It’s Forest vs Wolves this weekend as Nuno and Morgan Gibbs-White face their former club from the West Midlands.
Forest Vs Wolves: The Nuno Derby
Billed as the Nuno Derby, the Wolves fans clearly have more affection for Nuno than our creative talisman. Many fans still speak very fondly of him, reminiscing when Wolves were occupying European places and having commendable cup runs.
But regardless of how much they lament Nuno’s departure, they despise Morgan Gibbs-White more than a gang of people traffickers working out of Calais.
The Wolves fans will direct their passionate abuse towards Forest’s No.10 and, given the chance, Morgan will no doubt do his very best to aggravate them and hopefully infuriate them with a goal or two; running to the away end with a fingers-in-ears celebration. We can expect nothing more from a Forest vs Wolves encounter.
MGW for England
Despite receiving his first, much-deserved England call-up, Morgan Gibbs-White is just one player who can infuriate the opposition.
Morgan is the first Forest player to be called up to an England squad since Stuart Pearce in 1997 –https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Pearce – but, if the Newcastle game is anything to go by, Nuno has shown that we now have strength in depth.
The four new debutantes, Miguel in goal, Alex Moreno at left-back, the young German Eric da Silva Moreira on the right, and the dynamic Jota Silva, all proved they are worthy of fighting for a first-team place at the club.
Scoring on his debut, Jota Silva looks sharp and versatile, being able to switch from the wings to a central attacking position and also provide an aerial threat.
Although Forest were desperately seeking another attacking player to cover for an ageing Chris Wood and an injury-prone Taiwo Awoniyi, for me, Jota Silva could play in the No.9 position and be a lively threat.
The 1980 League Cup Final
I recall the 1980 League Cup final against Wolves – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Football_League_Cup_final– when Andy Gray snook in and scored the only goal on a triumphant Wembley day for Wolverhampton Wanders.
Morgan Gibbs-White: The Needle.
Whenever there is a Forest vs Wolves fixture, that memory is the first thing that comes to mind. The signing of Morgan Gibbs-White is the needle between opposing fans but my vexation is still with David Needham and Shilton, 44 years later.
That mix-up between Needham and England’s former No.1 was the kind of miscommunication that you’d expect to see in parliament.
I can still see the pair of them colliding in a slow-motion crescendo that comminated in the simplest of tap-ins for Scottish striker, Andy Gray.
Just like this Saturday, Forest were favourites going into that game and, had they won the League Cup that year, it would’ve remained at the club forever, giving Forest three consecutive cup final victories in a row.
The Favourites
However, there is more at stake this Saturday. Wolves have been favourites in this fixture for over a decade now and Wolves desperately need a win after defeats against Arsenal on the opening day and a 6-2 thrashing at home to Chelsea, when the Wolves defence just collapsed.
Forest have accomplished the anthesis of Wolves opening games if they had only beaten Bournemouth by hanging on to a 1-0 lead for another 5 minutes.
Making ten changes for the Newcastle game, Nuno rested key players, including Chris Wood, the aforementioned MGW and Callum Hudson-Odoi, Forest will be looking to capitalise on a near-perfect start.
Although favourites going into the game, I anticipate a draw. I can feel it in my water. I’d love to say that Forest could win this convincingly, providing us with two early goals and a third just after the break, to allow for a relaxing 40 minutes of football at the City Ground.
Winning was once inevitable.
Unfortunately, being a Forest fan is no longer about inevitable victories – it used to be. I finally recall those days when going to see Forest play wasn’t about a question of winning or losing, it was about how many goals Forest would win by.
From 1979 to the mid-80s, I wasn’t fortunate enough to go to every game but I only recall victories for Forest at the City Ground.
I remember seeing Forest lose at home to Arsenal, Oxford United, and draw against Bristol City and that was the bulk of the disappointment.
Even the Charity Shield against Bobby Robson’s successful Ipswich side ended in a 5-0 win for Forest.
From the age of eight, I believed that the idea of a Forest match was like a gladiatorial fixture whereby it was inevitable that the stronger hero, Forest, would win on the day, like a scripted pantomime. I didn’t know that the opposition was trying to actually to compete.
So, you can imagine how I felt when Forest lost against Wolves at Wembley on that fateful March day in 1980.
This is why only a Forest win will help the memory of that day fade away like a bad dream.
The Forest vs Wolves prediction: Forest 2-1 Wolves
Slightly optimistic – 2-2 sounds about right – but I’m hoping Forest will take an early 2-0 lead and finally see out the game without conceding another three.
Although the last two arrivals – Brazilian defender Morato and England’s James Ward-Prowse – are not eligible to play, there is now significant cover in all positions for the Forest vs Wolves clash, even though the search for a striker fell flat on its face.
The squad is shaping up nicely – COYR!
