Blimey. Those injuries aren’t half building up for Forest - all at the arse end of the season as well. After the EUPHORIA of #lolspurs, Burnley, Sunderland and Chelsea, the mood ahead of Newcastle at home was a little more sombre. The Europa semi defeat only three days ago has changed the whole outlook amongst the fan base.

And that’s the central point here: In the timeframe where Forest have played three matches in seven days, DIRTY Leeds haven’t played at all. How can that be fair in a fight to the death relegation battle? The starting XI against Newcastle looked more like a pre-season team selection.

Some standout names need mentioning. This is the 50th appearance for Forest from Jesus this season. Christ, etc. We’re bloody working him hard. He deserves a decent summer break in order to recharge for next season.

KO came. The World Famous City Ground looked an absolute STUNNER under the early afternoon sun. Forest started fine. The Serbinator was aggressive, Bakwa is starting to bloom.

I’m no fan of in game formation changes. It’s not quite in the spirit of the game for your ‘keeper to go down with a mystery knock, only for the Coach to change the line up ahead of the restart. But it seemed to work for Forest, and kept Newcastle out.

Taiwo was looking strong. I’m still unsure about him for next season. He needs a run of half a dozen or so games to get going once again. But he’s unlikely to get that, especially so with no European football to look forward to.

Luka Netz meanwhile looks like a very positive option ahead of next season. I’d have no issues if he slotted into regular first team action. Not so Morato. Anyone who waves £15m at Forest should be taken up on the offer.

I confess to losing a little interest midway through the second half. I had a few household chores that couldn’t hold back. I pottered around with the telly pictures on, and the BBC Radio Nottingham commentary in my ears.

Newcastle scored. Arse. The defence was split wide open. But wait! What’s this? Anderson’s goal was great. It was a proper old school Harry Hodge midfielder’s goal, timing his run and momentum just right. It was quite emotional seeing his celebration.

A nervy couple of hours or so followed, watching West Ham and waiting to see if Arsenal would do us a favour. You have to feel for Nuno and his team. FUCK VAR, etc. But whatever. We’re safe and staying up. I couldn’t take the desperation of having to play out for a win against Bournemouth on the last day of the season.

To Europe! …for one final time, possibly. Who knows when this experience will come around again? Another thirty year wait? Or if we play our cards right, we can still finish 7th in the PL. Steady the buffers, etc.

You know how this plays out by now. The team news drops (whilst I was in the shower, actually, with Sir Colin of West Bridgford on the waterproof bluetooth speaker). Morato. Oh. I have a bad feeling about this. We do love our anti-heroes at Forest.

Villa Park was spectacular ahead of KO, rising to the occasion. I remember the last time I was there for a semi - West Ham in the FA Cup, April 1991. I don’t recall tifos, fireworks and Europa League anthems.

“Who the fucking hell are you?”

…as West Ham ran out.

Forest were under the cosh, right from the start. You don’t say. In my mind, I resolved that we would be 1-0 down heading into the break. My hope was that we could SHIT HOUSE it out, and hang on for extra time and pens.

Our passing game was strangled by Villa in midfield. We missed MGW big time. Gaps appeared all over the midfield. McAtee is a very lightweight figure.

The volume at Villa Park only grew louder with the inevitable goal. I’m not digging out the Forest fans, but I couldn’t hear them throughout the 90 minutes on the telly. The atmosphere was very different to Villa Vs #lolspurs last Sunday.

We did well to hang on to HT with only the one goal against us. Time to regroup, time to urgently find a Plan B. Cometh the hour, cometh, erm, Ryan Yates. It would be quite some story if the Forest Academy player could lead us towards a major European final.

I’ve watched all our Europa League games this season totally stress free. The PL has been intense and horrid; the Europa is a nice jolly of a distraction. This kinda continued as the second, third and then fourth Villa goal went in.

Oh dear. This is not happening, right?

It’s been a messy, joyous and utterly BONKERS season for Forest. And there’s possibly still more to come. Farewell Europe - for now. We still need to put in a performance against Newcastle on Sunday to guarantee PL survival.

No one wants to be leading the charge of: To D***y! …next season.

These Forest Crap Match Reports come round quicker than another SHIT THE BED moment for the Reds. Monday afternoon in West London was no different. A 3-1 away win against the World Club Champions, with the Forest B team playing? I didn’t see that one coming. Does this now make Forest the current World Club Champions? Steady the buffers.

The team news landed. DEEP breath. Blimey. Talk about calling Emery’s bluff. The Garibaldi conspiracy theory of Villa forcing Forest to play their A team ahead of the Europa semi, after ‘allowing’ #lolspurs to win on Sunday, backfired big time. Pereira called Emery’s bluff. Anything you can do, I can do better. And that includes starting with the stiffs.

Calling Taiwo a stiff is a little unfair. He made his 100th appearance for Forest at one of his favourite hunting grounds for goals. Surely he couldn’t, could he? Erm… I hadn’t even settled with the BBC Radio Nottingham audio sync with the telly pictures as Big T celebrated. Expect Chelsea to bid £40m for him over the summer.

A second soon followed, after Taiwo was pulled from behind in the box and a penalty was awarded. I didn’t mind who took it, but it would have been ACE to see T smash it home. JESUS, etc. It wasn’t quite the same TWATTING of a Chris Wood pen, but they all count.

This then became an exhausting watch. The endless VAR reviews - surprisingly going our way - and injuries made this a very, very nervy watch, despite Forest never really being in any danger. The third goal for the Reds was another T special, after some impressive work down the wing from MGW. A man can have no greater love than 90 minutes and his friends, etc.

SHOUT OUT to, oh, where to start? I can’t believe that I’m saying this, but there was some genuine 10/10 performances from the likes of Morato, Netz and Bakwa. All the fringe players could yet to prove their worth during the final run in as we chase European glory, balanced with PL survival.

And so with five wins in a row, and ten unbeaten, one half of the above could be completed next weekend. A win for Forest against Newcastle should keep us safe. Failing that and a West Ham defeat in the later Super Sunday KO away at Arsenal will get us over the line. We’re SO close…

Chelsea were crap btw. Nasty club, nasty fans. So there.

There’s a fantastic Forest conspiracy theory doing the rounds right now as we reach the PL / Europa run-in. It goes along the lines of Emery picking a weakened side for Villa against #lolspurs, with little interest in winning that match.

The logic is that a Spurs win on Sunday would motivate the need for Forest to beat Chelsea away on Monday. We’d have to play the A team, and not the stiffs and summer transfer rejects. This in turn would tire us out ahead of the second leg of the Europa semi against Villa on Thursday.

I’m starting to believe in conspiracy theories. The Villa 2-0 home defeat against #lolspurs was the worst ‘professional’ football performance that I’ve ever seen. I use to quite like Villa. All respect for the club has been lost overnight.

Tinfoil hats will be worn at The Bridge later today.

The team news drops. Morato. Oh dear. And so here we are, playing our first major European semi-final in 42 years - which still sounds utterly BONKERS to say - with the third choice centre half propping up the defence. Erm, is Chetts still match fit? He’d be guaranteed an unlikely European goal, right?

Elsewhere and Matty Cash returned to the World Famous, wearing the claret and blue of Villa. I wonder how he must have felt, having spent eight years at the club in the Championship years, and then returns to play on the European stage?

And what of Omari Hutchinson? Remember he was binned out of the original Europa League squad in a final act of bitterness by Nuno as part of his tit for tat with Edu. And yet here was Hutchinson, starting for Forest in a European semi-final. His selection was well-deserved, as well.

There was a fantastic atmosphere ahead of KO. Forza had done the old ground proud once more. You can watch in awe at how some of the major European power houses handle a European night with all the pre-match razzmatazz. But the World Famous City Ground doesn’t lend itself to flashing lights and stadium stretching tifos. It’s all about the fans, innit.

The game itself was something of a tense watch for me. I admit that BOOZE got the better of me, plus also a very poorly timed personal phone call that I had to take midway through the first half. Whoops.

MGW was nullified by Villa playing in his hybrid No.10 out wide role. Anderson was immense, as ever. Morato managed not to fuck it up. My main hope was for Forest to remain in the tie ahead of the second leg. Please don’t collapse with a humiliating scoreline against what is a very, very decent Villa team.

I needn’t have worried. The plan from Vitor appeared to be sit tight, hold your nerve, and take your chances if and when they come. Chris Wood certainly did that. There was only one way that pen was going to be taken it. Just bloody TWAT it. Blimey. We’re only 1-0 up in a European semi-final.

Cometh the hour, cometh the Academy boys. I was actually quite emotional when Ryan Yates, and then Zach Abbott both took to the field to shore things up. Neither player let the club down.

And so we take a 1-0 lead away to Villa Park for the return leg next week. I hope anybody’s not stupid enough to write us off, etc.

Woh. Where to start with this one? We were led to believe before KO that Sunderland’s Dutch ‘keeper Roefs was half decent. He wasn’t. Forest were relentless in the first half, and then shut up shop in the second. Jame Redknapp described this as “the performance of the season” over on Sky. For once I agree with what some of the mainstream talking heads come out with.

I lost track of the first half goals tbh. I tried to track them and keep pace with my BOOZE. Points, first pints later, yeah? But at 4-0 up at HT, there was never any real danger that Forest would mess up. It was more likely that my own BOOZE situation might create a little mess.

Finally we seem to have mastered the art of set pieces. It’s only taken four years in the PL to work this one out. MGW was magnificent once again. I can’t see how he can continue to be ignored when it comes to the World Cup squad selection.

The fifth and final goal for Anderson was a special moment. The Geordie boy scoring against Sunderland probably meant all the more to him than it did to the Forest fans. It was a touching moment after what has been tough personal patch for him.

You know something special is happening when the telly cameras focus in on the scoreboard in the ground, with 5-0 illuminated in bright LED. It’s a symbolic image of what has been achieved, without the expectation of such a battering. There’s an incredible stat that 20% of Forest’s PL goals this season have been scored in the past two matches. Yep, it’s been that kinda season.

Are we safe from relegation? The brains behind the OPTA super computer thingy seem to think so. Never trust an algorithm, Comrades. A lot will depend on the #lolspurs and West Ham results later this weekend. I can’t see either of them catching us if they fail to pick up three points. All focus can then turn towards Europe.

And so farewell Leicester City. Piss off back to the old Third Division where you belong. Harsh? Yep. But you try living for a year or so in the City of Death and not coming out of the whole experience feeling slightly unhinged.

Leicester are a club that deserves to be relegated. Careful what you wish for, etc. At the end of the we always win, and all that. But the club itself has been a disgrace over the past three seasons or so.

I admit to being caught up in the PL winning love in team of a decade ago. You always like to see the underdog win. The 2015/16 team was a side that you couldn’t but help admire. Come back and have a conversation when you have won two European Cups though.

Since winning the FA Cup five years later, the club has had a shocker, on and off the pitch. Some pretty tragic personal circumstances didn’t help. But that’s no excuse for the mismanagement that followed.

The way the fans and players treated Steve Cooper was poor. It may not have been the wisest decision by Cooper to head off down the Fosse. But posing for photos with signs saying they miss their old manager wasn’t a classy look.

Then there was the PL PSR dodge. Suck it up, fellas. Forest had to in the PL. We managed to overcome this and survive. Some creative accountancy at Leicester allowed them to carry it down to the Championship.

The relegation from the Championship to the third tier is all the more sweeter, knowing that the delayed points deduction has pretty much finished them off.

And do farewell Leicester City. Shame about the Derby play-off push as well.

A frustrating first half. You don’t say. Burnley rocked up at the World Famous with the game plan of boring the arse off everyone watching. This included their travelling fans. Slow hadn’t clap for Burnley. Bugger off back to the Championship please, and never come back.

The first 45 minutes felt more like a pre-season than a potential relegation decider. The injury to Murillo was a worry. And then just before HT - oh ffs Forest. Conceding a goal at home just ahead of the break is SO Forest. The crowd fell flat. The players headed back down the tunnel with much work to do.

I’m not sure what Pereira said back in the dressing room, but BLOODY HELL. His tactical change of playing Jesus alongside Chris Wood was a little left field. Switching MGW out to play in what appeared to be a wide No. 10 role seems to have invented a whole new position in tactical formations.

OK - here we go: Hands in the Ear hashtag, multiplied by three. A fifteen minute hat trick for MGW was quite incredible. It had nothing to do with Burnley being bobbins. The pick of the bunch was the header from outside the penalty box. SHOUT OUT Ryan Yates for a bloody decent delivery.

Which all means that MGW is now our top scorer this season across all competitions. There’s all the more irony in that his hat trick today puts #lolspurs in deep, deep shit. At the end of the day, we always win, etc.

This has far from been a fun season for Forest. But when it clicks, it’s a joy to be a Forest fan. This week is a case in point, with a major European semi-final to look forward to, and the team edging ever closer to PL history. I hope anybody’s not stupid enough to write us off.

Never judge a book… But I bailed before even giving this metal shit a listen. Not music.

⭐

Another CMR written on the fly, no notes, just a hazy hungover rambling of what went off the night before. SHIT THE BED. We’re in a chuffing major European semi-final. How did that happen? I didn’t shit the bed btw.

You need some perspective here. Sure, I watched Forest win European Cups back in the day. The memories there are also hazy. I wasn’t BOOZING it at the World Famous back in 1979 as a nine year-old, but yep, I was there.

The 1984 UEFA Cup run passed me by. I was too busy drinking shandy (spot the theme) and skanking to The Specials at the local Youth Club.

A major regret is passing by with the 1996 UEFA Cup run.

“One team in Europe, there’s only one team in Europe!”

…was the cry when we were the last English team standing when we reached the quarter-finals. I had given up my Trent End season ticket the year before, with a new life in S Ldn about to begin. Plus I was broke, and so I couldn’t afford fancy foreign travel.

And here we are, thirty years later, and we’ve only gone one step further. This time I feel different. I have no desire to follow Forest home and away - even if that means, erm, Villa Park. I’m happy with a TNT subscription and some cheapo Lidl BOOZE.

But that doesn’t take away what took place last night, and how I personally feel about the achievement. This was Forest playing to an international audience, home and abroad. It was our chance to prove to everyone that those horrid, horrid Championship relegation battles are behind us.

OK, so it wasn’t quite the masterclass performance. But if I try and think back to 1979 - or even load up YT highlights - then even BC knew that getting over the line by any means necessary was what’s needed to get the job done.

We went strong with the team selection. You sense that the Big Fat Greek (who appears to be AWOL over recent weeks?) must have had a quiet word with Pereira about shifting priorities.

The Anderson news ahead of KO was awful. I don’t know the personal details, but for his Mum now not to be able to see him become the likely star of the World Cup over the summer is so, so sad.

I was concerned that Wood was starting. Jesus is our man in Europe, with Wood hopefully held back to do a demolition job on Burnley on Sunday. But nope, there he was, leading the line.

OUCH! Oh no! I thought the early injury to Wood was on the same knee that has kept him out for six months. Thankfully (I think?) it was the other knee. Given the choice, I would rather play eleven men of Porto and have kept Wood fit.

The game changed on the early sending off. Forest controlled the first half, especially in midfield where MGW went unmarked for forty five minutes. The only surprise was that we only had the one goal lead taking us into the break.

Porto made the necessary tactical changes after the break. This felt more like a balanced game. We rode our luck. The City Ground crowd responded. This felt like the Sheff Utd semi-final all over again.

More injuries. uh-oh. But with a major European semi now within touching distance, you’d probably take this if it meant Rocking All Over the World would be heard at the final whistle. It’s only Burnley at the weekend…

Some decent game management saw us over the line at the end. It shouldn’t have been such a nervous watch with the one man advantage. But we’re there, all set for another Euro jolly away at, erm, Birmingham.

I’ll stick with TNT, ta.