Season 2019/20 Can We Finally Go Up?

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

Milo is now 5th choice, he might even be 6th choice when Benalouane is fit and perhaps even 7th choice when Hefele is fit and I haven't even mentioned Robinson yet. I like Milo from what I saw last season but I wouldn't be surprised if he's gone in January.

[Liars Bar]

The season under Pearce we had 1 more point than we have now after 9 games. The season before that under Billy we had the same amount of points we have now. I have no idea why I’m writing this.

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

The season under Pearce we had 1 more point than we have now after 9 games. The season before that under Billy we had the same amount of points we have now. I have no idea why I’m writing this.

Me neither  :)

But thanks for getting the thread back on track.

[Plymouth red]

It's more performance than points at this time of the season. The season we finished third, we started slowly but played well so we were in a false position. The season under Pearce, we got good results but played poorly so our position was inflated.

So far we've played well against Swansea, Birmingham and Fulham but have struggled against other sides. Charlton, Stoke and Preston saw us dominated in the first half but we hung in and got better as the game went on. Against Barnsley we struggled creatively and against Leeds and West Brom we were probably second best.

If we can get the type of performance consistently as we had against Swansea and at home to Birmingham, I think we will be top two. If we play we have against Stoke and Barnsley we will probably end mid table.

I guess the bottom line is that results have been pretty consistent, our performances haven't. What makes me more confident than the Pearce season is that after 9 games it never looked like we were a good team. So far this season they have shown that they can be an excellent side and hopefully as time goes on both Lamouchi and this side will gel and improve. Consistency is very difficult in this league - that's why it's so difficult to predict and so difficult to get out of

[Strawberry Avenger]

Newcastle didn't always play well and got results the season they went up.

Norwich. Won a lot of their games in the last minutes of a match?

Forest have slain a few hoodoos so far. Wins away. Beating the top teams. Neutralised Leeds. Beat fancied Fulham. Another hoodoo is the muck and nettle sides like Birmingham, Barnie and Stoke. Last season, Forest didn't cope that well with them. The latter 3 results seem more pivotal to me. Especially the result at Stoke. How many times have Forest bottled a 'must win' or crucial game? This Forest can come back from a goal down and get a result. Suggests character and a Summer of better recruitment. (That said, Worrall, Dawson, Watson, Grabban and Lolley are all in the side....so there is some continuity there....)

Its nearly ten games and Forest have been top. I think a clearer picture will emerge after 15 games.

Losing Dawson (similar to last year?) will be a key test. But they beat Stoke without him. But they won't always get away with conceding 2 goals.

As for Milo. He may be 5th choice? But I wouldn't have had him behind Fig, Worrall or even Dawson based off last season. But that season is gone. We'll see how the central defence performs without Dawson. At least they have options there unlike the crisis last December before the Jan' recruitment that brought in Big Ben and Milo.

Dawson will be a miss. And that 'might' have an impact on whether Forest get promoted this season. We can only see how they cope without him over the next 2 games.

That said. Forest do have more depth not only at CH but in Midfield and that can be key on whether Forest can sustain a top 6 position.

Perhaps more perilous is getting the striker in to cover the paper thin depth Forest have in that position. It's nearly October already. The Jan' window isn't that far away once the next international break comes up.

SA.

[Strawberry Avenger]

It's more performance than points at this time of the season. The season we finished third, we started slowly but played well so we were in a false position. The season under Pearce, we got good results but played poorly so our position was inflated.

So far we've played well against Swansea, Birmingham and Fulham but have struggled against other sides. Charlton, Stoke and Preston saw us dominated in the first half but we hung in and got better as the game went on. Against Barnsley we struggled creatively and against Leeds and West Brom we were probably second best.

If we can get the type of performance consistently as we had against Swansea and at home to Birmingham, I think we will be top two. If we play we have against Stoke and Barnsley we will probably end mid table.

I guess the bottom line is that results have been pretty consistent, our performances haven't. What makes me more confident than the Pearce season is that after 9 games it never looked like we were a good team. So far this season they have shown that they can be an excellent side and hopefully as time goes on both Lamouchi and this side will gel and improve. Consistency is very difficult in this league - that's why it's so difficult to predict and so difficult to get out of

Forest have made their own luck.  And they're being well coached.  The fact they can win against the 'muck and nettles' sides is a big turning point for me...that and coming from behind or slaying their away hoodoo or the 'must win' hoodoo.

If you can win when performances aren't that great...that augurs well.

This division is more like the old 1st Division to me.  I enjoy it more than the Premier.  (Sour grapes because Forest aren't in there?  Fools gold.  The money has gone to the 'top' sides.  With the rest hanging on. )

The premiership has become like some Super Europa League.

SA.

[ozzyten10]

The premier has some shite clubs though...
Bournemouth, Watford, Burnley, Brighton, Sheffield Utd and to a lesser extent palace, wolves and Norwich. Leicester have probably earned the right to be called decent unfortunately...
Don’t get me wrong- they deserve to be where they are because these clubs have earned it but they are not really big clubs.
The championship has some massive clubs as big if not bigger than the list above. Ourselves included.

[Strawberry Avenger]

The premier has some shite clubs though...
Bournemouth, Watford, Burnley, Brighton, Sheffield Utd  and to a lesser extent palace, wolves and Norwich. Leicester have probably earned the right to be called decent unfortunately...
Don’t get me wrong- they deserve to be where they are because these clubs have earned it but they are not really big clubs.
The championship has some massive clubs as big if not bigger than the list above. Ourselves included.

True, Ozzyten10.

Back when I was following Forest under Clough, Norwich, Wolves were in the old 1st Division, Stoke too.  Sheff Utd..?  Can't remember.  They might have been division 2.  I recall Watford had just made it up (Forest did the double over them, remember Forest playing with the orange ball on snowy pitch.)  Norwich, Stoke and Watford were teams Forest beat for fun.  Wolves we lost that League Cup final to.  Bah.

Leicester.  Don't get me started on them.  They can't out of Administration very nicely, eh?  Look at them now.

Brighton.  I won't grudge them too much.  They stuck with Houghton a bit.  They were homeless for a bit.  Got a fancy new ground.  Good luck to them.

But you're right.  None of those teams are bigger than Forest to me.  Like you say, they've earned it and Forest have yet to earn it to get back to the promised land.

It's not the old First division that I remember.  I think that honour belongs to the Championship.  The Premier is something 'different' now.

SA.

[Sabricadabra]

Those clubs deserve to be where they are on merit, just as we deserve to be where we are on merit. We’ve been a second division club for twenty years and that is what we are.

This club refused to pay local businesses and had to be regularly dragged to court to pay its bills just a few years ago so it’s a bit hypocritical when people criticise Leicester for something that happened many owners ago. People in glass houses etc.

I’d like to think that we are no longer the shameful and dirty little football club we were under Fawaz, so it’s only fair not to tar Leicester with the brush of previous owners from many years ago.

[ThePromisedLand]

Those clubs deserve to be where they are on merit, just as we deserve to be where we are on merit. We’ve been a second division club for twenty years and that is what we are.

This club refused to pay local businesses and had to be regularly dragged to court to pay its bills just a few years ago so it’s a bit hypocritical when people criticise Leicester for something that happened many owners ago. People in glass houses etc.

I’d like to think that we are no longer the shameful and dirty little football club we were under Fawaz, so it’s only fair not to tar Leicester with the brush of previous owners from many years ago.

I beg to differ!
We paid our bills - even if some were late.
Those cheating bastards down the A46 didn’t - and some local businesses went to the wall as a result.
Let’s not compare the two.

[Salvatore Matrecano]

Its the side of business that is always irks that you can go bankrupt, write off debts and start up again regardless of consequences for others. As Sabri says they have different owners now as thankfully have we.

Back on track, so far there are too many games for me when we have looked second best for long periods to believe we are realistically top 2. But being hard to beat and picking up good results is fine for a top 6 finish and yes we can get there. There is nobody in this division I have seen who is streets ahead this year.

[Sabricadabra]

Those clubs deserve to be where they are on merit, just as we deserve to be where we are on merit. We’ve been a second division club for twenty years and that is what we are.

This club refused to pay local businesses and had to be regularly dragged to court to pay its bills just a few years ago so it’s a bit hypocritical when people criticise Leicester for something that happened many owners ago. People in glass houses etc.

I’d like to think that we are no longer the shameful and dirty little football club we were under Fawaz, so it’s only fair not to tar Leicester with the brush of previous owners from many years ago.

I beg to differ!
We paid our bills - even if some were late.
Those cheating bastards down the A46 didn’t - and some local businesses went to the wall as a result.
Let’s not compare the two.

Yes we’ll have to agree to differ. 

I know local business owners who have refused to have anything to do with this football club ever since. Employees didn’t get paid. Some were sacked as a result. So yes, let’s compare. This club was not only a standing joke, but also a shameful and dirty organisation under Fawaz.

It’s all too easy to overlook the morally reprehensible behaviour of our own club but blame others imo.

Thankfully, both are in the past and I will say no more about it.