The Mid-Season Break Review

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

Well it's certainly been great being back in the Premier League playing elite sport in the worlds most elite league. Just 20 teams competing in the best league in the world of which we are one.

So how do you think it's gone so far and how do you think it will go when the action restarts again?

Encouraging signs for me are our home form, we seem to fancy ourselves against anyone at the City Ground these days and we will continue to pick up points on home soil. Also Steve Cooper now appears happier, he signed his new contract, he appears to get on well with Giraldi and most importantly he finally appears to be gelling the team and squad together and that has led to recent improved performances on the pitch.

A big negative and a slightly worrying stat is our away form. We have picked up just 2 points on the road so far this season and have scored only ONE goal and conceded 19. This is concerning and it's something that I am sure Steve and his player's will talk about during the break. Our away form must improve to give us a much better chance of staying up there is no doubt about that.

Squad wise I don't think we are far away and during the break we will be planning for the January window. It's no secret that we would all like to sign a Striker and I am sure we will. Scarpa will arrive any time now and it will be interesting to see whether he can transform his fantastic form in Brazil to the Premier League. One or two other tweaks here and there and I think our squad looks fine.

Generally speaking going into the break I am happy with how things are shaping up. Am I happy that we are in the bottom 3? No of course I am not but there are clear signs that we CAN compete in this league and we belong in this league and we are here on merit. Lets improve that away form a bit and hopefully we will be here to stay.

If we do end up going down then one thing is for sure and that is that we will go down fighting because us fans, player's and staff will give absolutely everything for this football club.

COYR!

[JollyLolly]

Biggest plus for me Sniff are the words used by SC in his pitch interview after Saturdays game, if any forum member has not heard it yet I urge them to do so. He is truly a Forest fan and like us life long fans gets a buzz when coming to work and play at the WFCG, he refers to it as a "magical place" and gets what we are all about and long may it continue, SC is now a true red what ever happens.

[Sausage Roll]

We've not been cut adrift, aren't even bottom, and have steadied the ship significantly since the Leicester result.

I just hope some of the lost leads don't come back to haunt us at the end of the season. It's all ifs and buts of course but if we'd held on vs. Everton, not been robbed against Brentford and got a point each from the Bournemouth and Wolves games we'd be six points better off and looking comfortable. And we'd have taken points from teams likely to be in the relegation mix (maybe not Brentford) as well.

Still - everything to play for and the second part of the season is sure to be a rollercoaster.

[Paplane]

We've just got to look at it now as though the league starts on Boxing Day. We're there, we're not behind and we have what looks like a more settled team. Cooper has worked out what it takes to be competitive now too so its all to play for. We'll spend the next six weeks in a positive mind set whereas Wolves, Southampton and Everton will all be on downers.

Imo we've extremely lucky to be in the position we're in if you look at the utter garbage we were playing earlier on. We could've been 5 or 6 points adrift easily. We need to grasp the opportunity now. I reckon we can do it.

[TrentEnd]

I'd sum it up by saying its been tough, but we are getting there and we are seeing the rewards of sticking with a manager.

A return to the Premier League was always going to be hard, and we have certainly found out just how hard! However, over the last 8 games, we have started to see that fight and togetherness (perhaps bar the Arsenal game) that there was in the Championship. I would always have taken 17th at the start of the season and to be within touching distance of lower mid-table by the break is a good return. It has been soured a little by the home losses to Fulham and Bournemouth and throwing those 2 points away at Everton, but we are adapting and we will be getting a few players in that will make us stronger in the second half of the season.

I know some will disagree, but my belief is that keeping Cooper has been the key decision. Of course, I could be proved wrong, but the ship that seemed to be sinking, is now going in the right direction and I'm convinced he is a manager for the future. He now needs to work out how to get some wins away from the City Ground.


The good vibes from this year are back (not that they went away, but they were perhaps starting to wane). I loved this weekend and the great atmosphere of togetherness at Forest. Really starting to enjoy the season now we are improving. We probably will get stuffed the occasional game, but we are now reacting to those performances positively. What I want more than anything else is for the thread about our next manager to sink into oblivion.

[McDurban]

I'm very happy and confident that the club will be in the PL next season.
I'm seeing similar traits in the team from last year and each performance we see improvements on the last. 
In Cooper I trust.

[Salvatore Matrecano]

I think Sniffer has it pretty spot on with his initial remarks. Things are definitely encouraging but we have a long way to go.

A thought occurs. Has anyone else noticed that for the teams we have beaten, West Ham, Liverpool Palace and Tottenham they have all been heavily criticised not just by their own fans but by the media as having an off day. Teams we have drawn against too its more like they must have been poor not to have beaten scummy little Forest and their 95 man squad, clearly the worst team in the league.
Errm just maybe it is because we aren’t all that bad and can compete at this level with any team, certainly at home. Think we can utilise this underdog status.

Anyway what a difference a week makes, I think it was huge to go into this break on the back of a winning run. Not kidding myself either that had Zaha’s pen gone the other side of the post and we would have added another 5 pages to the new manager thread today. But Im delighted for Cooper and I really hope keeping faith with him pays off.

Lets see what January brings us re tweaking the squad. Sniffer makes a point about Cooper getting on with Giraldi. I have said I was sceptical about him but just maybe I am wrong. I had thought the data driven recruitment approach was the way forward principally on the back of 23 years of dross signings. It may still make sense however maybe Syrianos and co were part of the problem? It would explain Cooper being off at the start of the season, fits in with the timing of him signing a new contract. Whatever EM made his decision and at the moment it is working.

[ozzyten10]

The way I see it at the moment is that we are on a clear upward curve in terms of both performances and results. Match that against several other teams such as Everton and there is a real reason for optimism.
Home form has been good since Fulham.
Sniff is right to look to the away form and we need improvement here quickly. However, we have 2 of the 4 hardest away fixtures out of the way and can see us finding a formula that may well work- with the confidence and understanding starting to develop amongst the squad.
A striker is a must- getting a robust goal scorer who can hold up the ball, bring others into play and also chip in with goals is a must to improve our away form.
Surridge for me should have had more starts - especially away. An upgrade on him would be good but I actually think he has all the tools to do it in the longer term. A superstar loan or short term number 9 would be ideal- Ronaldo anyone?

[Reds73]

I would break the first 15 games into 2 sections.
Up to the Leicester game we were naive in how we were setting up, didn’t look fit enough or remotely organised, and it looked a forlorn task.

Then we moved to Plan B and we seem to have found a way to succeed at home. We need to find a way to get some results away from home. If we do then we have a good chance.

I hope we don’t try and make too many changes in Jan as there is definitely a spirit building and it would be madness to risk upsetting harmony.

Scarpa obvs a done deal but he will have to be patient.
Outside of that a maximum of 2 players in Jan.

A number 9 who can hold the ball, and score some goals. That will be very difficult though as they aren’t growing on trees.

A centre half with pace who is an upgrade and will allow us to play 10 yards further up the pitch.

[Paplane]

I think Sniffer has it pretty spot on with his initial remarks. Things are definitely encouraging but we have a long way to go.

A thought occurs. Has anyone else noticed that for the teams we have beaten, West Ham, Liverpool Palace and Tottenham they have all been heavily criticised not just by their own fans but by the media as having an off day. Teams we have drawn against too its more like they must have been poor not to have beaten scummy little Forest and their 95 man squad, clearly the worst team in the league.
Errm just maybe it is because we aren’t all that bad and can compete at this level with any team, certainly at home. Think we can utilise this underdog status.

Anyway what a difference a week makes, I think it was huge to go into this break on the back of a winning run. Not kidding myself either that had Zaha’s pen gone the other side of the post and we would have added another 5 pages to the new manager thread today. But Im delighted for Cooper and I really hope keeping faith with him pays off.

Lets see what January brings us re tweaking the squad. Sniffer makes a point about Cooper getting on with Giraldi. I have said I was sceptical about him but just maybe I am wrong. I had thought the data driven recruitment approach was the way forward principally on the back of 23 years of dross signings. It may still make sense however maybe Syrianos and co were part of the problem? It would explain Cooper being off at the start of the season, fits in with the timing of him signing a new contract. Whatever EM made his decision and at the moment it is working.

Its all about the performances for me Salv. Even if Zaha had scored, the team had shown good endeavour up to that and im sure would've thrown the kitchen sink at palace the way they were playing. My harshest criticisms of the players and manager have been when peformances seemed to be getting worse game on game and no lessons were being learned. But Cooper to his credit has stopped the rot and he's  got things moving forward now. It just feels a bit like last season just now doesn't it? That feeling where good things are beginning to happen.

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

Another positive for me is that apart from Bade everyone else who is fit has played a part and been involved. The spirit and togetherness of the squad appears to be very good. I always thought that our squad was better than those performances we were seeing up until the Leicester game and since then apart from Arsenal I think that has been proved.

[Red Dog]

This season was always going to be incredibly difficult to gauge, given that outside of the fan base everyone thought we would struggle to NOT beat the ? record. Well now that Monkey is off our backs, it on onwards and upwards.

I have seen brief clips of Scarpa but his reputation is encouraging. I think a target man who brings Johnno, Jesse, MGW, Dennis, Surridge, Yates into the game more is perhaps what we should be aiming for as there are goals in these players.

Maybe a pacey CH too IF we can find one? And keep hold of our most important asset - US! We cannot let the atmosphere go, it is critical as it lifts the team and intimidates opponents.

Onwards and upwards