25/26 Forest Blog

So despite wanting to get through the summer with just the World Cup and Cricket to distract me, I'm drawn back to Forest obviously because there is never a dull moment at our club.

Been a few things happening - Chief Executive leaves, B team coach leaves, Manager leaves, Star Player (well one of them) leaves for record fee, some movement on the ground development, new manager joins who has won trophies recently. Oh and a load of current and ex Forest players perform at the World Cup.

Comings and Goings behind the scenes

The workings of the club behind the scenes are always a bit of a mystery to fans. Chief Executives don't seem to stay for long. When they leave it's not often clear why. The same with a range of others in senior roles but it has been clearer with some of them who have gone to other roles eg Ross Wilson to Newcastle. The Owner clearly drives the big picture decisions and Nick Randall keeps the club moving but below these seems an ever moving conveyor belt of individuals. Most fans are untroubled by this, if the club is buying and selling players, planning a pre season, sorting out commercial deals etc it really isn't a problem that most fans don't totally know who is doing what. Maybe its a perception of mine that we feel more chaotic off the pitch than other clubs, maybe I'm over thinking it. I'm sure it will all sort itself out eventually.

Goodbye Vitor

Was this a real shock? Not totally to me. It was announced a few weeks ago that talks about a new extended contract had been pushed back. That was a clear sign that the club was keeping its options open. With so many managers available it was a no brainer that Forest would explore the options. The June 30th option for both sides to end the contract was clearly the trigger. The disappointment of many that yet another change was happening was quickly offset by the appointment of Oliver Glasner. Before we move on we should appreciate the job done by Vitor - came in when at least half the fan base and probably most of the squad wanted Dyche gone and quickly restored some belief in the team. Not a bad way to introduce yourself than a 3-0 away win at Fenerbache. Unlucky to lose to Liverpool in the 97th minute in his first home game, he navigated a tricky start and found a way both in the league and in Europe to win key games and keep us up. Maybe if we hadn't suffered so many injuries for the Villa second leg we could have been proud winners of the Europa League and about to play in the Champions League. Yes small margins but equally if we had scored that 6 on 1 chance against Wolves in Dyche's last game, maybe it wouldn't have been his last game!

Hello Oliver

I rarely get excited about managers now. I have poor judgement. I always think ex Forest players will be our saviour and am always proved wrong, apart from Frank Clark obviously. I can't remember what I felt about Cooper when he was announced, just probably relief at the time. I remember thinking Ange was a massive risk from the off but that was also tainted by not wanting to lose Nuno (who I equally was agnostic about when appointed.)

Glasner feels a bit different. He's won trophies in Europe and here with Palace - yes we can mention their name. He seems to have a style of play and coaches players to that style. He seems strong minded which hopefully is a good thing - he'll certainly need to be resilient. Looks like he's got a massive financial contract - it will be worth every penny if he's still here at the end of the 3 years as it would make him our longest serving manager since Clark. (Clark managed us for 3 years and 7 months). We've had 38 managers since Frank, albeit some as caretaker. Most left the club after a bad series of results or a fall out behind the scenes. Vitor joins Sean O'Driscoll as one of the very few leaving on a relative high.

I'm now keen to see how involved Glasner is in recruitment, how we invest the Anderson money and how he takes to the fans, the city etc. What I want beyond anything else is some stability and people to give him time if he doesn't get off to a flyer. I appreciate I'm a hypocrite as I didn't want to give Ange time but he feel Glasner is someone we need to stick with. Time as ever will tell at Forest. Will his army be here to stay?

Anderson goes with best wishes

We knew it was going to happen. It was just a question of how much for. Football transfer fees and wages are out of control and have been for years. The bubble shows no sign yet of bursting but I guess for Anderson by the time we set the fee only a handful of clubs could afford him. I'd have preferred personally he went to Barcelona but looks like that was never an option. I guess his agent is confident that City will never be punished for their 115 charges in any meaningful way. He will now get to play in the Champion League every season and compete for titles and cups as City can obviously buy whoever they want and face no consequences. I'm not bitter at all am I? That said I'm glad we got to see him play in the Garibaldi and he certainly massively contributed to our best ever season of recent times and maintained that consistency this season while breaking into the England squad and losing his mum. I hope we give him a good reception on November 7th.

Is that spades in the ground we can see?

Well not quite yet but eventually things seem a bit closer to work starting. The next key date is September 10th when the Planning Committee of Rushcliffe Council is likely to be discussing the planning application. We were originally expecting that to be in April or May but it appears the objections were taking longer to answer and also there might need to be some work done on traffic flows over Trent Bridge once we have a Saturday home game which thankfully we have v Leeds in August. I totally understand why most fans have lost faith in anything happening given the desire to do something since 2019. I'm as confident as I've been for some time that we might be on our way - watch that September date for news. In the interim go to the Supporters Trust website - nffctrust.org - to sign their campaign emails in support of the development.

World Cup Fever?

It took me a while to get into the World Cup this summer. I hate FIFA and Trump so it's despite this that I'm engaged at all. Clearly there were (still are) some Forest players involved although most are now on the beach somewhere. I'm still counting Anderson as one of ours until I see him in a blue shirt. I'm hoping Ndoye keeps going because its a win/win for us him doing well - either comes back full of confidence or we add a few million to his price. It was slightly surreal seeing some of ex players turn up at the World Cup. I managed to list 24 players who had been on our books in this WC - surely that's a record for us as a club?

Back to the Cricket

Right no more Forest blogs until just before the season starts. I was prompted into this one by popular demand - OK my friend Pete who I met at Trent Bridge and asked if I was doing one on Glasner! I'm getting back to the small red/white ball hopefully to see Notts continue their good form in both the T20 and Championship. I'll also continue my doom about England's World Cup chances by saying before every knock out game that we will lose - it's worked well so far! So you heard it here first - Haaland will beat us on Saturday night.

See you in August with half a new squad!

Steve Battlemuch

Trent End Upper/Away Member

Find me on X/BlueSky and yes incredibly on TikTok.

PS - thanks to Dave Thompson for the brilliant mock up GiF.

Introduction

This is my 24th and final blog of a truly bonkers season. I've just finished recording the end of season review for Forest Focus Podcast and Matt put on screen the predictions of the regulars from the start of the season. They were all far more optimistic than the eventual outcome. Mine included, I had predicted we would finish 9th and win the Europa League! However what no one could have predicted at the start of the season was the chaos that would follow almost as soon as the first ball was kicked. I'll try to reflect on some of this below and include some highlights and low lights too. If anyone listens to the FF podcast apologies as I'll be repeating some of the stats I mentioned!

Safety secured

I need to start by looking at the last 3 games as my last blog was after the Villa EL defeat. At that point we were not safe from regelation. The draw with Newcastle alongside the West Ham defeat meant we were safe with 2 games to go. No need thankfully to worry about dodgy refereeing decisions at Old Trafford or the bogey team Bournemouth.

We should take pleasure in the goal by Elliot against his home town club and the fight we showed at Man U despite the handball travesty. We didn't get to beat Bournemouth but we did see Morgan score a free kick, which needs to be treasured as its as rare as a Forest manager lasting more than a season! We also saw a fitting long term tribute to our greatest ever player - Robbo. Well done to the club for this.

Season lows and highs

Its hard not to go overboard on the lows as there were plenty. 4 managers is a key starting point, patchy recruitment albeit some of the new players didn't get loads of chances and playing for 3 or 4 different coaches can't be easy. However what stands out for me is the number of key injuries - some long term and some others at key moments - I think had a big influence on where we ended up. I know some other teams faced these too but this is a Forest blog not a Spurs one.

Our best back 5 - Sels, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo and Williams - only played together for 12 of our 56 games. In these 12 we won 5, drew 5 and only lost 2. When you add how much of the season Wood missed and then the vital games that Sangare missed and obviously Morgan and 4 others missing the second leg at Villa Park. Yes a club should be able to cover absences but at key parts of the season we could not cover these absences and juggle the Thursday/Sunday schedule we had.

In the Europa League you could argue the worst thing was getting drawn in the wrong half of the draw which set up the Villa semi final. But some of the league performances - Midtjylland at home under Ange and Braga away under Dyche - cost us the chance to qualify in the top 8 and possibly then the route to the final would have been easier. That said those of us who travelled to Istanbul for that 3-0 win in Vitor's first game would not have had that experience.

Alongside injuries our lack of goals was key. Morgan scored 15 PL goals and our 4 'strikers' got 14 between them. The wingers didn't chip in with goals either. CHO getting 3 from 30 PL games is probably the biggest disappointment in that respect.

But surely there are highs too?

Absolutely. Personal highs for me - winning at Anfield 3-0, don't ever take that for granted. Beating Spurs 3-0 away in such a pressure game. The second half comeback against Burnley which in turn led to our biggest away win at Sunderland were all massive results. It's been a pleasure to see Elliot Anderson become the most accomplished English midfielder in the Premier League. To see Morgan add the goals to his all round game which should have been enough to earn him a place on the plane to the World Cup. To have Neco Williams establish himself as a fans favourite and be so consistent all season bar a moment of madness when he thought he was in goal!

However the Europa League run is how I'll remember this season. The 3-0 win in Istanbul with that Murillo goal, beating Midtjylland (and Philip Billing) on their own ground with a wonderful goal from Ryan Yates. The home win against Porto and the first leg semi final win v Villa. Brilliant occasions under the lights at the City Ground. These are the things to grab hold of for the memory bank.

I travelled 12,500 miles for those Europa League games and only missed Utrecht. My only regret is not doing that extra one but hats off to the 241 who did all 16. Not sure how many like me did 15 but I've got the photos as memories and a hole in my bank balance for sure. I did a couple of away Europe trips in 95 and wouldn't have thought it would be 30 years to the next one. I truly hope I get another chance sooner than that as not sure if at 93 my body would take it.

Winners

So MGW got my vote for POTS for keeping us up, but can't argue with anyone who voted for Neco or Elliot. Sangare most improved and to be fair it started under Dyche. Goal of the season - Morgan's backheel at City and Yates away in Denmark. Manager of the season is Vitor obviously. Now for some stability please off the pitch, decent recruitment and hopefully progress on the ground expansion.

Magic off the pitch

The Forest extended family is what keeps a lot of us going. That includes those of us who do almost every game and those who because of a variety of reasons - cost, location or ticket availability - can't get to many games. So a few thanks here are needed too.

The Big Shed / Trent Nav

For me it's the place I want to be pre and post match. To chew the fat with my mates, do the Fothers quiz (although I need to make the leader board more often!), have a decent beer served quickly, some food and catch a game on the screens. Even if you are on your own you are never lonely at the Nav - Always to be(er) here.

Forza Garibaldi

The displays are always brilliant and really thoughtful - tapping into our rich history as well as saying something about the present day. Again I wish there was some way of them being displayed in the City so people could see them for more than a minute.

Supporters Trust

Been going for 10 years now and has really upped its game recently with a great campaign on ticket prices. Much more to come from them for sure and at £12 for membership its a bargain and I urge people to join them.

Oh Mist Rolling In

We have a fine tradition of fanzines at Forest and OMRI is the latest one to cherish. Up to 35 issues now and some quality writing in them. I know they will be back in August.

Podcasts

I know there are a lot out there and everyone has their own favourites. Hats off to anyone who has the time to listen to them all. I've been fortunate to be asked onto Forest Focus a fair bit this season. It has the biggest reach and a brilliant array of guests. I know from my conversations with lots of fans how much they value it. I'm sure it will continue to grow and I look forward to be able to contribute again next season (hopefully Matt!). So whichever you listen to and enjoy be grateful to the people who give up their time and considerable effort to get them on the air.

Conclusion

So that's it from me blog wise until maybe a week or so before the new season. I'm sure there will be endless transfer speculation on the podcasts but I'll save the blog until we are looking forward to the first game back on August 22nd. Have a great summer with the World Cup and some cricket for me. You Reds.

Steve Battlemuch

Trent End Upper - Away member

Find me on X/BlueSky & yes incredibly TikTok!

The period towards the end of the season means many things. The excitement of the last home game especially now we are safe and not panicking about the prospect of trying to beat Bournemouth. We all get a break until August – although the World Cup will provide some football entertainment. For some of us our attention will turn to the small red ball across the road, but no one wants to read about that in a football blog!

What we do get at the end of the season is speculation and opinion. Will the Manager be kept on?  Is it inevitable that Anderson will go? How much will we get for him and who will replace him? Who else will join the Forest transfer merry go round? All these topics are already being covered on social media and on a variety of Forest podcasts so I'm going to try to speculate on who has been the player of the season.

If we think back to the start of the season I think there is a load of players who we might have thought were going to be in for a good season. Wood and Sels to carry on their form from last season. Murillo would surely push on again. Maybe one of the new wingers would be a standout star? It could be the season for Callum Hudson-Odoi to step up now Elanga had moved on?

Funny how things turn out. Given that this season we could have a ‘manager of the season’ vote it’s unsurprising that many things have felt completely disjointed. Maybe the injury to Wood had the biggest impact and the lack of a ready-made replacement meant we struggled in front of goal foremost of the season. Jesus has done really well to start so many games in his first season, which we should remember came immediately after the club World Cup and a full season in Brazil. He maybe takes the ‘signing of the season’ award for me given the patchy form of the more expensive wingers we brought in. For Kalimuendo we can’t really judge him as he got limited starts from the first 3 managers before being shipped out to score in the Bundesliga.

Injuries also rule Ola, Murillo and Sels out of any contention. For the games we had Ola back he was excellent again, but his injury concerns are now getting more frequent. Murillo’s form has been patchy – some outstanding games, including trademark goal line clearances, mazy runs, that goal in Istanbul and another at Anfield but at times his concentration has seemed off and again the injuries are getting more frequent. Sels was unlucky to lose his place to John & we looked so much better when he came back in after the John head loss at Villa. He was also pushed hard by Ortaga who did not let us down at all in Europe once he came into the club in January.

Sangare needs a mention too because the improvement in his game has been huge. To be fair it started under Dyche and continued with Pereira. His latest injury came at a crucial time – we so needed him v Villa in the second leg. I really hope he is back properly for the start of next season.

OK enough of the waffle of who wasn’t in the running and onto the contenders.

As I write this before the Man U game Milenkovic has played the most PL minutes for us and been solid enough all season. Last season he contributed a few goals too but this has mainly escaped him this season. Whilst he is always someone you want in the side and never lets you down, I’d have him just outside the top 3 for my POTS.

So, we have in alphabetical order – Anderson, Gibbs-White and Williams as my top 3 and I change my mind almost every hour on which one I’ll vote for when the club opens the ballot.

These 3 are just behind Milenkovic in minutes played showing the consistency they bring. Again, we all saw the effect when Gibbs-White couldn’t play v Villa (and Newcastle) – suddenly our creativity has disappeared.

I did a couple of social media posts, and the comments back confirmed these 3 as the obvious shortlist. The Polls I did showed a slight majority in favour of Gibbs-White, but many said they wanted to give a third of a vote to all 3.

As there is no point me writing this if I don’t try to make a final decision I’m going for Gibbs-White with Neco and Ando joint second.

Anderson is probably the most technically gifted player we have seen in the Garibaldi for years. We know he is destined to play for a club competing in Europe every year. I truly hope it’s not Man City as my dislike of them grows by the day. His finishing is the only part of the game which he needs to work on but even that is improving – in reality he scored the goal that kept us up! He will play for England for years to come, and we will all say he used to be our No 8. His data stats for those who drool over them are off the scale. Most recoveries, most accurate passes, most ground covered etc. We have all seen it, the close control, the willingness to chase down lost causes, the positional play but increasing the ability to dictate play – constantly telling others where to go and what balls to play. At 23 this is remarkable. As I write this, I’m struggling to know why I’ve not picked him. Maybe I’m thinking there is a young player of the year award, and we give that to him. Maybe, just maybe, I sort of know he’s going and want to reward someone else? Ahh the choices.

Neco Williams has the engine of a Formula One car. His minutes played are only behind Milenkovic because of the one match ban for that handball. Equally that handball is the only reason I can think of that I’m not giving the award to him. His data stats defensively are top draw. With 2 PL games to go as I write this, he’s won 91 tackles, made 43 interceptions, 14 blocks. He has an 82% pass completion. He is comfortable on either side at full back or wing back. He also has 2 goals and 3 assists. He is the model of consistency and commitment. His commitment to the club reminds me of my hero from the Championship days – Chris Cohen. For a player that many wrote off in his first 2 seasons, he’s now an integral part of the team. Despite the chaos of the season, he has performed well for every manager. In another season he’d easily win this award but up against Morgan and Elliot it was always going to be tough.

Morgan has pinched it for me. His form in the last few months, obviously coinciding with the arrival of Pereira, has been the main difference between relegation and staying up. His goals and assists are his best ever this season and at times it felt he was personally dragging the whole team through games singlehandedly. Him missing the Villa game, more than any of the other 6 injuries that night, was the crucial one. Maybe his run of form has coincided with his desire to be on the plane to the World Cup but even if that partly motivated it, this run of form has been key to our survival. As the captain on the pitch for most of the season his leadership has been crucial in the key games we needed to win. I hope he is here for the next chapter of our history; he will rightly go down as a Forest legend. Also technically gifted like Anderson but plays with maybe greater aggression which can be needed at times and is flexible enough to play in a variety of positions across Midfield and Attack. We made several signings last summer but maybe getting him to sign a new contract was the best piece of business from the owner, however he managed to persuade him to do it. Even if for a couple of weeks last summer, he might have had his mind set on a move, he didn’t refuse to train and showed total commitment when the season started and throughout the chaos that followed.

So, for me its Morgan by a whisker over Neco and Elliot but buy me whisky and sit me down for an hour and I’ll talk myself out of it and give it to one of the other 2. I might vote 3 times in the official club ballot as I really don't want to let the other 2 down!

What I do know is that these 3 have been the bedrock of the team this season and we will play again in the Premier League next season because of them. I hope for a miracle that all 3 will line up for us in August, realistically I guess it might be 2 of them, any less than 2 and I do worry where we might end up!

Steve Battlemuch

Trent End Upper / Away member

Find me on X, BlueSky and yes incredibly TikTok!

A version of this article will be in the end of season issue of the fanzine Oh Mist Rolling In which is out for the Bournemouth game. Make sure you get a copy, its a keepsake for another mad Forest season!

I am writing this still raw from the Villa defeat. Just got home having stayed over last night given there was no public transport options available! Partly writing it now as therapy so I claim the rest of the day back and enjoy Saturday before my mind turns to Newcastle on Sunday.

Villa 1st leg

This will go down as one of the great European nights despite the opponents being from down the M42. City Ground was buzzing and loud. In hindsight 1-0 was a very slender lead but it was maybe more than some of us thought we would get against a Villa side who have been in the top 5 all season and romped through their Europa League campaign. It gave us hope but obviously for many of us we added a dose of realism born of many disappointments over the years, that the tie was far from over. However the grief than some of our fans took from celebrating the win is uncalled for in my view. Yes in front of cameras that will gleefully replay the videos now we are out will be hard to watch for some, but I will never criticise a fan for celebrating a Forest win. We all get carried away and that's the joy of football. When we sat 3rd for a lot of last season, didn't we sing all the time about looking forward to the champions league? When in previous years we went on cup runs, didn't we sing about going to Wembley when we had won a 5th round tie? Never take the joy out of being a fan and celebrating a win. Not everything in life has to be a 'one the one hand its a good win but equally its tough place to go so lets hope'.

Chelsea - some Taiwo joy & a knockout blow for MGW

Sat in a pub in Fulham before the Chelsea looking at the team news on my phone I feared the worse. I also felt a tinge of hypocrisy having moaned about the 7 Villa changes the day before when they rolled over v Spurs. So we made 8 changes but the difference being our second string players stepped up massively and took the game to Chelsea in a way that brought utter joy to the away end. An opening Taiwo goal after 2 minutes always lifts the mood. Chelsea did look poor but did hit the post in the first half in one of their only attacks I can remember. The Sels penalty save took us into HT with a feeling that our tide had really turned. I was a bit surprised that Vitor brought on Eliot and Morgan at HT given we were already clearly on top but when they combined for big T to grab his second and our third it all seemed to make sense. Then what could be the defining moment of the season (in a season with plenty of those defining moments). If Morgan had managed to get to that ball a second before & lifted it over Sanchez, it could have been a 4th goal but more importantly would have almost certainly avoided the horrific injury he suffered as the keeper made a mess of his face and has potentially ended his season.

Villa away - the end of the road

I spent the last week in total denial, convincing myself that he would be OK to play. Even when he was named on the bench I still thought 'oh fit enough for the bench then surely he comes on if we need him?' Having seen the latest pictures of him today I'm now surprised he was on the bench. Was it just for moral? Was it in case we went to penalties and we put him on just for that one kick? Maybe we will never know but what we know beyond doubt was that we missed him massively.

But it wasn't only him we missed. Sangare, Aina, CHO, Murillo and even Ndoye would have all added massively to the starting 11 or the bench. This was one game too many for the back up players to cope with. Another early booking for Morato. Nothing up front apart a Woody miss. Needed more bite in midfield and for me given the limited options we had I'd have played Yates from the start in place of McAtee.

Mistakes earlier by the club/Dyche meant that Netz and Taiwo could not be involved but some of those decisions go back to the original named squad last September given that we were only allowed to make 3 changes in January.

Villa were far too strong for us on the night. Their crowd was loud, especially when they smelt blood in the second half. Their rested players stepped up. Our European dreams ended in the back streets of Witton rather than the delights of Istanbul. There for the luck of the draw we played them rather than Freiburg or Braga. Oh what we would have given for 2 more proper European away trips to play Villa in the final in a one off game with a fit squad.

Don't be sad it's over, be glad it happened.

Well ok yes be a bit sad. But then pinch yourself and ask when we were battling with Luton 2 seasons ago to stay up would you take this? After 7 games in September 2021 with us rooted to the bottom of the championship could you have even dreamed of promotion never mind anything else. 9 years ago this week Jordon Smith's fingertip save kept us in the game where we secured our championship status - part of run of 10 consecutive years in that league where we didn't trouble the play offs. So yes we have seen some crap over the years but we kept coming back. As some Derby fans have the cheek to gloat about our loss last night. We know their chance of a European trip is a Jet 2 holiday.

I managed 15/16 Europa League games, my son 14 and my mate (Ticketmaster Chris) did all 16. We have had a brilliant time, made memories that will last a lifetime. I'll never take these times for granted. I hope I get to give it another bash over the next few years but I said that back in 95/96!

Lets finish strong - no more nail biting days please

If - and we know its a big IF - we beat Newcastle on Sunday, then West Ham have to win their last 3, overturn a 17 goal difference and us to lose our last 2. Yes I remember the Stoke game too so nothing is impossible, but I'm as confident as I can be that we will seal it this weekend probably by Arsenal beating West Ham tbh! I don't hold with these mad theories that we can win the last 3 and a series of freak results end up 8th and qualify for Europe. Anyone who seriously believes that please set yourself as a self help coach because the world needs you.

And finally ....

I'll leave all the transfer speculation and manager talk etc until the next blog. I've got Villa result out my system now and I need to make up some garden furniture that arrived while I was in Birmingham.

Steve Battlemuch

Trent End Upper & Away Member

Find me on X/BlueSky/TikTok

Writer for Mist Rolling In fanzine and occasional guest on Forest Focus & Talking Reds podcasts.

Since my last blog we have beaten Porto to clinch a European Semi Final for the first time since 1984, then despite a first half scare beat Burnley 4-1 and demolished Sunderland in their Stadium of Dim. I said we would know more after these 3 games and oh yes we do.

Porto are no mugs. Even with 10 men for 85 minutes they gave us a real test. They looked so much better than the team we beat 2-0 in October. We did enough over 2 legs to deserve the win but you couldn't call it convincing. Maybe that's 2 legged football at this level, ride your luck, keep it tight. Maybe Villa will be the same?

Burnley we knew for many was a bigger game - not for all fans because some of us are desperate for a trophy and the joy of a final in Istanbul - but there is still a sense that the owner has been clear to Vitor that Premier League survival is key. That said the teams picked for Porto and Burnley were very similar. The first half took us all into despair again. Missed chances and a sucker punch goal from a team almost relegated. Then Pereira's golden moment - Jesus on for Bakwa, MGW pushed slightly wider and the rest is history. You could taste the relief around the ground at full time. We all knew we needed the 3 points but to combine it with the flair of the 2nd half performance, a hat-trick for Morgan and a home PL goal for Igor topped it off perfectly. Coming after Spurs had dropped points again made it the perfect weekend.

The Sunderland win - and how we won - has taken the excitement to a whole new level, despite late wins for Spurs and West Ham. Our better goal difference can be worth an extra point too. The confidence flowing through the team, the Wood/Jesus/MGW combination is working and Hutchinson had his best game for months too. Injuries at the back continue to be a concern but hopefully we can keep patching them up and getting them back out there. Netz had a good 25 minute cameo and didn't look out of place at all.

We are not safe until its impossible but I'm looking up the table not down now. Leeds, Newcastle and Palace are all catchable. These are words I thought I wouldn't be typing 6 weeks ago.

So what the hell has happened to make us all feel better?

Confidence, tactics, a bit of luck and runs of results. Vitor has now got us on an 8 game unbeaten run in all competitions - 5 wins and 3 draws and if you take PL games only it's 6 unbeaten - 3 wins and 3 draws. By contrast Dyche's best run was 5 games (3W and 2D) in all comps and 3 games in the PL (2W and 1D).

Vitor is on 1.5 points per game in the PL v 1.2 for Dyche. Dyche worst run was 4 straight PL defeats v 2 for Vitor. However the confidence factor comes from this stat - Dyche 20 goals scored / 23 conceded from 18 PL games and Vitor 16 scored / 7 conceded from 8 PL games.

Many of us who were reluctant to move to manager number 4 are now asking for forgiveness. Dyche's overall stats over a full season would have kept us up but clearly by the end of his time the confidence in the squad had gone. Pereira has found a formular that works and Woody coming back has certainly helped. Morgan is in the form of his life. These are certainly reasons to be cheerful as we approach the last 6 but hopefully 7 games.

Can we beat Villa over 2 legs?

Yes but we are the underdogs and that should suit us. Hopefully we can take a lead into the second leg and then soak up the pressure that will be thrown at us. If we do go out at this stage its no disgrace given the season we've had and how stable Villa are as a club. Think if any of us are honest we would have felt semi finalists was a big achievement at the start of the season even when we had Nuno and had won the opening game 3-0! Let's make the ground loud and proud - these nights don't come around very often. Soak it up. I've just bagged my ticket for the away leg too - no passport or euros needed, will feel a lot different to the other trips but the away fans will give it everything we have. Good too that the tickets will be digital for this one, a quick response from the club to the concerns raised by fans about a central Birmingham pick up.

Important message from the Supporters Trust

A few days ago the Trust issued an statement about the need for fans to be listened to and have an independent voice in the running of our club. Given what's happened to Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester in recent years - plus many others too - no one should be complacent. The Trust do a great job and recently as Trust members we voted to give a big donation to Forza Garibaldi to help with future displays. If you are not a member please consider it. Details via nffctrust.org - cost £12 a year.

MGW for England

If Tuchel picks Foden or Palmer instead of Morgan it can only be 'big club bias'. His form and stats are there for all to see. He can't do anymore to secure that place on the plane. Keep going Morgan we are loving it.

3 more blogs to the end of the season!

After this one I'm planning one after the Villa/Chelsea/Villa games. Another one after Bournemouth and a final one after Istanbul/end of season round up. Thanks for the feedback from some of you who say you have enjoyed these. They are intended as a fans eye view of the season not at the level of some of the Forest fans whose writing is like poetry - looking at you David Marples and Pete Blackburn! There is hopefully room for a thousand flowers to bloom - blogs, fanzines and podcasts are all part of our Forest family.

I'm working on a playlist to sum up the season which I'll cover in more depth in the final blog. Here are my initial thoughts -

Don't leave me this way - Nuno

Wake me up when September ends - Ange

The boys are back in town - Dyche

Burning down the house - Dyche - double A side

Here comes the sun - Vitor

Steve Battlemuch

Trent End Upper/Away member

Find me on X/BlueSky/TikTok and in the pages of Mist Rolling In

Occasional appearances on Forest Focus and Talking Reds.

So back from the International break, still high on the victories in Denmark and North London, we all looked forward to the challenge of juggling a chance of European glory and Premier League survival.

Porto - Sun, beers and a bizarre own goal

I'd visited Porto before for a city break holiday so I knew what to expect. Its a stunning city especially down by the river where Forest fans were encouraged to congregate. It's a steep walk up the main old town where we had to pick up match tickets from. Many took the steps but the smart move was paying 4 euros for the Funicular. My knees thanked me for it.

The Wednesday night and Thursday daytime were brilliant for the travelling fans. The weather on matchday helped with the atmosphere and we were 'allowed' to make our own way to the game by the efficient metro system which dropped us at the ground. (If only our tram went to the ground ...).

The game was a tough watch at times as Porto played a million times better than they did at the city ground in October. If we are honest we did well to stay in the tie, partly thanks to the most bizarre own goal I've ever seen. That said ruling out the Jesus goal seemed harsh on the night and even harsher now I've seen it back a few times. We had made 9 changes from the team that beat Spurs so maybe this was an expected performance but we will need to be on top of our game on Thursday night to go through. With 5 players facing a one match ban if they get a yellow card and would therefore miss the first leg of the semi final it's going to be a nervy night. But we are 90 (hopefully not 120) minutes away from a semi final and surely we have to go for it. The confidence of the win would be a massive boost for the Burnley game.

Villa - the start of a trio of meetings?

With the team reverting to the starting 11 that beat Spurs, this was going to be test to see how our strongest 11 (on paper) fared against a good Villa side who are 4th and have sailed through their Europa League games to date. Well, like the Porto game, I think we did well to come out with a draw. On another day one of those those numerous Villa chances could easily have gone in. Our chances, with the exception of the Jesus header, were harder. However I'd have taken the point before kick off so can't complain. I hope we will be seeing them twice more in the next few weeks, unfortunately the second leg would be at their ground. Those of us lucky enough to get tickets will have to sing extra loud so you can hear us back in Nottingham. But first we need to beat Porto before we can get into the nightmare of organising flights to Birmingham. Obviously it's possible that Bologna could overturn Villa & you can get that at 4/1 if you fancy it but I think our dreams of some days in the Italian sunshine are remote to say the least.

Hillsborough still hurts 37 years on

I remember how excited I was to be going. I'd missed the one the year before. We were doing well in the league - we ended up finishing 3rd behind Arsenal and Liverpool. We had won the league cup the week before. Spirits were high. I don't remember much of the build up to the game but do vividly remember looking from the Kop end to their end and thinking Jeez it looks packed in there. The game kicked off and 6 minutes later it was over. Most Forest fans thought at first it was a pitch invasion. It quickly became apparent it was not. The seriousness of the situation began to dawn on us in the away end when advertising hoardings started to be used as makeshift stretchers. Clough and Dalglish made an announcement over the PA around 4pm I think. Not many had left by then incredibly. The PA was hard to hear but we gathered the game had been abandoned. The Kop started to empty out and we began to walk back to Sheffield - a 3 mile walk as the buses were not running as roads were being kept clear for the emergency services. After about 2 miles we did manage to get a bus and ended up back at the train station. The 'Green Un' football paper declared that 7 were feared dead in the edition being sold as we arrived at the station. With no mobile phones it wasn't really until we got back home to Nottingham that we started to fully understand the horror of the day.

I am in awe of the work done by the Justice campaign over the years which exposed the Police cover up and the role of the Sun paper in telling lies about the events. Its taken far too long to get the truth and now we need the Hillsborough Law to ensure that public bodies are accountable for their actions.

City Ground development saga continues.

I spoke about this at length on Forest Focus podcast yesterday (14/4). In short we had hoped that the plans for the new stands - as outlined in December - would be discussed by the Planning Committee of Rushcliffe Borough Council this May. This is the new expanded stadium plan, not the one already agreed a year ago which only looked at a new Peter Taylor stand. However with the new more ambitious plans have come new objections. As I understand it these are now being discussed between the club and the council. I am not confident that the plans will get discussed at the May planning committee. Hopefully I'm wrong. In the interim its a good time for anyone who lives in Rushcliffe to email their borough and county councillors and reiterate your support for the expansion. Let James Naish MP for Rushcliffe know too that you support it. We need to keep the pressure up if we want to see extra fans in the ground anytime soon!

Forza Garibaldi at it again

Ten years on from their formation they continue to produce displays of incredible quality, bringing out the best of our club in the messages they send. I'm sure anyone reading my blog already follows them on social media but if not look them up. They need our support, both practical and financial, to keep producing these.

I'd also like to see an exhibition of the displays somewhere in the city. Clearly it would need to be a big space in order to show them and I don't underestimate the logistics of how it would be done but it would be great to see some of them again, especially for those of us in the Trent End who only get to see the back of them!

And finally ...

I've been assessing the European away trips and trying to decide which was best using a matrix of 7 categories.

The Game itself

The Ground itself - view and look

The away end atmosphere

Treatment of & facilities for fans

City views / things to do

Pre match build up in the city

Weather

Using a score of up to 5 for each one I've ended up with this order. NB I didn't go to Utrecht so that doesn't feature. I'll hopefully add 2 more games to this by the end of May.

Porto 28

Midtjylland 27

Betis 26

Fenerbache 25

Graz 22

Braga 15

I'd be interested to hear back from others on their scores.

Next blog out after the Sunderland game - we will all know a lot more after these 3 games.

Steve Battlemuch

Trent End Upper / away member

Find me on X/BlueSky/TikTok & in the pages of Mist Rolling In.

Also occasional appearances on Forest Focus and Talking Reds podcasts.

The satirical TV show That Was The Week That Was first broadcast in 1962, the year I was born. I'm told it was ground breaking at the time. I've never seen an episode as I guess it's a bit dated now! But as lover of that type of comedy (think Mock the Week, Saturday Night Live etc) the name of it seeped into my consciousness many years ago. I can't think of a better phrase to sum up my last week as a Forest fan.

My last blog was after the hope of the City game where there were signs of the spark and fight we needed to stay up. Then came Midtjylland at home! We went fairly strong again but it backfired. Cunha injured after 8 minutes, an early yellow for Morato, both of these leading to more minutes for Milenkovic & Williams. The stats show we had 22 shots but only 6 on target. The stat that counted was their one goal from 2 shots on target. The incessant rain reminded me of Braga in more ways than one. As I trudged back over Trent Bridge getting wetter by the minute I couldn't even sum up the energy for a post match pint of Bass in the Nav. Their fans celebrated the win like it was the final. Whilst no one should be stupid enough to write us off, most of us thought our Europa League dreams were over if we are honest.

An inch on the VAR and 2 on the bar -

The thoughts turned to Fulham and the elusive home win. The mood in the Nav pre match was a bit flat. Fothers tried his best to gee us all up but the MoK seemed half hearted but thankfully was better in the ground. The game was fairly dire - the stats show we had 2 shots on target and them 1. However not for the first time this season it was the fine margins that meant we dropped 2 vital points. The through ball to Ola was brilliant, his strike almost perfect apart from needing to be 2 inches lower. Ndoye, who I though made a real impact when he came on at half time, was marginally offside when he broke through and was brought down for the penalty that never was. However the decision on the offside for the goal was even harder to take. No defender appealed apart from a half hearted one after the event by one player who was nowhere near the play. I've seen multiple replays and none show conclusively that we was offside. The 5cm advantage rule that has been used against us doesn't seem to apply to our goals? Again we sloped off after the game thinking we were now on a spiral of nothing going our way, having failed to capitalise on the other teams drawing too.

Off to Denmark for the fun of it.

We had just short of 900 tickets. About 700 of us via the away sales and around 200 who came on a corporate day trip. There were some of our lot in the home end via various means - ask but don't tell is the motto. The mood the night before and during matchday was good. No rain, a small compact high street with enough bars close together to allow us to switch between them. £8-10 for a pint of Guinness set the tone. Our bank balances are taking a hammering on these European tours.

After trying and failing to cadge a lift with the corporate coaches to the ground we got a cab and were in the ground fairly early - phone banks allowed, good food and drink outlets, beer allowed inside like at Graz which meant some got spilt later in the game!

When the team news came out most of us imagined the worst. These players had not performed consistently all season but we knew many were capable of individual good performances. The mood turned to one of 'well lets enjoy it as it might be our last game in Europe for years'.

Oh and how we enjoyed it. The players delivered, to be honest the performance slipped a bit when we brought on some of the first 11. Lucca at time frustrated us all, particularly early in the 2nd half when put through by Hutch if memory serves and he failed to control the ball despite having no defenders near him! That said he didn't give up and managed some hold up play & stayed on the pitch for the whole 120 mins. Their manager thought he was great!

The joy of the Yates goal to put us 2 up will stay with me for life.

Yes it was disappointing to concede via the ball coming off Morato's chest & another wafer thin offside stopping Yates scoring the winner in extra time. The penalty shootout could only have scripted better if Billing had been on the pitch and missed himself.

In the pub after the game flights to Porto were already being booked. The journey continues.

3-0 on your big day out - say hello to Lincoln.

Via the delights of the Forza coach to Spurs, we got to the Antwerp Arms near the ground for a Guinness or 2 at £6-50 a pint. This community pub is a delight and worth a stop when Spurs get promoted back to the Premier League in the future.

I won't cover the match because you will have all seen it on the day and watched back the clips a million times too. However the way we soaked up the pressure in the first half and then hit them from a CORNER just before half time was classic Forest. The noise in the away bar at HT was brilliant - see the videos on TikTok for the fun. They crumbled second half and it was fitting that Morgan and Taiwo finished them off. I can see them going down but might just be rescued by a further change of manager?

The 2 away ends in 4 days have been the best all season. Better than Anfield and that's saying something. We can all breath easier for the next 2 weeks before we torture ourselves with what team should start in Porto and can we follow it all up by beating Villa.

Take a break - buy your Porto ticket, renew your Season Card.

Looking forward to not having to worry about who is playing who, about when Woody will be match fit, about formations and starting 11's. It's not all over by a long way - a couple of bad results and we are right back in the mess - but it looks and feels so much better for now and that will do for me. I'm pleased the club have set realistic prices for the Porto home game & hope it sells out quickly.

I'm looking forward to the Porto trip already, its a beautiful city even if I'll only be there for less than 48 hours. Think we will get 2500 tickets and I'm sure there will be a scramble for them. We are 4 games from the final. Just let that soak in for a bit. Enjoy it.

Steve Battlemuch

Trent End Upper/Away Member

Find me on X/BlueSky/TikTok & in the pages of Mist Rolling In.

Also occasional podcast appearances on Forest Focus and Talking Reds.

My last blog was written after the Liverpool defeat. The gut wrench of that last minute goal still hurts. Since then we've had the qualification to the last 16 via a defeat at home to the seat wrecking, flare throwing Fenerbahce who nearly did a Yeovil to us, a really dispiriting defeat at Brighton but then a massive dose of hope at the home of the tippy tappy, buy any player we want, 115 ignored charges, moaning players City. ( In the old days before they were bought by an undemocratic nation state I used to have a soft spot for City as the true Manchester club in the shadow of United, I even cheered the Aguero goal. My soft spot ended with the 115 charges and their response).

Getting Fenerbahce over the line

47 minutes into the second half & we are 2-0 down. It's happening again. Surely not this time? Anyone of my generation has seen this plenty of times before, the expectation turned into a nightmare. Thankfully the players brought on at half time got a grip of the game. We stopped giving the ball away so often. We started to play like a team who had beaten them comprehensively 3-0 a week before. Callum scored and we all breathed freely again. This is called making full use of the 2 legs. We may well need that tactic again.

I'm one of the lucky 686 fans who have a ticket for the Midtjylland away game. Like everyone I wish more of us could make the trip. The club are also taking a corporate trip on a day flight at £900 a ticket. In principle I'm not against these trips because they clearly bring a lot of money in for the club. However when there are so few tickets available in such a small ground it will grind a lot on those who failed to get a ticket via the normal away game structures. (more on ticket prices later in the blog).

So we go into the home leg on Thursday with the usual dilemma for the manager. Play your best team or close to it and hope for the same result we got in Istanbul or rest some key players for the crucial Fulham game? Personally I'm for going fairly strong to try to get a good lead because then the ability to hopefully rest some before the Spurs game in the 2nd leg would feel an easier move. Not long to wait now to find out.

Forget the Brighton Rocks, remember the Manchester joy.

I'm not dwelling too much on the Brighton game because it was typical Forest. Everything had gone our way in the other results and we couldn't capitalise. Apart from a very good goal from Morgan with help from Jesus, the first half was a series of mistakes which Brighton capitalised on. The change of formation after 56 minutes with Cunha making up a back 3 gave us something new to work with. If Taiwo had found the target near the end - he needed to - we would have left with a point and a smile. When we didn't the gloom quickly kicked in again. We headed into the City game where no one backed us to get anything and the hope was for it not to be a thrashing. Whilst at times in the first half it felt like the flood gates might open, we managed to go in only 1-0 down and then moments of magic from Morgan and Eliot made us start believing again. If only Ryan had managed to score that header in stoppage time it would really have been a Champagne Supernova moment. Thankfully Murillo at the other end had their players looking back in anger at the Ref who they falsely claimed had let them down. It was lovely to see Silva and co moaning after the game.

Can we be more magic off the pitch too?

The rumours of an impending rise in season cards and matchday tickets coupled with the sight of thousands of unsold tickets for the game on Thursday has rightly provoked much debate on what the club should do. The Supporters Trust sent out a comprehensive survey to fans and over the course of just 4 days over 2000 fans responded and the results were overwhelmingly clear. The full findings are worth reading via the Trust - https://members.nffctrust.org/statement-page - but it's clear that fans want the club to freeze prices for next season and make changes to matchday prices and age ranges for concessions etc. The Trust have done an excellent job here and will be presenting their findings to the club in the next few days as part of a consultation with the fan advisory board. I urge the club to listen and act.

STOP PRESS / AMEND BLOG - well they have reduced tickets by £10 for Thursday. It’s a gesture but it could have been more. Attention will now turn to the next leg (fingers crossed 🤞) and next seasons prices.

STOP PRESS/ AMEND BLOG X 2

They have reduced them again. As I said earlier it should have been more when they reduced them the first time. Hopefully now we sell every ticket.

Its the business end of the season & we need to deliver the goods

My next blog will be after the Spurs game. 2 crucial PL games and the 2 legs in the EL await. Thankfully I'll be at all 4 of them. At that point we have almost a 3 week gap before the Villa home game but hopefully another EL game the Thursday before. Life as a Forest fan could be looking a hell of a lot happier if the next 4 games go to plan but that doesn't sound like us now does it? See you on the other side.

Footnote -

If you can support this event by Garibaldi Girls - it’s a great cause & they do a great job too - https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing/104205

Steve Battlemuch

Trent End Upper/Away member

I wrote my last blog 20 days ago. In that time we have lost badly to Leeds, failed to score against Wolves, sacked Dyche, appointed Pereira, beat Fenerbahce with some flair and suffered last minute despair against Liverpool. It's never a dull moment at Forest, if I wasn't grey haired already I would be now.

The end of Dyche

The fan base was split but turning against him, the players were clearly unhappy and the January transfer window didn't really help. I suspect the decision was already made after the Leeds performance but failing to score v Wolves sealed it. I'm not a big fan of the idea of players meeting the owner to help decide a managers future but the dreadful phrase of 'lost the dressing room' has become increasingly common. Dyche joined us when we were in the bottom 3 and left us above the line. He got us into the EL play offs but he clearly was very old school in training methods and tactics. If Pereira keeps us up and we keep up a decent EL run then the decision to sack Dyche will be justified by all bar his immediate mates. If we go down maybe the inquest will look elsewhere at Edu and even the owner. For now we all need to put any doubts and fears to one side and do our best as fans to back the team. The 1200 of us in Istanbul did that for sure and I thought the atmosphere yesterday was getting back towards the better days at the city ground.

Istanbul vibes

The pre match hype about what to expect in Istanbul probably contributed to it being the first away game in this EL campaign that we have not sold out our allocation. There was obviously other factors - costs, time off work & half term - but I know fans who thought the matchday arrangements would make the day not worth the hundreds of pounds on transport & accommodation costs. It is unacceptable in 2026 that fans have to be bussed in hours before a game and kept behind for an hour along with the massive restrictions on what could be taken into the stadium. Clearly the club had a duty to warn fans of what to expect and video blogs from Villa fans who had been there recently showed what we would face. However some of the warnings came to nothing but most of it did play out as expected.

Originally told to expect to leave the city centre at 3, we found on the day this time got changed to 4. Once on the coaches we then sat there for another 30 mins before they left at 4-30. For whatever logistical reason the coaches went in convoy and via a long route taking an hour. When we got to the ground at 5-30 it took over an hour for everyone to get in as 1200 of us had to file through a single gate! Once in - for me at 6-30 - we faced another 2 hours 15 mins before the game started. For those lucky enough to be at the front of the queue they had a 3 hour wait. There were 3 single windows for food and drink. Many didn't bother but those who needed something it took most over an hour and some over 90 mins to get some water or a hot dog. I've had comments on social media that you come for the football not the food and whilst that is obvious, its not asking the world for a major European football stadium to have better options than this.

The checks at the ground were not as intrusive as we were told to expect. We were told we would have to take our shoes off but that didn't happen! The pat down for me was less than I get at Brentford or West Ham. So I could have brought some food in after all. Passports were not checked at the gate but we all brought them as we were told it was a requirement.

This all might seem like a giant whinge and it was quickly forgotten when the game started in a whirl of noise and a brilliant first half from us. I mention it because I think the Football Supporters Assn needs to being doing more on this and lobbying UEFA to get improvements. The contrast the relaxed atmosphere at Graz was chalk and cheese. Our own Supporters Trust has issued a post match survey to collate our experiences and I'd urge fans who went to complete it.

Lets talk about the football

The new boss picks his strongest side & in the first half we dominate them despite it being the loudest crowd I'd ever been in. After our second goal the noise dropped a bit and after the third a lot. Many of their fans slopped off from 80 mins onwards. The Murillo goal was a delight, we know its been coming since we first saw him try a run at Palace away when Cooper was manager! The whole team performed well and we were able to make subs with the game won effectively after 50 minutes! Obviously no Forest fan who can remember the Yeovil play off semi final will ever take games for granted but surely we can't let this slip now and hopefully some of the squad players will get some valuable playing time on Thursday.

The expectation was therefore high going into the Liverpool game and the first half we were totally dominant and them as poor as I've seen them. But we all know you have to score when you are on top and yet again we didn't. Callum needed to do better with that chance one on one in the 3rd minute. Jesus needs to acknowledge that the time he gets on the ball in the Europa League isn't available to him in the PL. For all our dominance, from our 18 shots only 2 were on target. We are taking too many shots from distance without the quality needed to make the keeper save anything. A little more patience in the build up, the strikers finding more space and our ball players having the confidence to play them in. Saw Lucca in space in the second half as another long shot sailed over the bar. Someone needs to pass to him or he shouldn't be on the pitch! Maybe he gets a start on Thursday to build his confidence and to save Jesus for Brighton?

The last 6 minutes of the game are best forgotten. The first goal should have been enough for us to switch on more. After that was ruled out (if it had been us I'd have been livid) they were always going to keep coming at us. However watching the game back at home last night, it was clear we were maybe too gung ho in those last few vital minutes. We had options to keep the ball up their end for a bit but the brilliant and reborn Sangare tried another long range shot which sailed over and gave them possession back. Even without the dubious onside/offside debate we had chances to clear the ball better before and after the throw in. Also Murillo and Ortega went for the same ball which meant the ball dropped for them to score. Its small margins but when we don't score these small margins cost us points. The offside debate is still raging online but we can't change that now. In my view how anyone can say that Ekitike isn't interfering with play is beyond me. He's clearly offside and is in the mix as the ball comes in. Fairly sure we had a goal ruled out in a past game where Wood was deemed to be interfering even though he didn't touch the ball. What we can change however is the game management to stop these things happening again.

When the new manager change happened with 12 games left I predicted we would finish 3 points above WHU to stay up. I'm already a point down on that prediction after these games. We now need a strong weekend where hopefully Liverpool smash WH to help the goal difference and we simply must not lose v Brighton. A point is the minimum we have to take there but obviously we all want 3. I don't care if the goal is scored off someone's arse, we just need to stop the rot of not scoring.

So over to you Vitor, find the way to manage the players minutes v Fenerbahce, get our best players on the pitch v Brighton, get the points we all crave for and everyone will take you to the Trent Nav for a pint.

Steve Battlemuch - Trent End Upper / Away Member

Find me on X/Blue Sky/TikTok & articles in Mist Rolling In fanzine. Also found on Forest Focus and Talking Reds occasionally.

This is a free blog done for therapy and pleasure.

For better writers than me follow David Maples & Pete Blackburn on Substack & the best forest data analysis from WT Analysis.

#NFFC #Forest #NottinghamForest

I'm breaking my pattern of fortnightly blogs because a lot has happened in the past week. A cracking win in the EL and the play off draw, the hand of Neco in the Palace game and a transfer window where we avoided a disaster.

Was the Europa League there for the taking?

In many ways yes, the missed penalties against Graz and Braga probably cost us 5 points and that would have meant us finishing 3rd, avoiding a play-off and getting a home time in the round of 16. Obviously its more complex than that, other chances were missed and in both games we played a lot of players who don't usually make our starting 11 for a PL game. That's the trade off for being 4th bottom in the league - Dyche is making a priority of PL survival and for the club overall that's clearly the aim. We might get the chance now to play stronger teams in the knock out stages but when you see that we have Liverpool and Brighton before and after the second leg of the play off you wonder if the risk will be taken? The same applies to the possible round of 16 game with Fulham and Spurs dovetailing the second leg.

The European journey is brilliant for the fans who get to make the trips, despite the rain in Braga, and if (a massive IF) we did manage to win it the prize both in terms of another European trophy and entry to the Champions League is huge. So for me it should be worth trying to push on strongly now & hopefully getting 3 new players into the EL squad gives us options too.

Once we knew who the opponents could be - on the night of the game who we might play changed about 10 times in the second half alone - I was desperately hoping it was going to be a trip to Athens. I booked accommodation (cancellable obs) and waited anxiously for the draw. But Istanbul it is and all I'd read from the recent Villa trip made me seriously question if the hours waiting around on match day would be worth the expense. The debate with myself lasted about 5 minutes during which messages piled in from my son and mates urging me to book flights! However if I wait another 30 years for a European campaign I'd be 93 so not taking that risk!

So I've bitten the bullet and hoping the full day in Istanbul on the Wednesday and the 90 mins of the game makes up for the absolute pain of being dragged to the ground 4/5 hours before and held back 2 hours afterwards. I'm sure Istanbul have their own reasons for this based on problems with other clubs but its punishing thousands of decent fans who could have been trusted to just enjoy their city before and after the game.

Palace and the hand of Neco

Much was billed for this game, the chance to draw level with them, another return for Johnno, the Mateta saga alongside the obvious Europa League banter. Whilst I understand the reluctance of Forza to rise to the bait with a banner display, I think we could have made more of it. That said the early goal did the trick until the moment of madness from Neco. It was a brilliant backs to the wall performance in the 2nd half to stop them having a shot on goal. To be honest we had the better chances to win it. That should build confidence for the Leeds game. The apology afterwards from Neco was heartfelt but as many others have said he owes us nothing. He's a 100% performance player for us every game and this one error doesn't define him.

Quiet time in the January sales

Despite the hype of being linked with loads of players we ended up with 3, 2 of which are clearly needed - the left back and striker - and a quality goalkeeper who now that Sels is injured again might well walk straight into the team on Friday. Losing Zinchenko is a bonus given his style of play being totally unsuited to a Dyche team, and Luiz was a contract disaster waiting to happen if he had managed to stay fit enough to keep playing. Obviously we all know he's going to play a blinder now, 90 mins every week for Villa, but IMO we only saw the best of him in flashes, and you would not start him ahead of Anderson and Sangare anyway. So we avoided paying big money for risky players (Mateta) & have to now trust in who we have to push on to May. Most of them have World Cup squad places to aspire to or the chance to make a name for themselves in the Europa League.

So onto Leeds and Wolves which gives us the chance to put some daylight in the relegation scrap, then a breather before the madness of a night in Istanbul. I'll be at all 3 and I can't wait.

And finally - Psycho -

Had the absolute pleasure of a night listening to my favourite ever player Stuart Pearce in Mansfield last Friday night with 500 others. Great stories about his time with us as player & manager. Was loyal when he needed to be, led the team straight back up under Frank Clark, scorer of wonderful goals & always 100% commitment to the cause. Turned down the chance to move to Man U too in 1990. Thanks for all the memories Psycho.

Steve Battlemuch

Trent End Upper / Away member

Find me on X and BlueSky and occasionally on Forest Focus and Talking Reds podcasts. Columnist for the ever brilliant Mist Rolling In fanzine too.

#NFFC #NottinghamForest #PremierLeague #EuropaLeague

Its fair to say this season hasn't panned out like any of us imagined on that sunny August day when Nuno's team beat Brentford 3-1. The next 2 months is a period I'd gladly erase from my memory bank with the exception of the trip to Seville and the pre match build up to the Midtjylland game.

Dyche has steadied this ship - that's undeniable. Yes some of the performances have been dire but most of these were with a lot of back up players eg Wrexham, Braga. The key facts remain - our results since Dyche came in would see us mid table. We have now got 7 points from 9 in the last 3 games including a hard earned draw against an Arsenal team who are not only top of the Premier League but also top of the Champions League. Our next run of league games gives us the opportunity to get more points on the board. Palace, Leeds, Wolves and yes Liverpool are winnable games. A decent run in these games could put good distance from both West Ham and Palace. I'd appeal to fans who want to see 'better' football and a new manager to accept this isn't going to happen until at least the summer. We are in a relegation scrap and need to be united on and off the pitch to ensure we pull clear.

What was good to see & hear in the away end at Brentford was no ‘hangover’ from Braga. We all got behind the lads from kick off, obviously helped by an early excellent goal & finished off in style by a smiling Taiwo. For those who look to divine inspiration it was certainly there on Sunday.

Can we win the Europa League?

Stop laughing. Yes if, like me, you were in rainy Braga the evidence says we would be lucky to get through the play-off round. None of the EL games have been easy to watch with the exception of the first 45 mins in Seville. However we all know we haven't played our best team in any of the recent games. Dyche has tried to save some of the players for key PL games and in the league position we are in that's totally understandable. However in the play-off games we have a free weekend before the first leg so could change it up for that one plus we will have added 3 new players into the EL squad too which will improve the options for selection. Unfortunately we play Liverpool in between the 2 legs. If we get through the knock out round and into the round of 16 again we would have a free weekend in the run up to the 1st leg. (Losing to Wrexham wasn't that bad after all). Fulham at home would be the game between the 2 legs and maybe with the PL table looking more comfortable by then we rest players for that?

So yes it's possible to survive in the Premier League and progress to the later stages of the Europa League and a good transfer window would massively help that. As I write this there is a lot of speculation about Mateta and others. Also by all accounts Luiz has left for Villa. We clearly didn't see the best of him apart from that first 45 mins in Seville. He wasn't starting games ahead of Anderson and Sangare so cutting our wage bill to bring others in seems a sensible deal to me, until he knocks in a free kick against us when Villa come here in April - or even worse in the Europa League final.

A final word on this Thursdays game - a win means we play at home second in the knock out stage. They need to win to guarantee their top 8 spot. There are so many permutations on what position we could finish that its not worth trying to guess who we might play but if you want hours of fun try the official Europa League app which has a simulator. I've put loads of different results in and Celtic comes up a lot! Think Glasgow gets more rain than Braga! There are still tickets available so anyone who moans about not being able to go to games - and can afford it as I appreciate the tickets are expensive - should buy one and come along. Apart from the play off game it might be your only chance to see a game in Europe for 30 years, hopefully not but don't take our current status for granted. In my lifetime of watching Forest - first game Oct 67 - we have been in the top league 55% of the time and I've seen us relegated 5 times including to League One.

Supporters Trust and Ground Development

Last night (Mon 26th) was the AGM of the Supporters Trust. Its a democratic and legal body set up in 2016 to protect the interests of the club from a supporters perspective. Other clubs have them - not all - but in some they have been a vital safeguard to try to keep clubs afloat when disreputable owners crash out of a club. Look at Sheffield Wednesday for a recent example of how having an active Supporters Trust was vital when the owner walked away.

We set ours up when the previous owner looked capable of crashing the club. Just because we have an owner with serious funds now it doesn't mean the Trust has no role. It's a vital link to the club via the fan advisory board and also will act as the key organisation for the club to consult with over the ground redevelopment. With over 800 members its a serious organisation and is being run well by the current officers. I'd urge fans to join up and follow them on social media.

At the AGM the Forest Chairman Nick Randall did a Q&A which covered a variety of topics. I mentioned a lot of this on the Forest Focus pod which went out today but in short on the key issue of ground redevelopment the club are expecting it to go to Rushcliffe Planning Committee in April or May and if successfully agreed by them, work can start this summer. An end date of Summer 2030 is the plan. The club believes the plans allow for work to start without having to knock down the current Peter Taylor stand. The new stand would build from the back like Liverpool did recently. That would get us to 45,000 seats and the club would then decide on phase 2, presumably based on demand and if we were still in the Premier League and Europe etc. However he did confirm that phase 1 would start regardless of if we got relegated this season. I guess we will know by May one way or another if this is all going to come together. What we do know is that it's long overdue and will be the gateway we need to start getting a new generation of fans into the ground to support their local team. I for one can't wait to see that.

Conclusion

So with 4 games in 13 days - and the play off round EL draw - we have plenty to get excited about starting on Thursday night. Get your vocal cords ready. COYR.

Steve Battlemuch

Trent End Upper / Away member.

Contributor to Forest Focus & Talking Reds podcasts and Mist Rolling In fanzine. Find me on X and BlueSky

#NFFC #Forest #PremierLeague #EuropaLeague

I wrote my last blog after the Spurs victory, maybe our best performance under Dyche, certainly the best by Sangare. The Liverpool win for me was better for the context of being at Anfield etc but the Spurs win at home gave everyone a warm glow heading to the Xmas period. Since then we have lost 4 from 5 Premier League games and been knocked out of the FA Cup by Wrexham!

Before we get into the weeds of the despair let’s take some positives - Aina is back, Sangare is on a plane home, Sels is back in goal, we got a massive 3 points at West Ham and we have 2 free weekends in Feb and March to rest players for key PL & EL games. Thanks to Macclesfield we are not the story of the 3rd round of the FA Cup - enjoy that Palace fans!

However the meltdown from some of our fanbase has been epic. Some have even called for Dyche to go, although thankfully that seems to be a tiny minority. So lets unpick where we are as a club heading into another crucial set of games in the PL and Europe, with the transfer window open too.

Is Dyche still the right man for the job?

In my opinion yes - the idea we move to a 4th manager in a season would turn us into a laughing stock. Some might think we are there already, but I think he - and his team - have brought some stability and progress in both the league and certainly Europe since his appointment. We are now 7 points clear of the bottom 3 with a better goal difference too, so effectively 8. A clear path exists to qualification to the knock out rounds of the Europa League, probably via a play off but top 8 is still possible too. Dyche has inherited a squad built for previous managers and some of them are clearly either not up to standard or taking too long to adapt to the scrap we are in. Whilst I don't believe we can relax and think we are safe from relegation in anyway, its going to take an excellent run from either West Ham or Burnley to get past us providing we win a handful more matches from the 17 we have left in the league. The importance of that win at West Ham can't be overstated. I'm also quite relaxed about Dyche calling out the first half performance of some of the players publicly after the Wrexham cup exit - yes these things are normally done behind closed doors and managers do bland interviews to mask it, but personally I think it needed saying to the fanbase as well as the players and hopefully it was a message to the owners too in respect of the transfer window.

I see no point in a debate about if he's the right manager long term because results will determine if he's here in August and if the owner thinks there is a better option available. As a fan I'll back him and the team we have. I've only publicly called for 2 managers to be sacked - Megson and Ange. Dyche is not in that category by any level.

Squad additions a top priority

Anyone can see that we have probably 12 players the manager truly trusts plus a couple who are currently injured (Wood and Yates). With the extra games that Europe brings we need more but January is a dire time for quality additions. I'd settle for a striker and a left footed full back to cover for Neco and Ola. Some of the squad players may well come good next season but knowing our transfer policy they might not be here then. Only having Jesus available as a striker for both Europa League games is worrying unless we quickly bring someone in this week to give him a break in the league. The lack of news on the extent of Woods injury is a further concern, seeming to indicate that he's not coming back anytime soon. So over to you recruitment team - no pressure but we need a decent striker quickly.

What is a stable club and can we achieve it?

There are not many stable and well run clubs. Some owners only see it as balance sheet or a way for personal fame and glory. Some clubs like City are owned by nation states and seem to be able to do what they want financially with no comeback if the lack of progress on the 115 charges is anything to go by.

We have a football mad owner who has invested his personal wealth into the club and we are where we are because of his investment. However he clearly wants to be involved in most decisions and his track record on changing managers both at Forest and Olympiakos is clear for all to see. To allow a fall out between Nuno and Edu to result in Nuno going appears to us from the outside a mad decision. We might never know the full story behind it but without doubt it has killed the mood of the fanbase and totally disrupted the season especially when you add the mad Ange experiment into the mix. Fans are rightly reluctant to criticise the owner given what he's done for us, but a more stable system behind the scenes is desperately needed. Transfer policy needs to be improved because whilst we have brought in some gems who will be sold on at a massive profit (Anderson and Murillo) they are outweighed by a number of failures who we seem to have overpaid for and then struggled to sell on. This aspect of the club needs vast improvement.

However before we get too down about the state of our club look around - 3 of the biggest clubs in the league in terms of history, fanbase, PL stability etc are also a basket case behind the scenes - Chelsea, Man U and Spurs. Football is now more than ever a business first and game second for owners. That's not going to change anytime soon.

Time for the players and fans to step up.

Our big players have not only pride but World Cup squad places at stake over the next few months. They won't want a relegation on their CV and would love to go deep into the Europa League. There is every chance, especially with a couple of favourable draws that we could end up in the last 4 and then anything is possible. For anyone like me who spent 3 years watching league one football I will never take this for granted or feel entitled to being 'entertained'. I want us to win games and play in the best leagues. We are on a 30 year high despite the gloom in some quarters. Yes all fans - especially those who pay a lot of money to follow the club home and away - have every right to moan and want better. It's the most natural thing in the world. But the team needs backing in the ground and we know that does effect the mood of the teams. Think back to the noise when we won promotion and then stayed up first season back. Think of the atmosphere at the heights of last season. We have to replicate this over the next 5 months. Lets not become the club where other teams want to play because the 'fans have turned'. Lets do our bit to push the lads on, starting against the champions elect on Saturday.

Conclusion

That's enough for now as I've written too much! I didn't even cover the ground development application going in but I'll pick that up next time. If we can't be excited about playing Arsenal and then a trip to Braga then we might as well go and do something else with our time.

Steve Battlemuch - Trent End Upper / Away Member

Find me on X and BlueSky, in Mist Rolling In fanzine and occasionally on Forest Focus and Talking Reds pods.

After the despair of the Everton performance (see last blog) the mood around the club - or vibes as its now called - is back on the up. Amazing what a couple of wins does for morale. As I always say "don't get too up or too down" but its always nicer to get carried away and dream of a Europa League final and climbing up the league to the worry of a relegation battle. So in my last blog of the year I want to take a look at some data around our PL history since winning promotion in 22, how the Europa League race is shaping up and finally a bit on being magic on and off the pitch and in the terraces.

Its been a funny old year ...

2025 started as 2024 finished with a 3-0 win at Wolves after 5 straight wins in December! We were in our best run of the modern era. Despite some wobbles this run really continued until we went to Villa on the 5th April and lost. Until the end of the season we only won 2 from 8 PL games and lost the cup semi final too. That Villa game we were without a recognised striker and Aina was injured too. Morato played in a back 3 and got roasted. Dominguez was asked to play wing back and it wasn't his best day either. Remarkably we nearly got a point thanks to the best 45 mins played for us by Jota Silva. But the wheels came off our unlikely Champions League dreams and we limped into the Conference League until the Palace email saga got us bumped up!

That purple patch, which was really from October to the Man U game on April 1st, is an outlier for how we have performed in the PL since coming back. Time will tell if Dyche can replicate it. We've played 130 games since coming back and the stats don't lie.

Breaking the 130 into 5 chunks of 26 games sees our win % as follows - 23%, 23%, 27%, 50%, 27%. The purple patch is obvious but also includes a couple of wins from the periods either side making the data even more stark. However there is reason for optimism when looking at the start Dyche has made.

Cooper had a 21% win rate in the PL, Nuno 42%, Ange a big fat zero obviously, but Dyche has started with 4 PL wins from 8 so 50% and 3 wins and a draw in the Europa League too. If he keeps this up we will be building a statue for him. However before we get carried away we need to remember how bad we were against Everton only just over a week ago. I am quietly confident that the improvement will continue, the injury crisis will ease, we will see a couple of new faces in January and I'm hoping with all my heart that Sangare comes back fit from AFCON as he's been like a new player under Dyche, one that many thought he would be when we signed him. It shows having some patience with players is worth it.

Europa League - play offs here we come?

The current top 8 have collectively more points than the top 8 had at the same stage last season. Rangers made the top 8 with 14 points - Porto in 8th place now have 13 points with 2 games to go. Looking at the 2 sets of fixtures to come it will be hard for us to force ourselves into the automatic places. Think we would need to win both and score some goals. A win and a draw would probably take us into the play offs as a seeded team which means the second leg at home. 2 draws just about scrapes us in the bottom bit of the knock off round. Lets not contemplate losing them both.

So keep the dates of 18/19 Feb and 25/26 Feb free because that's the play off round if we don't make the top 8. I've heard some say "well we get another away trip so bring it on", me I'd rather have those 2 weeks off to concentrate on other things and jump straight to the next round. Whatever happens those games against Braga away and Ferencvaros at home will be massive. Team selection will be fascinating for sure. Glad I've booked my flights for Braga, just need to secure a ticket now.

Magic on and off the pitch - and in the stands.

I've covered the on the pitch stuff. The off the pitch work the club is doing both in terms of the new stadium plans (see last blog) and how they are supporting lots of fans who need help is brilliant. See what they did for the Forest fan Stephen Crean who was injured in the train attack by his heroic actions, look at the Christmas programme of drop ins and food collections for people in and around our city who need support. This is brilliant heart warming stuff. I'm proud of our club when we do this. I've mentioned before but will do so again we are lucky to have the unmatched Forza Garibaldi who produce incredible displays for games which show our history as a rebel city and much more. So it angers me when elements of our fanbase let the club down with chants against Liverpool and Everton around poverty. It's not banter as I've heard some people say. We have high levels of unemployment and food bank use here too. Lets have banter about all sorts of stuff with those clubs but I hope we can get to the point in our evolution that we consign these chants to where they belong. We are better than this.

Anyway rant over. I'm ready for the next few games, finally winning at Fulham, a decent performance against City, revenge over Everton, a tough match with Villa and sinking Nuno at that mess of a London stadium. All that before taking on Hollywood Wrexham. Those 6 games in 18 days will be a test and we'll know a lot more about the season after that.

My next blog will be out after all of them have happened and before we play Arsenal on the 17th Jan. I'll do my usual immediate reactions on X and BlueSky too. Have a great festive break and keep the faith for the lads in the Garibaldi.

PS - If you haven't bought a copy of the Oh Mist Rolling In fanzine yet, you are missing a treat. Get a copy - and back copies - from the Newsagents on the corner of Trent Bridge.

Steve Battlemuch - Trent End Upper / Away Member

Occasional podcaster with Forest Focus and Talking Reds.

16/12/25.

On the 22nd November we beat Liverpool 3-0. Two weeks later in the same city we lost 3-0 to an ugly Everton side. In the middle 13 days we beat a dire Malmo side, lost to a good Brighton side and struggled to beat - but did beat - a poor Wolves side. Meanwhile we have seen Leeds and West Ham pick up some points making the battle to be 4th bottom tighter than a well used sticky Marmite lid.

There is a danger in the world of instant reactions on social media and podcasts/blogs that we jump to quick conclusions - utter optimism after beating Liverpool to total despair after Everton. I'm trying really hard not to fall into that trap. Football is often about small margins. Anderson headed off the line after 8 minutes at Anfield. If that had gone in who knows (but we think we do) what the result would have been. However the confidence of that win and the easy win against Malmo led many of us to believe Dyche had turned around the Ange nightmare and the only way was up. The first 20 mins against Brighton brought us all back down to earth. We recovered a bit playing wise but were sloppy at the back and not creative enough up front. Wolves wasn't great and a better team would have equalised for sure but 3 points away is always good even if Wolves have less points than a triangle. Everton was dire. An ugly game summed up by silly - and I think undeserved - booking for Savona after 20 seconds and a own goal in under 2 mins. How Tarkowski avoided any punishment for his assault on Ndoye is only known to the ref and the faceless VAR system. But obviously he was still on the pitch to clear off the line when we were 2-0 down so it shows that crime pays.

To me the problems we have seen in the last 3 games have one common factor - no Murillo on the pitch. We are much worst at the back without him and he also adds to our ability to play out from the back as he tends to find a red shirt with his distribution. Morato isn't a good enough back up but Dyche seems reluctant to put Abbott or Cunha there so we are all fingers crossed that he's back against Spurs on Sunday.

If we put the Utrecht game to one side - we just an an ugly win to keep us in the mix - then the next 6 PL games over 24 days - will test us. City at home and Villa away will be challenging to say the least, but can we get a couple of wins and a couple of draws against Spurs, Fulham, Everton and West Ham? By 10pm on the 6th Jan at that hellhole that is the 'London stadium' we will know a lot more about how much of a relegation fight we are in. We need fresh legs from the injured players getting back on the pitch and if this doesn't materialise then I suspect there will be some fresh faces in the dressing room from the transfer window.

Finally as we all needed a distraction and some good cheer we have now seen the new plans for the stadium development. I've commented on this a lot already on a special episode of the Forest Focus podcast with Matt Davies and on local radio. My tweet from the launch event last Thursday was my most read ever with over 310,000 views and tons of comments. Obviously there is some cynicism about if the development will ever happen given past plans haven't resulted in any spades in the ground. However these plans look the best yet & there is undoubtably some heavyweight political backing for it from MP's, local councils and crucially the Mayor of the East Midlands who might have access to some government support.

The club needs to get the revised plans in front of the Rushcliffe Planning Committee asap and once agreed make a plan to start the work at the end of the season. On the pitch the team needs to deliver results capable of staying in the league because the desire for a bigger ground might falter in we end up back in the Championship.

Best wishes to all the Trickies heading to Utrecht - I'll have massive FOMO on Thursday night having been to Seville & Graz. I'll be there in Braga to hopefully see us secure progress to the knock out stage. We are going to need that bigger ground when we are in the Champions League .....

#forest #nffc

Steve Battlemuch - Upper Trent End ST holder / away member

Find me on X & BlueSky alongside occasional appearances on Forest Focus and Talking Reds podcasts. Regular contributor to the always brilliant Mist Rolling In fanzine too.

I'm breaking my own blog rule of having a couple of games between issues but wins at Anfield are special and deserve their own write up.

Despair our win there last year, most of us went into this game hoping for a decent performance and maybe a point. Yes we know Liverpool had been a bit dodgy lately but had beaten Real Madrid and Villa in November so we knew they could turn it on at any time.

Pre match we had a decent time in the Brick pub next door to Goodison, a pub decked out in Everton memorabilia but you wonder now if it will survive their move of ground. The shirt on the wall with '14 to West Ham' is a nod to the report in the mid 70's that for one game Liverpool only took 14 fans to an away match at Upton Park. Proper banter. The concourse in the away end was buzzing with the 'In your head' song - little did we know how much that would be sung during the game. Also good to see Stephen Crean in there having a beer - suspect he's not had to buy one for a while and not should he.

Team news was no surprise given the win over Leeds and the injuries we still have. We battled relentlessly for every ball, Neco didn't give Salah an inch & Murillo & Milenkovic dominated our box. Anderson saved a certain goal with the header off the line early on which undoubtably gave us the platform for what happened later. Scoring the first goal we know suits us and Saturday was yet another example of this.

When we scored from the corner - our first corner of the game - we were in dreamland. Brilliant finish from Murillo but Jesus played a big part in stopping Van Dyke heading the corner clear. He also played a key role in winning the corner too. A couple of minutes later he was robbed by the ref and VAR from making it 2. The Ref didn't see the incident so who told him it was handball? He should have given it and let VAR check it and it would have stood.

At half time the talk was on weathering the storm we expected to come but while some of our fans were still in the bar we got the second. Great work by Nico to set up Savona who is popping up to grab vital goals. His confidence must be sky high now and whilst we still miss Aina obviously, it's brilliant that he has stepped up. I hope we don't expect too much of him now, he's still learning his trade and getting used to playing in a new country but he plays with a smile on his face and massive commitment so that's a great foundation.

Dyche confounded his doubters again by bringing Hutchinson on after 60 odd mins, you know Nuno would have brought Morato on in a similar position! His run and shot brought the 3rd goal for Morgan but the quick and accurate free kick from Murillo to Hutchinson was crucial too. Their fans left in droves after that we knew the game was won even before Milenkovic casually shoved Salah off the ball in the box like he was swatting a fly.

The scenes at the final whistle will be remembered for a long time and the day has now become my favourite awayday taking over from the 7-1 at Wednesday in the 94/95 season.

I was asked on the Talking Reds podcast who was my Man of the Match - I said I couldn’t pick one. I meant it. Everyone played well, no one let us down and I could have given MotM to one of maybe 7 of them!

So onto Malmo with confidence, yes make changes so we can have some rested players for Brighton next Sunday but let's get back to winning the EL games because in this mood who is going to doubt that we can all sing " Sean Dyche, Ian Woan & Stevie Stevie Stone, they've got no hair but we don't care, We're off to Istanbul" and believe it.

Forest are back.

#nffc #Forest

Steve Battlemuch

Trent End Upper / Away member

Find me on X & BlueSky, in the brilliant Mist Rolling In fanzine and occasionally on various Forest podcasts.

Let's not get too carried away. After 11 Premier League games we have our second win. We are still 2nd bottom and have work to do yet in the Europa League if the adventure isn't to end v Ferencvaros on the 29th January. (Yes I did have to look how to spell that team who most of us hadn't heard of before, and who currently sit 3rd in the EL table 5 points above us!).

There is light at the end of the tunnel now however with Dyche. 5 games under him, only 1 defeat, 2 wins and 2 draws. All this with a growing injury list & self inflicted limited player selection for the EL too! The importance of the Leeds win can't be over stated enough. Going into the last international break until March with that win changes the mood of the fanbase, the look of the table (however not yet our position in it) but as importantly the confidence levels of the squad.

After the Liverpool game - which I'm not writing off by any means but realistically will be tough - we have 5 PL games and 2 EL ones before Christmas. There are plenty of points we can pick up in both our leagues to make the Xmas festivities feel even more special. As the side gets more settled, injured players return and the coaching staff get more sessions in, we can all look forward to putting the chaotic start to the season behind us. Ange who?

As we reflect here in Mid November some things are very clear. Anderson has become one of the most sought after players in Europe and joins the list alongside Murillo and MGW of players we have felt privileged to see in the garibaldi and who we will now constantly speculate about for how much longer he will be here for! A big money transfer is expected at some point but lets hope its not in January.

Alongside Anderson, I'd say our best player for consistency has been Neco Williams. Always displays 100% effort and one of the best full backs in the league. The fact that I can't put anyone else in the same bracket as these 2 sums up the season for me. There has been flashes from a lot of other players and there are now signs that the defence as a whole is becoming more solid. We know there is more to come from a core of players but pleasing signs for me from Ndoye, Hutchinson and CHO when fit.

Yates is Yates and anyone who writes him off is no real Forest fan in my opinion. Rarely lets the team down and a model pro for not sulking and being ready to come on or start at any time.

The strikers are yet to find any consistency but if we can crack that problem then there is no reason why we can't go far in the Europa League and steadily climb the table in the PL. In Dyche, Stone and Woan I trust.

Finally a few words on the trip to Graz. A better overall fan experience for me than Seville, mainly because of the logistics of getting to and from the game in the city. The result was very disappointing as we all know that if that penalty goes in we win the game and probably by a few, but that's football and why we scream as well as smile at games. The Graz fans were very loud at the game for what was a very small ground. Plus they were good to talk to before and after the game. These trips are making memories to last a lifetime for many fans, especially ones that have not experienced it before. My son who is 29 tomorrow made the trip to Graz with me (he couldn't make Seville) and it was brilliant to have that time together on a European adventure having taken him to games since he was 5, through the League 1 & Championship lows too! Thank you to the team last season that ensured we get this opportunity.

Whilst I'm skipping the Utrecht one, I'm already looking forward to Braga in January where the uber optimist in me thinks we might ensure a top 8 finish (if we beat Malmo and Utrecht too!). No point being a fan if you can't dream big - we might not be in Europe for another 30 years so let's go for it alongside PL survival.

Steve Battlemuch

10/11/25

Trent End Upper / Away member.

Find me on X & BlueSky, also on Talking Reds occasionally & in the fanzine Mist Rolling In.

#forest #nffc #PremierLeague #EuropaLeague

I'm breaking my own rule of having a couple of games between blogs because like all of us ( I'm assuming that 99% of the people who read this are Forest fans) I'm still smiling about the game last night at 4pm on Friday. One regular reader messaged me to say that I'd have 'something to write about' so I'm taking that as 'popular demand' for the blog!

I'll start pre match - the atmosphere in the Nav was definitely more buzzy that it had been for the past few games despite the cold weather. I should have known it was going to be a good night when I finished 25th out of over 200 in the Fothers quiz. There was also a gathering/fusion of Forest Focus & Talking Reds podcasters and an outing for the Australian Forest Supporters Club banner. A good game for them to make!

Team selection was interesting and the only surprise to my mates and me was Zinchenko at left back. Many of us thought he wouldn't be a Dyche pick. The rest of the team seemed obvious especially given Woody had been ruled out. To be honest I thought we looked more solid when Savona came on. Think him and Cunha will get a fair bit of game time at right back until Aina returns. Having 2 academy lads on the bench again was a nice touch although I'd not heard of either!

In the ground after buying my second programme of the season - always get one on the opening home game but last night seemed the right game to remember when I dig it out in 5/10 years to go down memory lane, the atmosphere seemed lively even before a ball was kicked.

I was struck by the arrival of Dyche and also his exit at full time. Very understated. No big fanfare to come out, let the players take the applause afterwards. Glad he got to soak up MoK, it clearly meant a lot to him and its bloody fantastic to have a manager who really cares again. However note to Forza and others - we need a Dyche song quickly. I suspect the away gang will find one for Sunday but it needs to transfer to the city ground for the Man U game.

As usual I won't over analyse the match as we all saw it in person or on TV and better match reports will be available. For once we got the run of the VAR gang not once but twice. There were very few clear cut chances for either side but we scored 2 penalties when it mattered and the result meant so much more than the data stats. For what its worth I thought everyone did well, for me Luiz stood out but that's maybe because I am so used now to Anderson and Williams being brilliant that when someone else matches them I notice it more.

So onto Bournemouth, providing a slate doesn't come off their roof and they call the game off. To say we owe them one is an understatement of epic proportions. My usual mantra of I'd take a point away now still holds and I hope it is as successful as my 1-1 bet from last night and the same result from yesterday happens. But hope we don't get the doom merchants back if they beat us. Man U and Leeds ( and Graz away) are far more important games in the grand scheme of things.

Finally a shout out to the things that keep us going as fans -

The Mist Rolling In fanzine goes from strength to strength - the latest one with photos and reports from Seville is particularly good.

Forest Focus and Talking Reds are my go to podcasts which combine genuine fan engagement and comment with good guests and a level of humour that keeps us going in tougher times and must be a lifeline for fans outside the city who can't get to games as much as those of us who couldn't bear to leave the city/area.

Forza Garibaldi - no words can express our appreciation for what they do.

Radio Nottingham with the legend Colin Fray who is the voice of Forest for many fans.

The Trent Nav/Big Shed - for me the best pub for pre and post match but sure others have their favourites too.

Finally a big mention to Matt Forde who many people follow on social media and his podcast appearances. His upbeat optimism - despite some significant health challenges for him in the past 2 years - is a joy to listen to. Glad his latest operation finished in time for him to celebrate the win last night. Check out his interview on Forest Focus if you haven't already.

Best wishes to the lucky few who got tickets for Bournemouth - hope we hear you loud and clear on TV on Sunday singing the lads on.

Steve Battlemuch

Trent End Upper / Away Member

Contributor to Mist Rolling In fanzine and Talking Reds Podcast

Find me on X and BlueSky.

#forest #nffc