Birmingham - Nottingham Forest

[Salvatore Matrecano]

]

If Freeman leaves us in the summer and Taylor stays on for another 10 years and is our record goal scorer I'll still be calling him Freeman!

If Taylor stays for another 10 years I reckon he will still be in single figures.

[wassy04]

]

If Freeman leaves us in the summer and Taylor stays on for another 10 years and is our record goal scorer I'll still be calling him Freeman!

If Taylor stays for another 10 years I reckon he will still be in single figures.

After Taylor missed that one on one, I asked my Dad when he came on...

[jurgen rober]

One thing that has crossed my mind is the state of their pitch last night. Grass very short and the pitch was hard, had obviously not been watered and the bounce of the ball much higher than usual. Is this something that Bowyer has done specifically since he came in. Brum have a lot of tall players and the bounce would not be as hard to deal with. Their players would be used to it and could train on it as there would be fewer divots. Reminiscent in the opposite way to Direby's pitch when they won the championship and were used to playing on a mud heap. Could be an explanation of their upturn in form since Bowyer came in although let's face it some of the ball control and passing from Forest was absolutely terrible.

[wassy04]

One thing that has crossed my mind is the state of their pitch last night. Grass very short and the pitch was hard, had obviously not been watered and the bounce of the ball much higher than usual. Is this something that Bowyer has done specifically since he came in. Brum have a lot of tall players and the bounce would not be as hard to deal with. Their players would be used to it and could train on it as there would be fewer divots. Reminiscent in the opposite way to Direby's pitch when they won the championship and were used to playing on a mud heap. Could be an explanation of their upturn in form since Bowyer came in although let's face it some of the ball control and passing from Forest was absolutely terrible.

I suspect not, most pitches are in a bad state at the minute as most clubs relay/do work over the summer. However due to the extended season there wasn't time, hence why loads of pitches look really bad. I suspect partly Bowyer has tweaked his tactics to use the pitch in the best way, seems smart to me. His job was to get them safe and he looks to have done that so fair play.

[Paplane]

One thing that has crossed my mind is the state of their pitch last night. Grass very short and the pitch was hard, had obviously not been watered and the bounce of the ball much higher than usual. Is this something that Bowyer has done specifically since he came in. Brum have a lot of tall players and the bounce would not be as hard to deal with. Their players would be used to it and could train on it as there would be fewer divots. Reminiscent in the opposite way to Direby's pitch when they won the championship and were used to playing on a mud heap. Could be an explanation of their upturn in form since Bowyer came in although let's face it some of the ball control and passing from Forest was absolutely terrible.

It sounds like an excuse but it was a massive factor in the way the game panned out. It was impossible for us to make even straightforward passes like we would normally like to do. It totally negated Garner's game for us and Mighten was a non existent entity as we couldn't play balls up to him and he couldn't control balls played into him. Players were slipping, it was bobbling away and yet longer passes played on the ground were skipping away too. And as Brum are now playing as a Wimbledon tribute act, it played into their strengths. It wouldn't surprise me if Bowyer was asking for that pitch to be prepared. He will have been looking for every opportunity to gain an advantage, as is his right.

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

Hmm...quote function doesn't seem to work.

In reply to SA, "If it's any comfort, a win on Saturday would put Forest 14th and solid mid-table". 

If we'd sneaked a late winner as well, we'd already be 14th.

I was disappointed that the players weren't apparently motivated to make that leap into the sunlit uplands.

Seems to be working alright to me.

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

Thought about Sniff last night when i heard Colin Fray trying to annunciate Garner and Gardner.

:@

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

If anybody is wondering why I am not commenting (probably not) it's because I was unable to watch the game last night. Sounds like I had a lucky escape!

[Paplane]

If anybody is wondering why I am not commenting (probably not) it's because I was unable to watch the game last night. Sounds like I had a lucky escape!

Sniff, watching it was excruciating. It was the closest I've been in a while to turning it off. We couldn't even string two passes together. Players were mis-controlling it, we were throwing throw-ins into space, Brum were lumping it and playing route one, they've got a rocket throw-in merchant who was launching every throw-in they got in our half into our box. 

Hughton said afterwards he thought we were the better side for the first 20 minutes and then 2nd best for the rest of the game. I have no idea what he was watching in those 20 minutes!

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

Sounds to me that the players who won't be here next season are not interested and the rest are already on the beach.

[Paplane]

Sounds to me that the players who won't be here next season are not interested and the rest are already on the beach.

I suspect there's a bit of that going on but I do think there was some commitment out there on the pitch last night. We just gone done over by a more physical and motivated team playing at their peak for the season on a disgrace of a surface that hindered our game.

All this talk about Hughton is nonsense. I think he picked the right team and made the right subs. We just got done.

[ThePromisedLand]

One thing that has crossed my mind is the state of their pitch last night. Grass very short and the pitch was hard, had obviously not been watered and the bounce of the ball much higher than usual. Is this something that Bowyer has done specifically since he came in. Brum have a lot of tall players and the bounce would not be as hard to deal with. Their players would be used to it and could train on it as there would be fewer divots. Reminiscent in the opposite way to Direby's pitch when they won the championship and were used to playing on a mud heap. Could be an explanation of their upturn in form since Bowyer came in although let's face it some of the ball control and passing from Forest was absolutely terrible.

Interesting to note that the Sky commentator remarked that the pitch was in its best condition for several months   :(