Ric Flair

I think you're right and yet both manager and club will probably be held back as a result. Maybe I'm being harsh but his ideology requires the finest ingredients and with the negativity around the place I think his early sparkle where he thrived in similar surroundings (but with a poorer squad) will be long gone.

There's no magic formula to put rules in place but give teams carte blanched to do what they want. Unfortunately those that generate more revenue in prize money, transfer money and commercial income are always going to be able to dominate as long as they utilise it correctly and I don't object to that really. I've no interest in a draft like system each season where every team is equal, would bore the shit out of me as illogical as that sounds. I also accept you can't have owners able to just pump billions in to their club if they want to as although in principle it's absolutely fine if the funds are there to do so, but there's so much risk in general if this is in play. The PL generate obscene income over the rest of the football World bar a few mega clubs and yet PL clubs are not necessarily much better off for doing so due to the nature of the beast of having to pay more in wages and more in transfers fees as the PL tax. Hopefully new rules that are fairer and align with the economical changes will see the insanity of fees and wages tail off and progressive PL sides can still benefit from being fortunate to generate the revenue they do and with the right execution challenge the elite and it not quickly run them ashore. I still think the marginal gains for sides like us is in the academy investment and there should be even more rewards for developing in house and with our facilities and more pumped in to recruit and develop (with the very best coaches) then we can prosper.

This this and this. There's absolutely no excusing it, especially not since we've been averaging 2 goals a game and the two excellent defensive displays that we kept clean sheets in he played them both and did brilliantly (Bournemouth and Sunderland). Enzo has had a howler this last month, proper head loss stuff which is understandable as an inexperienced manager but he's really not helped himself. Doubled down on his philosophy and trusted players despite both failing him in recent games. Where he's been excellent is regrouping during the international breaks and tweaking things and hopefully he does that after this one.

Sinclair Armstrong's contracts up this summer, I'd be looking at him if we blow promotion.

12 wins and a draw from 13 games vs our 13 wins and 1 loss from 14 games at the start of the season. So they need to win after the international break to better it points wise.

From what I gather we didn't pay anything near the £10m reported for Winks.

If we don't go up and we face what we think will happen then it's best we shake hands with Enzo. Not just because of the failure to go up from the position we were in but because his philosophy will not be suited to a team with limited resources and restrictions. We'll need a fire fighter and a pragmatic manager who will choose tactics that are easier to execute with an average squad rather than a system that requires top quality.

If we are going to prat around with the current system then Trai Hume is a must as the inverted full back role. He's also incredibly strong, good in the air and pretty quick. I'd also much rather we try and get Bashir Humphreys from Chelsea (on loan at Swansea) than pay big money for Doyle. Finally, it still irks me now as I've been chuntering on and on about him for years but he's now on fire, Omari Hutchinson is the left footed winger/attacking midfielder we need instead of Yunus.

🚨 Monday Shite Phone In Episode 🚨 It's longer than all three Godfather films and Titanic put together

I'd be working on a plan that includes the majority of the players not away on international duty bar Ndidi, Nelson or Vestergaard and Hermansen. The key tweak needs to be in possession and defence where we've been all over the place. Hermansen Ricardo Nelson/Vestergaard Coady Justin Ndidi Winks KDH Fatawu Vardy Mavididi Go and win the bastard league

Anyone arguing Forest's decision to sell Brennan Johnson, if we've breached 2022/23 by less than £30m then the question will be - why didn't we sell Harvey Barnes before the end June?

But if we have breached, we did so having barely spent anything and selling Fofana and Maddison. It's actually staggering to have done so and I don't think there was ever a scenario in 2022/23 that we wouldn't have, given the sales we made.

100%

I think the trio of Mavididi's miss, Daka's incorrect disallowed goal and then him nutmegging himself when 1 v 1 will be thr turning point. Its jaw dropping that we didn't win that game, let alone ended up losing it!

If we won 6, drew 1 and lost 2 you reckon we'd finish 3rd? That would require Leeds and Ipswich to win 7/8 remaining games. It's going to be tight but I don't see both of them doing that. 1 of them quite possibly will though which puts their form in the 2nd half of the season up there with anything we put together in the 1st half of the season.

Kane Taylor and Micah Hamilton's contracts are up this summer at Man City.

It's a plausible shout.

He's A) only 1 of 2 full backs we have and currently the only one who's available and B) the only defender with any real pace which is getting badly exposed. He simply HAS to play.

The biggest annoyance is Ipswich continuing to chase down our goal difference. It was worth another point but its now not as certain.

This is a very difficult question to answer and I'm not referencing the psychological damage experienced as a Leicester fan of massive leads frittered away in recent years, last seasons scandalous relegation or even the horrors of 2012/13 either. I mean because of the nature of the top 4 this season and the points hauls that have and will be racked up by the end of it. What goes against us is that we don't have the momentum right now. Both Leeds and Ipswich have had poor patches of form but the difference is they had theirs with enough of the season left to piece together some form and keep it going to get better and better. We now have a small part of the season left with very little margin for error and the nagging doubt in the back of our minds of how on earth aren't we home and hosed. It's mental torture now and only the strongest will prevail and those who want it the most. Another thing that goes against us is we have the most inexperienced manager out of the lot and one who in the last month has made some deeply perturbing decisions. His best work at correcting things has come between the international breaks so let's hope Enzo does some soul searching and reflecting ASAP and has the clarity and artistry to mastermind this through to the end. His pig headedness with continuing to pick an appallingly out of form Wout Faes, who's been at fault time and time again recently ahead of Conor Coady is really poor. We lack leaders and grit and the one thing Coady has is both, he's been here and succeeded in this scenario too. But Enzo is doubling down on his principles whilst the pressure mounts and so far he's got no answers. His reluctance to use the squad like he did earlier in the season is mystifying too, it's no coincidence the fitness levels look to be sagging and we've gone from being the ones to ending games relentlessly to being sucker punched in the closing stages and it all being so inevitable. Something has got to change in our play, this notion that we are good defensively is looking majorly flawed in 2024. I'm not sure what has happened but we are now badly exposed and whether it's just poor form, teams have sussed us out or we are doing something markedly different, we don't have much time to root cause it. We possess an array of central defenders better than any other club in this division and yet he won't break up the pairing. I can understand to a certain degree given the prowess of the first half of the season but the warning signs have been there now for too long and in any other area with an embarrassment of riches (up front) he's made changes and benefitted in doing so, the cyclical nature of the form of Vardy, Iheanacho, Daka and then Cannon we had navigated with great success up until recently. We now need to work on a defensive structure that prevents us from being torn open so easily. Nelson is the quickest centre half we have and Coady is the best organiser. Souttar is a back to the walls defender and maybe down the stretch he is needed and stop playing such a suicidal high line but at the very least Wout Faes has to come out and whilst Ricardo is out then the inverted full back system needs minimising in certain games where there the oppositions strengths are overloading the flanks. This system does not stand up well to pressure, nor does the weaknesses of our current defence and he has to change it. Another outside factor we've got to deal with, that will intensify is our financial situation. Our 2022/23 accounts will be published very soon and then the coverage of what this may mean and likewise for 2023/24 will grow and grow. That pressure is not something we could do with and again for a team that's been suspect this season, it's another huge handicap we'll carry. The harsh reality is we could win 7 of our remaining 9 games and still finish 3rd. It's highly unlikely both Leeds and Ipswich win nearly all their remaining games but this season is not comparable to any other in regards to points required down the stretch. What we at the very least need to do is show promotion form in the remaining games, if them pair do a madness and we somehow miss out then we'll have to lick our wounds and keep going until the curtain is drawn at the end of May. Let's make no mistake here, failure to get promotion in whatever form would be catastrophic for the future of this club. That's yet more added pressure for us and it doesn't bare thinking about bit we cannot hide away from it. The points gap has vanished, nobody is going to do us any favours, we face 9 remaining games that we won all 9 of when we faced them 1st time around and that has to be the attitude and desire of the players and manager when we face them again. We need to be aggressive, clinical and want it. There's a chunk of this side that cannot have a relegation and a bottled promotion on their CV if they want salvage their careers. I'm looking to the likes of Ndidi, Ricardo, KDH and Vardy and I want to see them drag us across the line. I think we'll finish 2nd but it'll be very tight as I think we might only get 16-17 points from the remaining games.

I'd rather play Southampton when they're in the midst of 10 games in 34 days and we've got Ricardo and Vardy back.

Cannon really disappointed me vs Ipswich at home and Bournemouth. I said it when we signed him that he's got no outstanding attributes bar finishing but that he's better suited in a front two. His lack of pace is a problem. Him tucked behind another forward would work but won't happen here.

His catalogue of missed chances in 2024 is now indefensible. I'm really disappointed in him, shocking composure and technique.

We don't actually have enough fit full backs though. He's fcuked us. Maybe he could go 3-4-3 and play Albrighton and Justin but otherwise what we got?

Was a damn sight more involved than Yunus when he came on. Was excellent vs Bournemouth and Hull and had Daka not missed yet another sitter he'd have got an assist today. Aged 20, he's doing absolutely fine.