Nottingham Forest 1 - 1 Leeds United
Background: Never mind The Damned United, by three o'clock there was a damning verdict on the way Forest quite literally disintegrated from the mesmeric to the mesmerised. Not my choice of opening fixture at City Ground, given our apparent inability to beat Leeds in recent years, but if the first half was anything to go by this game was there for the taking, and serious questions need asking in many directions why we failed to win this.
Programme Notes: The predictable start-of-season greetings from ND and BD, yet reading between the lines the simmering conflict of interests are so thinly disguised, none more so than the reference to BD's burning ambition. This needs nurturing, not stifling. Elsewhere, a quality production and a good read, apart from the poor quality team photo that looks like it was taken with a disposable camera from the roof of County Hall.
The Match: Chalk and Cheese, and from the sublime to the ridiculous. Having narrowly failed to score in the opening minute when Radi's close-range effort severely tested Kaspar Schmeichel, Forest set the tone with some outstanding football which was duly rewarded eight minutes later when Radi again was involved, this time at the start of a move which saw him pass out wide to Chris Gunter, whose excellent cross found Dexter Blackstock ready to head past Schmeichel into the bottom corner. No less than Forest deserved at this point, such was the simply dazzling football, and you could be forgiven for thinking we'd all travelled nine months back in time. Choose any of those games we bossed from start to finish (Preston springs to mind, apart from the opposite extremes in temperature) and that was enough to get the fans into bouyant mood and drown out the 4000 Leeds fans.
Four minutes later we could have been two up when the woodwork did a repeat performance of denying Earnie, this time it was the far post after yet more superb build-up play. Even so, it was still enough to keep expectation high, that more goals were surely only a matter of time, and Leeds played as though they didin't know what had hit them.
But still haunted by memories of how we appeared to switch off after taking the lead against Blackpool in the play-offs, so history appeared to repeat itself. Not immediately, I grant you. Forest continued to play really well for 20 minutes, before the likes of Becchio and Sam began to remind us why the name Leeds is so often preceded by the word Dirty, although some of their more shall we say robust challenges were not punished, so giving little incentive for them to stop.
What we didn't need however was some sloppy passing especially sideways deep inside our own half. Wilson was the first culprit when his pass was intercepted and it took Lee Camp to smother the ball to get us off the hook. Warning heeded? 'Fraid not. Minutes later, in apparently little danger, Big Wes' pass from right to left was intercepted by Johnson, and with Lloyd Sam creating something of an overlap, it was cringe time as you knew there was really only one place the ball was destined for, no matter how poor Leeds had been up to this point.
Despite continuing to attack right up until half time, Forest never got over this sting. As the second period started, you soon began to wonder if someone had crept into the dressing room and replaced all the batteries with duds, and devices which prevented any player in a red shirt from crossing the half way line. Passes on both sides went astray, Leeds' fouls became more cynical, and the game simply degenerated. Changes in the form of McCleary for Anderson and Tyson for Radi were ineffective, the latter resuming his poor performance from last week. Kaspar Schmeichel might just as well have got his deckchair out for the whole of the second half as Forest failed to produce anything remotely resembling an attack on the Trent End. At the other end Lee Camp sustained a nasty head injury requiring a lengthy pause in play whilst he received treatment, complete with head bandage and replacement shirt. Tempers continued to fray as the tackles flew in, climaxing in a tense few minutes in front of Camp's goal when a confrontation between Gunter and Watt threatened to spark a mass brawl. It was difficult to see the exact moment, but Radio Nottingham commented on a stamping incident for which Gunter was lucky to stay on the field, something which was causing BD a headache as he pondered which of his subs to send on, depending on whether or not we'd still have eleven men on the pitch. The crisis eventually passed, with Yellows for both Gunter and Watt, but by now the momentum was firmly with Leeds, and we just looked like we could carry on playing well in to next week and not score.
Timekeeping: Not even the Sky Sports TV schedules could ensure punctuality. Two minutes late kicking off, and no doubt the TV scheduling meant only six minutes of second half stoppage time.
Defining Moment/Turning Point: Half Time - it was downhill all the way from that point on.
Entertainment Value: The opening twenty minutes was vintage Forest of the first order; the closing twenty like Sunday League of the worst order. 5/10
Atmosphere: With 4000 travelling fans packed into the Bridgford Lower it was always destined to be lively. Don Revie chants were responded to with louder chants in tribute to The Great Mr Clough, but as the second half wore on, you began to feel as though Leeds had gained a twelfth man as both their players and fans began to sense they could get more than a point out of this.
Highlights: A breathless first twenty minutes which really ought to have seen us three up. The opener was certainly nothing less than Forest deserved
Lowlights: Two hideous passes across the back, the second for which we paid dearly, ought to serve as timely warning. As for the second half, well words fail me.
Ref Watch: A Bates - Seemed OK at first, but bottled it when it came to dealing with some of Leeds' meatier tackles, resulting in no bookings until well inside the second half.
Stinker: Tyson and McCleary were brought on to shake things up. They both failed miserably.
Stormer: Lee Camp, after sustained pressure in second half; Dexter Blackstock for at least opening our scoring for the season in fine style.
Reflection: From a performance where we originally looked set to win comfortably, to being lucky to hang on to a point, and at home to boot, that spells more than cause for concern. BD recoils at more questions about new players, but that wont wash whilst the transfer window remains open. Whatever the issues between him, the board and the acquisitions panel, they need sorting and fast. We've been here before. Even the most pragmatic who will remind us that it took eight or nine games last season before our season really got going are going to find BD's post-match comments wear a little thin. If we're supposed to be building on last season's successes, then it's not rocket science to work out that better results will need to kick in a lot sooner than mid/late September like they did last year, and BD's comments that we need to wait for that length of time is going to cut little ice with any Forest fan. And on the basis of if I had a pound each time BD mentions 'young squad', young players' and anything else along those lines, the tally is fast approaching £50, with the season still only days old (cue a young players-ometer?).
New players or not, addressing some of our more frustrating traits ought to be something of a priority right now. The long sideways passing, especially across the back needs to stop, as well as pitching long balls high in the air at a hopelessly outnumbered red shirt. Treating the opposition box as a focal point and less like a minefield wouldn't go amiss either (you only had to watch Blackpool taking Wigan apart to see how effective that was). The problem is these are traits which were prevalent at both the beginning and end of last season, and something new is needed so we're not easily sussed.
Message quite simple: Sort it!
Premiership Chump Of The Week: Following hard in the footsteps of John Terry comes Peter Crouch with a brazen show of how not to be a role model. And just when a few of us were beginning to like him too!
