Thanks to the marvel that is the internet, I was able to watch the game live. It was on Portuguese TV, so I couldn't understand a word, except when they mentioned Forest, or our players, but it didn't really matter anyway. The picture was surprisingly very good, considering I didn't pay for it. It's becoming a bit of a regular habit every summer now watching pre-season friendlies on the internet. Last year, though, being a mug that I am, I paid nearly £30 to Setanta Sports so I could watch us lose in a friendly against Sunderland. Suffice to say I'm glad there's no threat of Setanta broadcasting one of our other friendlies this summer, as they've gone bust. Oops.
I thought we played really well, and looked like we were taking the match really seriously. Everybody was trying their hardest to impress Billy Davies, so hopefully this is a good sign that there are more signings on the way. Sporting without doubt had the better chances, but we defended pretty well, and Lee Camp, fresh from his move from QPR, looked solid in goal. We didn't really create much going forward, so it was a surprise when we took the lead eleven minutes from time through Paul Anderson. It was a good piece of build-up play that led to the goal, and
Anderson's finish was impressive. Hopefully we'll see him score more this season, as he only scored twice last term, having scored eleven the previous season with Swansea, albeit in League One.
It was very amusing watching our post-match 'celebrations'. I don't know why we were given a cup, but I'm not going to complain! Luke Chambers, who was made captain for the game, looked like he was enjoying it as he lifted the trophy, and then ran around the stadium with it. I am not sure why he was made skipper. He has experience of it at Northampton, so maybe Davies was just testing him out. It looks like Davies has finally decided to play him as a central defender, where he does a pretty good job, so perhaps if he is to remain a first team regular this season, he might be given the armband.
It's very important that Forest have a regular captain, as all the best teams do. We don't really have a leader on the pitch. Some people say Chris Cohen should get the job, but he's very young, and I think captains should be over 25 at least. If we eventually manage to sign Paul McKenna from Preston, he'll probably be made the skipper, but Preston keep rejecting Forest's bids, so I don't know what is happening there.
I'm very happy with Forest's summer signings so far, but I'll be disappointed if we don't sign anybody else. Now that most of our loan signings have gone back, our squad is looking thin again, especially in defence. I hope that we're working on a deal to bring Chris Gunter back on loan, as he loves playing for Forest, and really made a huge difference at right back as we fought a successful battle against relegation last season.
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