Player Ratings After 12 Games

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It would be interesting to see the average goals conceded per game with Robinson or Osborn at left back.

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Seems like we all agree that Pants has his weaknesses but that we probably are stuck with him for this season at least. So, no big expectations of getting a new keeper in January. Steele will get his chances in the cup games and Smith's best option is probably to hope for a loan deal in January as he needs game time in order to continue his development. 

And with that short summary the keeper position has been assessed. Now we move on to the next position which is right back.

Darikwa: 6
I have to honest and I'm not sure about Darikwa. Well, I'm sure that he is not a great defender but he offers quite a lot going forward and he does have great pace. His performances have however been too much up and down. He came in for Janko against Middlesbrough and had a great game both defensively as well as in attack which must be a real confidence booster. He is now away on international duty with Zimbabwe which should hopefully boost his confidence even further. Maybe I shouldn’t give up on him just yet.

Janko: 7,5
I have been impressed by Janko. He has come in and straight away hit the ground running. Hopefully he will be able to maintain that high level of performance. For me he hasn't shown any apparent weaknesses yet. Good at defending and good going forward and a bit of pace about him as well. Let's hope that he doesn't fade away after the initial flurry of games as we have seen so many other players have done before him.

Byram: 7
From the early games it was clear to see that Byram do have the required quality to do well at right back but unfortunately he got himself injured which was what we all feared when we first got him signed. He’s now back at West Ham and I don’t believe we will see him at Forest again which is a real pity.

So, as it stands now we should be fine at right back with Darikwa and Janko fighting it out. Well, I'm not sure how much "fighting" it will be as Janko at present looks head and shoulders above Darikwa but you never know. If Darikwa can build on the Middlebrough game and find some kind of consistency it could be interesting but it will be difficult for him to be considered the number one right back at the club. But stranger things have happened.

I like Byram but to give him a 7 on the three games he played is over egging it in my opinion. He was pretty poor against Bury and only slightly better against Birmingham. 

He was excellent against Newcastle until he got injured and I suspect that performance is the one that is really influencing opinion.