We are going into Forest’s final four games of the season and I can’t wait for the season to end.
It’s been like watching a stray animal suffering and I just want its pain to be over, regardless of the outcome.
Despite the woes of VAR, PSR and AFCON, Forest have certainly become the lame dog of the league and I can’t even see where our next win is coming from.
Just Not Good Enough
In two years, Forest have only won away three times and now we are expected to win two within the next four games – or 100% of our remaining away games.
Even away wins against two really poor teams seems unlikely after last weekend. At one point we even thought that the bottom two clubs might beat Derby’s record for the least number of points registered in a single season.
Sheffield United and Burnley have been so poor that Somalia’s government has agreed to host a rock concert and supply them with winter blankets.
But when you look at the table, Forest are almost on par with Burnley; just three points ahead.
The possible all-or-nothing battle at Turf Moor, on the very last game of the season, is one of Forest’s Final Four but hopefully not the final game in the Premiership.
Despite the injustices of PSR, poor referees, and a VAR that is unfit for purpose, Forest just haven’t been good enough. I know that Forest should’ve had at least one penalty at the weekend but sometimes you make your own luck in sport by outplaying the opposition, especially when the opposing team is crap.
Nottingham Forest are becoming the royal equivalent of Prince Andrew
In and around the bottom half of the league, Forest have only managed to record wins against Sheffield United and Fulham. Forest have either drawn or lost to Crystal Palace, Burnley, Bournemouth, Brentford, Everton and Luton Town, and that group hasn’t exactly set the league on fire this season.
If Forest were looking for publicity, a damning social media statement practically accusing Luton fan Stuart Atwell of cheating has done it. Subconscious bias or not, Forest have a point. Allowing a Luton supporter to referee the relegation clash between Everton and Nottingham Forest is like Wimbledon allowing Andy Murray’s mum to be an umpire for her son’s semi-final.
Why didn’t they just change him; swap him for a Derby fan? And this is the thing, where would the bias end? Who doesn’t hate Nottingham Forest at the moment? Forest are so unpopular now that they are rapidly becoming the royal equivalent of Prince Andrew.
Corruption or Incompetence?
Any football fan has to admit that, if they were a supporter of Nottingham Forest, they would be incandescent with rage over the lack of support from officials. I’ve even had Derby fans telling me that they feel sorry for Forest (Wtf!).
I personally don’t think it’s corruption, I just think the officials are inept; totally detached from the game itself; unable to comprehend a foul from a fart.
Could you imagine if the outcome is corruption, that the Premier League is running a cartel for the top six clubs? It would be massive; a shame but terribly exciting at the same time.
Regardless of what we like to think about English football, if a government or a large pharmaceutical company can be corrupt, why can’t the Premier League and a bunch of useless referees who appear to have never played football in their entire lives? They’re only human after all.
Ashley Young’s tackles were so late, he was catching his opponents in the shower.
Just off the top of my head, the catalogue of refereeing wrongdoings started away at VARchester United when Worrall was sent off and Rashford fell to the ground when Danilo brushed against him when he was in the penalty area.
We had the Maddison punch ignored as Sky replayed Danilo’s tackle from more angles than a myriagon; Boly was sent off for a completely legitimate challenge; Neco fouled in the box at least twice (Brighton and WHU); Newcastle’s keeper clearly trips Awoniyi; Toney’s ball displacement ignored, and Ashley Young – to name but a few.
And we’re not the only club to have suffered at the hands of inconsistent refereeing. Other teams have suffered woeful decisions – usually given in favour of the ‘top six cartel’ – and the letters of apology have flowed like salmon in the mating season.
Ashley Young was almost given complete autonomy in the game against Forest. So much so that, if the Premier League is found to be corrupt in some way, Ashley Young is an unwilling collaborator, like a tax haven accepting funds from the United Fruit Company.
Ashley Young isn’t exactly young anymore. He’s 38 now, and some of his tackles were so late that he was catching his opponents in the shower.
Forest’s Final Four
Forest’s final four games bring us plenty to mull over. Is the Premier League corrupt or are Forest just crap? If the corruption allegations are incorrect, can football ever be as fair as other sports?
As we’ve mentioned before, the impact of Forest being relegated is massive. These finite margins could’ve turned Forest’s season around. If we just take two of the aforementioned injustices – the Boly sending-off and Rashford’s penalty – Forest would’ve played almost a full 90 minutes with all players and we come away with a point against VARchester United. Potentially, there are 4 points there. Those four points are season-changing right now, so these issues are anything but trivial.
The mere existence of VAR has been the biggest issue. If there wasn’t VAR, there wouldn’t be a corruption allegation and we would just be doing what we did in the 70s: blaming the ref for being crap.
I’m a child of the seventies so I remember Anderlecht. I also recall hearing the stories about the Derby versus Juventus game when Cloughie was managing up the A52. The game still resonated, indicating that there has always been corruption in football, even at the highest level.
Even when I witnessed the unfinished stadium of Real Betis, in Seville, it was clear that dodgy dealings were going on in football outside of England.
Also, what outsiders need to remember is that Forest are fighting for their lives here. These aren’t arbitrary f#{%-ups that can be nonchalantly brushed off as trivial escapades. This is serious shit.
Would Carragher and Neville be content with lamenting letters of lacklustre blunders if it were Liverpool or VARchester United at the wrong end of the decisions? I bet it would make Jamie Carragher want to spit on a child.
Regardless of the corruption, ultimately, we would be saying that bad decisions soiled our season but, upon closer analysis, we just weren’t good enough against the teams that were in the bottom half of the season. We’d look back and see straight through Forest’s incompetence.
Forest have thrown too many games away from commanding positions.
Forest haven’t been clinical enough at times; the stats speak volumes. Nobody shouted loudly enough when Toney displaced the ball for that freekick and nobody closed down the Everton players in midfield at the weekend; the frailties from set-pieces were unresolved.
I don’t know what will come from all this. I certainly don’t envisage getting points given back once we’ve heard the audio clip. What I do imagine will happen is that, if we do go down, we will acknowledge that we just weren’t good enough in the final four games.
Championship Level
The relegation problem can be resolved within Forest’s final four games. We have a lot of quality but the team haven’t played to their true potential. If Forest managed to get to the F.A. Cup semi-final, I could envisage Coventry beating us quite convincingly. I’m not even sure if we could be a title contender in the Championship. We struggled to beat Blackpool and Bristol City in the same competition and I’m concerned that maybe, just maybe, that is our level.
Every team in the Premier League gives us a game and Burnley, who were expected to go down as soon as they kicked a ball, are in better form than us right now and they could become a bigger threat to our survival than Luton.
Game 1: Manchester City (H) – Tree Seasons’ Verdict: 1-3
If Manchester City hit us for six this Sunday, our goal difference could suffer. Forest’s final four are essentially cup finals and it starts this Saturday against the club with 115 alleged PSR breaches.
Manchester City aren’t unbeatable but the teams that do well against the current European Champions have a clear, footballing identity which usually means they have a structure which involves a settled starting eleven. Unfortunately, Forest have neither.
We might cause a bit of an upset but I seriously doubt it. Losing 1-3 is my best-case scenario.
Game 2: Sheffield United (A) – Verdict 3-2
Sheffield United’s fate could be sealed this weekend and they will want to drag us down with them. Chants of “Scab, scab, scab” and “You’re going down” will echo across Bramall Lane if there is a mere sniff of an upset in this game.
If Sheffield United are gone, they are just playing for 1980’s-miner’s-strike pride. I’d like to think that Forest would win this game comfortably but, as I’ve already said, I can’t see a win in this team at the moment unless they pick up some tips from the imminent Man City battering this Sunday and just scrape through with an uncharacteristic 3-2 victory.
Game 3: Chelsea (H) – Verdict 1-1
Even though Chelsea have hit form recently, they are still very unpredictable. It all depends on which Chelsea turns up and whether Cole Palmer gets enough space to turn it on for the blue billionaires.
It would be nice for Forest to finish the last home game of the season with a win but I don’t see signs of any relegation fight in this Forest side yet. I guess players like Morgan and Neco have shown some grit but I fear that most players won’t realise the extent of Forest’s woes until the last of Forest’s final four games against Burnley.
Game 4: Burnley (A) Verdict 2-2
The last thing Forest need is to go to Burnley needing all three points. Burnley have improved since January and have, literally, had a season of two halves.
If Burnley’s 2024 mirrored that of late 2023, Forest would be relegated now.
Forest were lucky to hang on at home where, had the game gone on for another ten minutes, I could have seen a familiar 3-2 defeat in the stats.
Four points from Forest’s final four games might be enough to survive but, realistically, I think I’m being very optimistic for a change.
COYR! It’s Forest’s final four games and it’s time to change the season around.
