I had the misfortune to watch a Championship match earlier. Christ, that was crap. Don’t let the fact that it was D***y Vs ‘Boro deceive you. I’m being objective when I declare once again: Christ, that was crap.

It sounds incredibly snobbish to say that the PL is where it’s at for me right now. It wasn’t always this way of course. But I have allowed my interest in the Championship to drift, with Forest no longer being involved.

I occasionally watch the blink and you’ll miss it goal fest that is the ITV4 Football League highlights on a Saturday evening. But it’s bloody hard going with the pace and goals that are flashed in front of your eyeballs.

The D***y Vs Boro slugfest was a wake up call for what fate possibly awaits Forest if we fuck up. Im stating the bloody obvious when I say that it would be a disaster for our club.

It was never meant to be this way. Even the planning documents for the stadium expansion had the line that it was “unlikely” that Forest will be relegated from the PL over the coming seasons. Can you imagine being the ticket office manager trying to shift 45,000 tickets for Forest Vs Portsmouth?

I’d like to think that we’d absolutely stroll through any season back in the Championship. But then again that’s what fans of L******er probably thought back in May. That first bounce back season in 1993-94 was also hard work for Forest.

The only saving grace from being back in the Championship would be a likely renewal of the D***y derbies. I haven’t missed them. They had become so intense. A break was needed.

All of which just confirms the natural order of things: Forest looking nervously down, D***y forever looking up.

The team news dropped. Shit. We’ve not got a lot on the bench, have we? And that’s quite some statement, considering £200M was spent over the summer months to make us have a squad capable of competing in two competitions.

Oh well. It’s a festive match, under the lights at the World Famous, and on the telly as well. Somehow the crowd always manages to raise the game and deliver on these occasions. Everton are bang average. This should be a positive way in which to end the year for Forest.

Oh dear.

I simply can’t make my mind up about this Forest team. We’re either full of potential talent, with a run going deep into the Europa League looks likely; or we’re piss poor and are BALLS DEEP in a relegation battle. After puffing and panting and coming away with no points, my thought process is starting to become a little clearer.

SHIT THE BED!

This wasn’t a bad watch, but it wasn’t exactly the classic Forest style of play. Yes, we had possession down the wings and were able to put in our trademark crosses and passing play. But there was no one there at the other end to deliver. It’s not surprising when Everton have two clogger centre halves who eat up these opportunities with ease.

My mind and attention started to drift. West Ham are 2-1 up at home to Brighton. I was now starting to feel very worried about the London Stadium away day next week.

Taiwo Time came way too early. I’m not even sure if we should still be having Taiwo Time to be honest. A move out to a Championship club or a mid-table German outfit would be a better fit. I can’t see what he has to offer Forest in 2026 as we try and progress away from survival mode.

But survival mode is exactly where we are as we prepare to welcome in the new year. Christ, this was depressing. I bloody hate Everton, not so much the club and the fans, but the mindset that somehow they pretty much always seem to turn us over when we know what we are capable of.

One step up, three steps back, no points.

It’s looking bleak for Forest over the coming months. The Sky cameras panned in on Edu, looking a little shifty in the Director’s Box. Sure, he’s an easy scapegoat. But it was all going so well until he rocked up at the World Famous.

MOM: Jimmy Garner. We could do with him back in our midfield tbh.

Tell It Like It Is

The team news dropped: Dominguez in for Douglas Luiz. The plan is to beef up the midfield and bore the life out of the game, right? Needs must. I’d take a 0-0 with a zero crappy XG ahead of KO. I’m still unsure about Big John Victor as the default ‘keeper. But he seems like a nice young man with a lovely smile.

The occasion was more important than the game itself. Only two days ago, Forest lost our greatest ever player. I have a few reservations with such titles. Recency bias always leaves me questioning such claims. But John Robertson is the reason we wear two stars on the badge.

I listened to BBC Radio Nottingham for the build up from 11:30am onwards. As ever, they handled the moment with the dignity it deserved, but still allowing for a smile. Robbo would have appreciated the humour.

We even got to hear Captain McGovern giving another one of his Scottish BC impressions during the interview with Sir Colin of West Bridgford.

“I’d come from D***y via DIRTY Leeds, unfortunately”

…added McGovern.

Unfortunately.

That only just goes to increase his legendary status around the World Famous. Unfortunately we are running low on stands in which to honour our heroes.

Harry Hodge was also decent value with his own memories of Robbo. He use to clean the Great Man’s boots as a Forest trainee. A young Sean Dyche then went on to keep Hodge’s own size fives clean.

And so it comes around. I love these stories that link the Forest generations together.

The game itself had a lot to live up to. City dominated early with their usual technocratic approach to the beautiful game. The one chance we had came from a pin point CHO cross that MGW and Jesus just missed out on.

We’re talking tight margins here. You need to take your chances, especially against the likes of Man City.

Pep’s drone army were there for the taking. They are such a robotic team with zero flair. They are quite horrid to watch, to be honest. It was so bloody annoying to concede a soft goal from such an annoying bunch of bots. Mark your man, not your space.

Forest started bright after the break, leading to a very classy goal. It was the opposite of anything that Man City had to offer. If the visitors had made a similar move, the mainstream media idiots would be DROOLING over it as Goal of the Season.

1-1. I’d take a draw right now. This was a vast improvement on Fulham away last week. Forest were up for the fight.

Oh hang on. Oh bloody hell. Set piece defending again. This will be our downfall this season.

The 4-4-2 formation that followed with the introduction of Taiwo was never going to work. We all love Taiwo, etc. But he is proving to be a lucky player in terms of hanging on in there. Just as the transfer window opens again, Chris Wood has an injury setback.

And so a 2-1 home defeat on an afternoon where remembering Robbo was more important. At least we can take some pleasure in seeing the Forest goal come from the left side of the pitch in which he once ruled.

You can’t write a standalone para on a hit and miss blog post to sum up what John Robertson meant to Forest fans. Especially when it’s half bashed out on Christmas Day. The obits in His Majesty’s Popular Prints will no doubt do justice to the Miracle Man in the morning.

But woh. Robbo. That hit hard. It’s been no secret down at the World Famous that he has been seriously unwell for a while now. His lifestyle and laid back approach to life looks like it finally caught up with him. It was such a shame that he couldn’t make the Malmo reunion down at Trentside last month.

One by one, we are losing that transformative Forest team from the late 70’s. Tricky Trevor - now that really hurt, Big Larry, and now the most talented man from a squad of misfits and geniuses. Robbo manages to make both categories.

My own memories from that period are hazy. In my defence, I was only seven years of age when I first visited the World Famous. I definitely saw Robbo play in the Championship season. Likewise in European Cup matches. My memory, and any lack of physical memorabilia, means that I can’t pinpoint specific matches apart from the League Cup Final replay away at Old Trafford in ‘78.

Robbo famously fell out with BC when he did the dirty and briefly signed for D***y. But he was only the collateral damage. The real story was the lifelong friendship between Clough and Taylor coming to an end over that particular deal.

Robbo did find his way back to the City Ground, but the magic was gone. The Miracle Men team had long since been broken up. He was a bit part player, brought in to show guidance to a second generation of Clough kids that was starting to shine. What a role model to have, on and off the pitch, etc.

I was surprised to see him follow Martin O’Neill into management, first at L******er, and then surprisingly up at Celtic. The Good Cop, Bad Cop pairing was incredibly successful at both clubs, almost on a level with what Clough and Taylor achieved.

O’Neill somehow found the energy to return to Celtic last month. Robby’s days on the touchline were over many, many years ago. It has been a slow decline, but his legacy will always be untarnished at Forest. He was the tramp with the scruffy shoes and greasy hair, that provided the perfect pinpoint cross for Francis to score THAT goal.

And now they’re both gone. Measuring moments in your own life around these external storylines can get a little unsettling. Especially so on Christmas Day.

What a man.

By all definitions, Fulham is not a proper football club. There. Let’s get that out of the way: No London tradition, tourist fans and Jimmy bloody Hill. Quite an opening statement. But still. Fulham is not a proper football club.

And that’s pretty much the Crap Match Report written the morning after the night before, in an attempt to explain a Forest performance that can’t really be explained.

tl;dr Christ, we were shit.

It’s not fair to focus on any particular Forest player for the woeful away display. No one really played above at best, a six out of ten. High line defending led to me having a cold sweat, last seen in the dark days of Ange the Clown.

Fulham weren’t all that, either. This was a game where both teams seemed nervous to over commit. If you wanted to witness a couple of clubs battling it out for mid-table obscurity, then this was your game.

Both teams were scared of making the first - and game defining - mistake. Forest blinked first with a Luiz poorly timed tackle that led to the pen. His first contact was fine; but he came back for a second nibble, leading to the first and only goal of the game.

There wasn’t a lot that Big John could do to save the Jiménez penalty. I’m scraping around for positives, but I thought that Victor otherwise looked like a safe pair of hands in place of Sels.

Forest were dominant in the second half, without ever looking like scoring. The home crowd was restless. I refuse to be undone by a bloke called Kevin.

And so without calling out anyone in particular… CHO went AWOL. The best you can say about Savona is that he is learning on the job. McaTee Meh. I’d be amazed if he is still around at the World Famous when the transfer window closes.

This has been a shit show of a season, with so much crap flying around behind the scenes. It will continue this way as we try and stabilise. The secret is not to get too carried away by the highs of Anfield, but equally don’t get too down by an away defeat at a London tourist club.

Fulham is not a proper football club. Which means that the result doesn’t count. So there.

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.