Left Brian: October

Forest 2014-15 [illustration: Adam Poole]

 

Yes, this piece has been posted just minutes prior to the Blackburn Rovers game. That’s the way we roll, I guess. Either way, nothing that happens there – not a 10-0 win, a ten-man brawl, a tentative defeat – can change the essential truth and wisdom of Left Brian’s insights. Always. So, if you’ve got a bone to pick, sure, we’ll talk about things for a few minutes, and then both agree that we’re right – Ed.

Ayup, youth.

It’s that time of the month again where I talk about how good we’ve been, how we’re going to get promoted and generally how it’s brilliant to be a Forest fan. Unfortunately, however, last month hasn’t been the best. Our unbeaten run has ended at the hands of Cardiff, and with the imminent (as I write this) visit of Blackburn, who knows if we’ll go into November unbeaten at home. (Obviously I expect us to win that one 5-0, though).

Now, what has been going on Trentside? Why aren’t we any good any more? Well, from what I’ve been able to see, Britt has been suffocating under the weight of double-up defending and constant fouling. Far too often we have seen him pushed and pulled in the box, and the referees are not bothering to do anything about it. I guess when you start so brightly the downside is that the opposition make you a marked man. They know that stifling the top scorer generally leads to no goals, which is exactly what happened when we had a string of 0-0’s. The positive flipside to that, though, was that our defence looked good – something they did not against Cardiff.

 

What has brought us to this point of stagnation, though? Well, the most frustrating thing is that I could have picked out a column from last year, done a bit of copying and pasting, and no one would have noticed. Injuries to Cohen, Reid, and Hobbs have struck again – identical to last year. Cohen is out for the season (at best), and both Reid and Hobbs look like they’ll be limping around the Christmas party scene, meaning, once again, that three of our best players are out long term.

We miss them dearly. We miss Reid’s creativity and calmness. We miss his ability to pick a pass when needed and to put in a rough challenge when required. While not the captain, we also miss his leadership. He’s a ‘been there, done it’ kind of player who still has the ability that saw him get there in the first place. His influence on the game and the team was almost in danger of being underestimated in the first part of the season. I hope he gets back to fitness quick-sharp, as we are in dire need of a direct replacement for him. So dire, in fact, that Kris Commons has been mentioned more than once.

Andy Reid, talisman

Next, we miss Hobbs. Not as much as Reid, but that’s only due to the wealth of quality we have at the back. I think we miss Hobbs’ leadership, too, but with Wilson and Mancienne playing at the back I don’t think Hobbs’ sidelining is to blame for our current predicament. Anyway, I certainly wouldn’t want to see us use up a loanee in this position when we have such quality there at the minute.

And Cohen. Captain fantastic. A man with an engine only surpassed in size by his heart. A modern-day Stuart Pearce – though less about the tough-tackling than the unwavering athleticism. A superb player, capable of operating anywhere on the pitch and willing even more so, his return to the squad was a huge bonus. However, in keeping with the history-repeating-itself vibe, again we played Derby at home at the start of the season, and again they set out to hurt him. Within minutes he was on the floor after a horror tackle, and only about ten minutes later on the floor again, having twisted and re-ruptured the same cruciate ligament that kept him out of the Garibaldi for a year not too long ago. This is now his third serious layoff, which makes the chances of full recovery less. With the heaviest of hearts I think we have to look to a future without Cohen. I hope I’m wrong, but it doesn’t feel as though he will be able to come back from a third serious knee injury in as many years. Out for the season is the official line. I hope that’s all it is.

With those three injuries two important questions come to mind: who are we going to get to replace them? And why was Ishmael Miller not a training wear modeller during his time here?

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Is there such a thing as a replacement for a talisman? Who out there is able to fill those Andy Reid-shaped boots? Rumours are rife of Kris Commons looking for a move, but I want to look a little closer at someone who has already impressed in this city, albeit in the black and white of Notts County: Jack Grealish. A 19-year-old Villa player who scored five in 37 for the Magpies before replacing Champions League winner Ryan Bertrand (remember him?) to make his debut on the left wing for Villa.

I’ll go out on a limb here: this kid is pretty good and I’d like to see him here. I wouldn’t expect him to be bringing the leadership of Reid and Cohen, but I do think he brings a dimension that we’re currently lacking. I’d also hope that as a 19 year old, he may bring out the leadership qualities in a sadly off the boil Henri Lansbury.

I’m starting to worry about our Henri’s state of mind. It’s as though he’s not that keen on being here at the minute. The former wonder player has turned into a yellow card machine of late, and more importantly hasn’t really put in anything that resembles the kind of performance we would have expected from him last term. Hopefully by the time you’ve read this, and he’s scored three against Blackburn, I’ll be able to eat my words.

cold nights at the City Ground

 

If he is to score a bagful, he’ll have to take his lead from one of the few players to emerge with some credit over the past few weeks: Michail Antonio. While he was quiet for much of our defeat at Cardiff, he did pop up with a blinder of a cross in the dying minutes for our goal, and followed it up with a brace at then top-of-the-league Watford to earn us a decent point. It seems as though our goalscoring threat has moved over to Antonio, and he’s enjoying every minute of it. If we can get him and Assombalonga scoring regularly then it won’t be long until we regain the top spot in this incredibly tight league.

As we move into the busy winter period, I hope everyone is braced for some chilly nights down the City Ground. I love those cold evenings with some mushy peas to keep the chill from my bones – for me, that’s what football and Forest are really about. If we can pick up some decent points throughout November, with games against Huddersfield, Brentford, Norwich, Wolves, and Birmingham all coming thick and fast, then we should be poised for an excellent end to the year, and be in a good position for the return of Andy Reid. Which can’t come soon enough.

Cheers, Duck.

Lost That Loving Feeling