Left Brian: February

Forest 2015-16 [illustration: Natalie Owen]

Ay up, youth.

So, like all things, our unbeaten run has come to an end. And, like all things football, it managed to come to an end twice. After losing to Watford in the cup the run was revised to an unbeaten league run, which then came crashing down at home to Huddersfield.

I’m keen to explore whether it’s actually that bad a thing to have come to an end, though. I appreciate that losing a game can never be a good thing, but last time we spoke I spent a great deal of time talking about how the draws in the run meant that it wasn’t actually that good. Since then we started to turn those draws into defeats, and actually managed to climb high enough up the table that the playoffs were in sight. We currently sit 10th, nine points behind a very much faltering Derby County.

Before we get bogged down in results, let’s explore what else has happened Trentside over the last month or so. It was a happy first anniversary for Dougie at the City Ground in January. Not something that’s usually celebrated, but by staying as our manager for a year it does represent the closest thing to stability we’ve had since Fawaz took over.

It may not have been the happiest of anniversaries, though, as the transfer window once again proved to be somewhat of a debacle for Forest. With limitations on squad size we knew we needed to offload players in order to bring some in, not a huge problem really, as we thought we’d offloaded Kyle Ebicilio, a player who failed to really make a mark here. After sending him back to his parent club and beginning to scour the market for bargains, Dougie was informed that said parent club didn’t want him back and that we’d need to keep him. This led to some confusion and an inability to bring anyone in. The fiasco was made worse when, with mere minutes of the window remaining, his parent club farmed him out to someone else, so we could indeed have got someone in, but by this time the window had slammed shut. Personally I think it’s time we just ignored the January window all together, and focused our energy on the emergency loan window and the summer window.

We also talked before about Paul Robinson coming to us. Unfortunately he seems to have found his desire to play, but that desire to play has taken him to Burnley, of all places. Not entirely sure what went on there, but I reckon having him around may have inspired some significant improvement from Dorus who has been world class for the last couple of months.

We can’t let a February Left Brian pass without mention of our former owner, Nigel Doughty, who sadly died four years ago this month. What would he have made of our current progress?

When Nigel stood down, only a few months before his death, Forest were languishing only a point above the Championship drop zone and in dire need of direction. It’s telling that for all the big money investment we’ve supposedly had, we’re still in the same division and perhaps look all the more directionless. Should we have expected to have been promoted between Nigel stepping down and now? Probably not, to be honest. Although, it’s maybe worth mentioning that Premier League table toppers Leicester were a mere 8 points ahead of us in the Championship when Nigel stood down, and they were mid-table when he died.

It’s been a pretty quiet month, to be fair. Other than results, there’s little to talk about really. Young Ben Osborn has recently been awarded the FA’s Young Player of the Month award for January, putting him alongside Dele Alli, Wilfried Zaha and Patrick Bamford as other winners of the coveted award.

"I'm really looking forward to being warmed by Paul Robinson"

 

Since we last spoke we went and beat Bolton 3-0 in a game that was a mere formality, then followed it up with possibly the most impressive result of the season beating an in-form Middlesbrough 1-0 away from home. A 0-0 at home to QPR was followed by beating Leeds 1-0 at Elland Road.

What’s most impressive here is that we didn’t concede a goal in any of those games. In fact, the last time we conceded in the league was in a 1-1 with Charlton on January 2, meaning that until Huddersfield came to Nottingham we’d only conceded a single league goal in 2016 – a feat not matched by anyone else and testament to the improvements Dougie has made defensively.

Having been dumped out of the cup by Watford, we had a weekend off before Burnley visit tomorrow, Paul Robinson et al. We follow that up with long trips to Bristol and Ipswich before welcoming Preston and Sheff Wed at the City Ground.

Personally, I have to say that of the 15 points on offer, taking 10 would be an achievement for us. If we continue being tight at the back and sneaking results, then who knows, maybe we could benefit from Derby’s spectacular fall from the top of the league.

I’ll see thee.