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.

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.