BFC 1-3 Nottingham Forest, Wednesday 29th September 2021

‘I wish we were still in lockdown.’

I’ll start with the positives. My season card worked for the first time this season, we scored a goal and I was home before midnight. Oh, and Gangway 12 has a hot new steward(ess). Right, enough of that.

This season gets better and better. Tonite it’s the turn of bottom of the table* Nottingham Forest to tear us apart (again). Even with a headstart, we can’t beat a team who’ve been beaten all season. I couldn’t care less they have a new manager (who seems a bit of a media darling; various outlets appear oblivious to Steve Cooper’s inability to get his Swansea team to promotion, despite parachute payments, or that he walked out on them the minute the money stopped rolling in). Still, I’m sure he’ll make every success of the managerial graveyard that is the City Ground.

* if it wasn’t for Derby’s pts deduction

Start as you mean to go on. Benson, named in the starting line-up, mysteriously disappears before kick-off. The evidence still exists here https://www.barnsleyfc.co.uk/news/2021/september/team-news-vs-forest/ Are our players even incapable of warming up properly? Still, it gave Jordan Williams a runout. I’m of the opinion that if a player of his quality can’t get a game, we MUST be a decent team. Mustn’t we?

The only chance early doors was when Collins came out of goal and miscued a clearance straight to a Forest player, wide left. Stoke City 2 years ago, all over again – ‘cept the Forest player meekly kicked wide. Open goal, 40 yards out. Useless. Then, out of the blue, we scored. We’d created nowt and yet we were ahead, Cauley Woodrow’s sleight of foot beating the defender, before he was clipped. (‘Cauley Woodrow’ and ‘sleight of foot’….a name and phrase ne’er before written.) Time stood still. Cauley had time to hit the floor, turn around while sat, and give it the usual spreading of the arms towards the ref. The ref looked at Cauley…looked at the linesman….read the Encyclopaedia Britannica….then pointed to the spot. No problem. If there is one thing Cauley can do, it’s take a penalty. Someone in the Ponty let off his smoke bomb which he’d been saving since August.

There’d been the odd warning sign first half, but Forest’s pace on the break destroyed us, second half. Before they’d even scored, Collins saved a one-on-one and Kitching saved two certain goals with last ditch covering tackles. So it came as some disappointment to find Forest 10 yards clear with one pass. SURELY offside? Looked a mile off…but TV replays show the linesman was spot on. A few minutes later a virtually identikit goal, as a static defence were split by quick passing and pace. Any comparison to what we have in ‘attack’ doesn’t bear study. Forest rounded it off as one player skinned both Moon and Brittain before crossing it low for Grabban to tap in at the back post. Only the masochists stayed, as the away end waved the home fans bye bye. Depressing.

Onwards and upwards!

*** . Kitching. I know. We concede 3 and I’m giving it to a centre half. But for Kitching, it woulda been worse.
** Collins. Made a few saves, unlike his opposite number. Is 1-3 to Forest ‘keeping it respectable’???
* Woodrow. By half-time he’d got a penalty, scored it, and helped constantly in defence. If Bogart and Bergman will always have Paris, Cauley will always have that first half at home to a side 2nd off bottom.

Londontykes’ MOTM: 1. Collins 2. Kitching 3. Woodrow

Official MOTM: None. Too embarrassed, obvs.

Despatches:
If Oliver Twist had been there last night, he’d have been asking for less, not more. Dreadful. Half the fans left after the 3rd goal. They missed nowt. Oh, we had an 18 yard header well saved (Iseka?) but what keeper gets beaten by 18 yard headers? My cat, obese as he is, has also caught as many mice this month as the Reds have scored goals. And there’s only one of him. (Mind, he’s capable of creating his own opportunities, unlike anyone in our team.)

Given memories of Steve Cooper’s Swansea City in the play offs last season, I’ll give you my own personal highlight. A Forest player went down injured and Cauley put the ball in the net. Physio comes on, the Forest keeper ignores the ball, goes off chatting to the injured player / ref / coach / anyone…and with the injured player up and ready after a couple of minutes, he slow walks back to the goal to fish the ball out and place it for a free kick. Is this level of ‘professionalism’ taught? Or does it come naturally? Either way, I guess nobody of a Reds’ persuasion was vaguely bothered, as we weren’t going to get another goal.

Oh, and we now have those bloody irritating rolling digital ad screens behind each goal. 2 other Londontykes profess to being ‘impressed’ and they’re ‘mint’. I am embarrassed for the pair of them. In the meantime, the official scoreboard lacks any working lightbulbs, meaning I have no idea how much more of this s*** I have to watch in the 2nd half.

As for the elephant in the room that is our manager….it’s a good job Reds fans are such an apathetic bunch. They’ll moan, they’ll leave early, they’ll compare Schopp to Jose Morais on social media, but do we consider it rude to call for the manager’s head out loud? If (when?) we lose Satdy, Schopp’s gone. With the international break, a defeat would surely make his position untenable. 10 matches, 8 points, 7 goals scored. Without looking, I think our forward line have scored 2 (1 pen), 1 and zero between them. In TEN matches. It’s simply not working and we can’t wait until division 3 (although I did enjoy it last time). Gotta leave on a positive!

Drink du jour: FA. Straight to ground.

Away: 2,158 (Att: 13,657) ‘We’re Nottingham Forest, we’re taking the p***.’ Quite.

The Damage:
£3 programme
c.£15 petrol
= c.£18

The Tunes:
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not - Arctic Monkeys
BBC 5live
BBC 6Music

Nottingham Forest 1-0 BFC, Saturday 21st September 2019

‘We’re off t’Hooters for t’chicken wings’

Public Enemy #1.  Do not, under any circumstance, try to reason with this guy.

It was like the bad old days on Satdy.  No, not the chants making reference to the Miners’ Strike (there were plenty of those), but the utterly appalling attitude of matchday stewards.  I’ve not seen an attitude like it for years.  Lord S refused entry, another fan removed for a hand gesture and other stewards refusing to actually steward.  The City Ground, Nottingham, really is a place to avoid.

The calm before the storm.

Obviously our headline is Lord S not even being allowed in – for ‘having a poor attitude’.  Christ, I’d never get in anywhere with that proviso.  His crime?  He’d bent down to pat a sniffer dog…thereby causing the dog to act in a way that made the stewards think he could be carrying pyros.  ‘Could you stand over there while you have a police search?’  So he does, and a steward pounces on him, grabbing at his top pocket.  Lord S steps back, and asks for ID.  ‘Right, you’re not coming in.’  ‘Eh?’  ‘You’re refusing to be searched.’  ‘No I’m not.  I was told by the steward over there that I would be searched by the police.’  Anyway, aside from not refusing to be searched, if you’re looking for pyros, you hardly dive into the smallest pocket on someone’s jacket.

R.I.P. the best manager England never had.

So, the conversation carries on like this for a minute or two….Lord S asking for the head steward to try and sort this out…when another steward / thug basically manhandles him, pushing him 6 yards so he’s now outside the temporary railings set up outside the away end.  Lord S does the sensible thing, not fighting back (fearing that is exactly what this steward wants, so the police can get involved).  We find the head steward (who’s manner was impeccable, I might add).  Apparently, all of this has been filmed.  He goes and speaks to the cameraman and comes back.  ‘Yes, he refused to be searched.’ 

You've only come to see the Barnsley...

Well, I’d tried to hold my counsel, mainly wanting to be there to act as a witness to events, but this beggars belief.  I (politely) suggest to the head steward that he simply views the footage for himself.  ‘Oh, I can’t do that.  Too busy.  There’s things going on inside the ground too.’  I’m perplexed.  He has the time to speak to us, but not to actually do anything.  Seems his main job is to back up what his minions tell him (a good boss, some might say).  So Lord S suggests I get myself in the stadium, while he goes and speaks to a copper…who tells him they’ve no control over events and are only there in case something gets out of control (ie, there’s trouble).  Hopeless.

Those were the days.

Inside the stadium, being late, I stood at the back of a gangway.  A father with kids moved down the steps to try and get a decent view (everyone standing, they couldn’t see).  They never came back, so hopefully they found some.  Nice Guy Chris said there were similar problems where he was, as he asked stewards to tell fans to sit down, as children couldn’t see, but they simply stood there.  (To be fair, the stewards in my section would intermittently come up our gangway, telling us to clear it.)

The Brian Clough Stand.

Late in the match, 3 stewards steamed up said gangway and grabbed the guy behind me.  What had he done?  I’d not heard him shout anything abusive.  I asked a steward what he’d done.  ‘I’ll come back to you.  Just gotta get this guy out first.’  He never came back.  I saw the main steward protagonist outside the ground later, the one who’d shoved fans aside to get at his man.  ‘Excuse me, could I ask, what had that fan done?’.  His attitude was instantly provocative, the smug stance, the folded arms, the disparaging way he spoke.  Apparently the fan had ‘given a wanker sign to someone who’s disabled.’  ‘I s’pose you think that’s acceptable do you?’  Well, aside from whether it’s acceptable, I’m not sure the recipient being disabled makes a difference.  My own view is that this happens all the time at football.  Surely a ‘quiet word’ and a threat of eviction for a second offence would temper tempers?  (Equally, does this mean the disabled fans of Nottingham Forest – in a box behind the away end – have the power to have fans evicted on a say-so?)

Looking towards the Trent End.

In the midst of all this was a match.  It was ‘Brian Clough Day’, commemorating the anniversary of the great man’s death, and as such it was an excuse for fans to drag themselves out: it was a sellout.  Well, it might have been sold out, but I know at least 2 folk weren’t there; The Captain had also not taken up his ticket, losing the will these days.  I can understand that.  Mind, Cloughie would be turning in his grave watching this Forest team.  Reds fans showed their dues by chanting ‘There’s only one Brian Clough’ a couple of times (even after they scored).

The old Main Stand.

For a third consecutive game, I’ve seen us be the better side – and be unable to score, let alone win.  An even first half saw both sides miss a golden chance; Forest, early on (well, earlyish, given I’d missed the start) were clean through and the shot was dragged wide.  Was it Grabban?  I’d bet my house on him scoring.  Meantime, at the other end, a superb run by Thomas from left to right took out 2 Forest players before he shot too close to the keeper with the far side of the goal open.  An even half ended all-square.

Reds fans take a break from mentioning the Miners' Strike.

The second half was all us.  So obvs we lost.  2 minutes after we should have scored, Forest broke down the right and the pullback was finished decisively into the near corner with Collins wrongfooted.  Accurate passing and good movement, whatever we might say about the goalscorer losing his marker with ease.  Just before, Penniless had found himself clean through, having ran at their defence and played a one-two.  Shame the extra touch gave the keeper time and from an acute angle the keeper saved.  How sweet would it have been for the former Forest left back to open the scoring?

The thin yellow line.

The atmosphere ramped up – from our end.  Now it was non-stop chants revolving around that old ‘scabs’ chestnut.  I love it.  ‘SCABS UNTIL YOU DIE!’ et cetera.  We can be really charming when we want to be.  Unfortunately, for all our pressure, we never looked like scoring.  Unless we can get the ball to Woodrow, I dunno how it’s going be done.  Tho why a Reds fan should start berating Stendel for dragging Woodrow off with 20 mins, I don’t know.  I never enjoy Reds fans turning on each other, but this guy got a rightful mouthful from a fan behind me.  Hasn’t Cauley just come back from (yet another) injury?

*** Thomas.  There’s 2 camps on this one.  Either he had plenty of the ball and created FA, or he was the only one likely to do owt.  I’m in the latter group.  Good running at the opposition and had more shots on target than their entire team.  Be nice if his crosses beat the first man, but small steps, eh?

** No-one.  Not being harsh, but we were kicking towards the other end 1^st half, and had the sun in our eyes 2^nd.  I just couldn’t see anyone else stand out.

* No-one.  As above.

Londontykes' MOTM: 1. Thomas  2. No-one  3. Sibbick

3 matches I’ve seen.  Played well, no goals, one point.  We’re going down.

Onwards and…downwards!

I wish my Lyons Cakes shirt (c.1989) still fitted!

Despatches:
An optimist (or Daniel Stendel) can make a case for us still being able to have a successful season.  Playing well, it just needs SOMETHING to click at the business end of the pitch.  So I stuck a tenner on with Nice Guy Chris that we’ll go down (he’s given up on one of his other bets of Thiam scoring 7 this season – arf).  I’d love to see us stay up, but if we can’t create or finish when we’re playing well, what hope is there?  Having sold Kiefer, we appear to have no options. 

Drink du jour: Brewdog all the way.  Punk IPA in the pub, Dead Pony on the way back.

Away: 2000 (minus 2). 

The Damage:
£23 train
£20 ent
= £43
Didn’t see any programmes on sale.  This is becoming a regular occurrence away.  No wonder teams are considering ditching them – you can’t buy what you don’t come across.

The Tunes:
Gotan Project Live (Gotan Project)
The Libertines  (The Libertines)
Ill Communication (Beastie Boys)

City Ground panorama.

I'll give it to Forest, they have a classy badge.

Nottingham Forest 0-1 BFC, Monday 2nd January 2016

‘Shooooot!’……’Not from there!’……’GET IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’ 

Welcome to ..... the away end!

Crikey, it’s good this winning every week.  Despite having played 2 days earlier, compared with Forest’s 3, we triumph once again.  And that despite (because?) having Roberts and Morsy suspended and Marley and Winnall ‘rested’.  (How can Marley be rested, he’s only just come back from suspension, ironically after that fracas v Forest at home).  Mind, they were without arch wind-up merchant Lansbury, a transfer target for every Championship team with money, it seems.

A stall on the riverside

Of course, we had an axe to grind.  And coming only a month after the 2-5 home debacle, I really fancied us to turn them over.  There’s no way a team as poor as Forest could do the double over us…could they?  And I guaranteed my 2 guests there’d be goals.  I must have sounded confident; my mate didn’t take up my bet there’d be at least 3 goals in this one.  Phew.  I also guaranteed them lots of brouhaha over some socio-economic kerfuffle or other some 31 years ago.  They certainly got that, as every other chant involved the word ‘scabs’.  I love it.

Outside the Trent End

We controlled the 1^st half.  But Forest weren’t as dumb as Cardiff and never came forward enough for us to hit them on the break.  Also, we kept giving the ball to Kent…who kept giving it to Forest.  No surprise then that he didn’t return 2^nd half (Marley on) cos all I heard at half time were Reds fans moaning about him.  Scowen missed the big chance of the half, somehow blazing high and wide from 2 yards out on the back post.

The teams come out.  Come on you Reds Blacks!

2^nd half, Hammill took over Kent’s role, losing the ball constantly.  About the only thing he managed was to time waste late on off corners.  You can imagine how wound up the defenders were getting as Hammill dummied his way to (their) infuriation.  Otherwise, neither side looked like scoring.  Winnall had a one-on-one saved (but was flagged offside anyway) while they had a header off the bar.  Then Lord Bendtner came off the bench for Forest to cut inside and fire home.  Cue celebrations in the Forest end…which were soon joined in by us as we realised it had been chalked off for offside. Given he beat a defender, we could but presume he’d come back from an offside position.  It was at the far end – so I’m sure the linesman was right!

The view behind the goal

I do take issue with one ‘official’ stat.  If Forest never had a shot on target, how comes me and my mate can remember Davies tipping a long shot round the post.  I remember saying ‘nice height for the keeper’ (one for the cameras).  Maybe those who study these things thought it was going wide?  Didn’t look it.

Then, with 2 mins left, up pops the Championship’s best player (allegedly).  Certainly most ‘assists’ this season (FYI: Marley is joint 3^rd!).  The ball drops kindly, and while I’m telling him not to shoot from so far out, Conor cracks a 30 yarder on the half volley over the keeper and into the net.  An absolute screamer.  The away fans go ballistic and Forest applaud a great goal.  (I made the last bit up.)  With 2 mins left, we are home and dry, particular once we’ve got a corner and they’ve no idea how to get the ball off Hammill.

The (not so) Tricky Trees

*** Yiadom.  Quality defending, as well as the ability to go forward, all on his ‘wrong’ side.  Who else but BFC and Yiadom would have the left back rampaging past 2 defenders to win a corner in the 92^nd minute?  He is as fit as a butcher’s dog.

** Ryan Williams.  I’d love to say how he put in a cracking 90 minutes, the 1^st time in….well, possibly ever for us.  But despite having a massive say in midfield, he was dragged off with 10 left for Armstrong.

* Hourihane.  You can’t argue with a goal like that.

Londontykes' top 3:
1. Yiadom   2= Williams/Hourihane

Looking towards the Trent End.

Despatches:
I firmly expected the Forest crowd to insist on the home side attacking, thereby giving us chance after chance on the break, but it never quite turned out.  They looked like what they are; a side devoid of confidence doing their best not to lose.  Davies had little to do, possibly cos Bree had another stormer on the right.  Jackson came in for Roberts and marked a lot tighter than previous; he really was up the forward’s ar5e.  (Forgot to say, Assombalonga missed a sitter of a header from a corner 1^st half).  Scowen and Bradshaw were pretty anonymous.  Perhaps the latter prefers a front 2?  SSW came on for him with half an hour left and did what he does when he doesn’t score.  And Armstrong had 10 mins of which I can’t remember anything about him.

Will Winnall get 20?  Chris in Beckenham has offered me double or quits on Winnall.  Hecky has heard I can’t afford to lose any more money and put SSW on the bench today.  I wish he’d done this in November (before the goal rush!)

Onwards and upwards! 

The sun sets over Forest's chances.

Drink du jour: Hicksy was on watering hole duty and took us to Aunt Bessy’s breakfast club or summink.  Basically, an American eaterie with a few different beers on tap.  Not our usual, but everyone was pleased with the tucker, despite being surrounded by families.  Then onto that pub with the canal in it.  With work tomorrow, there was no room for spirits.  Lager lager lager (Bitburger, Stella and whatever I drank over the canal)

Away: c2000.  For a club with monetary issues, I’ll give them some advice: give the away club a bigger allocation, cos you’re not going to sell out the other 28,000 seats.

The Damage:26 train
20 ent
3 prog
=£49

City Ground panorama

Barnsley 1-0 Nottingham Forest, Saturday 8th March 2014

‘The Spider’

What was it about Satdy?  They were all there.  Tickle had flown in from Oz, hoping to see what all the fuss was about.  Alison and Rhys had motorbiked it.  Lynne was there (company jet?).  Even Moll, from Darfield.  All had come to see The Super Reds slain by the Tricky Trees.  What hope of us winning?  Bob and none.

The teams line up.

The early signs were ominous.  Jacob Mellis retained his place and we were adventuring with one up front, Nick the German paying the price for ‘strengthening the midfield’ (I could strengthen the midfield…dropping you-know-who!).  Anywhere, off we went, 4-5-1 and how long would we hold out?

Well, the short answer was 90 minutes.  Aside from a slightly hairy last 10 mins, Forest never threatened.  Steele made one decent save the whole game, tipping round the post an injury time free kick destined for the top corner.  Other than that, bodies were put on the line and Forest couldn’t take advantage, no matter how many times they got round our full backs.  (Often).   
So it was left to us to steal victory with a cracking effort from Jennings, cutting in from the left as only Dire used to, before burying it into the bottom corner.  Anyone watching the highlights (we were the main game!) on The Football League Show could testify that was about it, as most of the 'highlights' involved kicking the ball out of play.  Mind, I could watch Forest punting the ball over the bar from 25-30 yards for 90 minutes.  Oh…hang on.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team take as many goal kicks as us.  And this wasn’t a sign of incessant pressure – Forest’s entire midfield consisted of clones of Anderson Da Silva.

The last 10 was heart in mouth time, for sure…but again, not due to Forest.  Some of our players were out for the count, so every clearance went about 20 yards before Forest regained possession.  You could almost describe the atmosphere as bouncing as we held on against supposed promotion favourites.  And was this the first time Darius Henderson has FAILED to score against us?  Good.

Scabs Scabs Scabs!!! (sorry)

*** Jennings.  Effort, ran at players, tracked back, match winner.  Sponsors' MOTM.
** O’Grady.  Held up everything while waiting for the midfield cavalry.  (Still waiting.)
* Crainie.  Given the lack of chances, and the intermittent awfulness of the fullbacks, and lack of action for Steele…both centre halves did blinding.

Despatches:

Hunt.  The new Wiseman.  Their winger waltzed past him at least 3 times that I remember, and you know that thing Wiseman used to do…where he kicks the ball past a player, runs after it…but overruns the ball so he a) loses it and b) is out of position?  Hunt has it down to a tee as well.

Mellis.  I had to move seats this week, to babysit.  I quite liked where I sat actually (winning helped) cos every few minutes throughout the second half, this kid, a few rows behind me, would shout ‘Get Mellis off.  He’s rubbish!’.  Good lad.  Everyone on the train agreed he was the one turd in the ointment.  Apparently he was the link between midfield and attack.  I thought he wasn’t as bad as usual…(Do I just have lower expectations?)

It was partytime on the journey back – we were joined by Millwall, who’d won at Derby.  Some of their lads we’d met on the way up too.  I’d settle for us both staying up, but we all agreed that wasn’t going to happen!

Drink du jour:  A hungover me had a couple of small ones (Vodka and orange), leaving the drinking to the pros.  Wine for Norris, bitter for Phil.

Shame results went against us, but if we keep winning, we’ll be 'reight' – starting with table topping Leicester tomorrow nite.  The same Leicester who’ve had the weekend off.  Great.

Onwards and upwards!

A

Away: 2714