I was speaking on a Nottingham Forest podcast on Friday evening and when asked for my prediction I said that we would need seven or eight of our players to play at the top of their game to get a positive result.
I feared if we dipped below that, then we could be on for a hammering. As it proved, too many were out of sorts, off their game and had it not been for Dan Bentley, we would easily have been on the end of a heavy defeat. Probably only Bentley, Alex Scott and Robbie Cundy come away from the City Ground with any real credit.
The defeat at home to Coventry City in midweek was hard to take as we had actually played well in the second-half and certainly deserved something from the game. No one likes to lose but when you put in a decent shift and the football is good on the eye, it makes the pill a little easier to swallow.
I knew the trip to Forest would be tough but on the back of that midweek performance, I felt the players would want to right those wrongs and that we could get something, if as I said, we put in a similarly committed display. Roared on by tremendous away support in spring sunshine everyone was in good spirits pre-kick off.
There were no real surprises in the starting line-up: Joe Williams and Cam Pring came in with Sam Bell and Ayman Benarous dropping out. Matty James returned to the squad and made the bench.
I’ve watched Forest a few times this season on TV and on-loan Middlesbrough right-back Djed Spence has been in unbelievable form.
Only this week, Liverpool have been reported as potential suitors for the 21-year-old and yet we didn’t seem to have a plan with how to deal with him. Now, of course, it’s easier said than done but surely Cameron Pring should have been afforded more cover in dealing with a player full of pace, power, and confidence.
As early as the fourth minute, Spence forced a brilliant save from Bentley with a curling effort from the edge-of-the-box. Minutes later, Bents was again forced to repel Steve Cook’s overhead kick. The Robins No1 must like the City Ground as he performed heroics there last season.
Pring picked up an early booking and from that point on was walking a bit of a tightrope, all the more reason you would expect him to get better support from his teammates.
Forest were a constant threat with Keinan Davis holding the ball up and Brennan Johnson running off him. Philip Zinckernagel, James Garner and Jack Colback were in total control of the midfield aside from one or two moments from Scott, Joe Williams and Han-Noah Massengo were completely out of sorts and the front three of Andi Weimann, Chris Martin and Antoine Semenyo got no change out of a Forest backline superbly marshalled by Cook.
Forest deservedly took the lead through Johnson on 38 minutes. Another player being linked with Premier League sides, Johnson was afforded too much room and his deflected shot beat Bentley at his near post. It was so nearly a quick-fire double, often our Achilles heel this season, but Bentley again did well to push wide a Davis header and keep the score down to 1-0 at the break.
This was as abject a first-half performance seen from City this season. Nigel Pearson rightly made a change at the break bringing off Pring for Robbie Cundy. Pring had been given a torrid time and was on a booking but he was by no means the only player who had underperformed and as I said, he was somewhat left out to dry by his teammates.
Cundy at least added a bit of aggression and fight, but Forest were still on top and 10 minutes in to the second half doubled their lead.
Centre-back Scott McKenna was allowed to bring the ball forward far too easily, Max Lowe’s cross went unchallenged and on-loan Manchester United midfielder James Garner calmly side-footed his shot from the edge-of-the-box into the corner of Bentley’s net.
Bentley was apoplectic with the players in front of him; How McKenna was allowed to run as far as he did? How Lowe’s cross wasn’t intercepted? And who on earth was picking up Garner, allowing him all the time and space to find his shot? He was incredulous.
James replaced the ineffective Massengo but we were well beaten, and Forest should have gone on to increase their lead still further after some terrible defending from Tomas Kalas but Zinckernagel was thwarted by Bentley.
After the game, Pearson quite rightly admitted that we were second best throughout. “It was a tough afternoon because, of late, we have been pretty effective in terms of an attacking force, but we couldn’t manage the ball well enough.
"There was never any real impetus to our play and we never got ourselves going. I don’t say too many times that collectively we have been underwhelming for the majority of the game. Today we were second best throughout.”
I felt we were mentally and physically weak. There was no aggression to our play. We couldn’t string two passes together, this was as bad as what was witnessed at West Brom, Sheffield United and Blackpool.
The loss meant that we have now taken just two points from a possible 33 away from home and we are without an away clean sheet in 22 games, stretching back to a 0-0 draw with Blackburn Rovers last season on March 17.
One point of interest is that Nige has reportedly said that he dislikes the loan market but when you look at the likes of Spence, Garner and Davis in the Forest side, you do wonder if that thinking is a little naïve.
Of course, I have no idea what these players wages are costing but it does show that there is quality in the loan market, albeit all too late for this season but I don’t think we should close his route down in the summer.
Our 3 Peaps In A Podcast ratings were: Daniel Bentley 8 *MotM, Jay Dasilva 5, Cameron Pring 4, Tomas Kalas 4, Timm Klose 5, Robbie Cundy 6, Joe Williams 4, Alex Scott 6, Han Noah Massengo 4, Andi Weimann 5, Antoine Semenyo 5, Chris Martin 5. A team average of 5.08 for the game, only this due to Bentley’s heroics.
As for Nige it’s 4. Djed Spence was an obvious threat from the start and yet tactically we didn’t change shape to accommodate it. We weren’t strong enough or motivated and put in a totally abject performance. The current team average for the season is 5.87 with an expected performance rating of 6.
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