Thoughts on Forest game and leading on

I couldn't afford to go to this one so I went up Morgans in Llanharan to watch it.

Firstly I dont hold the concerns re our team and DJ that alot of us have, my concerns lay more with the teams around us.

I thought DJ has answered and acted upon nearly every historical criticism and gripe we've had re selection and our approach to big games - he didn't put out the cautious and absent of any fluidity 4-4-2 from last season - he put out in effect a 4-2-4 that was given every licence to thrill and attack at every opportunity thus embracing the occasion and putting every faith in the class he has at his disposable, whilst also trusting the form and solidity our back 5 have shown of late.

This approach and ethic that DJ has stamped on the squad this season (that was totally evident yesterday) could have and should have produced a result yesterday - DJ cannot be blamed for poor finishing and a world class performance from imo the leagues best goalkeeper. On chances alone that game should've been ours, and our attacking prowess at times made a team whos defensive record is sublime at home look totally average and easily beatable. You only have to watch Billy Davies' awkwardness in his post match interview re his claim they deserved all 3 points, to conclude we deserved at least a point as hes clearly fearful of getting rumbled that hes purely chatting utter shite to put a positive Forest spin on the game so his players use it as a platform for their next game.

DJ or anyone else for that matter cannot be blamed for the circumstances that led tot he defeat as if you consider current form they are uncharacteristic individual mistakes (Hudson for their first goal, Bothroyds misses etc etc).

Leaving respective run ins aside (as I dont believe they actually have a bearing at this stage of the season), my main concern lays with those around us, mainly Forest ; the Jacks and Leicester (Leeds and Norwich will fade away imo). Make no mistake all these teams (including us) could cut it in the Prem at the mo - I believe the football being played in that good. We can debate and talk all we want about the squad of players etc we have and that it alone should cement us an automatic place, however life and football is not as simple as that - if that were the case Man United wouldn't be top of the Prem as they certainly dont have the best squad on paper; Arsenal wouldn't have beaten Barca the other night; and Crawley wouldn't have come into a couple of inches of holding Man United to a draw.

DJ has assembled a great group of players via utiliaton of his experience in the game and his network of contacts, and has done pretty well imo to get them to gel; adopt the culture of play; unite as a team and not as a group of individuals. But what DJ is facing in QPR and Forest is a couple of quality tight knit teams who have had alot of time without significant personnel change to develop a unity (under very similar managers who promote this first and foremost) that at this level has the potential to surpass an assembly of loan signings and drop downs from the Prem...as they have a sufficient degree of quality also. Leicester counters this theory, however they are playin under a completely different pressure and environment to us atm and will thrive with the players they have.

This is DJ's main challenge, however if he continues to approach each game like he did on Saturday I do believe we'll jump Forest into the autos ahead of the Jacks as well, as our teams approach (whilst the defence continue to gel as unit and become stronger) will produce alot more wins for us where Forest imo will produce more draws with theirs - especially on the road.

Home form is another challenge he has on his hands, however it is made increasingly difficult for us irrelevant of team selection and systems when teams are uie happy to come to CCS wait for the odd opportunity to counter, and albeit on a shite pitch.

DJ clearly has his weakenesses as a manager, and I would like to point out that I am firmly on the fence with DJ and have been for the last 3 seasons so needless to say im not his biggest fan, however I'm finding him hard to knock atm based on Saturdays game as he gave us everything we've been asking imo - if we won that game by taking the chances that his system and team created we would of been buzzing and thinking we're world beaters - that so easily could've happened.

There is nothing fundamentally wrong wih the team or anything that impacts it imo, in fact we're pretty exciting to watch and the review on the football league show was that we played an obviously huge part in a great advert for the football league - lets not forget that. We just need to stick together and stay true to our ethics and we'll be alright come May...

Great post mate

Great post mate

Great post mate

Best post on here all season - superb mate

We didnt do too bad at forest and in all fairness the keeper kept them in it ,another day and that was another leeds away this season all over again.

Its going to be a nail biting run in and im shitting myself now,i only look at the table and it turns my stomach,its going to be very tense,we are all starving for success,its going rite down to the last day imo ,and im fuckin praying that day will be ours!!

Best post on here all season - superb mate

Cheers buddy

:ayatollah:
We didnt do too bad at forest and in all fairness the keeper kept them in it ,another day and that was another leeds away this season all over again.

Its going to be a nail biting run in and im shitting myself now,i only look at the table and it turns my stomach,its going to be very tense,we are all starving for success,its going rite down to the last day imo ,and im fuckin praying that day will be ours!!

Proper nerve racking init...the nerves and butterflys are unreal - makes you feel alive though I suppose, ha

:ayatollah:
We didnt do too bad at forest and in all fairness the keeper kept them in it ,another day and that was another leeds away this season all over again.

Its going to be a nail biting run in and im shitting myself now,i only look at the table and it turns my stomach,its going to be very tense,we are all starving for success,its going rite down to the last day imo ,and im fuckin praying that day will be ours!!

Proper nerve racking init...the nerves and butterflys are unreal - makes you feel alive though I suppose, ha

my missus and family think im an absolute nutcase,and my mother in law thinks ive brainwashed her grandson after he had a right strop in hers after the game satday(hes eight ) but i couldnt give a fook ,we are cardiff city mate at the end of the day.......we dont do plain sailing ,we do evry thing the hard way,plenty more butterflies,nail biting and rows with the missus to go before our fate is revealed!!!

Cant really say I agree with the overall concept of the OP post.

I dont think the team has gelled. You only have to look at the 50/50 situation especially at Forest where the home team dominated that aspect in midfield. What ball we did win in midfield we soon gave away, that is not of a team that has gelled.

Our only strong point is our ability to be sharp in attack. In a game eventually the ball will fall to one of our players where an attack can occur. At Forest that is eactly what happened in most of our attacks. There was no build up from say the back or won possession from midfield but we managed to attack mainly from loose play.

I don't think Forest were at the top of their game, which is a worry. I think we were very poor in all aspects, and when we did sneak a goal, DJ just hoped for the best by not changing anything, despite what he had seen for the previous 67 minutes