Truth be told, I wasn’t really up for the Cup. Honest. I wasn’t really up for the Cup when we reached the semis last year. The Wembley “we’ve had a lovely day out” experience for the semis is all about the commercialisation of the Cup. I may have let my guard drop a little if we had reached the Final.

Yeah, yeah - that’s an easy thing to say. Especially in hindsight after watching yet another lacklustre display from Forest away at Wrexham on Friday evening. The first half Shit Show hurt even more, knowing that Forest were being exposed yet again with a live TV audience.

This was the weird prism in which I use to watch Forest in the 80’s and 90’s. I could handle a defeat I had seen in the flesh, as long as my friends from around the country at the time hadn’t seen us play poorly. I was quite the social climber back in the day, with fancy friends in far flung places such as Barking and Ilford.

But now the game has changed. Every crappy little half-arsed tackle is clipped up and put up on X, seconds after slapping my forehead back at home at how shit Forest have become this season. What a world we live in.

Which is a long-winded way of saying that I could write a highbrow tactical essay here to explain how Forest’s second string struggled in the first half at Wrexham going 2-0 down, before the big boy cavalry came on and added a little fight pulling a goal back; we were exposed and were down and out at 3-1. CHO then came to the rescue and took us to extra time and pens. Poor young Omari - although he was off the pace for most of the game.

You’ll get to read far more in-depth analysis of how fragile the fringe players at Forest are elsewhere. The Forest Focus post-match stream in particular did the usual excellent job of explaining what went wrong, and more crucially, why. tl;dr it’s all about chaos at the club and the lack of stability since the summer months.

I only half watched the game to be honest. I was double screening, with most of my attention spent BALLS DEEP in a spreadsheet, trying to work out some fiddly code that was causing my latest creation to crash. I bet that’s how Sean Dyche feels on the bus back from Wrexham. It’s a fiddly thing. One rogue mistake and you’re fucked.

From what I did see, I thought Morato started well. That didn’t last long, obvs. Bakwa looked promising - my notes say here. Both players were hooked at HT, showing my complete inability to read a game of football. I’m always from that old school that thinks 606 became unlistenable when it lost the two Danny’s and became a comedy tactical show instead. Give me fan culture, not armchair critics.

I could see that Luiz struggled to get into the game. He looks the part - a proper Rolls Royce elite player with the immaculate beard and fancy foreign swagger. Looks can often deceive.

McAtee meanwhile was AWOL throughout the entire 45 minutes he was on the pitch. wtf has happened here? The narrative over the summer was that Forest should feel honoured that he has chosen us, rather than a big payday over in Germany. I would seriously pick up the phone to Young Nigel at Mansfield and loan him out in Division One for the rest of the season.

The refereeing in the first half was also poor. It was Sunday League standard with the Luiz Hand of God goal. I was convinced this wasn’t a goal after the first half a dozen replays. I’m open now to thinking that maybe the ball hit his shoulder, and not his arm.

But that’s just papering over the many cracks in what is a very fragile Forest team. Even a win away in Wrexham wouldn’t have disguised the problems we have ahead in the PL.

I upped my own spreadsheet game in the second half. Like I said - I wasn’t up for the Cup. I followed the flow of the game, but not the detail. I was surprised we managed to take to pens. SHOUT OUT to CHO with what was a superb goal to draw us level.

I did watch the shoot out. Not Taiwo, please, NOT TAIWO was my mantra. I would have preferred to see Murillo rather than Omari step up for the all important fifth kick.

And then we come to Dyche. I didn’t listen to the interview with Sir Colin of West Bridgford late in the evening. It was way past my bedtime. I saw a brief tease online, and then caught up with the trashing of his team in the morning.

Blimey. Talk about throwing half your team under the bus. Dyche basically told his fringe players in a very public outing that they aren’t worthy of playing for Forest. BC might have got away with this back in the day, but Dyche still has a lot to learn from the Master.

This leaves us with effectively two teams, two dressing rooms. The trusted twelve or so may just get us over the relegation red line in the PL, but if anything happens to any of them then we’re in deep shit.

A Cup run would have been bloody awful. But OF COURSE you would day that. But in-between fire fighting at home in the PL, and then taking a few fancy foreign trips in the Europa League, I could well do without the likes of another Exeter midweek away day.

Stick that in your silly spreadsheet.

The Postman Delivers: Forest home, 1994. So what if I owned an original back in the day, wore it pretty much 24/7 for around three years, and then flogged it for a small fortune on ebay a couple of years ago?

Whoops.

The arrival of the kit today was of course a replica, and not an original. I did think when I was buying that it was one of the club endorsed Copa kits, but now I think it’s a Far East knock off. It’s spot on with the detail, as well as the quality.

I remember when the kit was first introduced. It was quite a departure with the black bands running parallel along the front. I wasn’t a fan at first. I had finally grown to love the 1992 pinstripe relegation design. We also wore this in the promotion season.

It’s funny how your passion for a particular football kit is more about the memories of the time, rather than the actual design. I’m not holding much love for the current Forest pinstripe effort.

After the Postman had Delivered this morning, I took the kit up to my Forest kit box. Yes - it really does exist. The current count is fourteen. I thought I was still on single figures.

But OF COURSE I never get to wear them all. But that’s not the point. Ditto with CD buying and listening.

The joy of writing a Crap Match Report is that it is just that: complete nonsense. I had the foresight almost twenty five years ago (!) to give myself a get out of jail card. You’re not going to read about tactical substitutions, in game analysis and XG bollocks on this blog.

And so in short: Fuck. I don’t ever want to see that again from Forest. That was a bloody horrid watch, It was exhausting. It came close to ruining what had - by my own low standards - an almost half decent day.

The hour leading up to KO with Sir Colin of West Bridgford was a little emotional. We had the highlights of Nuno’s time at the World Famous being played out once again. It was a Greatest Hits compilation including The VAR is a Luton fan, Why Colin, Why? Plus also a reminder as to how high the highs from last season actually took us.

LIVE the dream. I wish I had at the time, rather than look at endless spreadsheets and graphs to see how that CL tracker was playing out.

And then we came to KO at the London Stadium this evening. SHOUT OUT to the 2,000 or so Forest fans who made the trip on a nasty evening of weather in East London.

West Ham have been spamming me on Facebook for the past month or so, trying to flog me £15 tickets. The crappy algorithm of being a 50 something bloke living in Essex makes me prime marketing material for the Hammers.

I resisted, but then had the half thought earlier in the morning that I could make the trip. A cheapo train ticket to Stratford could be snaffled up, and then £15 to sit on my hands alongside the most miserable fan base in the PL - that’s West Ham, not Forest, btw.

Come full time and I’m pleased that I opted for the telly coverage instead. It was a miserable first half for both teams. The game was a race to the bottom to see which manager wanted to lose his job first. Both Nuno and Dyche were in serious danger of being turfed out during the half time break.

Forest has zero attacking threat up front. Jesus cut a lone figure - and not for the first time, etc. The best thing I can say about the first forty five minutes was that I rather liked the old school Umbro badge on the West Ham kit.

Murilo’s OG was unfortunate. At least it might divert the gaze away from him from any circling European super power clubs. And there ends my first half notes.

The second half wasn’t much better. I feel for these players after being fucked around by Forest with three managers in one season. Oh go on then - why not try a fourth? It can hardly make matters any worse.

There’s the usual SHOUT OUT to Neco, and now also Ola. Both of them never let us down.

A surprise addition to this reliability category for Forest is VAR. Bloody hell. We looked down and out at 2-0 down. The thought of VAR intervention didn’t even cross my mind as Nuno leapt up for his little jig along the touchline.

Dominguez did well to get us back in the game. I’m now firmly of the opinion that we can’t waste £25M on Luiz, with Sangare also back with us hopefully soon. Dominguez does the job.

I was all settled to take a point away from the London Stadium, and then have a rethink about what the chuff comes next. The punch to MGW in the face was just what Forest needed. POW! Right in the kisser, etc.

Don’t take the penalty, Morgan. DON’T TAKE THE PENALTY, MORGAN.

Oh shit. He’s taking the penalty. Just don’t do your stupid hop, skip and a jump thing then.

Bloody hell. We’re 2-1 up. This was a game that deserved a negative deficit for goals being scored. How three were managed throughout the ninety minutes is beyond me.

It was heartbreaking to see Nuno look so crushed at FT. It was even more heartbreaking watching him hug the Forest players he became such a father figure to.

Oh Nuno. Why oh why couldn’t you keep your mouth shut during those early pressers? Ride it out. We’d be top eight, riding high in Europe and the whole Forest fan base would still be on the piss with you.

Meanwhile we’re left with Dyche. We all knew it would develop to be played out like this. We all know what the ending is likely to be with the Big Fat Greek.

What a horrid, DIRTY DIRTY game of football to watch.

Never again.

As we approach the opening of the transfer window, now seems like a good enough time to assess the current state of the Forest squad. Those optimistic days of a £200M boost back in August feels like a lifetime ago. Nuno who?

Build from the back was always the mantra of BC. And so I’ll start with the goalkeeper, and work my way forward. Who stays? Who goes? Who comes in? I’m not sure who the Robert Rosario of 2026 is.

Big John between the sticks has had the opportunity to claim the keeper’s jersey. He came close to holding on to it. Not a lot was done wrong - until Villa away and that horrendous ‘keeper come sweeper error. With a competent replacement in Matz Sels ready to step in, we can’t risk Big John away at West Ham.

The M and M partnership in central defence stays. Morato Time is not coming around anytime soon. Neither of them have done much wrong; neither of them have performed to the high levels of last season. It’s no surprise, when they have been coached to do one thing under Nuno, and then the exact opposite under Ange the Clown. Some more stability is needed with Dyche getting them back to being a solid pairing.

Neco Williams is the Player of the Season so far. He is pretty much reliable, week in, week out. Savona was a slightly better stand in for Ola than anyone was expecting. With Ola back fit once again, we now need to go back to what was the tried and tested immense back four from last season. Ola will take a little time to get back to fitness. Savona can shore things up after sixty, seventy minutes.

Elliot Anderson can’t be dropped. But he has been below par in the past few weeks. He needs reminding that a starting place for England in the World Cup is not guaranteed. You have to earn the right to play, just as he earned the right to be picked in the first place.

Another rare positive this season has been the performances of Sangare alongside Anderson. Oh how we miss him whilst he is aware at AFCON. It’s no mean feat to keep Douglas Luiz out of the starting eleven. But with Dominguez taking over from Sangare, I think the Luiz experiment has run its course. He’s getting dangerously close to the number of minutes when the loan clause becomes an obligation to buy. I think Dyche and the Forest hierarchy have already decided on this. Arrivederci, mate.

At the top of the midfield, MGW keeps his place, but we need more solidity here. A relegation battle is not the ideal moment in which to show off your BALLER skills. He can still provide a useful role with his box to box runs, controlling and dominating the midfield. It’s another case of the England carrot needing to be dangled.

And then we come to the wings. Woh. _Where to start? _Hutchinson stays. He will go from strength to strength. He now seems to have overcome the record signing tag that was weighing him down. I’m excited to see how far he can progress with Forest over the coming seasons.

CHO has been hit and miss. He’s clearly talented, but we can’t carry a wide player who will turn it on for Spurs at home, and then go AWOL when we play the likes of Everton.

The problem is that there’s not a great deal out there to compete for the wide position. We look like we’ve been sold a dud with Ndyoe, despite his international performances for Switzerland. He’s the Remo Freuler for the Class of ‘26.

Bakwa is another of the summer signing misfits. We need to offload him, along with McAtee, ASAP. I’ve no idea what’s gone wrong with McAtee. I did feel sorry for the fella when he was rolled out for the pre-match pressers ahead of the Utrecht game, only to get hooked at HT.

Up front and we’re looking stuffed. Which is a bit of an issue, when the game is all about scoring goals. Chris Wood’s season is over. Even if he comes back in late March, He’ll need another month at least to get back match fit. A relegation battle doesn’t allow you this time.

Jesus has been very good standing in, but is showing signs of tiredness. It doesn’t help when your goalscorer can’t score goals…

Taiwo is shot. We’ve all known this for the past couple of years. He seems to do remarkably well with his sense of timing at Forest. He should have been out on loan to the likes of Cardiff at the start of the season. He managed to blag a place in the PL squad because of the injury to Ola.

I’ve no idea what the story is with Kalimuendo. But he looks far from PL ready, and his bag already appears to be packed on a flight out to Germany.

This is the problem position for Forest. We need at least one new striker coming in, possibly two. But where the chuff do you find these in January, and how far are you prepared to push the PSR game? It would be SO Forest to get relegated on PSR.

Any new signings in the wide positions or up front will tell us a lot about the future of Dyche as well. I can’t see him being at the World Famous for the start of the new season. Does the Big Fat Greek make some Dyche signings now to keep us up, or is he already looking ahead to the arrival of Silva or someone else?

Looking towards the bench: Morato can stay for a Cup run. Angus Gunn is a gonner. Get Well Soon Ryan Yates. I’d love to see more of Jair Cunha. Willy Boly is a relatively expensive bench warmer. Zinchenko can do one. Zach Abbott needs to stay, if only to keep that proud homegrown record going.

Never a dull moment at Forest. I’m still there, week in, week out - well in front of a dodgy internet stream. A return to the Championship is not an option. I would rather we Dyche Ball it, and then dismantle the squad in the summer and start all over again.

The team news dropped.

OH HAI Ola!

That was a decent way to start Saturday lunchtime. Oh how we’ve missed his ability to defend and attack; oh how we’ve missed his humour.

Villa away is usually an entertaining fixture. I’ve always liked our Midland neighbours. I think it’s something to do with sharing the same European pedigree.

It wasn’t a great opening for Forest. Big John started as meant to carry on. Somehow we survived twenty minutes or so, playing what can at best be described as Cooper Ball.

Last season was clearly an outlier, with talk of the Champions League and attracting the best talent in Europe. We’re no better off now than we were under Cooper, struggling to find a plan in the PL, with players that are borderline up to the standard.

This was characterised by one of the crappest corners you will ever see at the top level. We took it short, Hutchinson managed to lose possession and Villa were away on the break. It’s the kind of attack that took us so far last season.

I lost count of the number of penalty appeals made by Villa in the first half. None of them were worthy shouts, but it showed how clumsy and nervous we are when it comes to defending.

The Villa goal when it finally arrived came as no surprise. The shot from Watkins was sweet. The defending was a little sour.

Bakwa struggled to clear for Villa’s second shortly after the break. He’s another name to add to the growing list of summer transfer misfits.

I couldn’t but help think that we’re no better than Wolves. But then later in the day, Wolves managed to smash West Ham 3-0. Maybe Wolves are actually a better team than Forest right now?

And then came the MGW goal on the break. Where did that come from? This was NO WAY a 2-1 game. But I’ll take anything right now. It led to Forest finally waking up and threatening to make a game of it.

No one told Big John it seems. I’ve watched Villa’s third goal more than a dozen times now. That’s the kind of thing you do when you’re BALLS DEEP in a relegation scrap. I still can’t work out what the chuff he was trying to do, coming rushing out from his goal.

Bye bye, Big John.

And so 3-1 away at Villa. I’m struggling for positives. At least Ola was back. McAtee doesn’t appear to have been completely written off just yet. Thankfully Taiwo remained a bench warmer.

West Ham away is going to be bloody HORRID. Don’t even think about what a Forest Vs Villa Europa League Final might look like.

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.