The Football.....

[gbb]

Forest outclassed. This has always niggled at me, while there's no denying the team has performed marvelously this season, the tactics of a solid defence and looking for the break is perhaps a good tactic OVER A FULL SEASON, the percentages may favour this play. But on a day where you're clearly up against serious competition, Forest rarely ever got the chance to break, City's passing and control of the ball denied Forest ever really getting Into it and I suspect IF we make CL this may be an achilles heel.
Even the starting line up, slightly surprising, I don't think would have made much difference, we were simply outclassed, you could see the frustration in Wood and occasionally Anderson.
Things may have been different if Elangas attempt in the opening seconds of the second half had come off. Shades of Forest flair but not much more. Well done City.

 

[AndyRM]

 

[T4tomo]

Well I'm cross. Furious in fact. This may seem strange to some. Rovers have won four on the bounce. IF we win at Bramall Lane next Saturday and Coventry and Milwall both fail to win (this is a real possibility) then we're in the play-offs.

Why is Paul upset? Our useless manager Valerien Ismael arrived with Rovers in 5th. He then oversaw a run of six games when we took one point. If we had won just two of those matches our play-off place would already be secure.

What utter idiot the man is.

You could also say this about all the other play off contenders who have thrown away points in recent weeks. It almost like none of the teams actually want to get into those last two spots...

 

[Pinno718]

Forest outclassed. This has always niggled at me, while there's no denying the team has performed marvelously this season, the tactics of a solid defence and looking for the break is perhaps a good tactic OVER A FULL SEASON, the percentages may favour this play. But on a day where you're clearly up against serious competition, Forest rarely ever got the chance to break, City's passing and control of the ball denied Forest ever really getting Into it and I suspect IF we make CL this may be an achilles heel.
Even the starting line up, slightly surprising, I don't think would have made much difference, we were simply outclassed, you could see the frustration in Wood and occasionally Anderson.
Things may have been different if Elangas attempt in the opening seconds of the second half had come off. Shades of Forest flair but not much more. Well done City.

An in form City will outclass Forest and the ilk. City (and I don't support them BTW) have one of the best managers in the world at the helm as well as having the technical and physical talent of a team that has won many trophies.
I think that simply qualifying for CL is both good and an Achilles heel: on the one hand, they will benefit from a huge cash injection but on the other, sustaining your position on the league (i'e top 4) and doing okay in the CL is a very tough balance unless you are one of the bigger clubs. League form dips when combining all the different competitions from league cup to FA cup to a placing combined with European competition.
To jump from mid table to competing in the CL (rather than participating and learning) is a bit unreasonable and does not give credit to Santos who has taken Forest out of mediocrity. A top 4 finish for Forest is a remarkable achievement. Anything else is a bonus.

Some simple stats:

2024/2025 season:
Man City, weekly payroll: £4.3m. Transfers in: £282m
NF. weekly payroll: £1.1m. Transfer in: £105m

(Almost 4 times the payroll and 3 times the transfer budget).

Consider that the City team has evolved over years on a massive budget that Forest won't match.

 

[Pblakeney]

Is it just me that will find it funny if PSG win the CL the year after Mbappe leaves to go glory hunting?

 

[AndyRM]

Killie have won the Scottish Youth Cup!

Our first team could learn a lot from these boys.