Cajun Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 Just got in from the game lads - I'm from Nottingham so not a short trip at all. Sitting with the Forest fans though Great game in the end, slow start but good seeing the lads never give up - so glad it didn't go to penalties! All in all pretty much the perfect game - lots of squad players getting run outs, debut for Mehdi Abeid (who looked very good - neat and tidy), entertaining game and a win. Oh, and did I mention the SAFE return of Ben Arfa!!! Forest didn't actually play too bad - at 90 mins full time I would say they had shaded it slightly, in terms of chances. But wle were clinical up to that point. Extra time (particularly second half) was ours - lots of back and forth - end to end. Coloccini is a legend. Nuff said. Ben Arfa despite it being first game back looked a class apart, always making himself available for the ball and full of running and intricate passing. He will honestly make the hugest difference linking midfield and attack - it was obvious seeing what he will bring. Marveaux needs to start games now - he is so composed and does not waste the ball at all. There were still a lot of hoofing the ball up to Lovenkrands, particularly first half. But the likes of Marveaux, Abeid, Ben Arfa, Guthrie, and later Ameobi, Obertan and Ferguson all used the short passing game to good effect. We are starting to look pretty good in parts, I must say. Ratings Elliot - 4 Have read that he has been criticised a bit - and imo its justified. Harper wouldn't have been as slow. I am a goalkeeper myself and defo think he was hesitant, slow and just very average. Did not inspire confidence for me. Simpson - 7 Not his biggest fan but he actually played well. Some good runs forward. Was definitely a cross! Coloccini - 8 What more can you say that hasn't been said? Pure class, effortless - both defensively and bringing the ball out. Inspired leader, and scored at the perfect time. When behind you could visibly see Colo taking control and taking the ball forward. Perch - 7 Controversial but he didn't actually do too bad. Thought he had one of his better games in fact (maybe its because my expectations are zero!). Did most things decently to be honest - although struggled on one of the goals. Still obviously not good enough but wasn't horrendous to be fair. Ferguson - 6.5 Looks like a boy - Forest fans were giving him a bit of abuse behind me! Left a few gaps at the back in extra time, and didn't go on too many of his marauding runs he is capable of, but solid first game back. Good option on the left, won't let anyone down. Gosling - 6 Quiet I thought - right to be substituted. Will get better I am sure. Guthrie - 7 Ticked things over well - good passing range on show. Had a good run forward in extra time - didn't think he had the stamina for it to be honest! Abeid - 7 very promising debut - some wayward passes but all in all a tidy game - kept it simple and did what he was supposed to. Good, mobile back up to Tiote. Marveaux - 8.5 Quality player. Involved in a lot, excellent link up play, good crosser, controlling the ball, not wasteful, productive. A good find indeed. He will get better with time - I look forward to seeing him in the same midfield as Cabaye and Ben Arfa! Ben Arfa - 7.5 Very solid first game back. Involved very heavily for the time he was on - wanted the ball and went on some good runs. Probably needs to work on his strength a little as wsn't able to hold off some of the people tracking him as he usually does. But this will come in time - good incisive passer and makes things happen. Lovenkrands - 8 Did well - good leap for the header. Chased tirelessly, ball was being hoofed to him but he tried to knock it on. Penalty I was worried about but did the job. Subs - Obertan - 7.5 Much better as a sub in my opinion, running at tired legs. He beat his man a few more times than usual today, but most of his crossing was still low and hard, and got cleared easy. Played well overall though, good link up with Sammy, and peach of a cross for the winner. Shola - 5 Same - always offside. Had one decent chance at the end but over the bar. Quiet and anonymous otherwise. Sammy - 8 Very direct and full of running, another who makes things happen. He is deceptively quick, excellent feet and did well. Pardew got his subs spot on - except Shola of course... Overall a good game, glad I went down!! Seeing Ben Arfa happy, smiling and so close (the crowd at Forest is very close to the pitch) so at one point he was literally only a few metres from me!! Well done the lads - I look forward to coming up and seeing another game at St James' soon!! Thanks for that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Slarth Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 MsiDouglas Mark Douglas 'Just glad Tiote didn't play. We'd have been picking bodies up off the floor,' he said of his ex-Twente player. #nugc 1 hour ago Favorite Retweet Reply MsiDouglas Mark Douglas McClaren just picked out HBA & young Sammy Ameobi for particular praise. 'Alan is building a fine team,' he said. #nufc 1 hour ago Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 Just got in from the game lads - I'm from Nottingham so not a short trip at all. Sitting with the Forest fans though Great game in the end, slow start but good seeing the lads never give up - so glad it didn't go to penalties! All in all pretty much the perfect game - lots of squad players getting run outs, debut for Mehdi Abeid (who looked very good - neat and tidy), entertaining game and a win. Oh, and did I mention the SAFE return of Ben Arfa!!! Forest didn't actually play too bad - at 90 mins full time I would say they had shaded it slightly, in terms of chances. But wle were clinical up to that point. Extra time (particularly second half) was ours - lots of back and forth - end to end. Coloccini is a legend. Nuff said. Ben Arfa despite it being first game back looked a class apart, always making himself available for the ball and full of running and intricate passing. He will honestly make the hugest difference linking midfield and attack - it was obvious seeing what he will bring. Marveaux needs to start games now - he is so composed and does not waste the ball at all. There were still a lot of hoofing the ball up to Lovenkrands, particularly first half. But the likes of Marveaux, Abeid, Ben Arfa, Guthrie, and later Ameobi, Obertan and Ferguson all used the short passing game to good effect. We are starting to look pretty good in parts, I must say. Ratings Elliot - 4 Have read that he has been criticised a bit - and imo its justified. Harper wouldn't have been as slow. I am a goalkeeper myself and defo think he was hesitant, slow and just very average. Did not inspire confidence for me. Simpson - 7 Not his biggest fan but he actually played well. Some good runs forward. Was definitely a cross! Coloccini - 8 What more can you say that hasn't been said? Pure class, effortless - both defensively and bringing the ball out. Inspired leader, and scored at the perfect time. When behind you could visibly see Colo taking control and taking the ball forward. Perch - 7 Controversial but he didn't actually do too bad. Thought he had one of his better games in fact (maybe its because my expectations are zero!). Did most things decently to be honest - although struggled on one of the goals. Still obviously not good enough but wasn't horrendous to be fair. Ferguson - 6.5 Looks like a boy - Forest fans were giving him a bit of abuse behind me! Left a few gaps at the back in extra time, and didn't go on too many of his marauding runs he is capable of, but solid first game back. Good option on the left, won't let anyone down. Gosling - 6 Quiet I thought - right to be substituted. Will get better I am sure. Guthrie - 7 Ticked things over well - good passing range on show. Had a good run forward in extra time - didn't think he had the stamina for it to be honest! Abeid - 7 very promising debut - some wayward passes but all in all a tidy game - kept it simple and did what he was supposed to. Good, mobile back up to Tiote. Marveaux - 8.5 Quality player. Involved in a lot, excellent link up play, good crosser, controlling the ball, not wasteful, productive. A good find indeed. He will get better with time - I look forward to seeing him in the same midfield as Cabaye and Ben Arfa! Ben Arfa - 7.5 Very solid first game back. Involved very heavily for the time he was on - wanted the ball and went on some good runs. Probably needs to work on his strength a little as wsn't able to hold off some of the people tracking him as he usually does. But this will come in time - good incisive passer and makes things happen. Lovenkrands - 8 Did well - good leap for the header. Chased tirelessly, ball was being hoofed to him but he tried to knock it on. Penalty I was worried about but did the job. Subs - Obertan - 7.5 Much better as a sub in my opinion, running at tired legs. He beat his man a few more times than usual today, but most of his crossing was still low and hard, and got cleared easy. Played well overall though, good link up with Sammy, and peach of a cross for the winner. Shola - 5 Same - always offside. Had one decent chance at the end but over the bar. Quiet and anonymous otherwise. Sammy - 8 Very direct and full of running, another who makes things happen. He is deceptively quick, excellent feet and did well. Pardew got his subs spot on - except Shola of course... Overall a good game, glad I went down!! Seeing Ben Arfa happy, smiling and so close (the crowd at Forest is very close to the pitch) so at one point he was literally only a few metres from me!! Well done the lads - I look forward to coming up and seeing another game at St James' soon!! Cheers mate that was helpful. Did HBA look like he still had his quick turn of pace? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
magpie418 Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 @ kingxinc Cheers mate, good write up that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishmael Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 Just back to my pad. Here's what I made of most of it: Elliot 5 - Failed to take advantage of the start. Would want our goalkeeper to be doing much better with 2 of the goals Forrest scores. Nowhere near the standard of Krul. Our GK coach blasted one past him in the warm up and then smiled and said "not even krul would get that". Harsh, but fair. Was all smiley at the end when he threw his gloves into the crowd. Simpson 6 - Bog standard Simpson performance tonight. Did some back-tracking and extreme standing off, which I was hoping was going to disappear from his game. Missed some touches now and then and had poor delivery into the box, which resulted in his goal! Was pretty comical, when it went in. Generally solid sums it up. Colocinni 8 (includes bonus goal hero point) - did everything that you would expect him to do in a game. Clearly a class above. Did his marauding runs now and then and was generally solid. Definitely struggling against the really physical strikers though, which brings me onto our main problem of the night... Perch 6 - It wasn't that he was 'bad' as such, just not good enough or physical enough, a la Saylor, to make up for Colo's physical deficiencies. Was out of position, missed headers, miss-directed headers, missed passes... just not good enough for us. Had some epic tackles though, 2 to be precise. 1 was on fatty Reid which was EPIC. Ferguson 6 - Proper fighter this kid. Went through the motions tonight doing everything the right way. Made tackles, clearances, simple passes and overlaps all night. Very restraint, but showed some maturity you might not expect. Size was an issue at times for his defending, but he gave it everything. Gosling 5 - slow, cumbersome, dunno - just underwhelming really. Don't think wide right is his position as he lacks the pace or movement to succeed there. Don't know what we're going to do with him frankly. Abeid 7 - Dirty c***. Loves a tackle and was getting stuck in all night. Proper little professional foul for his booking. Immaturity showed a few times and he's not as technical as I expected him to be. Definitely a defensive midfielder though, which is great because even with his little issues he's twice the player smith is. Got a 7 because he did a great job for somebody of his age. Guthrie 7 - Was nice to watch. Played some good stuff when in possession, linked well with our tasty Frenchmen. Lacking a little in mobility though and did go missing for HUGE spells of the game. He's solid if called upon, but I'd rather not. Marveraux 8 - MoTM. Assisted our first 2 goals. Glorious delivery for the first, GLORIOUS touch to win the penalty. You will not see a better first touch all season I swear. Other than that, there were signs that he will link up well with Ben Arfa and co. Lovely on the ball and was always an outlet. Definitely offers more than Jonas ever will in the final third. Awesome. Ben Arfa 7 - Dreamy. Will get this out of the way - lost the ball in a really s*** position once, but battled to try and get it back. Right, anyway... Played a beautiful ball onto Marv's foot to get us our first goal. Struggled to get into the game in between the Nottingham lines and only came into it when he dropped deep to get the ball, but when he did he was a tormentor. Played a killer pass to Gosling early on that had everybody looking like "how the f*** did he do that?". Going to be intense. Lovenkrands 7 - Ran hard, with a hard job to do as a lone striker. Took his chances, that were gifted on a plate tbf. Missed 1 glorious opportunity. It's not too bad having him as a reserve, but at least his heart is there. Obertan 6 - Assisted our winner with a nice cross, and did put a few good low deliveries in. Ruined an amazing opportunity to score when slicing over the bar. Was looking ok in possession and linked up extremely well with whoever was wide with him. There's legs in this player only if he learns to control his composure when close to the goal. Lacking loads though. Sh. Ameobi 5 - annoying tonight. Slow, cumbersome, OFFSIDE. Had a physical battle on his hands and gave away loads of freekicks. Felt sorry for him though as they were proper 50/50s that went against him. Was quiet otherwise, not too bad. Sa. Ameobi 6 - great dribbler, but raw with his deliveries. Wasted loads of chances that he made himself to put good balls in. Really player to be had here if he keeps going. Did some amazing tricks at his feet in the game too. Awesomeness. Pardew 7 - Subs were spot on. Fair play. Andy Reid - HAHAHAHAHAHAHA YOU ARE f***ing MASSIVE :lol: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hobshobs Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Two goals from great crosses and good headed finishes. Guess we'd be out the cup if Gutierrez had been where Marveaux and Obertan were and Shola had been where Lovenkrands and Colo were. Just a thought but likely a fact. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 What a strange remark. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sifu Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 What a strange remark. Aye.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishmael Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Don't like the comment about the supposed 'hoof ball'. They were mainly channel balls that were essential because we had no safe way out of the positions. They were clearly well rehearsed and 2/5 got us good field position. There was some lovely link-up play in midfield though. Said to my brother halfway through the first half that we would not have got this result last season. We wouldn't have had this much depth last season either. Great stuff. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Cheers for the report Dresden. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pedro_de_geordieo Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Great getting the views from the lads who were at the game, really appreciated thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishmael Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I enjoyed writing it, but not as much as going; makes me sad that I can't make more games. Credit to the lad who sat behind me giving Lee Camp the 'father' treatment in the second half. Had me giggling. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sydneycove Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 We would have to have spent more time on the pitch now than most other EPL teams. Stoke and Fulham are probably the only teams who have played more minutes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madras Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Blackburn beat Arsenal in their last game if anyone needs reminding. I know Arsenal aren't in a run of form right now but they still take some beating. blackburn overall were crap. it's unlikely we'll give them as much space 25yds out to pick out the pacey yakubu. my worry is hoilletts movement but we ought to have too much from the middle for them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madras Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 We would have to have spent more time on the pitch now than most other EPL teams. Stoke and Fulham are probably the only teams who have played more minutes. to be fair only simpson and colo would have been expected starters for saturday. it's not like we'll be shattered for our next game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishmael Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Blackburn beat Arsenal in their last game if anyone needs reminding. I know Arsenal aren't in a run of form right now but they still take some beating. blackburn overall were crap. it's unlikely we'll give them as much space 25yds out to pick out the pacey yakubu. my worry is hoilletts movement but we ought to have too much from the middle for them. I've been impressed by Blackburn so far this season tbqh. I'm not that worried though because Pardew is too wise to underrate them in any way. And yes, Hoilett scares the shit out of me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fugazi Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Just got hyem from Nottingham. Ben Arfa showed some sexy touches, and ran all over the place looking for the ball. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Did you walk? I got back about an hour and a half ago. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fugazi Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Did you walk? I got back about an hour and a half ago. Our coach got back into Town just before 2, then I got some scran and a taxi. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madras Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Did you walk? I got back about an hour and a half ago. still suffering time dilation after the cricket bat assault.....howzat ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Did you walk? I got back about an hour and a half ago. still suffering time dilation after the cricket bat assault.....howzat ? No I got in just after 1, my car can go a lot faster than a 60 seater coach, especially at that time of night with little traffic on the road, took the A19 to avoid the miles and miles of 50mph with average speed camera as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
J7 Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Im just back in Berwick. Seemed to do laps of Nottingham trying to find the way out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shak Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Always nice to wake up to a win, sounds like it was class. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sportnet Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 highlights r up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Didnt see the match tonight but reading the reports sounds like it was an absolute classic! On a negative side.... No PL squad keeper should be conceding 3 against Championship teams. Edit: Does anyone know where i can find highlights of tonights game? Cant seem to be able to find anything. Thanks Congratulations, you've managed to voice your 'opinion' and at that same time undermine it. Great effort. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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