Viana

I need to see more of Lavia. He’s good at spinning out of pressure and would seem the ideal six for us, but need to see his distribution. Not convinced Alcaraz offers what we don’t already have.

That second half man. It was like we just held them down and kept punching. At least they mustered something in the first period. Credit to our lot, another show of character to come out and rectify things. Hope we’ve got that stinker out the system.

The optics of today are bad for him. He missed a one on one, at times looked easy to shut down, and we went in a goal down with him on the field. This is probably the first transfer where I’m thinking “trust Howe and Ashworth”. I’m certainly seeing glimmers of a player; he’s set up chances, made good runs, connected passes well, but glimmers is the bare minimum I’d expect. All that said, I think he’s in the same boat as Elliot Anderson and even Miggy when he joined. Both are trying hard to make an impact but they’re forcing it a bit. I think when that first goal comes - and it will - we will start to see a more relaxed and accurate representation of where they’re at. It’s not that he’s destined to succeed (the club will continue to sign duffers even with new owners) but at least we’ll have a better idea of judging once that burden is lifted.

Still figuring him out a bit. Quick, but not tricky, combines well, plays on the left but a much better finisher with his right. A few times that half his decision to go outside seemed naive give the space was inside.

Finishing has been shite, nothing else.

It's mad too because Forest have nothing to offer in central midfield. Their forward players should be the perfect compliment to his few skills, and yet, he can't be humble enough.

I still find it very telling he performs well for England but has these breakdowns at club level. He gets way too invested in things when in reality your goalkeeper needs to be level headed. That save from Willock shows he has good reflexes, but as long as he's trying to kick every ball against us he'll struggle.

Frankie Francis from the documentary. I think he was stadium PA previously. As commentators go he’s really poor. Heard better on Northern League highlights.

This actually a very good point re: Gordon. He's left a team mired in relegation trouble and joined one fit and firing. We saw the inverse of this last season when Bruno arrived from a better team and joined one that had struggled. I still Gordon gets a goal or assist before the season is out, but what we're also seeing is a change in club mentality. Under Ashley, you never knew when and to what extent investment would be made in the squad (bar when we were firmly in the shit, the cretin) and so that built an expectation that a new face had to hit the ground running. Now we're workin with a more long-term strategy in mind, especially when it comes to players 24 and under.

While not a statistical category; Richarlison is also an absolute whopper of a person. Give me ice cold Isak any day.

I had a very similar curiosity about where he fits for us. I think he’d excel during games we’ve struggled in this year at home (Leeds, Bournemouth, Palace) while potentially creating more space for Bruno - and supplying chances to those you mentioned. My only concern would be that diligence off the ball when we play elite teams. We’re not able to carry passengers.

Yeah. Thing is, they have some handy technical players (Roberts, Clark, Michut, Pritchard) so it’ll be interesting to see how they transition. Three of that four have tried and failed at that level, but it could be easily different this time around. I think they probably make the playoffs but fall short. No shame in that. They’ve not spent much money and they’ve been without a star striker for months. If anything another year at that level lets them get a bit more settled and build out the squad.

Could see this being a comfy 2-0. I was very worried about the Everton game due to the atmosphere. For that same reason I’m confident here. We have a certain intensity at SJP right now, and I think we saw that in the League Cup against them. The key will be not giving up a sloppy goal in the first half.

He's a good pro. He won't cause any problems and he won't ever down tools on the pitch. If we're discussing his technical ability - he's dire. Both can be true. He's only ever been a runner.

I realized last night I've come to take him for granted. His quality as a player and ability to coach us through the game felt like a revolution last season. Now it's a given every time he takes to the pitch. The first signing of this new era was always going to be heavily dissected and seen as a marker for what these owners knew. Whether luck or judgement, they made a strong first impression.

I just think they're too easily influenced tbh. Marriner has gone into last night trying to keep the game flowing and instead what he's ended up doing is giving them a load of small decisions. That said, the Joelinton foul and the penalty are two I still can't quite understand as the latter felt clear and obvious.

I can’t fathom the Longstaff tackle. Tarkowksi didn’t get anywhere near the ball.

Wow. What a performance. That to me felt like a Man City brushing aside dross. Tonight was a test. It was about eradicating the mistakes of last season, and we did that. We were clinical, professional, and diligent.

They have but when I look at O’Nien some of his tackles/mistakes will be judged differently in the Premier League.

I find him a bit powder puff. He has nice moments, but he reminds me too much of Ayoze Perez. He only influenced the game in very specific ways and circumstances.

I’ve noticed a strong improvement post takeover in overall media output (it’s still some way behind elite clubs, but that’s largely an issue of resource). That said, the social manager has been solid for a good few years. I sense there’s probably shackles come off since the old owners left (irony lolz).

Prior to January I’d have said he was nailed on to go back to Forest in the summer. I don’t imagine they’ll want to do business with us again, but either way he needs to be playing. For this system Howe plays you either need to be agile or technical, he’s neither.

It’ll be fascinating to see what their owner does if they go up. The Championship is an easy division to exist in. The jump to the Premier League is massive, and some of their League One clingers on will get massacred.

Mucho.

No amigo.