Tom12345

It was not a handball. It did not touch his hand - the ball went on to his chest

Lacking ambition in the second part of the second half failed us. Decided to be conservative instead of attacking kept Ipswich in the game.

seems to have a higher ceiling compared to Mavididi

Important to keep chasing goals rather than being content to pass around at the back. When we piled the pressure on, we scored 3. Then we tried to pass around for 25 mins, conceding a goal in the process apart from us being a little wasteful. If we had stopped after scoring 2 goals, it would be a 2-2 draw.

Wow. 1-0 Match stats TEAM STATS 22 Shots 2 7 Shots on target 2 46% Possession 54% 436 Passes 520

Yes. And we are lucky that we still kept a big part of our squad - some of our players should not really be in the Championship let alone sitting on the bench! If we didn’t though, we would need to assemble a cheaper side with Championship players new playing with each other - a side that is very unlike a PL side. Again we are lucky we kept much of our PL side so that’s why we can play with so much excess (although as discussed in another thread we don’t have a second gear built yet as part of the new evolution).

Yes. And we are lucky that we still kept a big part of our squad - some of our players should not really be in the Championship let alone sitting on the bench! If we didn’t though, we would need to assemble a cheaper side with Championship players new playing with each other - a side that is very unlike a PL side. Again we are lucky we kept much of our PL side so that’s why we can play with so much excess (although as discussed in another thread we don’t have a second gear built yet as part of the new evolution).

Hopefully this is a wake up call. If we had gone for a second we would not have dropped 2 points. We can always play the same, if that is what Enzo wants, but we always need to be playing to score goals (even if it is patient football). We should never play game management to defend a 1-0 lead - and all those fans who on the one hand say we should play more attacking football while on the other hand always talk about game management are contradicting themselves.

This is the main thing for me. I thought with us taking risks at the back it is about creating opportunities at the other end with quick transition. We sort of did that at the beginning of the season. Now, I have no idea why we do all the risky passing at the back as when we do break out we then simply slow it down and wait for the opposition to set themselves up again. We need to build instincts into players to look forward instead of passing back even without looking - players like KDH, Hamza and Ndidi are some of the biggest culprits. This is the most frustrating part. Maybe this is part one of the evolution and part two - the attacking bit will come into it later. But at the moment, we have no second gear at all. We are just trying to grind with the one and only first gear. But if we are to give Enzo and the team a chance to do this confidently - which is most important - we need to give them time and not shout negativity at the players.

Shouldn’t you be punished for cheating during the season that you cheated? If they were deducted 10 points last season, they would have been relegated. Just look at the table from end of last season. Period. The timing of this means they could be off the hook.

And now they are selling the club. To them it probably made business sense that they breached the rules, suffered some penalties as a result (but now they are seemingly inconsequential because of the timing) and would be able to fetch a much higher sale price for being an EPL club with the consequence now known and manageable. They played it well to our disadvantage.

Or throw Soutter in upfront.

Yeah. If they had a 10 point deduction last year, they would have been relegated by a country mile. This year they would still be comfortably above the drop zone come the end of the season. Seems like the Everton way again. Always a lucky break.

And we are only in November!

Given this is about cheating, 10 points deduction is a let off. Agree with you that the penalty should almost guarantee relegation otherwise how it is fair? Juventus was relegated in Italy quite a few years back.

Yeah, the fact that Forest is comfortably above the drop zone says it all. There are at least 6 teams that are truly quite poor at the bottom: Luton Bournemouth Burnley Forest Sheffield United Everton (though they are a “real” PL club despite their poor organisation) Then you still have names like Fulham, Brentford. While you have more established names like: Leicester Leeds Southampton West Brom and even like Cardiff Ipswich Birmingham Sunderland Middlesborough all down in the Championship. The PL is as poor as it has been for at least 10 years.

Ironically the less he plays the less we will get for him.

We were all on a high with Enzo and as he said we will need time. I have been sounding caution about some of the media or the fans’ over enthusiasm for a while and pointing out that we actually don’t have a second gear built yet. Just some realization of where we are. But there is no need to go all out against Enzo or the team yet. We should encourage and be positive. I hope Enzo will continue to work into the team a winning mentality while we build our second gear. The team will need the fans’ support.

There is a reason why he joined us for a mere 6m or so in the Championship. But he has some potential but decision making needs significant upgrade.

Agree. We should but we actually may not have a second gear, not yet anyway.

Maybe time to give Daka a chance as well?

absolutely toothless. we created not a single half chance even when we were chasing in the last 5 mins. maybe pumping the ball into the box could have at least created some panic and unpredictability in the box. yet, we just pass pass pass then back pass and nothing happens.

No it is not about one person. Not what Enzo is trying to instill anyway. The problem is the lack of urgency in our build up. We often pass back when in the middle of building up and we lose momentum. In this game against Boro, the biggest culprits are Justin and Hamza. Keep it going boys - don’t fear.

Yep, we are still struggling to get into a second gear. We had more chances this game but we really do not have much idea how to be relentless in attack even when we are chasing. Quite disappointed we didn’t even have any chance in the last 5 mins - just pass pass pass then lose the ball. A kick in the backside.

I rate Mendy. I won’t repeat all my previous posts talking about his game and why he is such an underrated player. Our fanbase still amazes me sometimes when it comes to criticising our own players who have proven themselves before coming and after. Mendy did well before he joined. He is an African champion with Senegal. He is playing well with Lens and also Champions League football. Other professional coaches with more at stake obviously have a high opinion of him. Yet some foxes fans still think he is not good enough for us in the Championship. To appreciate this. If Winks was in Rodgers team last year, he would have been sat on the bench and perhaps he would come on occasionally playing backward football - otherwise known as Rodgerball. Fans would have been all over Winks for being such a poor player. Think about that. We were starting to play better when Mendy was in the team last part of last season. Then when Rodgers was sacked, Ndidi was reinstalled playing in a system where he was bound to fail (playing as a single pivot in front of the back four to beat the press - yep, we all know how that went). Mendy was infinitely better in that role. Just look at the February 2023 comments from above.