Frustrating Forest finally flourish

I was beginning to think that Forest were deliberately not scoring to wind us up last night. So it was a huge relief when Luke Chambers powered home that header twenty minutes from time to give us a richly deserved lead in a completely one-sided match against Scunthorpe.

Dexter Blackstock followed that up with a simple tap-in five minutes later, and that set us up for another comfortable victory, our second in a row following the televised win over Plymouth at the weekend. As a result, we've now gone three points clear of Derby, who incidentally were thrashed 6-1 at Cardiff on Tuesday, a scoreline that our very own scoreboard was only too glad to point out at both half time and full time!

Let's not forget that Scunthorpe had come to Nottingham on the back of a five-match unbeaten run, which included a 4-0 win at Crystal Palace. I really feared another home defeat might be on the cards, as I could really see them terrorising our defence. But thankfully that turned out not to be the case at all. We came out all guns blazing, forcing three corners in the first five minutes, and Scunthorpe were reduced to the odd counter attack, which never came to much at all. We looked very dangerous in attack with Paul Anderson, who was at last given a deserved first team start, Nathan Tyson, Blackstock, and Joe Garner all in the side. Yet at half time, after completely dominating the first half, we still had nothing to show for it.

The second half continued in much the same vein as Forest poured forward going agonisingly close to scoring on several occasions. I was just beginning to think that it would not be our night again when the impressive Chambers headed home from a Chris Cohen corner. And when Blackstock made it two, I felt I could relax a bit, as Scunthorpe had hardly troubled us all night, and looked completely deflated when they conceded the second. There was a rather amusing, if not scary piece of slapstick near the end, though, when Scunny were presented with an open goal, and the ball bounced off the crossbar, and looked like it was going in until Lee Camp appeared out of nowhere at the very last second to claim the ball. Not for nothing is he known as 'Super Camp'!

It has been a pretty good few days for Forest, with back-to-back victories. It was so important to put an end to that bad run of form at home, as the longer the run went on, the more our confidence would suffer, and with Newcastle being the next visitors to the City Ground, it was difficult to see where our next home win was coming from. Now we can go to Peterborough on Saturday in a very confident frame of mind. We're unbeaten in five away games, and Peterborough are in the bottom three, having only won once in ten games so far. With the two wins behind us, there is less pressure on us to get three points, so that may well be an advantage as we can afford to relax a bit more. It would be great if we could go into the international break on the back of three successive victories, but let's not be too greedy!

Forest struggling to fly without proper wingers

While we should be happy and relieved to get another win in the bag, I can't help but feel a little underwhelmed by the performance against what was a very poor Plymouth side, who have yet to win this season.

To be honest, we didn't really deserve to be a goal up at half time. Plymouth had been very much on top, but just didn't take their chances, and what do they know, Forest grab the lead right on half time through the unlikeliest of sources in Chris Gunter, who had until then never scored in senior football. That was just about the only shot on target I can remember us having all match, but it proved to be all that we needed as Plymouth made life very easy for us in the second half as they hardly troubled us at all. Despite our dominance, though, we really struggled to create much, and that is a big concern, whether we got three points or not. We will not come up against many teams as bad as Plymouth this season in the Championship. At the moment they look like they're bound for League One, and if we don't see a big improvement in our performances, we might well be joining them.

Billy Davies has come in for a lot of criticism lately regarding his squad rotation policy, but in an interview with the Nottingham Evening Post he insisted that he would be continuing with it, so it looks like we're just going to have to get used to it. He thinks that each game requires a different set of players, which might be correct to a degree, but there's also a compelling argument that teams need to be settled and have time to learn to play together. If the players are different every game, there's no way they're going to be able to do that. Now even the defence is being rotated, with Luke Chambers failing to win his place back after being rested in mid-week for the Cup game against Blackburn. Kelvin Wilson stayed there instead, which I felt was very unfair on Chambers who had not done much wrong. But that's Davies all over, isn't it? He's always dropping players who are performing well. Namely Paul Anderson, who again was kept out of the side by Joe Garner, who mystifyingly keeps being selected on the right wing despite never actually doing anything good. Needless to say, Garner was replaced by Anderson twenty minutes from the end, and immediately you could see what a difference it made in our attack. Why Davies doesn't see this, I really don't know.

While the players publically say they are okay with the squad rotation system, deep down they must be pretty unhappy. And if we've got unhappy players, when they do come into the side, what good are they going to be to us if their confidence is low? In Forest's case, I think it's much better to have your first choice eleven and stick to it as much as possible. If you're good enough, you play, and if you're not, then you don't. Simple as that. Brian Clough once said that football is a simple game complicated by idiots. I'm not saying Davies is an idiot, but I do think he needs to take one or two leaves out of Cloughie's book if he wants to endear himself to the Forest fans a bit more. The last thing I want is for Davies to fail here, simply because with so many other struggling clubs potentially in the market for new managers, namely Derby and Ipswich, I can't see us getting anybody decent, and despite my misgivings, I do think he is still the right man for us, if only he wouldn't be so stubborn with his team selections.

Lack of goals hardly surprising, so why is Billy so baffled?

First of all, let me make it clear that I couldn't care less that we are out of the Carling Cup. I rate this in importance almost as least as I do the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. And judging by the falling attendances year after year, most of the other big clubs think the same. But having said all that, Forest have lost yet another home game even though they were supposedly the better side, and that is something to be bothered about.

I'm getting sick and tired of Billy Davies saying in his post-match interviews how we are playing so well, so there's nothing to worry about. Well, I'm sorry, but quite clearly there is something very worrying going on. We're not scoring goals. And goals win you football matches, which we are not doing at the moment. Our big spending splurge in the summer was supposed to transform us into a team that was capable of pushing for a top ten place at least. Yet at this rate I can only see us being involved in another depressing relegation scrap. And that is purely down to Davies' negative tactics. He wonders why we can't score goals and is apparently scratching his head over it. So why is it obvious to the Forest supporters what's wrong with the team? It's quite simple really. We're not scoring because (a) he doesn't have a clue who his best two strikers are, and is constantly switching them around, thus giving them no time to form an understanding, and at the same time damaging the confidence of those who are left out. (b) He doesn't seem to like natural wingers, leaving Paul Anderson on the bench, and instead playing Joe Garner in his place, and even worse at the weekend played Chris Cohen there when Garner was suspended. And (c) he makes the mind-boggling decision to play the tiny Robbie Earnshaw up front on his own at home. That is why your team cannot score goals, Billy.

It was a case of the same old story as Forest were dominating possession, but it was Blackburn who took the lead against the run of play from a free kick late in the first half. Forest's poor final ball was letting them down time and time again, and when Dexter Blackstock missed a penalty mid-way through the second half, it just about summed up the evening, and Forest's hopes of reaching the later stages of the competition that they used to do so well in years ago were ended for another season.

Now we have just the League to concentrate on until January, so we have no distractions until then, which is a good thing, in my opinion, as we really need to sort ourselves out. Davies says that we are 80% there, but I think it's more like about 50% at the moment. If we can't score for toffee, and our defence is so leaky, there is only one way we are going, and it's certainly not in an upwards direction.

Our next game is at Plymouth live on Sky TV on Sunday. You would think that we have a good chance of winning there, but our confidence is pretty low at the moment, so Plymouth might see this as a good opportunity to get their first win. If Davies persists with his weird tactics again, anything could happen. Our track record on TV is pretty awful in recent years, and I can honestly see us getting a bad case of stage fright once again this weekend if we're not too careful.

Forest all at sea thanks to Billy's silly selection

Call me fickle if you like, but I'm starting to lose my faith in Billy Davies a little bit. There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that it was his bizarre team selection that was responsible for our third home defeat in four games, this time at the hands of Blackpool, whose 19th minute goal scored by Charlie Adam turned out to be the match winner on a hugely frustrating afternoon for Forest.

I couldn't believe it when I heard on the radio that Chris Cohen was to play right wing instead of Paul Anderson. What on earth was Davies thinking dropping one of our best players lately for a player to play out of position? It just made no sense at all. My only explanation is that Davies and Anderson don't like each other. Why else would you leave out a player that had destroyed Sheffield Wednesday last week and been Man of the Match? I just find it really bizarre. What is it going to do to Anderson's confidence if he's dropped even when playing well? While the likes of David McGoldrick, who are constantly rubbish, keep their place no matter what? Why is something so obvious to the Forest supporters completely escaping somebody who is supposed to be one of the best managers in the Championship?

It wasn't just the absence of Anderson that was puzzling. Playing Robbie Earnshaw up front on his own at home against Blackpool was another awful decision. How is that going to achieve anything? First of all why is Davies even contemplating playing one up front at home to some non-descript backwater team like Blackpool, let alone putting somebody there unsuitable for that task in the shape of a midget like Earnshaw? Needless to say, Earnshaw was awful and never got a sniff, and was substituted later. Why Davies thought that was going to work, I don't know. Again, I have no logical explanation, other than that Davies was probably drunk when he picked the team.

Also, why on earth were we playing two defensive midfielders? Why did Davies rush Guy Moussi back, at the expense of a balanced team? Pushing Cohen out wide so Moussi could take his place was stupid. We needed Cohen in the middle where he can be very effective, but now as a result of being played out of position so much this season, Cohen's confidence has been drained. Moussi should never have been picked at all after such a long absence. Anderson must have been baffled to be dropped for him, and now he'll hate Davies and not want to play for him again, and who can blame him?

I'm probably overreacting a little bit, and I know it's still mid-September and not even officially autumn yet, but I'm getting really worried. I really did think we were in good hands under Davies, but now I'm beginning to wonder. Every manager, good, or bad, sometimes gets his tactics wrong. I can accept that. But when he makes such bizarre decisions like leaving Anderson out, and playing Earnshaw on his own up front, you have to wonder.

We've now played eight games, and won just one. A very similar record to this time last season. In fact we are only two points better off. So much for the big improvement, Billy. Yes, we may be playing a bit better, but we're not getting results, are we? Even the win over Derby very nearly was thrown away, and look how bad Derby are right now, losing four in a row. If we're playing well, and not getting results, then clearly something is amiss. For a start, Davies should stop this rotation nonsense and pick his best team. We are not Chelsea. We are Forest. We don't have 22 Championship-quality players. I'm not even sure we have 11 decent ones. So stick to the same side for a few games, Billy, and we might just get somewhere. All this chopping and changing is helping nobody.

You've made your point, Forest. Let's have some more wins please!

Ordinarily, drawing at clubs like Ipswich should be seen as a good result, but I can't help but feel that they were there for the picking last night, and we will look back on the game as two points dropped rather than one point earned, even though we did have to come from behind.

I remember Colin Fray saying on BBC Radio Nottingham just before kick-off that if either side could get an early goal it could really be important. In the previous two matches against Derby and Sheffield Wednesday, Forest had taken the lead within the first couple of minutes. But this time, it was the turn of the opposition to strike early. The match was only a minute old when Grant Leadbitter struck past Lee Camp. And yes, you guessed it, it deflected off one of the Forest players along the way.

To Forest's credit, they did not drop their heads, and they very nearly equalised immediately when Dexter Blackstock's header glanced just over the crossbar. But although Forest played good football, they were frustrated by a combination of poor weather conditions and a free-kick-happy referee who also seemed on a mission to book as many players as possible. Not surprisingly, Joe Garner was one of those names who entered the book. Unbelievably it was his fifth yellow card of the season already, and he must serve a one-match ban. I would think the odds on him being shown a red card in each game are very short. He's fast becoming a bit of a liability. I don't think Billy Davies does him any favours by playing him on the right wing to be honest, and he certainly hasn't impressed there lately. I would much rather Paul Anderson play there instead, even if he didn't have his best game against Ipswich. It will be interesting to see what happens on Saturday at home to Blackpool. Nathan Tyson should be available again, so I would play him on the left, Anderson on the right, and leave Garner on the bench. I think he's being wasted as a winger, but to be honest, I can't see him getting into the team to play up front, either, at the moment.

Forest's fortunes changed in the second half, thanks in no small part to a couple of substitutions up front. Dexter Blackstock, who had picked up a head injury before the break, was replaced by Dele Adebola, and just before the hour, Garner was swapped for Rob Earnshaw. Within seconds, Forest were level, when Earnshaw with literally his first touch raced on to a good ball from Adebola and fired the ball home from six yards out to hand Forest a well-earned equaliser. Talk about an inspired substitution!

Ipswich looked like a side desperately low on confidence, and Forest really should have gone on to win, but they were not at their best themselves, and their final ball was letting them down too much. The slippery pitch caused by driving rain certainly didn't help matters. Ipswich sometimes were a threat on the counter attack, though, and Paul McKenna had to clear the ball off the line at one stage.

Adebola could well have snatched Forest all three points in the last minute when he found himself in a one-on-one situation with the Ipswich goalkeeper. But Gareth McAuley tripped him up, a challenge that resulted in his dismissal, and a free-kick for Forest very close to the goal. Unfortunately, Earnshaw's effort was tame, and Forest were forced to settle for yet another point away from home.

This season we have drawn at three of the teams that we lost to in the corresponding fixtures last time around, so clearly progress has been made. Last season we lost our opening six away games under Colin Calderwood. It would be nice to think that we could soon start turning these draws into wins. Perhaps our chance may come next week when we go down to Plymouth, who currently sit bottom of the table with five defeats from seven matches. But then again, the Sky TV cameras will be present, so maybe not!

Travel-slick Reds not too far away from becoming a force

Another away game, another point. What is it they say? Win your home games and draw away, and you won't go too far wrong. And when you go to big teams like Sheffield Wednesday, who have had a very good start to the season, and come away with something, you have got to be happy.

For the second game running, Forest took the lead in the very early stages of the game when just two minutes in, a terrific cross from the re-called Paul Anderson found Dexter Blackstock's head, and the ball looped over the goalkeeper into the back of the net. It was a pretty soft goal to concede from Wednesday's point of view, but Forest didn't care about that.

Whenever Anderson got hold of the ball, Wednesday didn't know how to live with him. His pace was absolutely frightening, and he put in so many good balls into the box. But it was such a shame that apart from the goal, our strikers just couldn't get on the end of them. If they had, I think we would have won the match. It was good to see Anderson get a full 90 minutes behind him, as he hadn't played at all away from home until Saturday, which really puzzled me. Billy Davies was picking Joe Garner ahead of him on the right wing, but we all knew that Anderson's pace could be a real handful for opposition defences just like it was last season away from home, and this was certainly the case at Hillsborough. I don't even know if Davies had originally planned to play him anyway, as Radoslaw Majewski (injured) and Nathan Tyson, whose wife had given birth overnight, were both missing. But Anderson's performance will now make it very hard for Davies to leave him out of the side against Ipswich on Tuesday night.

Forest couldn't have too many complaints when Wednesday equalised six minutes before half time through Marcus Tudgay, as they had been applying lots of pressure. Once again, there was a hint of deflection in the goal, and once again Wes Morgan seemed to be the culprit. Not for nothing has he been a mainstay in central defence for the past six years, and he is a favourite with the Forest supporters, but he does make quite a few glaring errors, which a more competent centre half wouldn't make. He was a good defender at League One level, but I don't think he'll ever become a top class Championship centre back. He's just too clumsy when he gets hold of the ball. Davies claims that he is impressed with him and Luke Chambers as a partnership, but the fact is we are looking to strengthen our defence – we tried to sign a centre half in the summer - so Morgan and Chambers know that their days could be numbered.

We've made quite a slow start to the season, but it hasn't been dreadful. Quite a few teams have only won one game in the Championship so far, so it's nothing to worry about. We're definitely getting stronger and stronger. You can see that in the performances. I think the Ipswich game looks very winnable. Roy Keane is under a lot of pressure as they have lost four of their six opening games and have yet to win. They were tipped by many to be one of the favourites for promotion, but have struggled so far. I think Davies will be targeting this game as our potential first away victory of the season. It's a difficult place to go and win, though, and our record against them recently has not been too good. Who can forget that six-goal thrashing four years ago? I wish I could! But there was also that amazing topsy-turvy seven-goal thriller, which we edged 4-3 after coming back from two down in 2003 in that wonderful season under Paul Hart. I think that there's every chance of there being a similar scoreline this time around with our abundance of attackers and our dodgy defence!