Through the seasons before us..

Only the other day I was writing about Jack’s recent performances behind a breath of fresh air, and so the same must be said for Kris Commons (albeit Jack has had a longer period of impact on games).  He scored a couple of absolute screamers yesterday, along with an assist - two goals against Brentford in the previous game - this is just the kind of form we need players like Kris to be building up in the seemingly inevitable run into the playoffs.

There’s something else Kris and Jack have in common as well as their impactful performances lately - they’re both out of contract soon.  If I’m feeling cynical it’s amazing what an expiring contract can do to add a little urgency to a performance - whether it be to earn a new one, or start to advertise oneself to other potential clubs.  Not that I’m suggesting this is the entire story with either player.

I’m lead to believe Forest and Kris have at least started to sit down to discuss contracts.  From Kris’s point of view I can understand why he’s perhaps keen to wait until the season is over - a decent run of form and potential promotion could mean more cash, a further stay in League One could make he want to consider the possibilities of going on a Bosman.  He’s young enough to want to develop his career, unlike Jack who perhaps is looking for a big contract to set him up now he’s the wrong side of thirty.

It’s no coincidence that when players like Kris and Jack play well then the team plays well - they are the only two players we have, including all the injured folk, who I would consider ‘creative’ (possibly Lewis could become creative too, given time) - whether it be a clever throughball or a twist and a turn from Jack, or a killer cross from Commons, we don’t have a great deal of creativity elsewhere.  Given the kind of games we have coming up, if they are playing for a contract or even a move, then maybe that’s not such a bad thing!

Of course, in Kris we have a local lad - and one who professes to have supported the club as a young’un - and indeed, a badge-kisser to boot (hmm, we’ve had some of those before, haven’t we?).  Whatever my cynical views about the likelihood of a boyhood love of a team compared to a more brazen employer/employee relationship as an adult - and indeed, the possibility of higher wages elsewhere, it could come to be a factor in any decision he makes.

Njaal Helle provides the latest stop off on our tour of cheese, and it’s not the only time we’ll hear from him either. Upon attempting to research him a bit, it appears that Njaal has reinvented himself and a specialist in music and photos for weddings, but certainly back in the day he clearly considered himself very much a rock and roll star from Norway, and clearly felt very strongly about the Mighty Reds!

It’s one of the more emotional tracks on the album, and checking out his website, it did enable him to meet the great men Brian Clough and Peter Taylor when publicising his musical musics upon the mighty reds. From having a quick re-listen, it is quite a cheese-fest, with some spectacularly exciting brass playing, a piano and the inevitable crowd noises with surprisingly serious sounding lyrics.

It’s a song which we can look back upon and enjoy for the era it came from, but well, it certainly seems to take itself quite seriously - I wonder if any older fans might remember the visit of a Norweigan visitor at the City Ground to publicise his two Forest-related records? Here, for your listening pleasure, is Njaal Helle with Nottingham Forest is my Rock and Roll.

Nottingham Forest - 3
AFC Bournemouth - 0

It was all looking good at half time, or so we thought - we were 1-0 up, and according to the half time scores Bristol were 1-0 down.  Of course, it later transpired that City had achieved a late equaliser against Carlisle in the first half.  As we cruised to a 3-0 win over Bournemouth, rumours of Carlisle leading swept the stands in the form of a chant - only again, to be wrong.  Bristol triumphing 3-1 up north has pretty much given them second place - and congratulations to them, a fine result considering Carlisle’s recent run of form.

Our game started reasonably well - it was Smith in action first after McGoldrick shot from range, it looked bound for the post but Smith made sure and dived to palm it around for a corner.  Our first chance fell to Grant from a Commons cross, he forced he save and Jack attempted to pounce on the fumble, although the flag was up and the chances are the fussy ref would have given a foul on the keeper anyway.

The lead came from a superb goal from Commons.  Perch got the ball to him and he unleashed an absolute piledriver from around 25 yards with his right foot.  The Cherries weren’t done yet - McGoldrick, who seemed to play both in midfield and up front - forced another cracking save from Smith.  Lewis put in a fine ball across the Bournemouth goal, but Grant was a little too far to connect at the far post.

Then came perhaps the most decisive moment of the game - Neil Young gifted the ball to Jack, who burst forward only to be cynically felled by the Bournemouth captain with a dangerous looking challenge from behind.  Given that there were two defenders covering, the red card seemed harsh where I was sitting - it was a bad foul, and maybe a professional one, but certainly he wasn’t anything like the last man.  Still, can’t complain, but I would be if I was a Bournemouth fan!

The freekick was quickly taken by Commons, chipping over the Bournemouth defence to find Grant, unfortunately the keeper wasn’t quite as slow to react as the defence and was able to avert any danger from the move.  And so the half wound to a close, Forest had certainly had most of the play - but it was Bournemouth who’d had more decent chances - so whilst we certainly weren’t unhappy with the performance, it was far from one sided.

The second half saw Bournemouth reinvented in a 4-4-1 formation, with substitute Brett Pitman alone upfront, but they really didn’t have much of an answer to long periods of Forest possession.  Some fans were starting to sound impatient with our patient build-up, but seeing us look to keep the ball was just what I wanted to see - sure, we could have used more movement off the all at times, but keeping the ball is important and isn’t something we’ve excelled at this season!

The first chance of note for us was from the excellent Jack Lester, who found himself a mere foot of space to fire off a left footed deliciously curling shot, which cruelly rebounded from the post and evaded a first time rebound effort from McGugan.  It wasn’t to take long for us to double our advantage, however, and it was Commons again.

John Curtis - playing in virtually a free role given the lack of Bournemouth attackers - fed he ball to Kris who unleashed another piledriver, this time with his conventional left foot - it looked to be heading over but dipped wickedly, struck the bar before bouncing into the goal and then into the roof of the net - a tremendous finish once again leaving the Bournemouth keeper with absolutely no chance.

From this point Bournemouth gave up - and Forest piled on pressure with almost endless possession.   Wright crossed for Lester at pace, but he put it wide - but eventually Commons was to turn provider as he crossed for Prutton who headed it back across the goal, rebounding from Cummings and into the net - how the announcer could credit the goal to Prutts, I’m not sure - but 3-0 was a desered scoreline.

Commons continued to pepper the Cherries penalty area with dangerous crosses - Grant flicked on to Lester who seemed destined not to score.  Shortly after this he looked most likely to do so, wriggling free of the Bournemouth defence he found himself facing the Bournemouth keeper - who had wasted no time in closing him down very quickly, and blocking the shot with his legs.

Bastians replaced McGugan to a rapturous applause, and almost scored with his first touch as Lester set up a chance for him from a tight angle - but he just clipped it over the bar.  Bournemouth looked game on for a consolation when Purches snuck past Alan Wright, he’d done everything right until he got sight of goal and dragged his shot wide of the post much to the irritation of the long-suffering Bournemouth fans infront of him!

Gary Holt replaced his namesake Grant, and immediately came close sliding into the goalmouth but unable to reach the ball - and taking out a defender AND the keeper in the process!  But that was it, as news filtered around that Bristol had indeed beaten Carlisle it took the shine off the day somewhat - but it was a good performance and despite the disappointment of results elsewhere, most fans seemed keen to make the best of it.

The travelling Bournemouth fans deserve a mention too - they tried so hard to wind us up but didn’t really manage it, but they were in good voice given the match they were enduring - and we had a bit of fun with them nonetheless.  They became honourary Bristol fans for the day, and took great glee in keeping us up to date with the scores - to which they were greeted with chants of our forthcoming Wembley appearance (hmm, nowt like counting your chickens, eh!?), but my favourite was a rendition of “Que Sera Sera” aimed at them, but with the last line changed to ‘You’re going to Notts County!’ - top marks for that, a rare example of amusing chants at home matches.

There were some interesting characters amongst the travellers too - there was a Kenny Rogers lookalike in a safari hat, the world’s angriest man in a hideous black shirt with pink stripes, and (pictured), the fat bloke from the front of Fat Boy Slim’s second album, a middle-aged balding man with a mail-order bride and the usual bunch of chavs under the scoreboard trying to give it large - they seemed like a decent bunch of fans though who made the best of a poor performance from their team!

So, the playoffs now do loom large - and will be reality if Bristol don’t drop points in both of their remaining games.  Since they face Rotherham at home on the last day, I can’t see that happening - so I fear we need to take our recent good performances onward into the playoffs, and reluctantly offer our congratulations to City for attaining automatic promotion.

Ah Jack, you are an enigma in many ways.  When I read that Smoulds has recognised his form of late and has hinted toward the affirmative in the new contract stakes, I was pleased.  It’s true that Jack has been on fine form, he has been a catalyst for many of our attacking moves - providing that elusive link from midfield to attack and has generally rolled back the years with a number of fine performances.  And he deserves the credit that’s coming his way for that.

Indeed, back when Smoulders was ready to offload him to anybody that would take him, I remember reading comments from Lester that he was going to buckle down and work his arse off to force himself into the team - and whilst injuries have no doubt played a part in this, there’s no denying his workrate and effort has been top drawer - so perhaps at 31, Jack has mellowed a little from the firey character we’ve come to both love and be frustrated by.  Perhaps he’s also spending less time in Tantra too?

But I can remember last time Jack was almost out of contract - I recall Paul Hart rather losing favour with him, but throwing him on during the playoff semi second leg, when Jack attempted to single-handedly save the day - and whilst my memories of that night are clouded with misery, I seem to recall he wasn’t that far away from doing so on that day.  It’s amazing what the threat of imminent unemployment can do to motivate people - particularly when you’re probably earning more that you could attract realistically from another employer.

That is quite cynical though - the coaching staff will have a good idea about whether the more irritating tendancies of Jack’s on and off the pitch antics are indeed improved, and I think the league in which we find ourselves will be pivotal to whether or not we see him back again next season.  If the unthinkable happens and we remain in League One then he’d be a good person to keep on board - I think it’s debateable whether or not he’d still cut it in the league above - but then, how many of our squad would?

I can barely bring myself to include this travesty. Given the standard of much of the music I have inflicted upon you so far, and indeed intend to ongoing, that is saying something. The guilty parties on this recording are none other than Viv Anderson and Trevor Francis, believe it or not, singing ‘You’ll never walk alone‘ - a song which obviously you would associate with Liverpool FC rather than Forest.

The history of the song was the musical Carousel and was written by Rodgers and Hammerstein. It first charted when Frank Sinatra released it, and has been released numerous times since then. It hit the Liverpool radar when, predictably, a bunch of scallies from Liverpool pinched it and released it. So the song is synonymous with Gerry and the Pacemakers, who released it to reach number one in the UK charts in the early 60’s - which was seized upon by those lovable rogues (sic) at Anfield and adopted as their club anthem.

So what Viv and Trev were thinking is beyond conjecture - of course, as mentioned in earlier musical dispatches, our rivalry with Liverpool FC was quite tasty at this time, so I’m hoping that the release was in some way supposed to be ironic - but well, who can tell - perhaps older fans might be able to offer some form of defence for our wayward former-stars?

Should you wish to sully your airwaves with it, then it’s below:

And since the nice folks at Talk Forest seem to crave it, here is a cleansing live rendition of ‘Give him a ball and a yard of grass’ by the Sultans of Ping FC - a song dedicated to the original ‘nice young man, with a lovely smile’, the one and only Nigel Clough - who also, of course, has a Liverpool connection. I linked this in the comments of an earlier article, but it deserves it’s own prominence!

We remain in the era of European domination from the Reds for the next song on our roster of shame.  It is performed by Karl and the Heidelbergers, and certainly has the ambience of a bierkeller about it - with some almost-oompah type brass music and strangely sober sounding people talking about someone called “Ashleh!” with a reassuringly Nottingham accent - indeed, some of the lyrics feature Nottinghamisms such as ‘Midduck’ which is always reassuring.

The lead vocalist seems initially fixated on Brighton and Hove Albion - of all teams - who would have been lower-mid table in Division One around this time.  The whole track does have more than a hint of in-joke about it, and not really being old enough to remember a great deal about the late 70’s/early 80’s, I’m not privy to what those jokes might have been.  Certainly it got me some odd looks when I played it in the car yesterday to refresh my memory about it.

So, I bring you today’s musical bulletin - Karl and the Heidelbergers performing Marching to Munich.  Probably one that will appeal to Ebby more than most Forest fans!

It’s shit-or-bust time for Forest now - to stand even a vague chance of clinching automatic promotion, we realistically need to win our three remaining games.  Even if this not inconsiderable feat (when you take our somewhat less than consistent form into account) is achieved, then obviously Bristol City could match our results and thus make our final placing academic.  Not a great position to be in, but all we can influence is our own games - so we must concentrate on them.

Bournemouth are not safe from relegation worries yet, so certainly still have something to play for - and in doing so have chalked up a decent run of form lately.  They of course also beat us at the Fitness First Stadium earlier this season - a game this long-suffering fan will long remember after a tiresome journey to witness such a dreary performance from the boys in yellow shirts.

Injuries have taken their toll on both side - we, of course, are without long-term injury victims Sammy Clingan, Nathan Tyson and Junior Agogo - and also look set to be without the services of Wes Morgan who has an ankle injury.  Felix Bastians has been recalled from Gillingham to offer us more attacking options, and from the scattered feedback I’ve read from the Gills forums, their fans were sorry to see the youngster recalled early.

The Cherries too have injury problems - perhaps least surprising is Darren “sicknote” Anderton, who has a groin injury that is likely to keep him out of contention - which is good for us as reports I’ve read suggest he’s been enjoying somewhat of a renaissance with Bournemouth.  There are slight doubts over their keeper and Josh Gowling in defence, but both are expected to be cleared to play.

The have a number of dangermen to look out for - Hayter is always a threat, and McGoldrick (on loan from Southampton) has been on a rich vein of goal-scoring form.  They also have the tricky youngster Brett Pitman, who scored against us from the penalty spot earlier in the season - so certainly the Reds defence shouldn’t be expecting an easy time of it from the Cherries.

I’ve all but given up on predictions - the bottom line is that only a win is good enough, and even that will be tainted if Bristol manage to break Carlisle’s excellent run of form and pick up a win on their travels at the same time.  Bournemouth won’t roll over, so to triumph we need to show passion, effort and some guile as well - so let’s hope the lads are up for it!

The voting for Forests’ player of the season is open - and well, I can’t say that we are awash with candidates this term realistically.  Forest being Forest, have enabled voting by text to reap in more of our hard earned readies, but you can also email your votes at no cost too.  Certainly I wouldn’t expect the reigning player of the year, captain Ian Breckin, to retain his award - although whilst he’s not been as reliable as last season, I think some of the criticism that comes his way is harsh.

Having a good think about it, due to injuries, suspensions and general incomings there has been quite a rotation of players this season.  There are plenty with games under their belt, who haven’t stood out - there are some with fewer games who’ve shone occasionally - so it’s a tough call.  Inconsistency has been Forests’ watchword this season - so it’s hard to try to pick on one player who elevates themselves above some of the, frankly, chaff we’ve had to endure this season.

Having pondered carefully, I’ve come up with three likely candidates.  The first is James Perch - he’s going through a quiet spell at the moment, but he’s come on leaps and bounds over the last couple of seasons.  The second is Wes Morgan - hampered by injuries and a lack of appearances, has started to return to his solid best after a torrid time under Megson.  And finally, my tip to win, Grant Holt - he has his faults, but you can’t argue with 18 goals despite regularly being dropped - and even almost sold - whilst I get frustrated with his constant moaning and diving, he’s certainly endured this year.

Details of how to vote are here - be careful if you agree with me and want to vote for Grant as you might end up voting for the wrong Holt.  Although I would find it amusing if Gary Holt won the award given the huge amount of mindless criticism he’s often on the end of both at the ground and on the message boards!

Forest have recalled 18 year old left winger Felix Bastians from his loan spell with Gillingham.  Aside from us instigating the move there’s no real insight as to why, but certainly his availability will bolster our options in midfield - and given that either he or Commons could operate up front it gives us a few more permutations around our team selections given our mounting injury issues.  Felix has yet to feature in a Forest side during Smoulderwood’s reign, so I would have thought his recall to the fold is precautionary only.

The Nottingham Evening Post also suggests that Forest are also looking to cut short Spencer Weir-Daley’s loan spell at Bradford, which makes good sense, although we apparently don’t have a recall clause so would require Bradford’s consent to finish the loan early.  Comments from Smoulds about this suggest it’s only something we’re likely to pursue if our injury problems worsen over the next few games rather than an imminent move.

The really good news though, is that Sammy Clingan is due to have an x-ray on his broken ankle which, if healed, will enable the midfielder to return to training - with a view to a return to first team eligibility within six weeks.  This pretty much keeps him out of contention for our remaining three league fixtures, but should we not manage to catch Bristol City, then if he’s fit and available this will be a big boost for the playoffs - so fingers crossed for good news on that front!

Eoin Jess has retured from playing football now, his last club being Northampton Town - where Smoulds snapped him up having been released by the mighty Reds.  He arrived here and - I’m being kind here - never exactly set the world on fire.  He was quickly singled out by supporters as someone to give stick to, and never really found any kind of form in a Forest shirt in 93 appearances from 2002 to 2005.

He’s studying for his coaching badges, and Forest have very kindly offered him an opportunity to work part time for the Forest Academy.  He’s going to be coaching our under 13 side in order to gain experience, which is interesting since his last role at Forest was scaring children at the annual Forest open days (according to a friend with a couple of young daughters, he was particularly good at this role!).

Since he’s coaching mostly pre-teens it’s going to be some time before we see any benefit, if there is any, to his early coaching abilities - but good look to him, whilst I was never particularly fond of him as a Forest player, it’s good that we are prepared to give opportunities to retired players who hopefully have what it takes to be decent coaches - and since both our coaching staff and Smoulders himself will know about his temperament and likely aptitude, hopefully that bodes well!