Educated Hick Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 It's because he no longer has to worry about Hannah or Rachel. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
united_forever Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 i reckon he and hannah will get back together that's the twist i'm waiting to read about Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amaroq Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 Spoilers! Spoilers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
united_forever Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Spoilers! Spoilers! </div></BLOCKQUOTE> What did i spoil? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amaroq Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 LoL - no, I've been enjoying The Order of the Stick webcomic, and their forum has a prominent sticky that 'all speculation as to the direction of the story now needs a SPOILER tag'... So, it was a joke, as I'm sure everyone reading is predicting that he'll EITHER get together with hannah, or get together with rachel, so predicting one over the other hardly seems a spoiler. Oof, any joke that needs a two paragraph explanation is no joke at all - help me out, Terk, I need a story update to put this post out of its misery! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Educated Hick Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 OR- Both women could be fed up with him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 10, 2006 Author Share Posted March 10, 2006 bigbad....Rasiak has 21 for the season now, if my counting is correct - so definitely an investment that is paying off. Amaroq, seriously poor form telling a joke that needs such explanation. Shame on you And as for the Hannah/Rachel situation, you'lljust have to wait and see; maybe all three of them get together oh, and page 6 \o/ -------------------------------------- Since Hannah had left, my battle with the bottle had inevitably come back into focus, and it was not one I was winning. As I walked towards my office, bags under my eyes and a smell of alcohol that even I was aware of, eyes stared at me from every direction; I could feel the gossip starting. I ran in the chairman as I reached my office, a scathing look of contempt was all he threw my way, I half expected all afternoon to be called to his office and told to clear out my desk, but perhaps the upturn in results really had placated him enough to keep me on. That evening I had to deal with the F.A. Cup replay against Manchester City, the Premiership side having lost both of their league encounters since last we met. To add a little spice to the tie, it happened to be my 100th competitive match in charge of Forest, a milestone that just a month or so beforehand I had given up hope of reaching. The ground was packed to the rafters, over 30,000 covering every seat in the house as the two full strength teams ran out. The biggest call I felt I had was whether to recall Lassana Diarra or stick with John Viáfara in the holding midfield role. There was no doubt that John had impressed since joining the club, but I still considered Lassana to be my number one in that slot. It was a long, hard decision, one that ate up hours of my day, but in the end Viáfara got the nod and our French loanee had to make do with a tracksuit and a spot on the bench. The fans roared throughout, making noise the like of which I had barely heard outside of Anfield on a European night, and as time passed it was clear for all to see that our players were growing in confidence and stature. With every moment that passed we gained that little bit more control over City, always looking the more likely to score. I thought perhaps it was going to be one of those nights when first Rasiak and then Cole missed clear chances when shooting from just ten yards out, when facing higher opposition it can often haunt you when good chances are missed, but come the forty-third minute, those thoughts were shunted from my mind, Kris Commons’ cross being superbly headed past David James by Momo Sissoko, and the roar by which it was greeted nearly shook the stadium to its very foundations. City began the second half with a little more intent, they forced their only clear sight of goal in the entire game only three minutes after the break; Bradley Wright-Phillips finding Andy Cole with a superb ball but the veteran striker firing his weak shot straight at Rune Pedersen, allowing the Dane a comfortable save when he should have been anything but. As they began to panics more and more, and from the hour mark they could barely control the ball such was their desperation to get it forward, we started to threaten a second goal, and though it didn’t come until there were only six minutes left, there was never a doubt that it would. Eugen Bopp turned out to be the creator, Joe Cole the scorer with a finely placed curling shot, of the goal which sent us once and for all through to the quarter finals of the competition, a round in which we would face Middlesbrough at the Riverside after they overcame Wolves. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Xenon- Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">oh, and page 6 \o/ </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Steady on! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 11, 2006 Author Share Posted March 11, 2006 hey, I don't get to these milestones often, I'm going to celebrate each and every new page that comes along ------------------------------ The gate receipts of nearly three quarters of a million pounds from the Man City game set a new club record, it was perhaps the reason that Nigel was a bit cheerier in the few days between our cup success and the league visit of Preston. The effort of our midweek venture had left us toothless though, fatigue was clearly a factor against the boys from Deepdale, and when Danny Dichio put them in front as the first half drew to a close, I braced myself for defeat. The second half seemed as if our players had accepted that same fate as well, we did little to threaten the Preston goal, and they often came close to plundering a second and killer goal. Pedersen’s smart saves had kept us in it though, and with just a minute of normal time remaining we grabbed what we didn’t deserve, substitute Clint Hill heading home from James Beaumont’s corner and earning us a point. There was little time to rest the players up and get a semblance of control over proceedings before we had to face Q.P.R. in London just three days later. We were though, better than we had been against Preston, and in this case were somewhat unlucky to finish with only a point, but the home side seemed determined not to lose in John Gregory’s first match in charge, and goalkeeper Simon Royce in particular excelled for his new boss. Our best player on the day was Kris Commons, the talented winger had quickly become one of the highest regarded talents in the league, and was more and more vital to our push for a play-off place; the sheer number of good crosses he flung into the box against Q.P.R. would normally have produced a goal, but weak finishing and good goalkeeping conspired to keep his assist count static for another game. It had hardly been the sort of preparation I had wanted for the trip to face Middlesbrough at the other end of the country; to be honest, with it being our fourth game in a mere ten days I was wary from the moment I stepped on the coach on Friday evening. The 4th round Carling Cup defeat of the previous season was still fresh in the minds of many of the players, to say that those who had featured that night were not out for revenge would be a blatant lie. I, on the other hand, had thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, and particularly the press attention surrounding our heroic efforts, and now with a chance to return and the Sky cameras picking up the game live, I have to say I was almost more interested in polishing off my pre-game remarks. Nerves were evident throughout the squad, the chance of a place in the semi finals of the country’s most famous competition was at hand, and few of them handled those nerves well. Yakubu had bagged two against us in November 2004, and he began with similar intentions this time around, putting the home side in front inside six minutes. If I had hoped for a rousing response from my players, I was hugely disappointed, they seemed to go even more into their shell and by the half time whistle, Yakubu had doubled his and his side’s tally. A few home truths were spelt out at half time, to be fair it had become now about avoiding embarrassment, we had really shown nothing to say we had a chance of a dramatic turnaround, and that was confirmed four minutes into the second period when Stewart Downing’s inch perfect corner was headed home by Chris Riggott. It was now a case of playing out time before we could get back on the bus with our tail between our legs, and Yakubu ensured that we left the ground in true pain when he completed his hat-trick, finishing off the scoring on a four-nil win that the Premiership side entirely deserved. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Educated Hick Posted March 11, 2006 Share Posted March 11, 2006 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">all three of them get together </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Yeah, sure, right... Tough luck against Miidleborough- better luck next season. Assuming, of course, that you make it to next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
united_forever Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">quote: all three of them get together Yeah, sure, right... </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Actually that would be very interesting Hard luck in the Boro match better luck next time. Good luck the rest of the story. Keep it up mate Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 14, 2006 Author Share Posted March 14, 2006 cheers, both Bryan, I'll do my best to make it to next season ---------------------------------- â€It’d be stupid to sell any of the first team this far into the season.†“But he’s hardly ever a part of the first team, spends all his time with the physio.†“He’s a talented defender.†“Who never plays.†“It’d still be stupid. We’ll need all the cover we can get for the run in.†“Maybe so, but he never plays. We should take what Reading are offering and run.†Tim and I had been arguing over whether to accept Reading’s bid for Clint Hill for the best part of an hour, neither of us looked likely to shift positions. For the life of me I couldn’t see the point in keeping him at the club, other than to make sure that the physio was always kept busy. Since he had joined in August 2004, Clint had spent twenty-nine weeks unavailable for selection through injury, it was a quite staggering statisitc, and meant that I was always going to let him go to Reading. As it was, Hill made two final appearances in a Forest shirt, alongisde Ryan Nelsen in the centre of defence for the visit of Crewe after James Perch and Danny Cullip were ruled out late on. Momo Sissoko was missing from the line up as well, as with both Perch and Cullip he had a slight ligament strain in his knee and would miss a week or so of action, but we had more than enough talent in the middle of the park to cover for him whilst he was out. The game didn’t start in a particularly entertaining fashion, indeed by half time there had only been two shots on goal, and neither of them on target; it was a Wednesday night game at which most of the crowd were wishing they’d stayed home and watched TV. But the second half got better, though not by much. We took the lead when Crewe ‘keeper Ben Williams fouled Joe Cole in the penalty area and Beaumont side-footed the resultant spot-kick past the yellow-carded goalkeeper, and we sealed the victory in the closing moments, substitute Eugen Bopp arriving on the end of a Yacine Abdessadki cross to score in what was his 100th appearance for the club. After three consecutive draws in the league it was nice to get back that winning feeling, and we travelled in confident mood to Millmoor three days later. Rotherham were hardly having the most stunning of seasons and there were few who would have countenanced our defeat before kick-off. Given the way we played throughout the ninety minutes, that defeat seemed even less likely. But defeat it was to be. Kevin Davies went close to giving us the lead three times in the first half, the young Welsh midfielder was giving his best performance yet in the middle of the park since joining us, but his efforts were to be in vain as Deon Burton grabbed the only goal of the match just after the hour mark, pouncing on a loose ball which had spilled from Rune Pedersen’s grasp. It was twenty four hours after that game that Clint Hill completed his move to Reading, though we also had good news on the squad numbers side of things as well as Liverpool agreed to extend Bolo Zenden’s loan deal until the end of the season. To try and get ourselves back on the winning road, we had to overcome Hull at the City Ground in an encounter that was screened live to the nation. The crowd was a good size for a Sunday game which could also be found from the comfort of your own sofa, and it struck me that this was largely down to the expectation of success that had built up in the twenty months since I’d arrived at the club. The slight slump in form was something I had put down to a chopping and changing of the frontline across the five games in question, mainly through trying to make sure that Rasiak was fit for our cup ties, but I resolved to make sure the Pole was given a good uninterrupted run in the side now as we strived to make sure of our place in the play-offs come the 46th game of the season. Grzegorz had been informed of this intention, and the confidence it flooded into him was clear to see; he hit the crossbar with a rasping shot within forty seconds of the kick-off. It seemed only a matter of time until he opened the scoring, and so it proved as he got on the end of Kris Commons’ cross with fifteen minutes gone, the Hull defence was having a torrid time trying to find a way in which they could contain him. The only way they managed it was by affording space to others, and that came with its own cost as, just past the half hour mark, Commons again swung a deadly ball into the penalty area, and with Rasiak heavily marked, Caldwell broke free at the back post and headed home our second of the day. We could have had more by the end, we probably should have had more by the end, but I was just happy with the win and eager to find out how our rivals had fared in their respective games. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 14, 2006 Author Share Posted March 14, 2006 March 2006 Summary (Championship unless otherwise stated) Nottingham Forest 2 – 0 Manchester City (F.A. Cup 5th Round Replay) (Sissoko 43â€; Cole 84â€) Nottingham Forest 1 – 1 Preston (Dichio 45+2â€; Hill 89â€) Q.P.R. 0 – 0 Nottingham Forest Middlesbrough 4 – 0 Nottingham Forest (F.A. Cup Quarter Final) (Yakubu 6â€, 18â€, 54â€; Riggott 49â€) Nottingham Forest 2 – 0 Crewe (Beaumont pen 49â€; Bopp 90+2) Rotherham 1 – 0 Nottingham Forest (Burton 66â€) Nottingham Forest 2 – 0 Hull (Rasiak 15â€; Caldwell 32â€) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 14, 2006 Author Share Posted March 14, 2006 <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Bolton | | 39 | 25 | 7 | 7 | 84 | 33 | +51 | 82 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | West Brom | | 39 | 24 | 9 | 6 | 73 | 27 | +46 | 81 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Crystal Palace | | 39 | 21 | 12 | 6 | 65 | 37 | +28 | 75 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Nottm Forest | | 39 | 18 | 13 | 8 | 54 | 33 | +21 | 67 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Sheff Utd | | 39 | 17 | 13 | 9 | 60 | 43 | +17 | 64 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Ipswich | | 39 | 18 | 9 | 12 | 54 | 51 | +3 | 63 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Wigan | | 39 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 61 | 43 | +18 | 61 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Reading | | 39 | 16 | 12 | 11 | 55 | 49 | +6 | 60 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Leeds | | 39 | 16 | 11 | 12 | 50 | 46 | +4 | 59 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Wolves | | 39 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 43 | 39 | +4 | 58 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Gillingham | | 39 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 56 | 55 | +1 | 57 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Watford | | 39 | 16 | 7 | 16 | 59 | 56 | +3 | 55 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Stoke | | 39 | 13 | 15 | 11 | 42 | 38 | +4 | 54 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Crewe | | 39 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 40 | 44 | -4 | 51 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Preston | | 39 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 61 | 63 | -2 | 46 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Brighton | | 39 | 13 | 7 | 19 | 53 | 68 | -15 | 46 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Burnley | | 39 | 12 | 9 | 18 | 59 | 66 | -7 | 45 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Cardiff | | 39 | 11 | 11 | 17 | 41 | 54 | -13 | 44 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Hull | | 39 | 8 | 17 | 14 | 35 | 46 | -11 | 41 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Rotherham | | 39 | 9 | 12 | 18 | 34 | 61 | -27 | 39 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21st | | Derby | | 39 | 9 | 10 | 20 | 51 | 66 | -15 | 37 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22nd | | Leicester | | 39 | 9 | 5 | 25 | 41 | 70 | -29 | 32 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 23rd | | Q.P.R. | | 39 | 7 | 9 | 23 | 32 | 72 | -40 | 30 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 24th | | Luton | | 39 | 7 | 7 | 25 | 32 | 75 | -43 | 28 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
axeman Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Looks like a tense little run until the end of season Terk Good luck and KUTGW Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 15, 2006 Author Share Posted March 15, 2006 Indeed so, but we've only ourselves to blame for not being more secure. Our poor form in December has really thrown us right into this ----------------------------- With six days separating our encounters with Hull and Cardiff, there was plenty of time to ensure that Rasiak was rested up enough in order to start the game in the Welsh capital. Having taken a blow in the very first minute of the game when Caldwell had to limp off with a twisted ankle, I was delighted with the lads’ reaction, Rasiak showing why he was my number one striker with another goal to put us in front. We should have gone on from there and won the game comfortably – we easily had enough chances to do so – but an inability to finish once Rasiak had departed with twenty five minutes remaining cost us dearly as Julian Gray’s penalty after eighty minutes stole a share of the points. Caldwell’s ankle knock would require three weeks of treatment before he was fit and able to take the field again, and Nelsen came in to partner Cullip in the heart of defence against Watford at the City Ground. Having missed the tie in Cardiff through a bit of fatigue, Joe Cole was raring and ready to go on his return, and his contribution couldn’t have been better. It took a while to break down the Watford defence, they had clearly come with the intention of leaving with a draw, but once we did there was no question of the destiny of the three points. We had looked the better side since the start, and it was no surprise when Rasiak’s twenty-ninth minute cross was headed home by the diminutive Cole and his second soon afterwards – latching onto a Viáfara through ball – gave us the kind of cushion we needed to feel comfortable. There was a buoyant mood in the changing room at half time and little needed to be said. Watford were a side struggling for confidence, the media stories of board disquiet were clearly having their effects on manager Ray Lewington; he looked more nervous than anyone I’d ever seen. It again took a while to break down the stubborn visiting defence, but this time their spirit was truly broken when Sissoko converted another Rasiak cross, confirming our superiority. I had expected us to simply coast to the end of the game after that, there were only just over twenty minutes remaining when Momo scored, but instead we went up a gear and were four up when Rasiak netted. A defensive mix-up let Watford claim a little bit of respect from the match, Hameur Bouazza toe-poking the ball over the line, but any thought of damage limitation was blown out of the water by late goals from a Commons free kick and the completion of Cole’s hat-trick, again benefiting from Viáfara’s creativity. Cole’s feat was even more impressive given the fact that he had twisted a knee in the early part of the first half, I had even thought about substituting him at the time, and it was decided to give him a week off to rest and hope the slight swelling reduced – it meant that he would miss the Wolves game the following weekend. I had more on my mind at the time though, our six goal stunner over Watford had brought about the sacking of Ray Lewington. With the club sitting in 13th and without a win in their last four games (of which they’d lost three) the hierarchy decided it was time to part company with their manager, and whenever that happens it just goes to remind you how precarious this game can be. The game against Wolves that Cole missed saw Bakke partner Sissoko and Viáfara in the middle of the park and it was another game in which we were easily the better side yet came away with nothing (well, a point) for our troubles. We had forced Paul Jones, the home ‘keeper, into a string of saves throughout the ninety minutes whereas Pedersen had barely needed to take the field, yet the veteran Wolves man was at his imperious best and frustrated us from first to last. With a mere four games remaining now in the league season, the race for the final three play-off places looked now between four teams. We sat high in fourth, a goal difference of plus twenty-six the best of those involved in the battle, and four points clear of seventh placed Wigan. Sheffield United and Ipswich sat on seventy points each in fifth and sixth, and with games against the high flying Bolton and then Sheffield United coming up next four us, we still had a lot of work to do. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Educated Hick Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Well, at least your team is doing better...but for how long? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 15, 2006 Author Share Posted March 15, 2006 you have such little faith in me, Bryan -------------------------------- Bolton came to the City Ground as league leaders, but by the time they left on Tuesday night, they no longer held that illustrious position. Having been thoroughly battered by the former Premiership side at the Reebok Stadium, a result which threw us into our month of poor form, I was more than a little apprehensive about their visit. And I was made more so on the morning of the game as Rasiak stubbed his toe, meaning Neil Mellor would have to start, Massimo Maccarone’s loan having finished. To be honest, I was surprised by Bolton’s lack of cohesion throughout the game, perhaps it was the pressure of going for the title that finally got to them, but they looked like a side who hadn’t won in months rather than one pushing for an immediate return to the land’s top league. As much as I would have liked it to though, that didn’t necessarily go hand in hand with us winning the game, and we had to work hard to claim our eventual win. Given that Neil Mellor had been struggling to make an impact in the game, I wasn’t too unhappy when a dead leg forced him off early in the second half, even if that did mean that an only partially fit Rasiak had to lead the line. It has to be said though that a half fit Rasiak is better than many other strikers in the Championship when they’re at the top of their game, and he proved just that with the only goal of the game just after the hour mark, converting the cross that man of the match Bolo Zenden placed perfectly on his forehead. Our win over Bolton had enabled West Brom to leapfrog them and take the league’s top spot, and had also provided us with a handy seven point cushion over Wigan after their defeat in Cardiff. Indeed, we were the only one of the four play-off chasers to score a win in the forty-third round of games, Ipswich’s draw with Leicester providing them with the only other points taken from the four respective games. What that meant in real terms was the a mere one win out of our three remaining games (against Sheffield United, Leeds and Leicester) would be good enough to book us a place in the promotion play-offs, and indeed would more than likely cement us in fourth place. The first chance to score that win came at Bramall Lane; Sheffield United’s involvement in the race for the play-offs meant that they were possibly going to be the toughest challenge we faced out of our three remaining games. Rasiak regained his starting place, and after having missed the win over Bolton with his knee injury as well, Joe Cole was back alongside Sissoko in the centre with Bakke moving out to the right and Bopp dropping to the bench. Having started the game so well – Kris Commons lashed a free kick into the top corner of Neil Alexander’s net with just four minutes on the clock – it could well be said I was livid that we trailed at half time, both Ian Ross’ and Neil Shipperly’s goals had been soft from our point of view as our usually resolute defence sprung an all-too-visible leak. The importance of the game didn’t need to be restated during the break, the hanging heads of the players told me that they knew exactly what the match meant to our season. A few encouraging words were whispered in the most needing of ears, and after an initially unsure period in the first few minutes of the second half, during which we could have easily fallen a further goal behind, we started to exert some measure of control on proceedings. By the time the equalising goal came around it seemed inevitable that it would arrive at some point, such was our dominance over the home side. It was Joe Cole’s defence-splitting pass which brought it about, John Viáfara racing into the penalty area and lofting a deft chip over Alexander to finish the move off in the way it deserved. The confidence with which the side was now playing filled me with pride, but not as much as it did when Eirik Bakke put us in front and Sissoko sealed the win with a crisp header from Lassana Diarra’s cross. With now seven points separating us and Ipswich in fifth, we could not fall any lower in the table, and the six point gap above us meant that we were unlikely to finish any higher either. There was almost a part-like feel to our final home game of the regular season. Leeds were the visitors to the City Ground, and over 30,000 fans had packed themselves in for a game that meant little in the grand scale of things. With our place in the league all but decided and play-off games to look forward to, the fans were in buoyant mood, probably remembering two years back when they had just been relegated from the very league they now sat near the top of. Their mood wasn’t hurt when Commons thumped in his third goal in five games, though the first not to come from a free kick; this time he cut in from the left to connect a first time shot with Momo Sissoko’s pass and watch it rocket into the top corner. There was to be no repeat of our mini-collapse in Sheffield either, Rasiak’s conversion of Bopp’s cross had us two up and coasting at the break. Another Rasiak goal, this time after good work from Commons stuck us three in front, and the day was rounded off in fantastic fashion with Cole rifling home a stunning half volley in the seventy-fifth minute. The 1st XI were not the only Nottingham Forest side seeing success come their way that season though. The U-18s had been in contention for their league title all through the campaign, and had worked themselves into the situation whereby if they beat Boston at the City Ground twenty-fours hours after we had faced Leeds there, then they would lift the league trophy high into the sky. I had arranged for the entire first team squad to come and watch from the stands, and they had plenty to cheer as Lewis McGugan and Liam Campbell scored the goals which saw at least them home to an unassailable position with still one more game to play. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 15, 2006 Author Share Posted March 15, 2006 April 2006 Summary (Championship unless otherwise stated) Cardiff 1 – 1 Nottingham Forest (Rasiak 5â€; Gray pen 80â€) Nottingham Forest 5 – 1 Watford (Cole 29â€, 36â€, 88â€; Sissoko 67â€; Rasiak 74â€; Bouazza 77â€; Commons 84â€) Wolves 0 – 0 Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest 1 – 0 Bolton (Rasiak 62â€) Sheffield United 2 – 4 Nottingham Forest (Commons 4â€; Ross 33â€; Shipperly 37â€; Viáfara 59â€; Bakke 72â€; Sissoko 80â€) Nottingham Forest 4 – 0 Leeds (Commons 13â€; Rasiak 40â€, 54â€; Cole 75â€) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
united_forever Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Looks like it might be premier league next season Good luck my friend Keep it up Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Educated Hick Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Did ya have to go and prove me wrong? Your side seems to be clicking..good luck in the Premier push. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 17, 2006 Author Share Posted March 17, 2006 cheers, u_f I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the Premiership. And just to comfort you, Bryan, I thoroughly enjoyed proving you wrong --------------------------------------- Momo Sissoko had been named young player of the month for April and he carried the confidence of that accolade into our final match with Leicester at the Walkers Stadium. The home side needed a victory to stand any chance of retaining their Championship status, and they began in fierce fashion, our old boy Robbie Blake thumping in the opening goal. Sissoko was having none of it though, and within three minutes had us back level. We were determined to finish the season on a high and go into the play-offs full of confidence, and by half time Sissoko had nabbed a second to put us in front. We were the better side during the second half as well, Leicester seemed to have accepted their fate even despite the sending off of Danny Cullip with thirteen minutes remaining. Our win was sealed with two goals in the final quarter of the match, our two star performers in the campaign Rasiak and Cole both netting from outside the box. The draw for the semi finals of the Championship play-offs saw Sheffield United face Crystal Palace whilst we travelled to meet Ipswich at Portman Road in the first leg. With Cullip suspended and Bakke injured, Caldwell and Bopp were named in the starting line-up. It was a fantastically hot Sunday afternoon and the 30,000+ were rather vocal in their support of the home side. What we had first to do was silence that crowd, and the best way to achieve that was by sticking the ball in the back of the net. We had a clear chance in the first ten minutes, Rasiak headed against the bar from Sissoko’s corner, but that was soon made to matter little when Bopp’s deep cross was nudged over the line at the back post by Joe Cole. Ipswich’s problems grew when Nicky Forster was forced off injured, and by half time we sat prettier than we ever thought we could, Rasiak netting after Sissoko’s shot was parried, and the Pole striking again when played through by Cole just a minute before the break. The home side grabbed themselves a lifeline when Darren Wrack converted from the penalty spot after Caldwell had thought it best to block a shot with his hand. In reality there was little chance of them ever working back onto level terms though, and we reinstated our three goal advantage through another spot kick, scored by Bolo Zenden, after goalkeeper Matt Murray pushed Neil Mellor from a corner. What was a fantastic day was made into an unbelievable one when, a minute into injury time, young substitute full back Alan Morgan crossed for Sissoko to send the ball over the line via his shin. The second leg was always going to be a quiet affair after the stunning nature of the first, there was no way we were going to let Ipswich get an early goal and some measure of confidence of a potential comeback. The boys were instructed to go out and keep things tight, take opportunities if they come along but don’t go overboard in attack, always make sure we kept our shape. We had tried to rest a few players, more out of fear of injuring them more than anything else. Neil Mellor was one of those given the chance to start, and he took advantage of it deep in first half injury time when he was sent clear by Lassana Diarra and fired low and hard past Matt Murray. That left Ipswich with five goals to bag in the second half, a feat that was never going to be achieved, and though they threatened throughout, thanks once again to the talents of Rune Pedersen they managed not even one. A place in the play-off final had been secured, it was now just a matter of who we would face. After the first leg at Bramall Lane, in which Marco Reich had given Crystal Palace an aggregate lead with the only goal of the game, I was expecting that we would be facing the Londoners at the new Wembley stadium. That view was reinforced when Ian Ross was sent off by referee Phil Prosser just ten minutes into the second leg, but once he evened up the numbers by red-carding Fitz Hall halfway through the first period, there was a better chance for the visitors. It was a chance they took in the second half, David Unsworth levelling the aggregate scores from the penalty spot and two minutes into injury time, extra time was spared when Neil Shipperly netted, putting the Blades through to meet us in the final. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 17, 2006 Author Share Posted March 17, 2006 Nottingham Forest vs Sheffield United Championship Play-Off Final Sunday 28th May 2006 Wembley (89,981) Teams: NF: R. Pedersen ©; J. Perch, D. Cullip, R. Nelsen, J. Stewart; E. Bopp, J. Cole, J. Viáfara, M. Sissoko, K. Commons; G. Rasiak (Substitutes: N. Mellor, P. Gerrard, A. Morgan, E. Bakke, B. Zenden) SU: P. Kenny; D. Geary, C. Morgan ©, D. Unsworth, T. Binnion; S. Thornton, G. Mahon, K. Hurst, A. Quinn; N. Shipperly, G. Mulligan (Substitutes: N. Alexander, P. Shaw, H. Haidong, J. Forte, L. Bromby) -- With Caldwell’s loan having finished the day before the final and Diarra away on international duty with the French U-21 side, the team had pretty much picked itself. Having beaten United on their own patch in the closing stages of the season with much the same team who took to the field at Wembley, I was confident that we could book our place in the Premiership, even considering the difficulty we’d had at stages during the game at Bramall Lane. As in all these games, the opening stages were nervy and full of mistakes. With such a pot of gold waiting just ninety minutes away, the players were clearly having trouble finding their feet. Unfortunately for us, it was the Blades who seemed to get a grasp on the situation first. And as soon as they had a foothold in the game, they wasted no time in making their advantage count. When Cole gave away possession in the centre circle, Mahon lofted a quick ball into the penalty area and Thornton struck a first time shot underneath Pedersen to open the scoring. Considering the talent we had on show and the form they’d been in over the previous month, I was more than confident we’d work our way back into the game at some point. It was taking some time though, and United looked far more likely to extend their lead than we did to eradicate it. Mulligan came closest to doubling Sheffield’s lead when he cracked a shot off the crossbar, whilst the nearest we came was a twenty-five yard shot from Commons which flew a good five feet over the cross bar. In the changing room at half time it became clear that Rasiak would be unable to return to the field, a knock he’d taken late on in the half turned out to have left him with strained medial ligaments and with an ice pack strapped to his knee took his place on the bench. Mellor came on for him in a straight swap, and I got an overwhelming sense that this was simply not going to be our day. My insistence that things would come good was looking more and more ridiculous as time went on; we simply could not fashion a clear chance on goal nor hold onto the ball for more than five passes at a time. The only strange thing was that we didn’t fall further behind, the one area of our game which did seem to work well was the defence, though there were still times when they were caught short and Pedersen had to be alert to keep us in with any chance of rescuing the game. Sadly, that chance was never taken, and by the time the final whistle came around, it was pretty clear that we weren’t going to grab a late equaliser. We seemed to retract deeper and deeper into our shells as time ticked towards the inevitable and the result really should have been put beyond doubt with a mere three minutes remaining, but Alan Quinn managed to spoon his shot over the bar from five yards out when faced with an open goal. That we had lost was disappointing enough, that we had done so without a fight was nothing other than infuriating. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 17, 2006 Author Share Posted March 17, 2006 May 2006 Summary (Championship unless otherwise stated) Leicester 1 – 4 Nottingham Forest (Blake 6â€; Sissoko 9â€, 22â€; Rasiak 70â€; Cullip s/off 77â€; Cole 87â€) Ipswich 1 – 5 Nottingham Forest (Play-off Semi Final 1st leg) (Cole 13â€; Rasiak 21â€, 44â€; Wrack pen 50â€; Zenden pen 73â€; Sissoko 90+1â€) Nottingham Forest 1 – 0 Ipswich (Play-off Semi Final 2nd leg) (Mellor 45+3â€) (Nottingham Forest win 6 – 1 on aggregate) Nottingham Forest 0 – 1 Sheffield United (Play-off Final) (Thornton 14â€) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 17, 2006 Author Share Posted March 17, 2006 <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | West Brom | | 46 | 29 | 11 | 6 | 89 | 34 | +55 | 98 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | P | Bolton | | 46 | 29 | 8 | 9 | 90 | 36 | +54 | 95 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Crystal Palace | | 46 | 25 | 13 | 8 | 81 | 46 | +35 | 88 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Nottm Forest | | 46 | 23 | 15 | 8 | 74 | 38 | +36 | 84 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Ipswich | | 46 | 21 | 11 | 14 | 68 | 63 | +5 | 74 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | P | Sheff Utd | | 46 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 69 | 54 | +15 | 73 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Wigan | | 46 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 69 | 52 | +17 | 72 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Wolves | | 46 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 54 | 45 | +9 | 72 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Stoke | | 46 | 17 | 17 | 12 | 52 | 44 | +8 | 68 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Leeds | | 46 | 18 | 13 | 15 | 55 | 54 | +1 | 67 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Reading | | 46 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 60 | 60 | 0 | 63 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Crewe | | 46 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 51 | 52 | -1 | 63 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Gillingham | | 46 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 60 | 65 | -5 | 60 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Brighton | | 46 | 17 | 8 | 21 | 69 | 82 | -13 | 59 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Watford | | 46 | 16 | 10 | 20 | 63 | 70 | -7 | 58 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Hull | | 46 | 13 | 18 | 15 | 47 | 52 | -5 | 57 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Burnley | | 46 | 14 | 10 | 22 | 64 | 75 | -11 | 52 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Derby | | 46 | 12 | 12 | 22 | 62 | 72 | -10 | 48 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Cardiff | | 46 | 11 | 15 | 20 | 48 | 68 | -20 | 48 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Preston | | 46 | 11 | 14 | 21 | 66 | 77 | -11 | 47 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21st | | Rotherham | | 46 | 9 | 15 | 22 | 35 | 68 | -33 | 42 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22nd | R | Leicester | | 46 | 10 | 9 | 27 | 49 | 82 | -33 | 39 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 23rd | R | Q.P.R. | | 46 | 8 | 14 | 24 | 41 | 80 | -39 | 38 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 24th | R | Luton | | 46 | 9 | 9 | 28 | 46 | 93 | -47 | 36 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 17, 2006 Author Share Posted March 17, 2006 <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pkd | Inf | Name | Apps | Gls | Ast | MoM | Pas | Tck | Drb | Sh T | Av Rat| | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Paul Gerrard | 6 (1) | - | - | - | 54% | - | - | - | 7.00 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Rune Pedersen | 52 | - | - | 4 | 53% | - | 0.02 | - | 7.37 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Danny Cullip | 23 (2) | - | 3 | - | 74% | 1.66 | 0.31 | - | 7.00 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Ryan Nelsen | 37 (1) | 1 | 2 | - | 74% | 1.82 | 0.16 | 15% | 7.13 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Trn | Nicky Eaden | 35 | - | - | 1 | 71% | 3.54 | 0.34 | - | 7.23 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | James Perch | 21 (4) | - | - | 1 | 70% | 2.94 | 0.46 | - | 7.40 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Unh | Wes Morgan | 5 (2) | - | 1 | - | 76% | 1.67 | - | - | 6.86 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Chris Powell | 17 | - | - | - | 74% | 2.08 | 0.63 | - | 7.12 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | John Eduis Viáfara | 18 (2) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 76% | 3.55 | 0.97 | 63% | 7.80 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Yacine Abdessadki | 11 (8) | - | 4 | - | 73% | 2.07 | 2.37 | 27% | 7.05 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Jordan Stewart | 41 (1) | - | 1 | - | 77% | 2.83 | 0.73 | - | 7.19 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Trn | Gary Holt | 15 (4) | 2 | - | - | 82% | 3.33 | 0.31 | - | 7.53 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Lassana Diarra | 28 (5) | - | 2 | 1 | 80% | 2.29 | 0.64 | 41% | 7.24 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | David Friio | 15 (3) | 6 | 2 | 2 | 88% | 0.71 | 0.32 | 34% | 7.33 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | James Beaumont | 14 (4) | 2 | 5 | - | 83% | 1.41 | 0.59 | 44% | 7.06 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Lst | Joe Cole | 35 (1) | 11 | 8 | 8 | 82% | 2.40 | 1.28 | 34% | 7.81 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Eirik Bakke | 24 (11) | 6 | 5 | 1 | 79% | 2.00 | 1.88 | 43% | 7.17 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Eugen Bopp | 30 (7) | 3 | 13 | 3 | 79% | 1.85 | 1.49 | 32% | 7.14 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Kris Commons | 39 (2) | 3 | 14 | 4 | 77% | 1.99 | 4.25 | 42% | 7.56 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Boudewijn Zenden | 20 (6) | 6 | 11 | 6 | 81% | 1.90 | 4.17 | 56% | 7.58 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Mohamed Sissoko | 23 (4) | 10 | 7 | 3 | 84% | 1.83 | 1.25 | 53% | 7.52 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Kevin Davies | 5 (4) | - | - | 1 | 87% | 0.84 | 1.01 | 40% | 7.33 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Grzegorz Rasiak | 41 (5) | 31 | 7 | 4 | 87% | 0.43 | 1.16 | 60% | 7.41 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Neil Mellor | 13 (11) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 84% | 0.45 | 0.97 | 50% | 7.17 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
will_coleridge Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 You must feel absolutely gutted!! I remember I had Southend in the autos whole season, last day, draw and go 3rd, and lost playoff semi!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 19, 2006 Author Share Posted March 19, 2006 Damn right, I was truly gutted. Especially given the fact that we had beaten United just a few weeks earlier. Performing so poorly was a real shock ----------------------------------- â€Obviously we’re disappointed, Stephen, there’s no point denying that. Promotion this season wasn’t in our wildest dreams, but once you get into that situation, it’s always going to be disappointing when it doesn’t come off. I’ll be watching Match of the Day with a jealous eye next season.†“You’re not the only one.†“Since you came in, however, we’ve been delighted with the progress the club has made. We’re doing far better financially and on the pitch we’re well ahead of where we expected to be. But we can’t rest on our laurels, if we’re to move forward we need to push for promotion next season.†-- My end of season review had gone better than I’d expected it to, I’d once again managed to convince myself that the chairman, Nigel Doughty, was going to use the play-off final defeat as an excuse to show me the door, but we seemed to have found a way to co-exist that simply required us to ignore each other as much as possible. I’d once plucked up the courage to ask him where Hannah was living, told briskly in reply that she had transferred to a BBC Radio job in London and was happily staying there now, any more I was scared to ask. I decided against going away for a holiday, without Hannah I felt I would just get even more morose, and with my scouts sent to the World Cup, I made the choice to stay home and watch it on my new TV. To be honest, with a transfer budget for the coming season of £3,000,000, I felt we were unlikely to be able to tempt any players who had impressed on the world stage to the City Ground, I was more concerned with how Eirik Bakke, John Viáfara, Momo Sissoko and Yacine Abdessadki fared in their respective squads’ efforts. The reality was, in the most part, not too well. Neither Norway, Mali or Morocco made it out of their group stages, but John Viáfara and his Colombian team-mates were the surprise package of the tournament. Winning their group allowed them a quarter final against the US, a game they won comfortably and progressed through a quarter final meeting with the Netherlands. They were expected by everyone to fall at the semi final stage, but dispensed quite easily with Argentina, whilst Germany scuppered an all South American final, getting their own back for the 2002 competition by sneaking a win over Brazil. The final was a drab affair, and one which finally saw Colombia come unstuck, falling to the host nation by a comprehensive 3-0 scoreline. My summer was spent more though with bringing in a lot more squad strength. Having had St. Johnstone midfielder Ryan Stevenson watched up close, it was decided to make a move for the twenty-one year old; the fee a mere £170,00. A few contracts were up for renewal, neither Paul Gerrard nor Chris Powell even entered my considerations for new deals, but Danny Cullip was offered one more year if he agreed to a thirty percent pay cut. Another who we had been keeping an eye on was Torquay’s Liam Coleman. The striker had netted twenty-nine goals in the past two seasons, and it had become public knowledge that a minimum fee release clause in his contract would allow him to leave for just £180,000. It was an amount of money that I was quite happy to pay and the 22 year old twice capped England U-21 forward became the latest player paraded in a Forest shirt. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 19, 2006 Author Share Posted March 19, 2006 The hardest conversation I had to have was with youngsters Paddy Gamble, Lewis McGugan and Felix Bastian. The three had been part of the U-18 league winning side, but now at an age where they could sign professional contracts, we had taken the view that their performances had not merited such. It was a tough choice no doubt, and seeing the looks on their faces when they were told that they were being let go was heartbreaking, but with a new raft of talent coming through the doors of the academy each year, it was a move we had to make. Relegated Leicester had to move some of the weight from their wage bill, and I was only too happy to take Icelandic defensive midfielder Joey Gudjonsson off their hands. With a small £50,000 price tag and twenty-nine caps of international experience, he was exactly what I was looking for to back up John Viáfara and Lassana Diarra, who would join on loan from Chelsea for the third consecutive season. A strong midfield, especially with my penchant for fielding five of them in a game, was something that had become central to my plans, and another four were brought in before the beginning of the season. Jackie McNamara, who was also just as comfortable at right back as he was in the centre of the park, cost £200,000 from Wolves and the pre-arranged transfer of Iñigo Idiákez from Derby was completed. A couple of Scots finished off my midfield strengthening, Kevin Thomson joined from relegated Hibs whilst Dundee United’s winger Barry Robson came in as back up to the ever impressive Kris Commons. On the way out of the club were Nicky Eaden, Gary Holt and Danny Cullip – his rejection of my contract offer had hardly been surprising – who had between them amassed 174 appearances during my two years at the club. Losing that kind of experience was bound to be a shock to the system of the team, but I was more than confident in the players coming in. My signings were completed with the arrivals of Belgian goalkeeper Geert De Vlieger on a free transfer from Manchester City, George McCartney on a three month loan from Sunderland and another free transfer, Zambian striker Collins Mbesuma who had surprisingly been released by Portsmouth. In all, I was happy with the squad that had been collected at the club, in fact if anything I now felt we had a few too many bodies on board, and with the prospect of a long, hard season ahead to take my mind of anything having to do with real life, I was beginning to feel that excitement once more. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzazzah Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 One of the best stories ever terk. I caught up kind of late but I'm really impressed with what you did with the club. Sucks what happened in the prmotion final. But don't get discouraged I'm sure and I'm waiting to see If you get prmotion this year! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian of Nazareth Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 ouch on the play-offs dude Seemed to be a shoe in for promotion there. Ah well - better luck next time around - might need to wave that magic 'loan wand' again Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 20, 2006 Author Share Posted March 20, 2006 Cheers, BoN No Joe Cole this season unfortunately He was sold off to Celtic for about £6M (a little bit out of Forest's price range) but the loan wand's come out a couple of times. We'll just have to wait and see if its produced its magic again ----------------------------------------------- The pre-season friendlies got underway in quiet fashion with a game between the 1st XI and the reserve side, for which a surprising 3,000 fans turned up. The new lads were thrown together in the first team, and I was more than a little surprised that it was Barry Robson – the summer signing of which I had been most dubious – who was the star man of them. All four of the goals that the 1st XI scored without reply were set up by the little winger, and three of them were netted by Welsh midfielder Kevin Davies. Collins Mbesuma snatched the fourth, a fierce volley from twelve yards out, and all in all it proved to be a good run out to get the lads back into the swing of things. Before a televised friendly with Arsenal, Yacine Abdessakdi was allowed to speak to Leeds. With the raft of new faces in, Yacine had very much dropped to the fringes of my plans, and though the £230,000 Leeds were offering wasn’t riches, it would be nice to see his wages off the bill. Over 30,000 fans packed the stands for the visit of Arsenal and for forty-five minutes at least, they were treated to the sight of us outplaying the Premiership stars, picking our way around them with ease and creates a plethora of chances. That we only took one of them, James Beaumont’s spectacular effort in the second minute of first half injury time, was most likely our undoing in the end as we trudged off at full time having had the tables turned on us via a goal each from Freddie Ljungberg and Arturo Lupoli, but there was no doubt that we could stand proud about our efforts of the day. -- â€Your lads did well out there, Stephen.†Arsenal’s Vice-Chairman David Dein had insisted on coming up to my office after the game. â€I don’t think there’s anybody in the game who’s not been impressed with what you’ve done here. It’ll be wonderful to have Forest back in the Premiership one day.†“Next season. Mark my words.†“I don’t doubt it.†The chat had been strange to say the least, he’d been effusive in his praise, but with seemingly little point to being there. The nicer side of football was all I could guess at, certainly I knew that he then went on to spend the best part of two hours enjoying a glass of wine or two in the company of my own chairman, and it was nice to hear that he was impressed with what we were putting together. The chequebook came out once more before the season proper got underway, though as we had become accustomed to, it was only to finance a loan deal. Florent Sinama-Pongolle had found himself continually frozen out of the picture at Anfield and his career in England had somewhat failed to ignite. With thirty-three U-21 caps under his belt though, he could certainly argue to be very experienced for a twenty-one year old, and I was delighted to have captured him for the season. I’d decided to begin the campaign with the 3-5-2 we fielded against Arsenal, hence why the fourth striker was needed, and I was already getting a good feeling about the campaign ahead. We had two friendlies remaining before the league began, a home game against West Brom went very nicely indeed, Eirik Bakke scoring both in a two-nil success, though losing by the same scoreline at Aston Villa was a lot less satisfying. Overall though, with our new found status as favourites for the title, I was happy with the way pre-season had gone; we’d been given three tough run outs and come through them unscathed with pride in tact. The competitive action simply couldn’t come quickly enough. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Educated Hick Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 Setting up a move to London eh? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 27, 2006 Author Share Posted March 27, 2006 Stranger things have happened, Bryan ----------------------------------- Our season began in Coventry, and nearly 32,000 fans turned up on a sun-scorched August afternoon to witness their side’s bow into the new campaign. It was the sort of day that should grace the opening of the football season, bright sunshine blinding many of the fans in the ground and an air temperature of well above 20°C, and there was a regular flow of players coming to the sidelines for a quick drink of water at a break in play. With so many players both in and out of the club over the summer months – I was quickly learning that such was life in the lower divisions – there were bound to be periods of the match where we lacked cohesion, but by and large I was thoroughly happy with our efforts, especially considering that we sat back on the bus in the warm early evening with three points to carry with us. Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Grzegorz Rasiak were chosen as the starting pair up front with Collins Mbesuma warming the bench – something he did for most of the match, only getting on for Sinama in the final ten minutes – and Liam Coleman had to make do with a place in his armchair at home, watching proceedings on T.V.. Any such decisions early in a season will come under scrutiny if they prove to be wrong, but thankfully Rasiak and Sinama were fantastic throughout, making it that bit less likely that I’d have to deal with moans from their fellow frontmen in the following days. Sinama, in particular, caused endless problems with his blistering pace, and he showed his wonderful finishing ability as early as the eighth minute when, played clear by Eugen Bopp, he thundered a shot past Danny Coyne to give us the lead. There was no doubt that we were the better side throughout the game, with Kevin Davies in particular impressive in running the midfield, so it was perhaps a surprise that we had to wait until second half injury time for the clincher, our young Welshman crossing a ball for Rasiak to head in his first of what I was sure would be many goals this season. We had only three days to wait after the Coventry game to make our home debut for the campaign, Crewe the visitors as five players came into the starting line up to make their respective debuts. It was clearly this large scale change which produced the uncertainty in our ranks, we looked like we didn’t know one another, and that was indeed the case for many of those out on the field. We did force a few chances on goal before the final whistle sounded on the draw, but Liam Coleman had quite obviously misplaced his shooting boots and merely succeeded in providing three easy saves for visiting ‘keeper Ben Williams. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 Terk, I was gutted when I caught up with this and found out that Forest had failed in the playoff final. This season you need to grind the other teams into the dirt and set up automatic promotion a la Reading irl. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted March 28, 2006 Author Share Posted March 28, 2006 I can assure you I was non-too-amused either, Spav Automatic promotion is definitely the target this time around. ----------------------------- It hadn’t been much of a call to bring Kris Commons back in to replace debutant Barry Robson, even though the Scotsman had far from disgraced himself in his first outing, and the fact that he had suffered a chest injury in training was pretty much moot as I knew that whenever fit, Commons would be my left-hand man. Unfortunately, the plans I had for him to torment the Barnsley defence were thrown out of the window just fourteen minutes when he hobbled off with a badly gashed leg and Kevin Davies was forced into playing as a makeshift winger. As it actually turned out, Rasiak took it upon himself to move out left on a number of occasions and try to launch attacks from there, and it was his pinpoint cross from the by-line which Eugen Bopp headed past Carlo Nash to open the scoring in our favour. We just about managed to hold onto that until the break as Barnsley came at us, exploiting our apparent weakness on the flank, and a reshuffle was called for at the break. It was an easy enough call to make, switching from the 4-4-2 with which we had started to a 3-5-2. Diarra dropped into a centre back role with James Perch and Jordan Stewart pushed up as wingbacks, Bopp, Idiákez and Davies a central trio and Rasiak and Pongolle up front. What pleased me even more though was that it worked. Stewart seemed to come alive given the responsibility to bomb forward, and it was from his wonderful cross just after the hour that we doubled our advantage, Idiákez volleying in at the far post. The win seemed tied up now, especially with Stewart causing endless problems for the Barnsley defence, but I only breathed truly easily once we had netted the third. It was Stewart’s corner which caused chaos in the Barnsley defence and the referee picked up on a clear shove by Neil Austin on Diarra as the Frenchman went to head the ball. The penalty awarded, Ryan Nelsen stepped up and thumped it into the back of the net for a win which, from a managerial point of view, was one of my most satisfying yet. With both Commons and Robson missing from the line-up for the visit of Ipswich, we stuck with the formation which had begun the Barnsley game, Stewart moving up into the vacant left wing slot and George McCartney replacing him at full back. The efforts of the weekend’s game at Oakwell seemed still to be with us though, as just three days later we could barely register enough to shake Ipswich from their comfort zone. The only thing that spared us was that neither could Ipswich find much in the way of quality attacking. There was no doubt that they were the better side, they created two clear chances to our complete absence of such, but the fact that they both fell to centre back Jason De Vos was probably the factor that decided the draw, the big Canadian headed one effort straight at Pedersen whilst putting another a clear foot wide of the post from only six yards out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy Stokes Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 Just read the whole 7 pages in one go Terk and loving it . Hope you get the second automatic promotion spot ( Ipswich will win the league of course ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
united_forever Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 Terk mate...just caught up, terrible news about the playoff final. i really thought you were going up. good luck this season mate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted April 1, 2006 Author Share Posted April 1, 2006 Cheers, Sammy That's some dedication to read seven pages in one go. Well done, sir. And u_f, you're not the only one who thought we were going up, I was stunned to say the least. ----------------------------------- The night after drawing our second home game of the season, I settled down in front of the T.V. to watch Sheffield United’s first televised Premiership match. Having lost to Chelsea (far from a disgrace) on the opening day of the season, they now faced Aston Villa on their home patch, and I was jealous to the extreme as they kicked off. Villa did me every favour they could though, and by full time I was far happier, having watched the Birmingham side net three times to United’s once, and even that was a consolation deep in injury time. Seeing them relegated in comedic fashion would be about the only thing that could make up for having lost in the play-off final. David Friio’s time at the club came to an end before we faced Reading at the City Ground, joining Boston United on loan for three months, and no matter how he performed there, I couldn’t see him forcing his way back into my first team again. Having drawn our first two home games, without scoring or conceding, we were determined to get a positive result on the board. Florent Sinama-Pongolle had caused problems for every defence he’d played against in a Forest shirt, his electric pace and direct running were often too much for defenders at this level, and there was a real belief that it was only a matter of time he started scoring some real goals. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, given a build up like that, that it was against reading that he bagged his first double for the club. Opening the scoring after eighteen minutes, he raced onto Iñigo Idiákez’s through ball and rounded Jamie Young in he Reading goal before slotting his shot home. His second didn’t come until after the interval, and by that time we’d already doubled our lead, former Hibs midfielder Kevin Thomson netting his first goal for the club with a wonderful free kick. It was Idiákez who again set up Sinama in the second half, this time for a rasping shot from ten yards which Young could only palm into the top of the net, and though Ibrahima Sonko headed home Steve Sidwell’s cross to get the visitors on the scoresheet, our three points were never in danger. Our little French striker was kept on the bench for the Carling Cup visit of Leyton Orient, Liam Coleman took his place in the starting line up, as did Collins Mbesuma, coming in for Rasiak. Ryan Stevenson was also given the chance for his debut, the little Scot lined up on the right wing, and I was surprised to see that he looked out of his depth for much of the match. In fact, for about the first fifty minutes, so did the entire team. It appeared that we thought we simply had to turn up to destroy the lower league opposition, but had it not been for a wonderful debut performance from Geert De Vlieger in goal, we could well have been staring at a two or three goal deficit before we actually woke up. That awakening from our slumber happened to coincide, coincidentally of course, with the arrival of Sinama on the pitch. Just seven minutes into the second half, he was sent of in place of Coleman, and within five minutes had rammed us in front, having collected Gudjonsson’s long ball over the top of the Orient defence. The on loan speedster wasn’t satisfied with that, and netted his fifth goal in Forest colours when he headed home Kevin Thomson’s cross, before completing his first hat-trick with us, following up after Glenn Morris had parried his first attempt, and tucking his second into the back of the net. It was far from how I’d envisaged the game going, especially against a side bottom of League Two, but at least we had booked our place in the second round, and when all said and done, that is what matters. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted April 16, 2006 Author Share Posted April 16, 2006 After watching the second round draw for the Carling Cup, which paired us in a home tie with League One side Notts County, our attention turned back to Championship duty and the visit of Stoke. We hadn’t had the best of times against Stoke in the previous campaign, two narrow wins and two draws telling a story that the two teams were reasonably evenly matched, and that again was the case as we visited the Britannia Stadium. Having won both our away games to that point in the season, I was perfectly confident that we would emerge triumphant, and to be absolutely fair we really should have done, but Rasiak was having a definite off day whilst Jason Brown leapt around the Stoke goal like Billy the Fish. What turned out to be the only goal of the game was scored in the seventeenth minute of the match, Marty Corrigan finding himself unmarked on the end of a corner and able to head simply past Pedersen. We rallied to a certain extent, forced a few more chances either side of half time, but for all our domination of the centre of the park, if truth be told we barely looked like getting the goal or two required despite the saves we made Brown make. -- â€Hannah, please answer the phone. I know you’re in, you hung up on my two minutes ago. Look, I just wanted to say that I’m in London for a game on Tuesday night. It’d be great if we could meet up before, just to catch up. Please call me back.†I’m not sure I realised at the time just how pathetic I sounded, though certainly I do now. I’m not sure whether I actually expected that she’d agree to meet me, though clearly there was absolutely no reason why she should. I can only guess that it was sheer desperation which drove me to phone her. And then to phone her again and again and again. I am sure that I gave her clear grounds for a restraining order, though she took the plain and simple route of just ignoring me. It’s probably fair to say that my mind wasn’t entirely focused on the task at hand when we lined up to face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. That, however, can not be the reason put forward for the abysmal performance we gave, and which led to our second defeat in three days. We did create some chances, and some of them were of the sort that you expect quality strikers to put away with consummate ease. Unfortunately, it appeared that neither Liam Coleman nor Collins Mbesuma were quality strikers. In fact, it appeared as if neither of them were any more use than a chocolate teapot. Once again the game was decided by a single goal, a fact that made our missed chances even more frustrating, and then my annoyance was at least doubled when it was the man I sold, David Johnson, who ended up grabbing the winner, cheekily chipping the ball over Pedersen from twelve yards out after our defence had appeared to deny his very existence. The defeat left us languishing in eighth place, far too early to start panicking, but not the bright start to the league season I had been planning on. Despite that, Idiákez was named Championship player of the month for August, obviously those who decide these things saw something in his performances that I had not. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted April 16, 2006 Author Share Posted April 16, 2006 August 2006 Summary (Championship unless otherwise stated) Coventry 0 – 2 Nottingham Forest (Sinama-Pongolle 8â€; Rasiak 90+â€) Nottingham Forest 0 – 0 Crewe Barnsley 0 – 3 Nottingham Forest (Bopp 21â€; Idiákez 66â€; Nelsen pen 72â€) Nottingham Forest 0 – 0 Ipswich Nottingham Forest 3 – 1 Reading (Sinama-Pongolle 18â€, 52â€; Thomson 21â€; Sonko 79â€) Nottingham Forest 3 – 0 Leyton Orient (Carling Cup 1st Round) (Sinama-Pongolle 57â€, 71â€, 76â€) Stoke 1 – 0 Nottingham Forest (Corrigan 17â€) Crystal Palace 1 – 0 Nottingham Forest (Johnson 63â€) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted April 17, 2006 Author Share Posted April 17, 2006 â€Rune, hi. Sit down. Look, I’ve got some news. We’ve had to accept a bid from Norwich for you, it meets the release clause in your contract. Now, I understand if you want to talk to them, but we feel you’d be far better off here, and we want to offer you a new deal to prove that.†I desperately didn’t want to lose Pedersen, especially for the miserly sum of £1,100,000 that we’d had to accept from Norwich. He was one of the players that I wanted to build the side around, in my opinion he was clearly a Premiership class goalkeeper, and I had no hesitation in sitting him and his agent down and trying to thrash out a deal. It seemed to be the time for unwelcome bids, as just hours after receiving the bad news about Pedersen, Derby tried to prise young prospect James Perch from our hands for just £150,000. Thankfully there was nothing in his contract which stopped me from telling them exactly where to stick their money. It was on the morning of the home game against Birmingham that Rune put pen to paper on his new deal at the City Ground. It would cost us £7,000 per week until 2009, and it had only raised his release clause rather than got rid of it, but it was far better than seeing him line up in a Norwich shirt on the same day. Birmingham came to us as the only still unbeaten side in the league, and needless to say they were also happy atop the table. Given our pathetic form in the two games previous, there were few giving us a chance against the former Premiership outfit, so that we walked off the pitch with a 2-0 victory in hand was highly satisfying. We had to work hard for the points, and for a long time it looked as if the 30,000+ crowd would go home having watched a draw, but thirteen minutes from time we sprang into the lead the Jordan Stewart played Sinama in, and the Frenchman’s goal was added to six minutes later when Idiákez fired home from twenty yards. The only bad news from the Birmingham game had been the chest injury picked up by Lassana Diarra which forced him to sit out the visit of Leeds, but far from being a crushing blow, it proved to matter not that we were without the young Frenchman as we claimed a confidence boosting victory. Rasiak had given us the lead in first half injury time, though we should easily have had it before then, and looked superbly strong in defence to go with it, and our persistence in attack paid off late on, Sinama grabbing yet another goal, this time from Coleman’s pass and James Beaumont deflecting John Viáfara’s off-target shot into the top corner of the net past Neil Sullivan. Man of the match in the encounter with Leeds had been young defender James Perch. The subject of a bid from Derby, it had been the right/centre back’s fiftieth appearance for the club, and his impressive form since I had taken charge of the club finally warranted a new contract. Despite being a regular member of the first team, he was still only paid £550 per week, and an offer to pay him five times that amount was tabled. Perch had rejected our offer by the time we faced Notts County in the second round of the Carling Cup, and he was dropped from the squad to give him something to think about alongside the slightly improved offer that had been made. Our visitors in the cup match were sitting ninth in League One, a much sterner challenge than Leyton Orient had been, you would think, but though we ended with a goal less than in the first round tie, the game itself provided us with far fewer problems. We were well in control of the game by the time we eventually took the lead halfway through the first period, Collins Mbesuma laying the ball off for Kevin Davies to thump a shot home from twelve yards, and we had to wait until into the second half to double our advantage and seal the win, Joey Gudjonsson crossing for Liam Coleman to head his first goal for the club. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tree Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 good luck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mambaman Posted April 23, 2006 Share Posted April 23, 2006 quality Terk-always love your stories and am interested to see how you do with Notts Forest: some task eh? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted April 24, 2006 Author Share Posted April 24, 2006 cheers, mambaman taking forest up the leagues is quite a task, but far easier than with many other teams at that level. --------------------------------------- I lay staring at the ceiling, I had done all night. My nights had been restless doe some time and the reason behind it was fairly obvious. I still could not come to terms with what I had done to Hannah, but long since mixed with that had been longings to feel the warmth of Rachel’s breath on the back of my neck again. I knew she had finally left Danny a month or so before, nightly I went to dial her number but chickened out each time. I guess my behaviour had long since become pathetic. -- I was still in a funk after we’d made the short trip along the A52 to Derby for our early televised kick off at Pride Park. As ever with a tie between the close neighbours, a large crowd packed the stands, and they were far from disappointed at the action they saw. That we won looked never in doubt, we were the better team throughout and rarely looked troubled. That we ended playing against nine men was more surprising. Thankfully we were already three goals up by the time Hayden Mullins and Thabang Molefe were shown their second yellow cards, and we managed only to add one more in their absence. The early effort from Sinama, added to by Rasiak’s double before the break had us in full control, Viáfara’s late penalty was merely the icing on the cake. Furthermore, Pedersen’s save of Seth Johnson’s penalty ensured he kept his 65th clean sheet in 110 appearances since I took over, the sort of record that made it surprising he was not being chased by bigger teams. By the time we faced Rotherham at the City Ground, George McCartney had extended his loan from Sunderland for a further three months, and Eirik Bakke had gone on record in the national press with his dissatisfaction at having featured only twice in the first team during the current season. As it was, Bakke was given a start against the side sitting 21st in the league, and he impressed for long periods, right up until the moment he got himself sent off with quarter of an hour left, having collected his second yellow card. We were already five goals clear by that point, indeed we had been one up inside sixty seconds, Barry Robson cracking a shot in off the inside of the post. Jordan Stewart had left the field injured in the first half, and we had to wait until the beginning of the second to add to our lead, Idiákez’s free kick deflected past Chris Pennock in the Rotherham goal. We had three just past the hour, Sinama grabbing the first of his double, and before he could net the second, Thomson played a one-two with Bakke before unleashing a shot into the top corner. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted April 24, 2006 Author Share Posted April 24, 2006 September 2006 Summary (Championship unless otherwise stated) Nottingham Forest 2 – 0 Birmingham (Pongolle 77â€; Idiákez 83â€) Nottingham Forest 3 – 0 Leeds (Rasiak 45+1â€; Pongolle 72â€; Beaumont 81â€) Nottingham Forest 2 – 0 Notts County (Carling Cup 2nd Round) (Davies 22â€; Coleman 53â€) Derby 0 – 4 Nottingham Forest (Sinama 3â€; Rasiak 12â€, 42â€; Johnson m/pen 44â€; Mullins s/off 58â€; Molefe s/off 70â€; Viáfara pen 89â€) Nottingham Forest 5 – 0 Rotherham (Robson 1â€; Idiákez 48â€; Sinama 62â€, 73â€; Thomson 67â€; Bakke s/off 75â€) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted April 24, 2006 Author Share Posted April 24, 2006 <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Birmingham | | 11 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 6 | +14 | 25 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Wigan | | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 11 | +12 | 24 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Norwich | | 11 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 24 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Nottm Forest | | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 3 | +19 | 23 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | West Ham | | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 11 | +8 | 22 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Crystal Palace | | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 10 | +8 | 22 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Hull | | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 10 | +8 | 22 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Wolves | | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 10 | +6 | 20 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Stoke | | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 18 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Ipswich | | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 12 | +1 | 17 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Cardiff | | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 16 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Burnley | | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 14 | -1 | 16 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Coventry | | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 9 | -2 | 15 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Preston | | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 13 | 17 | -4 | 13 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Reading | | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 17 | -5 | 13 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Crewe | | 11 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 11 | -2 | 12 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Derby | | 11 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 18 | -6 | 12 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Leeds | | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 18 | -8 | 12 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Gillingham | | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 16 | -3 | 9 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Barnsley | | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 13 | -6 | 9 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21st | | Rotherham | | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 19 | -11 | 8 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22nd | | Watford | | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 21 | -12 | 8 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 23rd | | Sheff Wed | | 11 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 13 | -9 | 7 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 24th | | Brighton | | 11 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 24 | -20 | 1 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted April 24, 2006 Author Share Posted April 24, 2006 â€It’s been what, eighteen months since we bought him? That’s hardly loyalty.†“It’s what you get at a lower league club, every player has his eye on the next rung up the ladder.†“Lower league? We’re fourth in the ****ing Championship.†“But if he thinks he can get a Premiership club to come in for him in January then he’s going to do everything he can to make that happen.†“I’d lay money that his agent’s behind it.†“Of course he is.†“Should ban the lot of those money-grabbing ****ers.†Jordan Stewart was the player attracting my wrath; an interview in the Daily Mirror had stated that he was an ambitious lad and needed to leave Forest if he was to move forward in his career. I’d used every curse that came to mind when Tim had shown me the article, having rescued him from Watford’s bench and given him a regular starting slot, I expected to be shown a modicum of loyalty, but such was the modern game. I had to try and put it out of my mind for the trip to Priestfield, but I was still fuming throughout. It didn’t help that the lads did everything they could to throw away two points at least, defending like a pub team at times. In the end we did come through with the win, but as increasingly more often, it was largely thanks to Sinama-Pongolle. His double against Gillingham took him to thirteen goals in thirteen games for us, and added to Idiákez’s opener provided us with enough to creep past Jonatan Johansson’s two equalisers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted April 27, 2006 Author Share Posted April 27, 2006 The frustration of losing to Burnley was not going to wear off in a hurry. In what turned out to be a truly dull match, each side only carved out one clear opportunity each, the difference being that the visitors’ Ade Akinbiyi took theirs when it came along, whereas Rasiak dumped his effort straight into the arms of Brian Jensen. Such as the season was going, it certainly seemed that when things weren’t going our way, we had a difficulty raising our game out of the mediocre, too easily settling down into a pattern of not troubling our opponents. There was no need to get the lads up for the visit of Liverpool in the Carling Cup, but against the side sitting third in the Premiership, there was every chance that we might be on the end of a true beating. With our main threat – Florent Sinama-Pongolle – ineligible to face the team we loaned him from, we had to make do with Rasiak and Mbesuma in attack. What I think was most surprising was that, for much of the first half at least, they looked the attack more likely to score. After his ineffectual performance against Burnley, Kris Commons was terrorising the Liverpool defence and only some top class goalkeeping from Pepe Reina kept us from bagging a lead. Typically, having been the better side, we went into the break a goal down. Liverpool hit us in true counter attack manner, Mark Gonzalez breaking down the left wing and being found by a superb ball from Xabi Alonso before striking his shot past Pedersen. It made our task a hundred times more difficult, Liverpool were a side clearly able to defend with the best of them, and once they shut up shop in the second half, we simply could not break them down. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted May 4, 2006 Author Share Posted May 4, 2006 Having expected to be thoroughly and comprehensively beaten by Liverpool, being better than them for forty five minutes at least made it far more difficult to accept the defeat. I'd almost rather we'd been tanked five-nil and I didn't have the nagging at the back of my mind about what could have been. I wanted that frustration taken out on Sheffield Wednesday in our comeback to the hard work of the Championship, but we had to make do with squeezing out a victory, our day again almost spoilt by a goalkeeping performance. Wednesday's 'keeper David Lucas may not have been in the same class as Liverpool's Spanish international, Pepe Reina, but he proved equally hard to beat at times, and in truth the Sinama-Pongolle shot that beat him to give us the lead was more a mis-hit than anything. We played the entire second half against ten men after Djemba-Djemba had been given his marching orders, but still Lucas defied us with some magnificent saves, and Chris Brunt's equaliser threatened to give the home side a share of the spoils. It was going to take another fluke or something truly special to beat Lucas and keep up our challenge, and pleasing to my eye it was the latter. Eirik Bakke, who had also set up Florent's lucky goal in the first half, played a long ball up to Collins Mbesuma and the Zimbabwean unleashed a ferocious, first-time shot into the top corner, a shot which rippled the net before Lucas had time to move, a shot worthy of winning any game, no matter the level. We stayed on the road for our next outing, there was barely any point in returning to Nottingham before we set out for London for our Tuesday night fixture at Vicarage Road. With Idiákez back in after having been rested at Hillsbrough and Mbesuma being rewarded for his goal of the season candidate with a place in the starting line-up, we fielded a strong XI, and one which Watford never managed to contain. We only scored two but we could have had many more. Idiákez was clearly rejuvinated for the rest and walked off with the man of the match award having netted both our efforts, a deflected twenty yard shot leaving David James flat-footed just after the half hour mark, and then into the second half he volleyed Mbesuma's cross past the former England 'keeper. The win put us up to third in the table, just four points behind early leaders Norwich and a mere two behind Birmingham. With plenty of time to go in the race for promotion, we were already well in the hunt. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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