Thursday 30 August 2012

Not so merry men

When No.1 Iceland Addick Olafur Johansson was living in the UK he was disappointed to find that Nottingham Forest's ground was not in Sherwood Forest and he was not greeted by the merry men and Maid Marian.

Forest may not have that much to be merry about this season. The forecasters all put them mid-table in the same territory as Charlton, one at 11th and two at 13th.

Forest made an unbeaten start to the season, including a creditable 2-2 draw at Bolton last weekend, but then went down 1-4 at home to Wigan Athletic in the league cup. Indeed, it could have been worse if the referee had not shown his sympathy by failing to award two clear penalties against the home side.

Forest have made nine signings over the summer, Henri Lansbury being introduced to the crowd on Tuesday after his £1m capture from Arsenal. The new Kuwaiti board has invested £5.5m so far in players. But a number of key players have departed such as Garath McCleary and Chris Gunter to Reading.

Manager Sean O'Driscoll thinks that Forest have assembled a stronger squad than last season and they will only get stronger with time. He has not ruled out further signings before the transfer window closes tomorrow: Forest

However, although they play a crisp passing game, they have defensive weaknesses. Mauro Boselli has been voted Wigan's worst ever foreign signing by the club's supporters, but he was granted the freedom of the six yard box to open the scoring against Forest.

The defence also let them down by conceding a soft second goal against Bolton. Sordell was allowed to run from the middle of the park and put in a long ball which glanced off the post which should have been dealt with by one of the centre backs.

Keeper Lee Camp is a study in hesitancy and allows himself to be bullied in the air. Halford is error prone and Maloney suffers from nervousness. Former Stoke man Danny Collins is by far the most solid defender. Harding is competent but uninspring. Guedioura was lucky not to get sent off against Bolton after a bad tackle and was dropped against Wigan, McGugan has a great shot, as does Cox who scored from 30 yards into the top corner against Wigan Blackstock isn't prolific but he works hard and can unnerve defenders.

Former Addick Andy Reid, now available in a new slimline version, is one of their best players. Against Bolton he evaded two defenders to score a fine goal and worked hard to support the forwards. Against Wigan he controlled a pass superbly before shooting inches wide.

Forest fans are too busy expressing their starstruck admiration for the Massives and their dislike of Derby to have much of a view about Charlton. Forest had a poor home record last season, winning only six games.

This match is not going to end in a 0-0 and 2-2 would seem a safe prediction. However, Forest may not find the Charlton defence easy to unlock for all their skill up front and it's just possible that the Addicks could grab all three points.

19 comments:

Red Reg said...

Your joking. Forest should have no problem against Charlton. 1....O will be ok but I will be surprised if Forest dont score more.
RED REG

Anonymous said...

Okay, this has to be a joke!! Getting beaten by Wigan is no disgrace whatsoever and if you look at the Huddersfield and bolton games we seriously should be on 7pts by now- saying Guediora was dropped is just a lie, it was squad rotation and come Saturday charlton will know just what an outstanding player he is and I seriously don't think this article reflects forest in a truthful light whatsoever!!

Anonymous said...

After all I guess it is a blog, so you can say anything you like. But the views are bilge none-the-less..

Anonymous said...

I'm going to print a copy of this blog to show to anyone who can't grasp the concept of wishful thinking.

Crazy88 said...

Think our defense is perhaps the weakest part of the team and this is no surprise considering the back four are all new to each other. Although I think this guy will be in for a massive shock from the quality of our forward play and if he thinks Charlton can win the game, they are gonna need to score at least 3 goals to do so

Anonymous said...

I'm a charlton fan. But fuck me your deluded. Forest have one of the strongest teams in the league, and theyve played very well in every single championship game this season.

We've struggled, and could have easily lost our opening three games. We will do very well to avoid relegation this season, and fans like you who seem to think were favorites for promotion need to take a long look in the mirror.

I'm all for optimism, but lets not go slagging off some of the best teams in the league. Show some respect. Your giving a bad name to all us fellow addicks.

Anonymous said...

this is shocking, Addicks fans should read this http://nffcblog.com/2012/08/30/forest-vs-charlton-athletic-preview/

Wyn Grant said...

I certainly don't think we're favourites for promotion, more mid-table. But that's where the pundits have Forest as well. If they score first, they are likely to win. I had it down as a home win before the start of the season.

Anonymous said...

Very poor analysis Wyn. Sorry.

Anonymous said...

Forest are a team that have yet to gel properly and im glad we are catching them now because it gives us a glimmer of hope of getting something from the game.

Jack said...

Wyn, Seemed to have upset a few people there, didn't think was a bad summary,

Anonymous said...

Oh dear............an embarrassment to all true Addicks fans!

Wyn Grant said...

Interesting that quite a few Addicks thought it was unfair. I thought it was just as balanced as the Leicester analysis, but then I came to the conclusion that it would be a win for them or a draw. I haven't got anything against Forest. I do think their defence isn't the strongest but they can certainly score cracking goals. If we lose 3-0 or 5-2 (a score I remember from a game years ago) I will stand corrected.

Anonymous said...

If we get three points at Forest, i'll believe we can make a push for promotion.

Anonymous said...

Well, should be a good game, both teams play good football, but I'm going for a Forest win, I'm not sure you can read too much about 4-1 drubbing, Forest are playing some really attractive football, when they click, and start scoring there should be no stopping them, quality footballers from what Iv'e seen so far

Anonymous said...

I don't think Charlton have anyone special aside from yann kermorgant, but he's special for the wrong reasons. Welcome to the championship charlton, back to earth with a bang in your next few games.

Anonymous said...

For all the tenuous criticisms you've made of Forest here, your boys were given a football lesson in the first half today. We absolutely slaughtered Charlton and you were chasing shadows. Good luck with that promotion push ;)

Anonymous said...

I read this article a while back and thought it was written by someone who has very little knowledge of Nottingham Forest, yet very high opinions.
The first half Forest were dominant, and should have put the game to bed before the break. The scoreline did not reflect how dominant we were. If Charlton are pushing for promotion, I will eat my hat.

Anonymous said...

Well what a footballing lesson that was! Slick, beautiful passing leaving the Charlton boys looking bemused and flustered. Love it.

Best of luck for the rest of the season though, always had a bit of a soft spot for Charlton. Onwards and upwards.

Chapman.