Nottingham Forest v Ipswich Town
Saturday 14th April 2018 – 15:00
City Ground
Pre-Match Thoughts - Mike
The events of Tuesday evening after the game against Barnsley clearly overshadowed what happened on the pitch and the upshot of it all is that Mick McCarthy is no longer manager of Ipswich Town Football Club, a mutual agreement having been reached with owner Marcus Evans has seen Mick depart with Four games of the season remaining. As much as we knew it was coming and as much as it was needed I still feel a fair bit of sympathy for the way it all ended and from my poiunt of view for the way Mick was hung out to dry as the fall guy for so much that is wrong with our club right now, those discussions are probably for another day but I would like to have seen Mick go with a fair bit more respect which for me he deserved, I thought us fans were better than that but clearly not, some won't agree or particularly like my stance on it but I really couldn't care less, as far as I am concerned a section of the fans have let the club down with the way they have acted over the last few months, it hasn't gone unnoticed with me how Bryan Klug's first interview has him saying how much better the place is with everyone pulling in the same direction and how the fans are part of that and in fact have a massive part to play, I think that speaks volumes with how those inside the club and behind the scenes view things, time will tell if we live to regret the events of the last few weeks, I hope not.
Interesting times lie ahead for sure and I am keen to see this live interview with Marcus Evans, it's not before time and I hope for once it is actually worth the wait, all too often we get fed garbage from Evans and Milne but now is the time to change all that and to start rebuilding some very damaged bridges. The hunt for a new manager will continue and as has been stated may linger on for a while yet which is fine by me providing we get "our man" in the end and by that I mean somebody that most fans will endear themselves to and get behind, of course we all have our favourites in that respect but I sincerely hope it isn't a McLaren or a Pardew, I don't see too many people behind that kind of appointment, we have been intent on demanding change so let's go for change either by way of a young and hungry manager from the lower leagues or a foreign coach, as I have said before no old boys back thank you very much, that is not change and a lazy option for me.
I thought for the second home game running we played pretty well and deserved the win, both teams had their chances and we took one of ours thanks to a cracking header from Jonas Knudsen, Bersant Celina missed Two good chances, one a real sitter while other opportunities fell to Skuse (Twice), Ward and young Barry Cotter who fired a corker just over the bar, the debut making Right back had a fab debut and looks a player for sure, his assured confidence was good to watch and he fitted in like he had been in the team all season, already it looks like another good addition for next season. Aside from the chances we created some of our build up play was really good, one move in particluar involving Carayol, Waghorn & Celina was a joy to watch and should have resulted in a Town goal, how typical it comes in the last Two home games of Micks tenure at the club, had we seen that all season much of this abuse would not have been there.
Four games to go and next up is a trip to Nottingham Forest for what will be Bryan Klug's first game in charge for the second time if that makes sense. It will be so interesting to see who he lines up with and what formation we adopt, his options are limited to a degree as we continue to pick up injuries at a rate barely witnessed before but I am pretty sure the style of Football we not be what we have become used to in recent months, I am also hoping that for the first time in ages the away end will be united as One and support the boys no matter what. I see Forest have now gone the last Six games without scoring a goal !!! Six Duck Eggs in a row makes us look prolific so if we can keep it tight at the back we could well nick this one. COYB'S.
The Opposition - Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest F.C. was founded in 1865 shortly after their neighbours Notts County, thought to be the world's oldest surviving professional association football club. They joined the Football Alliance in 1889 and then entered to The Football League. In 1890, Forest moved to the Town Ground, playing in the first ever match to use goal nets.
Forest claimed their first major honour when they won the 1898 FA Cup, beating Derby County.
The club spent most of the first half of the twentieth century in the Second Division. In 1949, they were relegated to the Third Division but were promoted two years later as champions.
Forest regained First Division status in 1957 and won the FA Cup for a second time in 1959.
After being runners-up in the League and Cup semi-finalists in 1967, Forest were relegated from the First Division in 1972.
Forest were considered an underachieving club by English league standards until the mid-1970s, when Brian Clough and his assistant Peter Taylor took the helm at the club. Clough became the most successful manager in the history of Nottingham Forest.
Nottingham Forest won promotion to the top division at the end of the 1976–77 season after finishing third in the Second Division, but no-one could have predicted how successful Clough's team would be over the next three seasons. Nottingham Forest became one of the few teams (and the most recent team to date) to win the English First Division Championship a year after winning promotion from the English Second Division (1977–78 season).
In 1978–79, Forest went on to win the European Cup by beating Malmö and retained the trophy in 1979–80, beating Hamburg.
They also won the European Super Cup and two League Cups. Beside Shilton, key players of that era included right-back Viv Anderson (the first black player to play for the England national team), midfielder Martin O'Neill, striker Trevor Francis and a trio of Scottish internationals: winger John Robertson, midfielder Archie Gemmill and defender Kenny Burns. The club reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1983–84 but were knocked out by Anderlecht in controversial circumstances. It later emerged that in the second leg, the Belgian club had bribed the referee but the referee in question had since died in a car accident and was hence not able to be held to account.
Nottingham Forest's next significant trophy came in 1989 when they beat Luton Town in the League Cup final. For most of the season they had been hopeful of completing a unique domestic treble, but were beaten into third place in the League by Arsenal and Liverpool and lost to Liverpool in the replay of the FA Cup semi-final, originally held at Hillsborough, where 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death.
Clough's side retained the League Cup in 1990 when they beat Oldham Athletic and were runner-up in the 1991 FA Cup Final.
Brian Clough's 18-year reign as manager ended in May 1993 when Forest were relegated from the inaugural Premier League after 16 illustrious years of top-flight football which had seen a league title, two European Cups and four League Cups.
Frank Clark, who had been a left-back in Nottingham Forest's 1979 European Cup winning team, returned to the club in May 1993 and was able to achieve a return to the Premier League when the club finished Division One runners-up at the end of the 1993–94 season.
Forest finished third in 1994–95 and qualified for the UEFA Cup – their first entry to European competition in the post-Heysel era. The club reached the quarter-finals, the furthest an English team reached in UEFA competitions that season. The 1996–97 season became a relegation battle and Clark left the club in December.
34-year-old captain Stuart Pearce was installed as player-manager and in March 1997 he was replaced on a permanent basis by Dave Bassett. Forest were unable to avoid relegation and finished the season in bottom place. They won promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt, being crowned Division One champions in 1997–98, however Bassett was sacked in January 1999, with Ron Atkinson replacing him.
Ron Atkinson was unable to prevent Forest from once again slipping back into the Football League with a succession of poor results.
David Platt succeeded Atkinson and spent approximately £12 million on players, which yielded two mid-table finishes before departing to manage England U-21s.
Paul Hart became the Reds' new boss just two hours after the departure of Platt. Despite off-field difficulties, due to the ITV Digital collapse, Forest finished 2002–03 in sixth place and qualified for the play-offs, where they lost to Sheffield United in the semi-finals. A poor league run the following season, led to the sacking of Hart in February 2004 in order to prevent relegation.
Joe Kinnear was subsequently appointed and led the club to 14th place in the final league table. The 2004–05 season saw Forest drop into the relegation zone once more, leading to Kinnear's resignation in December 2004.
Following the brief caretaker stewardship of Mick Harford, Gary Megson took charge of Forest in January 2005 but failed to stave off relegation as the club ended the season second from bottom in 23rd place, becoming the first European Cup-winners ever to fall into their domestic third division.
In Forest's first season in the English third tier in 54 years, Megson survived until February 2006 when he left by "mutual consent" leaving the club only four points above the relegation zone. Frank Barlow and Ian McParland took temporary charge for the remainder of the 2005–06 season, engineering a six-match winning run and remaining unbeaten in ten games, taking 28 points from a possible 39 under the two, narrowly missing out on a play-off place, as they finished in 7th place.
Colin Calderwood was appointed as the twelfth manager of Forest in thirteen years in May 2006 and became the longest-serving manager since Frank Clark. The Calderwood era was ultimately one of rebuilding. In his first season he led the club to the play-offs, and achieved automatic promotion in his second year at the club. Calderwood's side struggled to adapt to life in the Championship in the 2008–09 campaign, and having been unable to steer Forest out of the relegation zone, Calderwood was sacked following a Boxing Day defeat.
Under the temporary stewardship of John Pemberton, Forest finally climbed out of the relegation zone, and Billy Davies was confirmed as the new manager on 1 January 2009. They avoided relegation as they finished 19th in the Championship, securing survival with one game to go.
The 2009–10 campaign was a successful one for Forest with the club holding a top-three position for the majority of the season, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion to West Bromwich Albion, and then lost to Blackpool in the playoffs.
The 2010–11 season saw Forest finish in sixth place in the Championship table putting them into a play-off campaign for the fourth time in the space of eight years, this time around they lost to Swansea over the two playoff semi-final legs.
In June 2011 Billy Davies's contract was terminated, and he was replaced as manager by Steve McClaren, who signed a three-year contract.
Forest started the 2011–12 season with several poor results and McClaren resigned, and chairman Nigel Doughty announced that he intended to resign at the end of the season. In October 2011, Nottingham Forest underwent several changes. These changes included the appointment of Frank Clark as new chairman of the club and also that of Steve Cotterill as manager.
Nigel Doughty, owner and previous chairman of the club died on 4 February 2012, marking the end of a 13-year association with the club, with many estimating his total contribution as £100,000,000.
The Al-Hasawi family, from Kuwait, purchased the club and became the new owners in July 2012.The Al-Hasawi family told press that they had a long-term vision for the club based around a 3–5-year plan, and after interviewing several potential new managers, appointed Sean O'Driscoll, he was known for playing an attractive brand of passing football and what football fans would consider the Forest way.
As of 15 December 2012 after the teams 0–0 draw away at Brighton, Forest sat in 9th position with 33 points, just 3 points off the play-off positions. Just over two weeks later Sean O'Driscoll was sacked following a 4–2 victory over Leeds United with the club stating their intentions of a change ahead of the January transfer window and hopes of appointing a manager with Premiership experience. The man to replace O'Driscoll was Alex McLeish. On 5 February 2013 Nottingham Forest and Alex McLeish had parted company by mutual agreement, just 40 days after McLeish took charge of Forest.
On 7 February 2013, the club re-appointed Billy Davies as manager, having been sacked as the team's manager twenty months previously. His first match in charge was a draw, followed by a run of 10 undefeated games. On 24 March 2014 the club announced they had terminated Davies' employment, following a defeat by Derby County. After initially rejecting the job in March 2014, fans favourite, Stuart Pearce was named as the man to replace Billy Davies on a two year contract, taking over from caretaker manager Gary Brazil.
After a bright start to his tenure, Forest started to slip down the table and on the 1st February 2015, Dougie Freedman was appointed manager of the club in place of Pearce.
On 13 March 2016 Freedman was sacked and Rennes head coach Philippe Montanier was appointed on a two-year contract on June 27, 2016, but sacked after 7 months.
Mark Warburton was named as the club's new manager on 14 March 2017.
On 18 May 2017 it was confirmed that Evangelos Marinakis had completed his takeover of Nottingham Forest, bringing an end to Al-Hasawi's reign as Forest owner.
Last season Forest narrowly avoided the drop on the last day of the season finishing in 21st place with 51 points.
On 8 January 2018, Aitor Karanka was appointed manager replacing Warburton.
The Manager – Aitor Karanka
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
Media Watch - K L Blue
Form Guide
Nottingham Forest Last 5 Matches currently in 18th place with 46 points
11.04.2018 ENG LCh Nottingham F. 0-1 Brentford FC
08.04.2018 ENG LCh Middlesbrough 2-0 Nottingham F.
31.03.2018 ENG LCh Millwall FC 2-0 Nottingham F.
18.03.2018 ENG LCh Sheffield Utd 0-0 Nottingham F.
12.03.2018 ENG LCh Nottingham F. 0-0 Derby County
Ipswich Last 5 Matches currently in 12th place with 56 points
11.04.2018 ENG LCh Ipswich Town 1-0 Barnsley
08.04.2018 ENG LCh Brentford FC 1-0 Ipswich Town
03.04.2018 ENG LCh Ipswich Town 2-2 Millwall FC
01.04.2018 ENG LCh Birmingham City 1-0 Ipswich Town
18.03.2018 ENG LCh Bristol City 1-0 Ipswich Town
Fixtures of Interest that may affect Towns standing on the Table
ASTON VILLA VS LEEDS UNITED
NORWICH CITY VS CARDIFF CITY
Match Referee – Darren England
NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1 IPSWICH TOWN 1
You on the bevvy, Deeko? 
