shurlock

Great fans - noddy league - mediocre team = meh club.

That's pretty cheap - I heard it cost one group 180 quid from Bedford.

Great result, though it was a professional rather than a champagne performance. We were very comfortable and patient but didn't create that much until the flurry of chances at the end. Above all, Forest were woeful - the hoofball and a has-been harewood played into our hands as its bread and butter for Jos and for all the talk about Cotterill's teams being physical, was amazed how much time and space our midfield was given and that more than anything laid the foundations for our victory. Connolly deserves special mention for all his runs alone, though he was a tad wasteful in possession in the 2nd half. It does seem that when DC is in the team, we can play with a narrower formation -and that suits our 3 CMs, especially when Cork is furthest advanced of the trio. Harding also did a very good job at RB, providing the kind of width we've expected from Frazer and was unlucky not to see more of the ball after working himself into good positions. Finally, Adam looked like he had hit some form -and was involved in most of our attacking play. But lets not get too carried away - Forest were devoid of ideas and rhythm well before the sending off, a shadow of the team we played at SMS. But I'm not going to lose too much sleep over the ins and outs of the performance given I was confidently expecting us to hit a brick wall at the start of the day.

Great result, though it was a professional rather than a champagne performance. We were very comfortable and patient but didn't create that much until the flurry of chances at the end. Above all, Forest were woeful - the hoofball and a has-been harewood played into our hands as its bread and butter for Jos and for all the talk about Cotterill's teams being physical, was amazed how much time and space our midfield was given and that more than anything laid the foundations for our victory. Connolly deserves special mention for all his runs alone, though he was a tad wasteful in possession in the 2nd half. It does seem that when DC is in the team, we can play with a narrower formation -and that suits our 3 CMs, especially when Cork is furthest advanced of the trio. Harding also did a very good job at RB, providing the kind of width we've expected from Frazer and was unlucky not to see more of the ball after working himself into good positions. Finally, Adam looked like he had hit some form -and was involved in most of our attacking play. But lets not get too carried away - Forest were devoid of ideas and rhythm well before the sending off, a shadow of the team we played at SMS. But I'm not going to lose too much sleep over the ins and outs of the performance given I was confidently expecting us to hit a brick wall at the start of the day.

And the OP reckons Hooper will hand in a transfer request on Monday as per post 522 on the Hooper thread? B*******

For the time being, reckon that's the long and the short of it.

Really hope MLT is right but lets be clear the Tadanari news was hardly ITK. It was splashed all over the Japanese media and interweb on the Friday night/Saturday morning - at the same time the story broke here.

Thing is they were looking for a striker before our supposed interest in Hooper, so would be careful about drawing any conclusions. And back to Hooper, just can't see it ever happening. Well not before he sees out the title challenge in jockland and we get promoted.

If the news on the injury front is correct, hard to think of a better team. But it looks like it might struggle. Can see the front line getting isolated from the midfield and being hurt down the flanks by their FBs (which they did to good effect at SMS). Even worse if Lallana starts coming inside and/or dropping deep to compensate. Also probably the slowest side we could put out which nullifies any threat on the counter.

Going to be a very long day with that team - and hard to think of anything better.

Does him a disservice to call him a goal poacher - watched quite a bit of him at Celtic. Reminds me of a beefed up, more direct Connolly.

£90m according to Deloitte who regularly do these calculations: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13588118

With that front two, I wouldn't be surprised to see the same lightweight display and lack of an out ball as the first half at Coventry.

Why? Don't say we should pay top whack for any player but consider: * We're top of the league, crying out for a striker and won't have a better opportunity to get to the Prem and all its riches * The lad is only 23/24 and has considerable resale value * He's shown he can cut the mustard in the NPC - third top scorer in 2009/10 for a team that was hardly setting the pace and he's got goals in Europe and, whatever you say about the SPL, has dealt with the pressure of playing for Celtic, attracting Capello's interest * Crazy though it sounds, perhaps his valuation is on the low side, reflecting the discount associated with playing in a noddy league. One good season in England and I wouldn't be surprised to see his value shoot up. Not saying £6m is peanuts and doesn't raise a few eyebrows but its not totally unhinged and represents better value than the kind of money that's been spunked out on many English-based players.

Spot on

It's a myth that we play predominantly on the deck. We mix it up alot and are often very direct especially when the midfield is getting closed quickly and/or not offering much movement. Both have been a common feature of our away performances.

Edit

With the exception of Lambert, nobody can hold up play in the same way that LJ potentially can. We tried with Guly at Donny and nothing stuck. Connolly isn't that kind of player and Barney's untested. Good hold up play is the key to getting the best out of our impact players -whether playmakers like Lallana and Guly or runners from deep like Chappers. And of course a big man can get on the end of crosses - and most of our goals this season have come down the flanks. Hopefully Lambert lasts the course. Even if he does, there's no reason why LJ couldn't also play alongside him.

Even if he isn't the best player on the market, always felt like he was the easiest to go and get -and our game relies so much on hold-up play -LJ's biggest asset (more than his goals) that i wouldn't have looked at this gift horse in the mouth.

The lad's about 6ft. But diminutive is to asian as athletic is to african...

Thumbs down to Lee will rock you from me: The thought of hyperactive seals doing STOMP in a faintly camp way fills me with dread. Rockin all over the world, on the other hand, isn't so bad. Nor is the House of the Rising Sun (a nod to Japan).

IMO best footy book knocking about even if its a decade old. Puts 'racism' and all the other things football and terrace culture get tarred with in proper context and the ending couldn't have been better scripted.

We only get that support for London games and places like Reading - usually because people have made a day out of it and have got sh*tfaced early in the day. Take the alcohol out of the equation and its surprising -if not embarrassing- how many just go quiet. Different story up north - we struggle at places like Burnley and Barnsley because we're given a whole end and the sound just drains away. Its easier at places like Leicester and Derby where you're packed closer to the home ends; also easier at places like Forest, Ipswich where the ground is tiered and makes the roof ideal for the acoustics. Fact is our core support is made up of the flasks and blankets brigade - question isn't why they don't make more noise as they put miles in; but why you don't see the faces you see in London travelling further afield.

Not relevant but all those references to sushi:

That's actually pretty good (even if mentally I cant dissociate that song from the Taffs).