Report
by Bridport Red (One day we will tell you how this report
came in!)
Forest
(4-4-2): Crossley: Louis-Jean, Hjelde, Chettle (c), Brennan:
Petrachi (Gray 55), Johnson, Prutton, Woan: Freedman, Bart-Williams.
Subs not used: Beasant, Cooper, Williams, Freeman Gordon Bennett.
How
much longer? Take a step back and look at the last four games.
Two 1-1 draws at home (Bolton and Stockport) and two 1-0 defeats
away (Barnsley and now Norwich). I didn't think we played
that brilliantly against Stockport, but we should have won
it in the final minute. In the other three games we have played
pretty well at times. With a decent strike force I think it
is no exaggeration to say that we would have won all three,
probably comfortably. Instead we are looking at 2 points from
a possible 12.... and that is relegation form.
Now I have been urging people not to panic and even think
about the R-word. I still do - I genuinely don't think that
we will go down, or even be anywhere remotely near it when
we get to March and April. (I hesitate to use the dreaded
phrase "too good to go down", because I seem to remember that
being said of us before...) But I find myself saying for the
third week running that we DESPERATELY need a striker or two.
Obviously Platty knows this as well as the rest of us - he
has been trying hard enough to get one in (and wasn't it an
entertaining week following the rampaging arguments on the
web about the merits or otherwise of Stanley Collymore?).
Rumours abound - the club still seem pretty confiedent of
signing Stern John, for instance - but however good he is
he will need a break after a long US season, and it is bound
to take him time to adjust to English football. So in my opinion
we need someone else as well - and soon, because until Platty
succeeds in persuading someone who can stick the ball in the
net to play for us, we are going nowhere.
On the other hand, once he does succeed in beefing up our
attack, there are (despite frustrating recent results) the
makings of a decent side here.... Today. I can only assume
that we have a few injuries that the fans were unaware of,
because Tank was still absent (which we knew about) and so
were Riccy Scimeca and Marlon (which we didn't). So Johnno
returned (quicker than certainly I was expecting after so
long out) and Woan played his first 90 minutes since I can't
remember when. As he has done with some success in the past
(more success than he had today, frankly), Bart played up
front alongside Dougie.
David Freeman continued on the bench, and alongside him there
was our first sight of the highly-promising midfield player
Gareth Williams - though neither got onto the pitch. We started
off like a train; in the first ten minutes I counted 8 attempts
at goal from us, with Woan, Johnson, Prutton and Petrachi
all going close with long-range drives and Dougie narrowly
failing to beat the advancing keeper with a lob. Jim Brennan
was getting forward more than at Barnsley (and showing some
frightening pace - I can't wait to see him and Tank in tandem)
and generally we looked by far the better side.
My neigbour had just said to me "we need a goal to show for
this pressure", when we got a goal - at the wrong end. Eadie
got clear on the left, his cross was deflected by Louis-Jean's
challenge, seemed to take an age to come over, was allowed
to bounce by the central defenders and finally came to Daryl
Sutch on the right corner of the 6-yard box. He just smacked
it, it took a little deflection off the closing-down Brennan
and flew past Norm into the net. Sigh. Where have we seen
this before? We rocked back onto our heels, they grew in confidence
and ran at us for the rest of the half. But Norm still only
had one more save to make before half time.
After half time we were more aggressive again. Luca was starting
to tire and was replaced for the final half hour by Andy Gray,
who played well - more as an out-and-out winger than Luca,
but taking people on well out wide, showing some good pace
and determination, and not least putting over several dangerous
crosses.... with no-one on the end of them. For the final
25 minutes we pressed and pressed, with Norwich occasionally
looking dangerous on the counter-attack (though once again
Norm had only one serious save to make, a blinder from Iwan
Roberts when clean through). Marshall saved well from Louis-Jean
and brilliantly from Prutton, Bart had a free kick which had
direction but no power, Brennan showed us he can use both
feet with a drive from outside the box, Johnno hit the post
with a header from a corner and fired over twice, and Andy
Gray rolled an inviting ball along the six-yard line which
no Forest player got anywhere near. For the final 15 minutes
Hjelde and Chet took it in turns to stay up and augment the
attack.
But - you've guessed it - though Norwich's defence was looking
more and more desperate, they held out. And then... in injury
time, after all that, we finally got the clear cut chance
we needed. Marshall made a total hash of a kick from his hands,
having it charged down by Bartman. The ball rebounded to Freedman
20 yards out, and we had Dougie, Chet and Bart advancing on
the box in a line without a defender in sight. Dougie had
worked his socks off until then, but I am afraid to say that
when the chips were down he panicked (presumably thinking
he had far less time than in fact there was). He didn't advance
to take it round the keeper, nor draw him out and then square
it to Bart. He shot first time, scuffed it wide of the far
post and the chance was gone. Seconds later so was the final
whistle. Cue, of course, resounding (and for once understandable)
boos of frustration from the fans.
There were some good things today - Brennan had a terrific
game; good going forward, decent crossing, able to shoot and
sound in defence; my Man of the Match. At one point Eadie
(hardly the slowest player in the world) popped up on the
right and got past Brennan as he slipped. I was just about
to put my head in my hands when Brennan showed awesome pace
to get back to him and put it out for a corner. On the evidence
of his first two games, a bargain. Johnno understandably still
looks a bit ring-rusty, but he still showed enough drive and
enough of those trademark runs into the box to show why we
have missed him. Luca is coming back towards full fitness
gradually. Gray, as I have mentioned, played well for the
final 25 minutes. Woan, though he hasn't exactly added pace
to his armoury during his long absence, played well enough.
But (and it is a HUGE "but"), we can have players who make
good runs down either side, players who can cross, players
who get forward from midfield etc until we are blue in the
face.... but unless and until we have someone who can get
on the end of all this stuff and bang it in, we are going
to continue to struggle. We played easily well enough to get
a point today. Not for the first time.
Yet again we ended up with nothing. It can't go on.
