How can Calderwood defend the indefensible?

Before Saturday's horror show at Wolves, Colin Calderwood was insistent that our defence was good enough to cope in the Championship, and that he would not be making any moves in the transfer market to bolster the back line. Well, unless he is deaf, dumb and blind, he absolutely must sign a natural right back at the very least because if Luke Chambers continues in that position for much longer, we are going to be in big, big trouble.

Chambers never looked comfortable playing at right back last season in League One, and it was only his goalscoring ability from set pieces that really justified his place in the team, and the fact that Forest were so tight defensively meant that Chambers was adequate in the games where the opposition didn't really have much quality up front, but in the Championship, as our goals against column will testify with ten conceded in just four games, it is a very different story. The football is a lot more fast and furious, and our fullbacks, in particular Chambers, are being targeted as weak links, which seemed to be the case with Wolves, where their winger Michael Kightly tore Chambers apart, and made him look like a substandard non-League player.

It is time that Calderwood accepted that Chambers just cannot cut it as a right back, and he let him challenge for a central defensive position. He came to the Club with a good reputation as a promising central defender, but is now regarded as a laughing stock at right back. That's Calderwood's fault for playing him there, and not signing a proper right back last summer when John Curtis left. The transfer window closes on Monday, and Calderwood says that we will not be signing anyone, but the debacle at Molineux surely must have set alarm bells ringing. Julian Bennett wasn't much better than Chambers, and I thought he was going to be a good player for us this season. Bennett is now playing as badly as he was at the start of last season, and whether this is down to the fact that he is just not of Championship standard, or that he is not motivated enough because of lack of competition for his place, I don't know. I do know is that he has potential, unlike Chambers as a right back. But the fact remains is that both our full backs are at this moment in time not good enough, and they are costing us matches.

I think the centre of defence will be ok when Kelvin Wilson is playing alongside Wes Morgan, but Calderwood seems to love Ian Breckin, and even though Wilson was fit to start yesterday, following injury, he still couldn't oust Breckin from the team. Breckin is just too old and slow for the Championship, and he commits an awful lot of fouls, giving away stupid free kicks. That's not to say that I blame him and Morgan for the 5-1 drubbing, as it was largely down to the rubbish performances from Chambers and Bennett.

As for the rest of the team, well all the players had a bad day to be fair, even Guy Moussi, who looked out of sorts in midfield, and Lee Martin failed to make an impression at all. I forgot that Robbie Earnshaw was even playing as I don't remember hearing his name mentioned on the radio until he went off injured with a suspected hamstring injury. Hopefully it is nothing to worry about, and in a fortnight he will be fit and raring to go again.

I don't know if it's a good thing or not that we have two weeks until our next game, which is at home to Burnley. On one hand it would be good to get things out of our system with another match in midweek, but on the other, perhaps Forest need some time to work on their defending in training, because Wolves made them look like a bunch of amateurs who had never played together before.

I fully expected us to lose, but the manner in which it happened left me shell shocked at half time. The only saving grace was that we didn't let in more than one goal in the second half.

No disgrace in defeat as plucky Forest bow out

Even though we lost the game last night, I came away feeling really satisfied as we had played so well against Premiership opposition and did not deserve to go out of the League Cup.

In the first ten minutes or so, Forest couldn't get hold of the ball and it looked like we were going to be in for a long evening, but Forest gradually found their stride, and soon they were enjoying vast amounts of possession, playing some really good passing football, which Brian Clough would have been extremely proud of, watching from above. I thought that the whole team was excellent last night, and I was really impressed with their never say die spirit. It would have been easy to just give up when Sunderland went in front in extra time, but Forest kept on pushing them all the way, and even though they were left with nothing to show for their efforts in the end, they can be really proud of themselves.

Robbie Earnshaw's free-kick was absolutely brilliant, and I loved his somersault celebration, although I do worry about him injuring himself one of these fine days! Still, he has been practising them an awful lot, and nothing's happened to him so far. He is loving playing for Forest, and I'm really happy for him that things are working out. He had a dreadful time at Derby (well, who wouldn't to be fair?) and now he has been given this new lease of life. To say that he has scored four in five matches even though he's been up front on his own is quite an achievement. I can't wait until the other strikers are back to full fitness. I think we'll have a really exciting forward line when Earnshaw, Nathan Tyson, Andy Cole, Joe Garner, and Paul Anderson are all available.

It is a pity that they had to equalise so late on, but I think it was inevitable in many ways. We were becoming rather tired having worked so hard, and Sunderland seemed to be taking it easy and just stepped up a gear when it mattered most. That's probably the sign of being a good team. They scored early on in extra time, and despite Forest's best efforts, managed to hold on and book their passage into round three. Forest used to really love the League Cup, but over the years this competition has really become devalued in importance, and even though a place in Europe is guaranteed for the winners, not many teams, big or small, seem to take it too seriously these days. I myself am not bothered about it any more and just want Forest to concentrate on consolidating in the Championship, and possibly even challenge for a place in the top six. Judging by our performances so far this season, I certainly feel a lot more confident that we won't be making a hasty return to League One.

Watford win lifts a huge weight off our shoulders

What a relief it is to get our first win under our belts. If we had not beaten Watford, we would have had the unenviable task of visiting in-form Wolves, still seeking our first three points, so the fact that we have got that out of the way means that should we slip to defeat at Molineux, it won't be as bad as it could have been.

What was really pleasing was that Robbie Earnshaw and Nathan Tyson got themselves on the scoresheet yesterday, which really will boost their confidence. It was a dream comeback for Tyson, who was brought back earlier than expected from injury to take his place on the bench. He had only been on the pitch a couple of minutes before he tapped in from the rebound of a free kick to score what turned out to be the winning goal for us.

I was highly impressed with Lee Martin. His goal was something special, and his all-round contribution in midfield is very welcome. He has played well in all three of the matches he has played in since he joined, and I hope we can persuade him to stay on a bit longer, perhaps for the entire season, As long as he keeps performing like that, Paul Anderson will find it hard to break into the team when he recovers from his injury.

Isn't it brilliant to be talking about Forest having selection problems due to having too many good players?! Not so long ago, the starting eleven picked itself, but some players worthy of inclusion may have to make do with a place on the bench. And even then there are only four places for outfield players, so some people are going to be left very disappointed.

What does bemuse me is how Emile Sinclair manages to get on the bench every week. He always gets a run out, despite never making an impression at all. Yesterday I think the Brian Clough Stand fans stood up expecting Andy Cole to come on, but it turned out to be just Sinclair! Cole did later join the action, but didn't have much time really. It was a real boost to have both him and Tyson back, though. I thought they wouldn't be back until September.

If I have one complaint about yesterday, it was nothing to do with the players' performance on the pitch , but rather that of the extremely annoying man who stands near the tunnel. I expect you know who I mean, but for those of you who were fortunate enough not to hear it, I am talking about our new public announcer. Oh my god. He is dreadful. I was shaking my head in disbelief at the drivel coming out of his mouth. It's actually quite funny thinking about it now. The most cringeworthy thing was when he started rolling off our honours list when Forest emerged from the tunnel for the second half. And he called us the magic No-ing-ham Forest, failing to pronounce all the letters. You get the idea. Talk about a buffoon being employed by buffoons. Please, Forest, get rid of him, or at least tell him to turn up sober for the next match. I won't worry too much about Watford fans thinking we're a sad bunch of losers, but if he's still here when the more illustrious teams in this division visit, then I think I'll take some industrial-sized ear phones to block him out.

Welcome back to reality

I hate losing. I haven't experienced a Forest defeat in a competitive match for nearly five months, so I'd forgotten what it's like to have a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. I was enjoying the close season, not having to worry about the League table. Only it's not promotion that's likely to bother us this season, but relegation judging by Saturday's woeful defensive display at Swansea.

I know we've only played two games and nothing is won or lost in August, but the defeat against Swansea was nothing new to us or unexpected, as Forest have been like this away from home for what seems like eons. We just can't seem to get going on our travels and let teams completely outplay us. Swansea totally deserved the win, and should have had more than three goals to show for their efforts, while we could consider ourselves lucky when James Perch equalised very much against the run of play.

After the spirited goalless draw against Reading, I was really confident that our defence would be able to cope in the Championship after all, having contained Kevin Doyle and Leroy Lita, but against Swansea, we were a shambles at the back. Swansea were by far the best side in League One last season, and there weren't many teams in that division that were so powerful going forward, but there are numerous teams in the Championship who would subject Forest to wave after wave of attacks just like Swansea did, so how on earth are we going to cope? I don't know whether it's that our defenders are just not good enough, or whether it's the tactics that leaves us exposed. It's probably a bit of both. If we were to play 4-4-2, something that seems to be foreign to Colin Calderwood, we might do a bit better, but he is obsessed with his beloved 4-3-3 formation, despite it being very ineffective away from home.

At times we did play quite well, and Lee Martin was clearly our best player as he caused the Swansea defence a lot of trouble, so there were a few positives to be drawn from the game, but I do worry what this result will do for our confidence as it's not as if we've got any easy looking fixtures on the horizon. We desperately need to get our first win out of the way, but where that is going to come, I've no idea, because our home fixture with Watford will be tough, as will our visit to Wolves a week later.

The last time we were relegated from the Championship, we didn't claim our first victory until the tenth game, and by then the rot had well and truly set in. I just pray that the same thing doesn't happen this time around and that our squad of 2008 can draw on their team spirit to help them bounce back from disappointing defeats, something I fear we may have to get used to in the Championship.

Morecambe mauling a sign of good things to come?

I wasn't really looking forward to the Morecambe game, and saw it as a bit of a nuisance, but I ended up enjoying listening to it in the end, and was really pleased that Robert Earnshaw opened his goals account with us with two well-taken goals.

I was quite surprised that we won the game so convincingly as I thought Morecambe would have put up more of a fight, but Forest were totally dominant from start to finish and could quite easily have got near double figures had their finishing been a bit more polished. Still, I'm more than happy with four goals, which the Sky reporter jokingly pointed out were one for every thousand that was in attendance!

Lee Martin, who we have just signed on loan from Manchester United for a month, was very effective on the left wing and terrorised the Morecambe defence. He sounds like just the kind of player we need to fill the void until Paul Anderson returns. It could be that Martin impresses so much that we opt to keep him a bit longer and we will forget all about Anderson. To be honest it looks likely that Anderson won't even get to wear a Forest shirt if his troublesome thigh injury keeps playing up.

We have big injury problems up front at the moment, but the emergence of 18-year-old Adam Newbold from the youth team could be something to get excited about. He came on as a substitute last night and scored a pretty good goal. I hadn't heard of him before he was named in the squad in pre-season. He may well be a first team regular in the not too distant future if he lives up to his promising debut.

I really can't remember the last time Forest actually gave a convincing performance in the League Cup, so last night's performance was pleasantly surprising. I didn't expect the players to be motivated for it, but it was a really professional display, which is what Cloughie would have approved of. I hope this is a sign of good things to come in the Championship, as obviously our main priority is to consolidate in that, but a good cup run is nothing to be sniffed at. We have landed a good plum tie at home to Sunderland in the next round, which means that Roy Keane will once again be returning to the City Ground, just a month after the pre-season friendly between the two sides. I can definitely see us overturning Sunderland on our own pitch, although the fact that Sky are showing it may put the jinx on that!

Encouraging start to life back in the Championship

Many people were predicting that we would be on the receiving end of a heavy defeat against Reading, what with all the injury problems we had to contend with, but I had a gut feeling that it was going to be a draw and there wouldn't be much to choose between the two sides, and that's exactly how it turned out to be.

Reading's strike pairing of Kevin Doyle and Leroy Lita is said to be one of the most dangerous in the Championship, but our defence kept them quiet all afternoon. I was a bit unsure about how Wes Morgan would cope against them, but he had a really good game alongside Kelvin Wilson. Morgan and Wilson are really shaping up to be a first class central defensive pairing, and if they continue to excel in the Championship, people are going to sit up and take notice. The good thing is they are both from Nottingham, and I can see them sticking around here for years. It's quite rare for a player to stick around at one club for more then a decade these days, but Morgan has already been a first team player for five years, and I can't see him wanting to leave any time soon.

Julian Bennett also had a good game at left back. I was unconvinced of his credentials in the Championship, but if he plays like he did against Reading every match, then he'll have no problems. He's really endeared himself to the fans because he isn't afraid to stick a crunching tackle in. We saw plenty of those flying in yesterday. My only concern is what will we do if he gets injured or suspended? We haven't got anybody suitable to replace him. Joe Heath got a run out there in pre-season, but he wasn't very good. Chris Cohen can operate as an emergency left back, having done so on occasion last season, but he isn't brilliant there. As we were so good defensively in League One, we could get away with players playing out of position a lot, but in the Championship it will be a lot more difficult.

The best player on the pitch by far was Guy Moussi. He is a player of real quality and he passes the ball superbly. I don't understand how Forest got him so cheaply, and that other clubs didn't show an interest. David Friio has at least done something worthwhile for Forest by spotting him. We signed him on a three-year contract, but I think we can expect a lot of interest from the Premiership clubs next summer if he continues in the same vein throughout the season. I just hope that he realises that he wasn't being booed every time he had the ball! People were chanting 'Mou', which sounded like 'boo', but I am sure he understands what we meant, even if he can't speak a word of English yet!

I didn't expect us to create much in the way of chances as Robert Earnshaw was plowing a lone furrow up front, with Lewis McGugan just behind him. Earnshaw is so small, that he's not the ideal striker to be up on his own, so it would be unfair to judge him on yesterday's performance. I can see him scoring goals whenever Andy Cole, Nathan Tyson, or Joe Garner get themselves fit. But that won't happen until around September time, according to Colin Calderwood. It's incredibly frustrating, but what can we do? We'll have to sign somebody on loan, but whether we can get anyone of real quality is another matter, because clubs aren't as willing to let strikers leave as other types of players.

We began last season with a goalless draw at home to Bournemouth, who were of course eventually relegated, and everyone felt really despondent. But this was the most satisfying 0-0 since we drew at Coventry with nine men back in 2001. It really fills me with confidence for the season ahead. Once we have a fully fit squad, I think we could really make an impression in the Championship. The good thing is that nobody is expecting us to get promoted, so the pressure is off in that sense, and if we can hold teams like Reading, then we should be able to stave off the threat of relegation.

The key is how well we perform away from home, because there were many dreadful performances on our travels in League One, which impeded our progress. Our first away trip is to Swansea next Saturday. We were very fortunate to come away with a point last season as they totally dominated us, and I expect it to be a very tough game this time around. I would say that I'd be happy with a draw there, but we really do need to start winning as soon as we can, because there are no home bankers in this division.