the line.

AMAZING! Sean Dyche has been Head Coach at Forest longer than Ange the Clown.

Blimey.

I’ve tried to wipe out the Ange 39 days from my memory. I think the Forest players feel the same, tbh.

It does seem like a lifetime away now as we try and climb up to mid-table. I wasn’t even born when Nuno was Head Coach.

What a time to be alive, etc.

And so on Sunday we had Brighton rock up at the World Famous with Dyche looking as though he is empire building.

I’m all for dynasties. Dyche has the background that we all crave for, if not the flair.

You get the impression he hero worshipped Carl Tiler rather than Bing Crosby back in the day.

It was a little odd having to switch to Sky Sports Cricket to watch Forest. I half expected to see Stuart Broad starting in the back four.

Instead we had Morato.

Oh.

Morato Time started about 89 minutes too early for me.

The minute’s silence for former Academy player Joshua Travis was very moving. You often hold your breath during these moments, praying that no idiot in the crowd spoils the occasion.

Congratulations for everyone involved for treating the passing of a very young lad with the dignity it deserves - and that includes the club as well.

Brighton started sharply. VERY sharply. It looked like another 7-0 scoreline might be the final outcome, such was the pressure they placed on Forest.

Wellbeck’s going to blag a hat trick, right?

Wrong.

Well done to Dyche and the Forest old boys for working out what the chuff was going on, and then reacting in real time on the pitch.

My tactical awareness isn’t going to lead me to be invited on to one of the many Forest podcasts sometime soon. But I think it was something to do with the lack of link up play between MGW and Jesus?

Christ, etc.

With the left wing in complete chaos up in Liverpool as Your Party assembled (ffs) it was the right wing that was causing issues for Forest back at the World Famous.

Neco was having a very rare, and ever so slightly off day.

The first thirty minutes or so were a tough watch. It wasn’t that Forest were crap, but simply that Brighton were outstanding. We couldn’t get a sniff in.

A comeback of sorts followed for the final fifteen minutes of the half. Forest looked strong.

And then came the sucker punch, right before half time.

I refer to my previous answer of knowing chuff all about tactics when trying to explain the great big bloody gap that allowed an unmarked Maxim De Cuyper (nope, me neither) strolling in unmarked.

HT.

Time to regroup, time to reset.

I’ve been impressed with the way that Dyche has handled these situations. He is far from the dinosaur as advertised.

The defensive displays of Burnley and Everton now seem a reflection on the dead wood he was working with at the time.

Omari Hutchinson is far from that. He ran the show for most of the second half. He’s finally living up to the record signing fee status.

Collymore was a bit of a slow burner…

It felt that if Forest got a goal, they would go on to win the game. But the clock was ticking down.

OK - a draw against a top six team would still be good.

And then came Morato Time.

Oh dear.

He got himself in a right old bloody mess - not once, but twice.

It had to be an ex-Olympiacos player who profited. The Big Fat Greek ain’t gonna like that.

Hey hoe.

On to Wolves - who are in serious danger of ‘beating’ the D***y record. I’d still take three points off them.

Play time, etc.

One Day in ‘79 was the strap line Forest used for the marketing push ahead of Malmo at home in the Europa League.

One Evening in ‘25 turned out to be half decent as well.

Forest do these grand occasions VERY well. As soon as the draw was made in August pairing us up with Malmo once again, I just knew that the Big Fat Greek would embrace it.

It was a magnificent gesture to invite - and pay for - both teams from One Day in ‘79 to be guest of honours at the World Famous City Ground.

Not everyone could sadly make it. Up until very recently I thought that the Miracle Men were just that. As players from other great clubs passed on, somehow the Forest team were all still amongst us.

Tricky Trev’s departure hurt hard. He was the £1M Man. He wouldn’t be the first to go.

I watched the Forest YT stream from the red carpet from 5pm. David Prutton did a decent job of door stepping old men - who probably wanted to tuck in to the freebie food and booze.

There were some lovely moments though. Colin Barrett and Bomber Bowyer both brought the humour. I confess to a Pavlovian shout of “TINA! TINA! TINA!” when Shilts appeared on screen.

He bloody loves it.

The stream finished an hour later. The final word went to Brian. The final word should always go to Brian.

What a club. What a legacy.

Now then. Down to business and One Night in ‘25.

The team news shortly dropped. SEVEN team changes. Blimey.

I wasn’t sure about John in goal. It was great to see Zak starting. I was looking forward to seeing what McAtee can do. Ditto Kalimuendo.

The old fellas from One Day in ‘79 came out to meet the crowd shortly ahead of KO. Some muppets in the Malmo end got a little over enthusiastic.

I hope we bloody stuff you now.

The sight of Ryan Yates leading out Forest at the World Famous in a European fixture was something to savour. The Skipper rose to the occasion with one of his best games in the Garibaldi.

And it wasn’t just the tops, either. I bloody love it when we wear red shorts. I think it’s an emotional attachment going all the way back to Munich ‘79.

The teams lined up, the game kicked off.

Hang on. Murillo is playing at left back? Blimey.

Yates and Abbot both linked up well. It was genuinely lovely seeing the two Forest Academy boys playing together on the European stage.

A Captain’s goal soon followed.

GEDDIN the Trent, etc.

This was an incredibly one sided contest. Malmo looked like a team that had come to enjoy the occasion, rather than win the game. They were the most passive team we have seen on Trentside in years.

What was the point in travelling all the way over from Sweden, and then not being arsed to even leave the halfway line?

Forest sensed this and tried to kill the game off within the first thirty minutes. I lost count of the number of chances we had.

A goal from Kalimuendo followed. That will do wonders for his confidence.

The third goal after the break from the Serbinator sealed the game. I bloody love VAR, me.

Time to get Murillo and CHO off. Feet up lads, ahead of the Premier League.

But wait! What’s this?

ATTACK! ATTACK!

ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACK!

Attacking subs were brought on. Whatever happened to Dyche the dinosaur with his defensive style of play?

The game then had the feel of an international friendly. Substitutions broke up the pace of the game.

Yates was brilliant from start to finish. Write him off at your peril.

And so One Day in ‘79 became One Night in ‘25. The 3-0 win won’t be as significant as the magic of Munich, but it will do wonders for our Europa League standing.

Another great European night on Trentside.

This is a very classy - albeit slightly bonkers - club.

The team news dropped. No changes from the DIRTY Leeds match, two weeks ago.

OK…

This was more out of necessity than any sign of strength. We’re working with what we’ve got available.

Remember when Roy Keane made his debut up at Anfield?

It was good to see CHO back on the bench as he comes back to full fitness. You get the impression that he rather likes making a late impact when playing Liverpool.

Meanwhile, Liverpool made five changes. Isak always scores against Forest, right?

It was a nervy first fifteen minutes or so. You feared that if Forest went a goal down, four more might follow. They don’t call me Mr Optimist for nothing. I was shaking my fist at the telly when we couldn’t score an eighth against Brighton last season.

And then something remarkable started to happen. The game settled down. Forest returned to a Nuno masterclass of DEFEND, DEFEND.

DEFEND! DEFEND! DEFEND!

…and then occasionally spring a break if you get the chance.

Yeah yeah - we’ve seen it all before under Nuno. But this one was down to Dyche.

He’s had to pick the players up after they’ve had all confidence coached out of them by the Comedy Clown. GOOD EFFORT with the Back to the Future approach.

It was clear what was happening here:

“A tenner to mind yer car, Mister?”

Fuck off, you cheeky little Scouse. We’ve brought the bus, thank you very much. We have no shame in parking it right in front of your Kop.

A goal from Murillo.

Blimey.

It’s happening again, Arne, etc.

OH WHAT? Jesus as well.

Fuck VAR.

Still, a 1-0 lead to take in at the break is bloody brilliant. Silence the Anfield crowd, regroup and… DEFEND DEFEND DEFEND.

Easy stuff this, isn’t it?

After a patchy first half down the right for Savona, I was hoping that Ola would be back in contention once again.

Two minutes into the second half and nope, he’ll do.

GEDDIN.

No one told us we were buying an Italian goal machine. I still have sleepless nights over Solenzi.

And so two goals up at Anfield, two goals from defenders.

On the other side of the pitch and Neco was all over Salah. I know which player I’d rather have in my team right now.

I was all set to take a walk outside for the final fifteen minutes when up popped Morgan.

[hands in ears as I slide across the lounge carpet, etc]

That’s four goals in six for MGW. He should get dropped by England more often.

Murillo was bloody magnificent all afternoon. I was only thinking this week how those £100M Real or Barcelona stories have gone a little quiet. I suspect they might spark up again.

Plus the Boy from Brazil was brilliant in his BBC Interview with Sir Colin of West Bridgford. His English is almost as rounded as his backside.

One of the lasting images coming out of this match was the sight of Van Dijk continually shaking his head. He looked like a string puppet that had gone a little wrong.

I started watching the game thinking that a point away at Anfield would have been amazing. Three didn’t even enter into my mind.

In the run in to Christmas back in 1977, Forest gave Man Utd a lesson in the perfect away hit and run display, with a 4-0 away win at Old Trafford.

Just to be clear, I’m not making any claims that we will be lifting silverware come May, but this was a similar performance.

Big boys Vs underdogs, away from home and hitting them on the break.

BC would have been proud - especially with the clean sheet. The only downer was that it wasn’t four goals this afternoon.

Like I said: FUCK VAR.

Shame about D***y as well.

Forest always do Remembrance Sunday very well. It’s respectful without being OTT.

The fella on the trumpet was note perfect, both sets of fans reacted in the right way.

This wasn’t always given in a Forest Vs Leeds match. We’ve heard all the scabs chants, and in return, we’re rather fond of DIRTY, DIRTY Leeds in return.

But for Remembrance Sunday, the occasion rises above this. Credit has to go to Forest as a club for managing the occasion with deference it deserves.

I was surprised not to see Yates in the starting eleven. This game had his name all over it - especially in a team picked by Dyche. Sangaré didn’t disappoint.

The game started decent for Forest.

Hey! Betcha Leeds are going to score.

Oh bollocks.

Some Championship level defending led to us going 1-0 down. Please don’t collapse. It would be such a Forest thing to do in front of the live telly cameras.

Oh hang on. Blimey. An instant equaliser. I wasn’t expecting that. Or maybe it’s just that we aren’t use to this with a Nuno or Cooper team.

It was a fantastic recovery and comeback. I always had faith in Sangaré. Yep. Never doubted it.

The Big Fat Greek looked happy for once. I prefer his Miami Vice look compared to the recent airings of the You Are the Manager jacket.

MGW was much improved. Neco continued with his impossibly high consistency levels. Our best left back since The Skipper back in the day?

We do miss Wood up front though.

HT came and went.

Oh hello - TAIWO!

He always raises a smile.

Considering he was pretty much out the door with twelve hours or so to go on Deadline Day, it’s quite a turnaround to see him getting regular minutes of late.

Hutchinson was part of the same substitution bundle. Now there’s a fella who needs to perform.

Yates was Yates.

The MGW goal was bloody great. Two headers in the space of a week, both glancing.

#MoratoTime

Hutchinson was actually very encouraging as the second half played out. Rumours of his demise, etc. He’s the player we always thought we had bought, albeit with some reservations over the price.

And then came the pen. Thank chuff MGW was already off the pitch.

Andersons TWATTED it.

3-1, Forest All Over the World, Eva’s Grill fireworks.

On and off the pitch, etc.

Time for some BOOZE.

Let’s talk about squad depth. Let’s talk about spending £200M to improve the squad over the summer, and still finding yourself travelling out to Austria with six kids on the bench.

Whoops.

I know there’s a bit more going on behind the scenes - plus injuries which we didn’t suffer from last season - but still.

Having said that, it was a reasonably strong starting eleven, showing that if needed, we can still put out a half decent team.

5:45pm KO’s are WEIRD. I was hungry and thirsty, but this was no time to eat or BOOZE. The game - the dodgy modern interweb stream - needed by full attention.

I liked the Graz all black kits. With Forest playing in the off colour white, this game had the look of a game of chess.

It wasn’t really played out that way though.

Forest clearly wanted the checkmate within the first fifteen minutes. It was a very strong start, but with no obvious openings.

It still feels odd to be starting an away game in Europe as favourites. I use to get the heebeegeebees for Blackburn away not too long ago.

D***y who?

Kalimuendo looked strong. The end product might have been missing tonight, but he does give us other options compared to Wood, Jesus and Taiwo.

I was longing for a Yates goal on the European stage. He seems to have put the Swansea shitshow behind him.

Never write the Forest Captain off. I make that seven consecutive Head Coaches who have all felt the same.

Number one is Ryan Yates, Number two is Ryan Yates…

The Gaffer looked proud to be wearing the Forest badge on the touchline in Europe. Even with our BONKERS start to the season, not many managers in the history of the club can get to feel this way.

John looked dodgy in goal. It was an experiment that we just about got away with. Premier League strikers won’t be as forgiving as the Graz forward line.

Neco was unplayable. I’m going early and calling him Player of the Season.

MGW meanwhile should be nowhere near the next England squad. That’s harsh, but he looks like he needs some headspace. It was a poor, poor pen.

And yep - Yates was deffo fowled for the follow up.

The second half was all a little meh. Forest had run out of ideas, and Graz wanted to play for the point.

Dominguez was lively, and deserves a PL start; possibly McAtee as well if he’s not injured after tonight. I’m not sure where you would slot him into the PL starting eleven though.

The game drifted for the final thirty minutes or so. As ever, subs for both teams got in the way and clogged up the flow of the game.

It was an incredibly frustrating watch. My highlight of the half was when the cameras zoomed on the Generation Chaos banner in the home end. It looked cool as fuck with the custom Crass font.

And so a point away from home in Europe. BC would have taken that. The PL is more pressing.

DIRTY, DIRTY Leeds, etc.

I felt the Forest fans. It’s long way to travel away from home, and not to see any goals.

A quick look at some of the other Europa League scores, and OH MY DAYS.

Bloody Midget Land.

If we are to progress in the knock out phase of this competition, then I fear that we will have to face them once again.

And so farewell Garibaldi Red podcast. Your sporadic appearances over the past season or so were welcome, even if the frequency of the pod appearances suggested a mothball.

Young Max has done a half decent job over the past couple of years. He had a mighty tough act to follow with the breakaway Forest Focus going solo with Matt Davies.

I wouldn’t go as far as calling it Podcast Wars, but as we know with Brixton Buzz, when you have a similar platform publishing independently, there is always going to be some rivalry.

The professionalism, contacts and daily dose of FF meant that Garibaldi was always going lose out in any Forest Podcast Wars.

But that’s not to downplay what Max has his team has achieved over the past couple of seasons. Max has really grown into his hosting role. It’s no great secret that he is a legacy media personality in the making.

The final sign off hinted at some political developments behind the scenes. That’s no surprise when you are dealing with a corporate beast such as Reach PLC.

The agile, one man band of FF has no such restrictions. It shows in the truly independent nature of the podcasts.

Tell It Like It Is - with no one hovering over your shoulder.

I’ll mist the odd diversion into Garibaldi Red. It has become something of a time drain though, trying to soak up as much online Forest content as possible. My new music explorations have suffered.

There was always an honest and respectful analysis of Forest coming out of Garibaldi Red. I just wish we had that same approach off the pitch right now.