Jourdan

Warne reading the forum every week since Stevenage away:

Seven wins in eight. Six points from top with a game in hand.

Massive result and a case of job done and move on. Winning when you are not at full flow is so important. However the performance really underlined that the balance of the team is not quite right. For me, it raised question marks over Ward, Barkhuizen and the midfield. Better teams would exploit these weak points. The conditions were probably a factor in the performance - it was very cold and windy all day. It certainly looked like it led to some less than composed passes and some unpredictable bounces and movement. But that aside, you can see why we are amongst the chasing pack and not champions in the making. We are a top six side missing some extra quality and balance to make us a genuine and sustainable top two side. Maybe January will help..:

First game at PP for us since the opening day. I remember being so angry with that result that I had visions of disappearing to an Italian island and forgetting football exists. Here’s hoping for better tonight! I’d go for: Wildsmith Nyambe - Nelson - Cashin - Forsyth Bird - Fornah - Sibley Wilson - Collins - NML

Nuno did a fantastic job at Wolves and he is surely getting the job on the strength of that. The thinking behind it is obvious: if Nuno could achieve top 10 finishes and a European run with Wolves, why not Forest? I think the one thing that the Forest board may have overlooked is that Wolves’s success was built on recruitment and having great connections. The recruitment at Forest has been anything but joined up, and without good recruitment, I am not sure that Nuno raises their ceiling much higher.

Derby 4-0 Lincoln Mendez Laing

A point isn’t the end of the world. We were bound to come unstuck at some point. It would have been nice to go into the Christmas fixtures on a long winning run, but we know this group of players have a ceiling and consistency is an issue and high performance levels are difficult to maintain. What’s important is we bounce back in midweek and win v Lincoln to keep momentum and confidence flowing. To me, a game like today underlines our limitations. We are good enough for top six but drop too many points to be front runners.

Derby 3-0 Wycombe Collins

You have to wonder what’s changed. After Stevenage away, Warne and the boys looked like a half eaten Irish breakfast. In fairness, when you get soundly beaten by a Steve Evans side, it will lead even the most positive people down a road of introspective despair. Now if we win our next two home games, we could go into the festive period v Wigan, Oxford and Peterborough as the form team in the division and on the cusp of the top two. I can’t wait for Lincoln at home. My fiancée will be leading the chants of ‘If you love Paul Warne, jump around.’ when we are 4-0 up.

Five league wins in a row and edging closer to the top two. A comfortable passage into the latter stages of the EFL Trophy. We’re back!

I’ve just realised that I’ll be on my honeymoon over the weekend of the final. Where’s my hatchet?

Three wins from a Wembley final. Those taking a hatchet to selections, substitutions, and performances - why?

People are not interested until it gets down to the last four. I think that goes for clubs, managers, fans, and players alike. If we get to the semi final, interest will be through the roof because people will want priority for a potential Wembley ticket.

I think midfield should be the priority. Bird’s contract is running down and he is potentially on the way out and Smith and Hourihane are fading fast and can’t perform consistently at the level required, only really when the opposition’s tactics and the playing conditions are favourable. Fornah, Thompson, Fapetu and Robinson are good prospects for the future, but we need a player to come in and hit the ground running.

Credit where it’s due. Warne and the players are trying to make amends for previous results. They are digging in and showing fight. Warne looked dead and buried after Stevenage away, so to notch up four league wins in a row and move into the top six is a very good response and a small reward for those who remained patient and unlike myself didn’t experience a wobble at any point. In my mind, there was an air of resignation after Stevenage away and I don’t think that has completely disappeared in truth. Current results are largely very positive but it would be very typical of us to drop the baby in upcoming games and doom engulfs the fanbase again. There’s still some convincing that needs to be done. If we play to our potential, there’s no reason why we can’t go into 2024 on the back of a solid unbeaten run. Four wins and some hard-fought draws would leave us well placed heading into January. Hopefully Warne and the players don’t let us down.

Port Vale 1-1 Derby Collins FRGS

Derby 2-1 Bristol Rovers Collins FRGS

I think Warne needs to really step up now and show why we backed him with a long term contract. The pressure is on and he needs a good run of encouraging results and performances. Barnsley at home can’t be a one-off. We should be finishing in the top six with relative comfort, so we have another 30 games to determine that. We should also be getting to the very latter stages of the EFL Trophy (semi final at a minimum), so again some time is needed to determine if we can meet that. In that sense, now the dust has settled on Crewe at home, there is still something for Warne to aim for and he has something to prove. Clowes will give him time and the opportunity to do so, so we need to accept that. The evidence so far suggests that we haven’t really improved the squad sufficiently to genuinely demand more. With the exception of Nyambe and Nelson, none of the new signings have established themselves as regular starters in the first XI. We haven’t replaced the quality of McGoldrick, for instance. Warne needs our support for now.

With the exception of two players, this was the same side that swept Barnsley aside just 3 days ago with possibly our most encouraging performance of the season. It’s so difficult to compute. Clearly a lot can be put at Warne’s door. He could have changed the game tonight and engineered a comeback. It’s very rare we do this. But these players are also very hard to like at the moment. Even with the very best coaching, tactics and style of play, I think they would find a way to shoot themselves in the foot.

For me, Warne needs a convincing winning run to get the season back on track. I don’t know how many of these results he can survive. Shrewsbury, Stevenage, Crewe - worryingly they are not a one off now. I just don’t see how Clowes will not be asking himself questions now. Tonight was the perfect opportunity to vindicate the owner’s stance and Warne and the players completely fluffed it. The worry for me is these players are really not anything special. I don’t see much untapped potential. I am not convinced a new manager will transform these players into a consistent winning machine.

Well deserved for Crewe. Over the two games, they have set up well and taken their chances. It’s typical that we put in such a complacent performance after some really encouraging results v Northampton and Barnsley that hinted at green shoots of recovery. This was a massive opportunity for Warne and the players to put the ‘outside noise’ to bed and get confidence and momentum really flowing. Instead the pressure has been cranked up yet again. With the international break now, we have 10 days to sit and wallow in a result that ranks alongside previous upsets v Brentford, Bristol Rovers, Crawley, Colchester and of course Chorley. What a let down Warne and these players are becoming.

Torquay and Newport pushed us hard last season in the FA Cup and we got away with it. Crewe were the more effective side in the first tie for 80 minutes and once again we got out of jail. There are only so many times you can undercook a performance against a lower placed side before you get punished. We need a huge 45 minutes or the knives will be out for Warne again.

I think we have to see how we fare in the games v Port Vale, Orient, Wigan and Oxford away before the end of the year. That’s the acid test. The away form has really stuttered and I think we need to see a response of some kind, even grinding out some hard-fought draws to back up some regulation home wins. We are building some real momentum at home and you would expect that to continue with potentially another five games at home before the year’s end and all of them looking winnable. However you can also sense that it wouldn’t take very much for some of the fan base to turn again and there will be a sense of dread heading into each away game with the worry that the scenes from Shrewsbury and Stevenage away will be repeated.

Such sad news. Condolences to his family and everyone who knew him personally and virtually. I never met him personally and had very few interactions with him on the forums, but when it came to passion for the game and love for the club, it was second to none and hugely admirable. Definitely the kind of person you’d want to stand with on the terraces, shoulder-to-shoulder. He would have set my mother straight if he had heard her say ‘there’s more to life than football’ or ‘football isn’t paying the bills’, that’s for sure. I hope today was the start of something special for us this season. It would be a fitting tribute if Warne and the boys could go on to win promotion and win the EFL Trophy and he can watch on from his seat in the sky. RIP B4, a sad loss for our community.

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