Forest V Stoke Match Thread - Sponsored by Birdseye Breaded Cod fisHcakes | Page 3 | Vital Football

Forest V Stoke Match Thread - Sponsored by Birdseye Breaded Cod fisHcakes

Someone else will have to tell me because I wasnt there, but was it really a game where just having another striker about would have made more difference than having a tricky winger?

Radio kept saying that the Stoke defence were 'well positioned'. That doesn't sound to me like a scenario where just adding another striker would put the shits up them. It's easy to talk about having another striker 'im the box' as others have done, but would Ansarifard be able to actually get into the box or recieve the ball if he does?

I agree that perhaps there is an element of safety first, of making sure you preserve what you have before really going for it. That depends on your preference. I hate losing, so I'll pay the price of winning slightly less to lose hardly any. This time last year we had about 8 wins and 8 defeats, and that pissed me off much more than having 9 draws. But I appreciate others prefer it differently
I can see why he kept Grabban on, because you'd expect him to put those chances away. The one on one was the golden chance to win the game, but he hesitated.

Maybe Ansarifard for Cash for the last 5 minutes would have worked. We were knocking on the door in the last 15 minutes, but Crouch still almost won it for them in stoppage time so 0-0 wasn't such a bad result. First time we've failed to score at home this season.
 
I enjoyed that!

I cant fathom why anyone wouldn't. It was end to end football. Our defence was immense. Granted, attack why we at times were a little bereft of ideas and punch, but on the whole we were good value. Carvalho wasn't at the races today and Cash and Guedz started where they finished against the blades but on the whole, its a decent game and a point earned. We are not going to get 3pts at home every week so get over yourselves
 
I dont think the criticism of Grabban is at all fair. He was picking up scraps and there was no punch in midfield until last 15 mins.

I actually enjoyed it because it was two very organised sides nullifying each other.

We wont lose 3-0 at home thats a fact
 
First half was shite from both sides .
Second half was better with them starting the stronger but us looking increasingly more likely to score as the half wore on.
A great save from Button from a Lolley effort in particular .
We looked better when Yacob ( who looks so composed on the ball) came on for Geddy , Geddy wasn't quite at it today .
Cash seems to fall over all the time even when he's trying to receive the ball .
Grabban had a glorious chance and should have at least hit the target .
Carvalho was on the periphery of the game and needs to get on the ball more and be more instrumental in our play .
Robinson was excellent first half and Darikwa was excellent throughout , at least our back four is looking the business.
Dawson seems to block absolutely everything .
I can't see Fox ousting either of Dawson or Figs from the side the way they are playing and i hope he doesn't , this is our best back four without doubt.
Not a bad point but would have been a real buzz if we'd nicked the win .
We're still getting stronger lads.:thumbup:
Darikwa m.o.m.
 
Fair result really. One of those games where you can either think:

We've become a really solid side under Karanka, hard to beat with a sprinkling of threat. We'll win comfortably more than we lose in this division this year which is real progress.

Or

A frustrating day which highlights the limitations of our manager and squad perhaps. We sacrifice attacking intent and fluidity for solidity.

I suspect it's a touch of both. It's fine away from home, it's fine for reaching the top 10 (again real progress) and possibly even top 6 but unless we gamble a touch more then that's the limit of our ambition.
 
I enjoyed that!

I cant fathom why anyone wouldn't. It was end to end football. Our defence was immense. Granted, attack why we at times were a little bereft of ideas and punch, but on the whole we were good value. Carvalho wasn't at the races today and Cash and Guedz started where they finished against the blades but on the whole, its a decent game and a point earned. We are not going to get 3pts at home every week so get over yourselves
Owd why.
 
Lets not let the last 2 minutes mask the over all first half performance...boring football being played by both sides...being at home I expect better from Forest. Stoke created nothing but even us...apart from a shot on the 45th minute we struggled ...to get hold of the ball. The trurh is that if we really want to secure promotion we need two or three players that make the difference, at present we dont have any. Midfield creates nothing ...Grabban has to come in the centre circle to touch a ball...typical performance from the Carv...tge odd nice pass but not affecting the game...poor also Cash nd Lolley...Cash seems to fall every time he has the ball in his feet nd Lolley it seems lost that drive he had some weeks ago..Colback the usual rock ...Gueddy trying but tge firward players are not giving him options...AK needs to change things ...or we will be losing points today...
I didn't understand why Cash was on the left and Lolley was on the right all game!? It didn't work!
 
I know im frustrated when i knock Grabban and he does put some effort in, but its mainly pointless just running around chasing the ball but im still not sure ive seen him win a 50/50 ball all season yet. Today for me was a good team performance but totally toothless. Do folk really think we looked like 21 millions quids worth of talent up front? Ive seen us play second division football with the likes of Campbell n Hooijdonk and thery used to tear up the place, along with one or two other great pairings weve had. I dunno, overall to me both Carv n Grabs are both luxury players and you cant play both of them despite carv setting up the odd goal for him. I really hope this new striker is good and can give us food for thought
 
A frustrating day which highlights the limitations of our manager and squad perhaps. We sacrifice attacking intent and fluidity for solidity.

Ironically, I'd argue that conceding goals has been the thing that has caused us problems this year. Karankas past record fits your assessment above, but this season not so much. There really haven't been many frustrating 0 - 0 draws or an inability to score. We've suffered from not being able to shut teams out, or conceding first and having to constantly fight back.
I know you've only given that viewpoint as one of two ways of looking at the game. I'm going with your more positive spin ?
 
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I didn't understand why Cash was on the left and Lolley was on the right all game!? It didn't work!

When they attacked on their stronger foot, they’d vacate the space Darikwa and Robinson could then occupy to stay wide and cross into the box.

Whether it worked is another matter.
 
I enjoyed that!

I cant fathom why anyone wouldn't. It was end to end football. Our defence was immense. Granted, attack why we at times were a little bereft of ideas and punch, but on the whole we were good value. Carvalho wasn't at the races today and Cash and Guedz started where they finished against the blades but on the whole, its a decent game and a point earned. We are not going to get 3pts at home every week so get over yourselves

Agree. An enjoyable game, 100% effort, and two decent teams . Stoke were well organised and both teams gave away few chances, though we did edge the chances with Butland making a superb save from Lolley and Grabban had three half chances, all smothered by the superb Butland (though he did nearly give us a goal with his dribbling!).

Think now our weakest position is no 7, where we seem to have a glut of players who can't make the position their own despite having Cash, Dias, Soudani and Ansarifard and Grabban can play there too.

For the money we spent on him Carvalho needs to be more consistent too.
 
Fair result really. One of those games where you can either think:

We've become a really solid side under Karanka, hard to beat with a sprinkling of threat. We'll win comfortably more than we lose in this division this year which is real progress.

Or

A frustrating day which highlights the limitations of our manager and squad perhaps. We sacrifice attacking intent and fluidity for solidity.

I suspect it's a touch of both. It's fine away from home, it's fine for reaching the top 10 (again real progress) and possibly even top 6 but unless we gamble a touch more then that's the limit of our ambition.


Is it really that binary?

We are a Championship side with Championship players; sometimes we do not play up to what we are capable of, yesterday was a good example.

I think all managers at every level would like their teams to develop a "do not lose" mindset; the only problem with that philosophy is the lower down the leagues you go the uglier the performances get.

Come May, we could well look back on games like the one yesterday and consider them to be the games that got us over the line.
 
A point is ok.Pants could easily have been sent off by a different ref.Grabs rushed one easy chance and then took too much time on another whilst they also could have scored at the death. Let's hope we don't come back from the international break like last time.Every point is crucial in this league at both ends of the table.
 
Is it really that binary?

We are a Championship side with Championship players; sometimes we do not play up to what we are capable of, yesterday was a good example.

I think all managers at every level would like their teams to develop a "do not lose" mindset; the only problem with that philosophy is the lower down the leagues you go the uglier the performances get.

Come May, we could well look back on games like the one yesterday and consider them to be the games that got us over the line.

Or a game that could have taken us over the line...

Of course it's more complex than a binary situation but I'd had a few beers and at the time it seemed reasonable.
 
Ironically, I'd argue that conceding goals has been the thing that has caused us problems this year. Karankas past record fits your assessment above, but this season not so much. There really haven't been many frustrating 0 - 0 draws or an inability to score. We've suffered from not being able to shut teams out, or conceding first and having to constantly fight back.
I know you've only given that viewpoint as one of two ways of looking at the game. I'm going with your more positive spin ?

We've won by more than one goal in the league just once this season. Only one team has scored less than us in the teams above us, only one who has conceded less - both Boro.

We sit 18th in the table for chances created per game,
 
We've won by more than one goal in the league just once this season. Only one team has scored less than us in the teams above us, only one who has scored less - both Boro.

We sit 18th in the table for chances created per game,

That can be a very misleading statistic.

How are chances created calculated?

If Carvalho shoots from distance and it goes miles over, does that count?

If lolly shoots on the edge of the area and it's blocked, does that count?

If a good cross comes in but player at the far post misses it, does that count or does he need to connect and miss the goal to count statistically?

If Dias slots through a superb through ball to Grabban but an aware defender just manages to cut it out, does that count?

If Cash recieves the ball in a great position in the box but just slips over, does that count?

If Grabban recieves in the same position but instead of taking it towards goal, inexplicably decides to travel wide, does that count?

I suspect none of the above count on your stats as chances created, yet in my view they are very reflective of our attacking play this season. We get into a lot of threatening positions and half chances but struggle with bad decision making (and sometimes bad luck) in taking them all the way