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Article reads really well. Fingers crossed.

I realise his career is basically dead and buried here, but it might've been nice to bring Targett on given the circumstances. If only to remind potential suitors he's still alive. Lloyd Kelly too, for that matter.

If he fixed that one he'd be in the running for a Nobel prize.

Had a quick look and Chelsea's website reckons 12 is their limit too... So either the boy is well ahead of schedule or some despot is helping out their PSR balance. The hair is the cherry on the cake, just in case you might've noticed Cole behind him

Pretty creepy bit of filming really

It's probably more on point to say his agility, rather than strictly pace. Everything ended up looking like an effort for him. He was playing with a not fully recovered broken back for a decent portion so it would be a bit weird if he was as nimble as he always was.

Yes. He finished the season better once he got shifted to centre back for the final games, which he said he was happy to be back in. He'd not really been there since the beginning of the season - after Brighton away, the received wisdom on here was he couldn't be allowed to play centre back again and it was LB or nothing...

This is roughly it. 22/23 he was a pretty respectable LB playing an important role for the team. A clear weak link, but holding his own in the team. 23/24 he became awful for LB and was getting run ragged. But in very difficult circumstances, that he clearly wasn't exactly happy about himself. Every opposition manager put a bullseye on his forehead. Arguably it was management's fault for putting him in that situation more than anything he did.

I'm not disputing that he was playing for it and 'helping the referee make his decision', but I see that constantly being assessed as something a Liverpool or Arsenal player is 'entitled' to do. If there was zero contact it would be different. Just don't see the need to make a hair shirt for ourselves over a phantom red card.

But there was impact into his hip on TV then? By modern standards - I don't like them - but by modern standards that's basically never a card then. I think I can remember seeing one card for diving since 2021... But I can remember seeing a lot more clearer dives than that.

Got a replay available? Thought I saw impact into his hip...

Are we talking about the pen shout where he got barged by their defender? Given the amount of dives I see rewarded and defended, including on here, regularly, I'm totally nonplussed by the idea he should've had a yellow.

Yeah, I think others raising their game explains as much as anything, technically, tactically etc. Can't just mash the work harder cheat button and overawe most teams.

Yeah I've had the same thought process re: not overusing routines. But it's fair to say we go from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Got to admit I'm not going to be getting ahead of myself any time soon re: optimism. And they were truly shite, it was like they weren't prepared for a game against us at all. But there was a lot to like nonetheless. On a side note, been meaning to say this for a while - we're not actually shit at set pieces are we? But we are wildly inconsistent. I don't understand why we'll pull off three or four brilliant routines in one game and then just aimlessly punt balls in for the next 3 games. It's like we have an on mode and off mode, but I'm not sure how responsible any individual coach is for that.

Maybe a price dependent on them staying up?

You just don't understand fairness

It was a bit of a shock to see pissed off Murphy. Better than shriveling up though, so well done to him.

He's the player who smashes the "Barnes gets goals and assists, therefore he must start" argument to pieces by taking it to absurd levels. I'm a firm Murphy fan overall. Good lad who has genuine talents etc. But one of his issues is he tends to go off the boil after a 5 or 6 game run as a starter. Think you get the most out of him as an impact backup.

I'd be interested to know if, how, and why his role has changed over time. Definitely feels like he's become a lot less prominent, and he seemed to be responsible for a lot of positivity.

Worst case scenario is this is a kind of perverse loyalty from Eddie to the pecking order. Dubravka needs to make some game losing mistakes for Vlachodimos to get his shot. Of course, he might just be turbo shit. It isn't just Forest fans who say he's completely awful.

There's a trend of thinking all our players are crap now because they're all not playing well. But the fact they're all not playing well at the same time tells me there's something else going on, and it's probably not a straightforward reflection of their abilities.

If something actually happens, that'll be groundbreaking.

Good question, although the latest chatter is about them offering a player/s as makeweight. Rather than us getting the full whack.

I'd like to have an account of why that's the case. Is it lack of desire? Change of personnel balance? Lack of leadership? Leadership banning them? Etc etc. Lots of talk about us missing them but not much in the way of action.