Lewis Grabban

[stirred]

The trouble with Grabban being the loan striker is he doesn't hold up the ball, so we are always giving possession back. 4231 doesn't suit him, especially if the 3 are not close.
We looked better when we went 433 as the out ball could go to either Ameobi or Taylor and Grabban could then use his intelligence to get on the ball.

He clearly needs a goal but can we afford to keep playing him while he finds his mojo, isn't that why we have an u23 team?
I think he has an important role to play this season for us, but at the moment the missed chances are costly. When his confidence is back we would score a lot of the chances he's had so far.

I thought the whole point of is signing a ton of players is we have the depth to rotate.

I've been ranting about this for a long time, made the point in the match thread just now before seeing this. Even when he is scoring, the lack of hold-up play, aerial ability or threat behind the defenders costs us.

If he is a lone central forward we need pace/physicality either side of him, more like a 4-3-3 as you say OR. If we play with a lonesome striker it needs to be someone else. Made the same point in the summer re the Toney chat. I guess Taylor is the closest to that man for us in our squad?

It was so obvious once again against Rotherham that I was really angry that we had to go through 50 minutes of Groundhog-Day like rubbish until we conceded and made a change. It ain't rocket science!

And to be clear, as when I brought it up in pre-season, I'm not saying he's rubbish, and it's true whether he's scored in the last couple of matches or not. Current form aside, I'm saying he is what he is. But we're playing to his weaknesses and not his strengths, so one way or another can we please change the man or the tactics before we throw more points away.

[Widdow]

Nobody has had more attempts on goal in the Sky Bet Championship so far this season than Nottingham Forest's Lewis Grabban (22). He's yet to open his account for the season.

Kind of the opposite of first half of last season isnt it. When he had about 15 goals from about 20 chances.

Sure he will come good again.

Absolutely.
You don’t become a bad player overnight.
Once he gets one - hopefully Friday - he’ll be fine.

It’s not over night though is it, he has been slide all of the year. Not just this season 

And the older you get you do become less of a player. 

While he remains on his own upfront we will remain a side in a relegation battle. 

He has passed his sell by date. 

Be great if he can score against Derby, but how many more chances and games does he need?

[ThePromisedLand]

Relegation battle?
I’m not sure I agree with that Widdow?

[BadDog]

Grabban has been shit for ages now, it's only a matter of time before Taylor becomes the number 1 striker and that will start on Friday IMO.

[Redgirl]

I have never known a striker at Forest not hit a bad patch at some time or other (except SVC) he only needs a goal and he will get one and start firing on all cylinders.

Do think he needs to loose the captaincy though, he needs to be able to concentrate on scoring not worrying about what the rest of the team are doing.

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

I wonder if all will be forgiven if he bangs in one or two against the sheep dips, how fickle some fans are.

I am sure we would all be ecstatic but it wouldn't mask over all the absolute sitters he's missed these past few months.

[Salvatore Matrecano]

All good strikers miss sitters though, seem to remember Earnshaw being one of the worst culprits. The thing is good strikers get themselves into scoring positions a few times every match. Grabban does that and a lot more besides.

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

I get that SM and I agree with you.

However I am just being honest and we cannot deny that he's missed some absolute sitters at crucial times in some big matches over the last few months and it's cost us dearly.

I am not criticising him I am just being honest and stating the facts.

[Tricky]

I get that SM and I agree with you.

However I am just being honest and we cannot deny that he's missed some absolute sitters at crucial times in some big matches over the last few months and it's cost us dearly.

I am not criticising him I am just be honest and stating the facts.

I agree that he has missed some sitters........was it two against 'uddersfield where it was harder to miss than stick it in the net?

It is obvious he is lacking confidence at the moment but what we have to consider is whether to let him carry on playing and hoping at some point his luck returns and he starts scoring goals, which until such time as that actually happens, his confidence will be shot to pieces further, drop him from the starting line up and put him on the bench and give him the last 30, which gives him even less time to try and rekindle his touch, thus knocking his confidence further or just drop him, full stop, which will also smash his confidence?

What I have noticed about our counter attacking play is that the ball is almost always pinged up to Grabs on a diagonal, which pushes him out wide. That is no good for a striker to be slotting into the 10 position, holding up play for support to come, then have to try and get into the central position, without finding himself running into an off side position (which is what he does). He needs someone closer to him, to take the diagonal pass, so he can remain in a central position, a more natural position for him.

In fairness, what he does excel in is position himself between opposition defenders making passing across the back a non option or back passes to the keeper have to be spot on as he can and does try to pounce on stray back passes.

I feel the 4-2-3-1 formation we currently use isn't working for him. As many posters have stated, we need more of a number 10 sitting in the wider position for the diagonal to be played to with Grabs staying more central. This would IMO cause defences to open up more as instead of 3-4 converging on a lone striker, some would be forced wide to the recipient of the diagonal, whilst others would be forced to track Grabban. The downside to this is of course is one man less in midfield when defending.

For me, I would like to see a new attacking formation being used that favours Lewis more rather than him being bombed out of the side

[JollyLolly]

If you follow all the Grabban and match related threads since the start of this new season the majority of comments directed at the guy is that captaincy is not best suited to him ad probably a distraction to his performance to date. Give the job to either a defender as they can see the complete picture in front of them or a combative midfielder who can be in the refs face at most times during a game.

[McDurban]

He has to be dropped imo. That sitter he missed is bread and butter. There is no excuse. Let him play off the bench and prove his worth this season and not based on the last.

[ThePromisedLand]

We’re assuming Taylor is fit to start.
His revelations in the Post suggest that he and Sabri had a disagreement on the subject.