Nottingham Forest - Brentford

[wassy04]

I find it a bit frustrating we didn't play our best available team for Wembley. The fact Aina started and Elanga played 90.mins suggests both were fit.

It's pretty standard for teams to lose their first games after losing a cup semi final. Perhaps if we'd beaten City we could've ridden the momentum.

The gamble didn't work anyway as we ended up losing last night.

[Sausage Roll]

I won’t be devastated if we fail to get UCL. One more win and European football is back at the City Ground, Hope City beat Palace and it is at least Europa.

How does one more win get us into Europe??

At this rate we will be falling below villa

But still in Europe. 7th is still Europe - either Europa League if Palace don't win the FA Cup or Conference League. So he's right.

It would take a very unlikely set of results for us to finish below 7th.

[Salvatore Matrecano]

Can’t work out last night. Uncharacteristic poor defensively, Milenkovic had a mare but he has carried us all season so cant be too harsh, there were warning signs at the back before we conceded too.

Cant help feeling we’ve played similar on other occasions but got a lucky bounce, sneaked a goal and not made the defensive mistakes and everyone has gone yes brilliant Forest are magic. Is it simply that a bit of that good fortune is starting to even out? Whilst we have clearly improved massively this season I cant help feeling we have rode our luck at times, Man Utd, Tottenham, even Southampton we were lucky to get away with the win.

Or finally the more optimistic take is that the last 2 games Everton and Brentford are just very awkward opponents and the type we struggle against? The fact remains a lot of our success is built on taking an early lead. Saw a stat last night, not sure if true, we have taken only 4 points in 12 games where we haven’t scored first.

[Sausage Roll]

Can’t work out last night. Uncharacteristic poor defensively, Milenkovic had a mare but he has carried us all season so cant be too harsh, there were warning signs at the back before we conceded too.

Cant help feeling we’ve played similar on other occasions but got a lucky bounce, sneaked a goal and not made the defensive mistakes and everyone has gone yes brilliant Forest are magic. Is it simply that a bit of that good fortune is starting to even out? Whilst we have clearly improved massively this season I cant help feeling we have rode our luck at times, Man Utd, Tottenham, even Southampton we were lucky to get away with the win.

Or finally the more optimistic take is that the last 2 games Everton and Brentford are just very awkward opponents and the type we struggle against? The fact remains a lot of our success is built on taking an early lead. Saw a stat last night, not sure if true, we have taken only 4 points in 12 games where we haven’t scored first.

I think it's actually 4 points from being behind (3 vs. Villa and 1 from Brighton) but we did score first vs. Brighton.

[wassy04]

Can’t work out last night. Uncharacteristic poor defensively, Milenkovic had a mare but he has carried us all season so cant be too harsh, there were warning signs at the back before we conceded too.

Cant help feeling we’ve played similar on other occasions but got a lucky bounce, sneaked a goal and not made the defensive mistakes and everyone has gone yes brilliant Forest are magic. Is it simply that a bit of that good fortune is starting to even out? Whilst we have clearly improved massively this season I cant help feeling we have rode our luck at times, Man Utd, Tottenham, even Southampton we were lucky to get away with the win.

Or finally the more optimistic take is that the last 2 games Everton and Brentford are just very awkward opponents and the type we struggle against? The fact remains a lot of our success is built on taking an early lead. Saw a stat last night, not sure if true, we have taken only 4 points in 12 games where we haven’t scored first.

That stat is probably not a great one though when you check who the teams are that scored first against us.

I think it is a bit of the good fortune starting to catch up with us yes. Also, simply we went to Wembley and lost and most teams struggle straight after a Wembley loss. Brentford also had 12 days to prepare for that game, it did give them a pretty clear advantage. 

If we can somehow beat Palace though, then all is forgiven. The target was 3 points from these two games and that is still possible!

[The reds]

Two long balls killed us. That is all.

[Username]

Can’t work out last night. Uncharacteristic poor defensively, Milenkovic had a mare but he has carried us all season so cant be too harsh, there were warning signs at the back before we conceded too.

Cant help feeling we’ve played similar on other occasions but got a lucky bounce, sneaked a goal and not made the defensive mistakes and everyone has gone yes brilliant Forest are magic. Is it simply that a bit of that good fortune is starting to even out? Whilst we have clearly improved massively this season I cant help feeling we have rode our luck at times, Man Utd, Tottenham, even Southampton we were lucky to get away with the win.

Or finally the more optimistic take is that the last 2 games Everton and Brentford are just very awkward opponents and the type we struggle against? The fact remains a lot of our success is built on taking an early lead. Saw a stat last night, not sure if true, we have taken only 4 points in 12 games where we haven’t scored first.

Unfortunately I don’t think this is a place to have a balanced discussion but I can’t accept the use of the word uncharacteristically. 

Since we conceded that soft goal at home against Liverpool we have conceded a lot of poor goals defensively if we are being honest.

[Username]

Two long balls killed us. That is all.

That’s plenty and not good enough?

Two straight balls down the middle. 

I remember a goal scored by Everton from the opening day of our first season back in the Premier League where we conceded in similar circumstances, and Joe Worrall was widely and rightly criticised for it. These were no different in reality.

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

Can’t work out last night. Uncharacteristic poor defensively, Milenkovic had a mare but he has carried us all season so cant be too harsh, there were warning signs at the back before we conceded too.

Cant help feeling we’ve played similar on other occasions but got a lucky bounce, sneaked a goal and not made the defensive mistakes and everyone has gone yes brilliant Forest are magic. Is it simply that a bit of that good fortune is starting to even out? Whilst we have clearly improved massively this season I cant help feeling we have rode our luck at times, Man Utd, Tottenham, even Southampton we were lucky to get away with the win.

Or finally the more optimistic take is that the last 2 games Everton and Brentford are just very awkward opponents and the type we struggle against? The fact remains a lot of our success is built on taking an early lead. Saw a stat last night, not sure if true, we have taken only 4 points in 12 games where we haven’t scored first.

Unfortunately I don’t think this is a place to have a balanced discussion but I can’t accept the use of the word uncharacteristically. 

Since we conceded that soft goal at home against Liverpool we have conceded a lot of poor goals defensively if we are being honest.

Good luck trying to find it somewhere else.

You won't find anything more balanced than this place.

[Chicago]

Whomever wrote about Nuno not trusting Sosa is dead on. If CHO is coming off it makes sense to play another winger to stretch the Bentford defence. I like Nico but he is not and never has been a winger. I think Sosa has the tools and he is fast and Physical. We lose our shape and balance. This is a rick in Nuno's thinking. It was obvious when they swtiched their defender over to the other side to defend Elanga. If you are going to play two up front then those boys need service. Taiwo was a walking Hydroplaner last night. I know it was wet but the bloke cannot stay on his feet. I think he needs a few more Guinesses in him to get bigger and more intimidating again. The new look lighter taiwo is bouncing off people not the other way around.

Everything seemed off last night and the goals were championship goals. Hoof, run, c**k up. Goal. Premier class finishing mind you. I didn't realise how fast Wissa was though. Both him and Bueno have jets on them. Neco was our best player but he was struggling to contain his mark.

We really need to freshen up the team against Palace. Also Mateta will eat us alive unless we get our focus back. Hopefully the Serbinator takes it out on him. That could be a battle for the ages.

Anyway, shape, power, passion , simplicity. And yes teams are now starting to play our game against us and we have to not panic. Four games to go. All to play for. Our cup final Monday... (yes I am fully aware we have Cheatski to come the last day of the season).

Chicago: Certified Assessor.

[DR Forest]

To say we only have a plan A and no plan B is not a criticism; it is a compliment as to how well Nuno and the team have worked out a way to win games with a squad that is still probably 10 places high than we expected and performing 3 years ahead of schedule.

The frustration is having been so close for so long it’s just a shame we seem to have run out of breath on the final straight.

Any European competition would be a fantastic success BUT the fact remains the average earnings for CL is £80m and Europa league is £20m.

That’s a massive difference for a club of our commercial size.

Let’s hope for some luck at palace followed by two easy wins to avoid last-day cardio issues.

[Floridared]

Ok it was a bad day but Ive said before we have not lost 3 on the trot all season and Palace could be no exception. ( and did the City Ground TVs get through unscathed?)