22 Aug 2019 02:37:34
Sometimes the old cliches just work and the oldest one in the footballing manual " a game of two halves " was never more apt than last nights game.

It may be that we turned up tonight basking in the warm afterglow of Saturdays dismantling of Birmingham and thought we were in for another easy game but that was quickly dispelled by a Charlton side who from the kick off came at us with pace, tenacity and very slick passing combined with excellent movement off the ball .

We were overwhelmed and overrun in the midfield area with Charlton time and again making good use of the flanks with telling balls into the box with us seemingly being unable to stem the flow and giving them far too much space and time on the ball with little in the way of pressing them resulting in some of the best attacking football I have seen this season so far.

However a combination of some fine saves by Muric and last ditch defending by Dawson in particular saw us go into the break only one down and in fact a chance fell to Grabban which he could/ should have made better use of just before the whistle.

Right from the start of the second half we showed more composure and sure footedness and as the half continued I got the impression that Charlton had given it everything and were running out of steam .

The introduction of Bostock and Adomah on the hour mark seemed to add some steel and solidity to the midfield area in place of the ineffective Cash and Semedo and whilst I would like to say that a Forest goal was coming at least we were not being run ragged anymore.

The goal when it did come was from a corner before which Bowyer bizzarely made two substituitions which to me is never a good idea and was to be fair the result of a sliced clearance but never the less Adomah was on the spot to slot home.

This goal combined with the effort they had put in most certainly took the wind from Charlton and I thought we could have well gone on to take the three points but a draw was for me a fair result.

Comparisons may be made with the Leeds game but for me it was different insofar as at Elland Road we were under the cosh for virtually the whole game whereas here we were in much better control of at least half of it and it was not such a " lucky " point.

That said the first half performance for whatever reason was not really acceptable and no team wins much at all for half a decent game .

To coin a phrase I felt we saw the " Good the bad and the ugly " from Muric with the good being several saves in the first half to keep us in it, the bad being his kicking out which was in a nutshell appalling and the ugly his flapping and attemted punching of balls he really should be catching.

Robinson did not have a particularly good night and Jenkinson most certainly looked a little ring rusty and it is to be hoped that he shakes that off quickly.

Dawson and Worrall ( who I have openly questioned on here ) were immense in their work tonight and its a pity Dawson isn't 30 yrs of age.

Semedo had his worst game in a Forest shirt so far and looked a pale imitation of the player we know he is with Watson in the first half looking a very frustrated figure at what was happening.

Adomah and Bostock in particular seemed to make a big difference to the way we played and as a result Silva found more space and began to make a nuisance of himself whilst Cash in a front running role was virtually ineffective and his crossing and tactical awareness was sadly lacking.

Grabban was again for the most part feeding on scraps but possibly should have done better with a chance in the first half I alluded to earlier.

So on to Fulham which will no doubt be a very stern test indeed and it will be of interest to see the starting line up for that as I thought Sow was unlucky not to be playing tonight after his efforts on Saturday.

Still early days obviously but we do need to start finding a level of consistency and hopefully the old chestnut of another striker to be signed but 5 points from 4 games is a reasonable start and hopefully something to keep building on.

In closing congratulations to the large number of travelling fans who were in good voice throughout and see you all at the Cottage.

As always .

COYR.

1.) 22 Aug 2019
22 Aug 2019 07:15:18
I think it’s a mid table start creepy.

2.) 22 Aug 2019
22 Aug 2019 08:15:52
While ever Ben Watson starts we will always be lacking in midfield he was past it 2 years ago, far too slow a total passenger watching the game go by him telling other players where to run and not picking up his own man awful! must tell good jokes in the dressing room.

3.) 22 Aug 2019
22 Aug 2019 08:24:29
I don't know what happened yesterday but I hope that was a one off bad display there is pluses in there as creepy said muric Worrall Dawson we definitely missed Lolley but living and talking in the real world unless these players don't start geling together pretty fast there's not a chance we will make a top ten finish we could of had 3 top strikers up front last night and they wouldn't of scored no service no midfield Charlton seemed to of done there homework on us pretty well finish us off first half don't give us time to play and if it weren't for muric that would of happened 2nd half Charlton got what they deserved time wasting and going for the 1 nil win on to Fulham.

4.) 22 Aug 2019
22 Aug 2019 15:50:59
I'd be happy to see grabban actually beat a man he could have had one second half if he had decent feet but still a good point, next game will tell be interesting we usually play better against better opponents.

5.) 22 Aug 2019
22 Aug 2019 17:33:46
I think its obvious we need another striker. And I feel sorry for Cash who is expected to suddenly be a winger not a full back. You can maybe see why Ben Osborn after similar tactical decisions decided he wanted to leave.