Under 23s | Page 2 | Vital Football

Under 23s

Nigel Doughty set the Academy up and employed very good people to run it; Nick Marshall was the Academy Director at that time and he did a great job.

Nick was unceremoniously fired by that petty vindictive c * n t Billy Davies upon his return; the Academy was then starved of the cash that was needed to run it effectively during the Fawaz era.

The work that Gary Brazil did during that period was nothing short of miraculous, and his patience during that difficult period has since paid off.

He has received great support from the current owners and, if the reports are correct, is very highly thought of, deservedly so.

Gary Brazil used to coach me many years ago - very good bloke as well and despite his London roots is very settled in Nottingham with his family way before Forest, which bodes very well for us.

His son has just got his UEFA A license as well.

*Edited but it was too late*
 
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Gary Brazil used to coach me many years ago - very good bloke as well and despite his London routes is very settled in Nottingham with his family way before Forest, which bodes very well for us.

His son has just got his UEFA A license as well.

"...despite his London routes"

Did he used to be a Taxi driver?
 
No shit.... I thought it was clear I was being ironic with the ‘z’ at the end and the editing of my post.

And with you being a founding member of Vital Allotments along with Cornflakes, Ingy and Apollyon, words fail me (not quite as bad as they fail you)
 
Wouldn't it make more sense to play the same system and tactics as the first team?

I know these have tended to change with the manager and the manager tends to change twice a season, but if the club was run better I think you would see more of a joined up approach throughout the age groups which is surely more important than winning?

Apart from the first team winning, obviously.

what makes sense is to play the way theyve been taught to play for perhaps 10 years or more. Its shown to be successful on many levels so it's the first team that needs to adjust
 
The Under 23's suffered only their second defeat of the season when going down by 2 goals to 1 at home to an in form Wigan side.

Both teams had a very youthful look about them, giving game time to members of their under 18 squads.

The Forest team was missing the services of both Ateef Konate and Marcelo Saraiva, two incredibly talented individuals; their absence sparked immediate Twitter rumours suggesting they are in line for an appearance in the first team squad on Saturday.

Saraiva arrived at the Club in December when he was signed from Brazilian Club Internacional; the 18 year old is very highly thought of and has already won two caps for the Guatemalan National side.

His transfer resulted in quite a stir back home, when the Guatemalan equivalent of Strictly was interrupted with a News Flash announcing the transfer.

Details of the game are not at hand, but it looks like things did not go our way - Julien Larsson was substituted with injury after 16 minutes, and Yassine En Neyah after 41 minutes; to add insult to injury Riley Harbottle was sent off late into the second half.

Centre Half, Baba Fernandes netted for the Reds
 
Saraiva's a holding midfielder so he's as likely as any to get in the first team :) Altho Brazilian he's now a full Portugese resident. Maybe told he wouldnt be good enough for Brazil ?
Another one of these hyped players with the 'agents' being bigger than the players tho so I wouldnt get carried away, one of Barnetts kids.
 
The Under 23's game against Coventry, played at Alfreton Town's Ground, is currently being streamed live on ATTV.

£3.99, tremendous value

Bachirou and Blackett playing for the U23s

Currently 0 - 0 with 20 mins played; the youngsters are well on top, although Coventry have just been denied a penalty after originally being awarded one.
 
There is another live stream for tonight's Under 23 game against Sheffield United, for anyone interested; the stream is being provided by Alfreton Town, where the games takes place, for £3.99:

Monday: Forest U23s v Sheffield Utd (alfretontownfootballclub.com)

The U23's are on a miserable run of 2 defeats and a draw from their last 3 games; this coincides with the absence of Konate and Saraiva.

If those two are missing from tonight's game they will be joined by Julien Larsson who was sent off last week against Coventry
 
Considering there has been no goals, the first half has been very entertaining.

Sheffield gave first team player Mousette Leys a run out, unfortunately he had to go off injured, as did Bacherou for Forest.

After a sedate start, its been Forest on top for most of the half.

Keith Asare has had a penalty saved and Ethan Dekal Daks has had one cleared off of the line.

Star of the show has been 17 year old Fin Back who has been promoted from the U18s; Back is the son of World Cup Winning Rugby player Neil Back

Back is playing at Right Back, and playing very well indeed.
 
Considering there has been no goals, the first half has been very entertaining.

Sheffield gave first team player Mousette Leys a run out, unfortunately he had to go off injured, as did Bacherou for Forest.

After a sedate start, its been Forest on top for most of the half.

Keith Asare has had a penalty saved and Ethan Dekal Daks has had one cleared off of the line.

Star of the show has been 17 year old Fin Back who has been promoted from the U18s; Back is the son of World Cup Winning Rugby player Neil Back

Back is playing at Right Back, and playing very well indeed.
Cheers Mao, always good to know how the u23s are doing and about any emerging talent. Sounds like we have a couple of decent crops coming through.
 
The second half was tremendous; proper end to end football which was as good as you will get at this level, and quite fitting that it was first playing second in the table.

Sheffield United came storming back into the game straight after the break with wave after wave of attack, and, just after it looked like we had weathered the storm, they scored from a really well worked goal.

The left back cut in towards the box, and exchanged passes before hitting a good shot into the far corner which gave George Shelvey no chance.

United were well on top at this point but the goal did little more than spark an excellent revival.

A well worked move through the centre found Baba Ferndandez (centre half!) out on the left; he waltzed round the full back before pulling the ball back for Dekel Daks to score, 1 - 1

And with five minutes remaining, Gibson Hammond, who was played through with an inch perfect pass from Josh Barnes, calmly put the ball past the keeper.

The commentary team gave Gibson Hammond man of the match, who played well; there was only one candidate for me, Fin Back.

This kid has all the attributes to be a good player; athletic, gets up and down the pitch well, good passer of the ball, good positional awareness, strong in the tackle and good in the air, and he has that one commodity all good defenders need, a nasty streak.

As far as money spent on watching football is concerned, that is the best £4 I have spent this year.
 
Speaking of young players I was thinking the other day of all the good youngsters we have produced, but when and who was the last striker we had that came through and made an impression in the 1st team. I can recall Bamford of course, but we got only financial benefit from him as he was sold off before breaking through, but I cannot think of anyone since Marlon Harewood who actually came through and made an impact, or am I forgetting someone