Match Thread Forest v Stoke City. | Page 8 | Vital Football

Match Thread Forest v Stoke City.

I've been a Forest fan for well over 60 of my 70+ years, and can't remember a time when I've been so disillusioned. I was having my post Fish & Chip lunch nap, opened my eyes just before 3pm and actually had a little debate with myself as to whether I shut my eyes again and continued my nap or stirred myself and watched the game, unfortunately I chose the latter, and I've still got a headache.

I don't know if it's just me that feels like this. but this team is actually in danger of making me fall out of love with Forest. I don't look forward to games in the same way any more, and not really bothered whether I watch or not. The mangers post match interview was just on, but I really couldn't be bothered to listen to the same old rubbish. I really hope that the close season brings some decent rebuilding and rekindles my interest, and gives me a sense of anticipation & optimism for next season.

All I ask is that we have a team that is competitive, puts in the effort plays in a positive fashion and most of all makes me look forward to match days again, but I just can't see it happening

I've been supporting a bit longer than you and don't dispute any of your sentiments but you will know deep down that you'll be there at the start of next season, full of hope and dreaming of top six.
In my case the team was nothing great when I started watching so I wasn't spoilt by a good run against decent opposition although I was lucky enough to see the Cup Final win. That is etched in my memory and possibly affects my thinking even today.
Like it or not most of us are hooked good and proper.
See you next season.
 
Disgusting really that we have to ‘dream’ of a top six finish. At the danger of sounding like a “we won the European cup twice” cliche, it is genuinely absolutely disgraceful that in the 21 years I’ve religiously followed this club, they’ve made the play offs 3 times and never ever seriously competed for the top division.

The rhetoric is always “fans have to be realistic” whenever we get fed up of mid table obscurity, but when you see Norwich and Watford get promoted following just 1 season in the championship, like it was some holiday, it makes me question why the hell I even bother.

This football club is a genuine horrendous anomaly. It totally flatters to deceive year after year and yet the following is nothing short of phenomenal and the history is up there with the very best in English football. What will it take for us to be a Norwich or Watford? And I don’t mean “sign this player... appoint this manager”, but to be a club that has the winning mentality that when they get relegated they’re genuine favorites to go up because everybody knows Forest mean business.

Pope made a post earlier about never being on the front foot and he’s so right. Every season we create a reason as to why it’s acceptable that we are constantly on the back foot, not winning matches because the opposition are X, Y, Z - when will we be the opposition that teams have to amend their style for?

I’ll always follow the club because I can’t help it, but frankly, this club doesn’t deserve the members of this forum contributing because they care, nor the thousands that show up home and away with the glimmer of hope that we might try and make the premier league.

I’m willing to bet that over the years around 90% of the suggestions that have been put forward and argued by members of this forum around what it takes for Forest to progress have been tried and failed. ‘Appoint X manager’ ‘sign X player’ ‘try X formation’, ‘recruit this way’, ‘we need experienced pros’, ‘sign via lower leagues’. Yet here we are after 22 years wondering again whether “Hughtons the right man”, whether “we need a huge turnover in playing staff”, which style “we need to implement next season” - it’s a cycle that is tragically familiar and will always continue, but when will it end in success?
 
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Thanks :tophat: - I am a new poster but have been a long time reader!

100% agree about the goals. And I’m not trying to pretend that we don’t have massive problems to fix. Brennan - if we do keep him and play him - might come good, but he also might turn out like Tyler Walker. Same with Mighten, much as I like them both. Apart from them, who do we have in MF? Hopefully a fit Lolley, but Garner seems unlikely to come back and I’m not sold on getting Krov on a perm. Ameobi is kind of fine but he doesn’t really belong in a top half championship team.

What I can’t understand is, why have Freeman and Knocks turned out so badly? It can’t just be that they’re getting on a bit, can it? On paper, both seemed like great signings. But I still feel like Knocks best game was his first one as a sun against D***y. Freeman, can’t remember him having a good game.

Then you can almost lump Taylor in with the above as a signing who should’ve worked on paper, can’t you? I thought he looked good last season and was chuffed with him on a free. But when he’s played for us he mainly just seems to fall down.
I seriously think that players like Knocks need a crowd to get the best out of them chap!
 
Celebrity “jobs” acting, singing, being a comedian, sports person etc reside in a different realm to normal folks’ day-to-day grind.

Put it this way, any “occupation” that requires a personal agent to represent their clients interests, image rights, contract or endorsements ain’t a “normal” person job.

As such, they’re performers and the audiances input (or lack, thereof) is part of their output.

That forests players haven’t had the energy from a crowd has probably affected the teams results.
That's funny, because the City Ground crowd is usually their excuse for under performance. The "pressure" we put them under and the fans "getting on their backs".

CG is hardly a cauldron
 
That's funny, because the City Ground crowd is usually their excuse for under performance. The "pressure" we put them under and the fans "getting on their backs".

CG is hardly a cauldron

Its strange how we perceive the atmosphere; almost take it for granted.

I bring visitors with me at least ten or twelve times a season, mainly supporters of teams who we are playing.

They all say the same thing; they love the City Ground - the location and the brilliant atmosphere, and how important it must be for sides to keep the home supporters quiet.

Most players who we sign mention the atmosphere; Garner, in an interview said the one thing he really missed was the atmosphere; he had heard so much about it from other players and it was sad that he has missed out on the experience.
 
Disgusting really that we have to ‘dream’ of a top six finish. At the danger of sounding like a “we won the European cup twice” cliche, it is genuinely absolutely disgraceful that in the 21 years I’ve religiously followed this club, they’ve made the play offs 3 times and never ever seriously competed for the top division.

The rhetoric is always “fans have to be realistic” whenever we get fed up of mid table obscurity, but when you see Norwich and Watford get promoted following just 1 season in the championship, like it was some holiday, it makes me question why the hell I even bother.

This football club is a genuine horrendous anomaly. It totally flatters to deceive year after year and yet the following is nothing short of phenomenal and the history is up there with the very best in English football. What will it take for us to be a Norwich or Watford? And I don’t mean “sign this player... appoint this manager”, but to be a club that has the winning mentality that when they get relegated they’re genuine favorites to go up because everybody knows Forest mean business.

Pope made a post earlier about never being on the front foot and he’s so right. Every season we create a reason as to why it’s acceptable that we are constantly on the back foot, not winning matches because the opposition are X, Y, Z - when will we be the opposition that teams have to amend their style for?

I’ll always follow the club because I can’t help it, but frankly, this club doesn’t deserve the members of this forum contributing because they care, nor the thousands that show up home and away with the glimmer of hope that we might try and make the premier league.

I’m willing to bet that over the years around 90% of the suggestions that have been put forward and argued by members of this forum around what it takes for Forest to progress have been tried and failed. ‘Appoint X manager’ ‘sign X player’ ‘try X formation’, ‘recruit this way’, ‘we need experienced pros’, ‘sign via lower leagues’. Yet here we are after 22 years wondering again whether “Hughtons the right man”, whether “we need a huge turnover in playing staff”, which style “we need to implement next season” - it’s a cycle that is tragically familiar and will always continue, but when will it end in success?

One thing to add to that is plumb's bug bear (similar to a sports bear but different). All of the above has been tried but very little follow through (apollyon getting a wee bit excited).

So we try a suggestion for perhaps a month or 6 and then try something completely different. As a result we dont have a culture in the first team and can be suicide swashbucklers one season and shithouse specialists the next. Doesnt take a genius to work out we think we its a numbers game and we will get lucky one day. We wont, it doesnt work like that.

I have been fortunate enough to have seen us when we were good. Our style back then was classic counter attacking football. If ever we had a culture, that was it.

What would be good is a bit of consistency, just not more of what we got yesterday
 
Its strange how we perceive the atmosphere; almost take it for granted.

I bring visitors with me at least ten or twelve times a season, mainly supporters of teams who we are playing.

They all say the same thing; they love the City Ground - the location and the brilliant atmosphere, and how important it must be for sides to keep the home supporters quiet.

Most players who we sign mention the atmosphere; Garner, in an interview said the one thing he really missed was the atmosphere; he had heard so much about it from other players and it was sad that he has missed out on the experience.

Fortunately there is an easy fix, just come back kid
 
Its strange how we perceive the atmosphere; almost take it for granted.

I bring visitors with me at least ten or twelve times a season, mainly supporters of teams who we are playing.

They all say the same thing; they love the City Ground - the location and the brilliant atmosphere, and how important it must be for sides to keep the home supporters quiet.

Most players who we sign mention the atmosphere; Garner, in an interview said the one thing he really missed was the atmosphere; he had heard so much about it from other players and it was sad that he has missed out on the experience.
Maybe, although outside of a few examples that's not how I really remember it.

Numerous players and much of local media have consistently raised the point that I made though. I have always felt it was bullshit and lockdown has proved it; the players couldn't blame pressure from the crowd for bottling that Stoke game
 
That's funny, because the City Ground crowd is usually their excuse for under performance. The "pressure" we put them under and the fans "getting on their backs".

CG is hardly a cauldron

True, but performers need people to validate them.

Don’t think pundits repeating the lack of fans ans the resultant weird atmosphere footballs been played under without a degree of knowledge, abs maybe they’re speaking from experience or speaking to current players about their experience of no crowds.
 
Disgusting really that we have to ‘dream’ of a top six finish. At the danger of sounding like a “we won the European cup twice” cliche, it is genuinely absolutely disgraceful that in the 21 years I’ve religiously followed this club, they’ve made the play offs 3 times and never ever seriously competed for the top division.

The rhetoric is always “fans have to be realistic” whenever we get fed up of mid table obscurity, but when you see Norwich and Watford get promoted following just 1 season in the championship, like it was some holiday, it makes me question why the hell I even bother.

This football club is a genuine horrendous anomaly. It totally flatters to deceive year after year and yet the following is nothing short of phenomenal and the history is up there with the very best in English football. What will it take for us to be a Norwich or Watford? And I don’t mean “sign this player... appoint this manager”, but to be a club that has the winning mentality that when they get relegated they’re genuine favorites to go up because everybody knows Forest mean business.

Pope made a post earlier about never being on the front foot and he’s so right. Every season we create a reason as to why it’s acceptable that we are constantly on the back foot, not winning matches because the opposition are X, Y, Z - when will we be the opposition that teams have to amend their style for?

I’ll always follow the club because I can’t help it, but frankly, this club doesn’t deserve the members of this forum contributing because they care, nor the thousands that show up home and away with the glimmer of hope that we might try and make the premier league.

I’m willing to bet that over the years around 90% of the suggestions that have been put forward and argued by members of this forum around what it takes for Forest to progress have been tried and failed. ‘Appoint X manager’ ‘sign X player’ ‘try X formation’, ‘recruit this way’, ‘we need experienced pros’, ‘sign via lower leagues’. Yet here we are after 22 years wondering again whether “Hughtons the right man”, whether “we need a huge turnover in playing staff”, which style “we need to implement next season” - it’s a cycle that is tragically familiar and will always continue, but when will it end in success?
Watford also manage it with an insane turnover of managers. Norwich are the reverse of that, but even though I’d also like to see some stability with Hughton, you wonder why they can make it work but we can’t.
 
Watford also manage it with an insane turnover of managers. Norwich are the reverse of that, but even though I’d also like to see some stability with Hughton, you wonder why they can make it work but we can’t.

Watford managed that by finding a loophole with udinese to get up and then parachute payments have done the rest.
 
Watford also manage it with an insane turnover of managers. Norwich are the reverse of that, but even though I’d also like to see some stability with Hughton, you wonder why they can make it work but we can’t.
Watford have a manager turnover that would turn CP's stomach. Yet, that has cost them only once.

Norwich have been on an endless ten year yo-yo scycle between the divisions. They went up in 2010 through sheer momentum after winning league one and have been in and out since then. I don't think they have had a championship season in the last ten years where they didn't have the benefit of some sort of parachute payments.

They don't spend excessively but that kind of finance does give you leeway in plenty of other areas; not sure how many other clubs at this level could have brought over a player of Pukki's pedigree.

Whereas Cantwell is just an outstanding youth product. Thing is, if you keep yo-yoing to the PL you get to keep those players for longer as they get prohibitively expensive for other PL teams to take a risk on
 
I've been supporting a bit longer than you and don't dispute any of your sentiments but you will know deep down that you'll be there at the start of next season, full of hope and dreaming of top six.
In my case the team was nothing great when I started watching so I wasn't spoilt by a good run against decent opposition although I was lucky enough to see the Cup Final win. That is etched in my memory and possibly affects my thinking even today.
Like it or not most of us are hooked good and proper.
See you next season.
We've obviously never met ORF, but you seem to know me too well. I'm sure you are probably correct.