Yesterday : My thoughts

[ColliersWoodBaggie]

...for what they're worth. I'll give the ratings as I saw it. 

Johnstone 7. Might have saved the shot for their goal. Perhaps slow getting down to it, but Cash hit it with venom and I think he may have been a bit unsighted. After that, virtually faultless when he had to do things and good distribution.

Ferguson. 9. MoM. What can anyone say about this lad? Forget Holgate, he's going to be better. Furlong may have a bit to do to get past him. Early days , but a great performance, linked well with Phillips and defended with calmness.

Gibbs. 8. Great player at this level, as we know. See Ferguson's comments, but he got forward well as he likes to. His defending has improved since he first came in to the club as well. Quality. 

Bartley. 8. Defended very well. Didn't lose a header. Only slight issue was he may have backed off a bit for their goal, but there was probably little else he could have done. Solid overall.

Ajayi. 8. See Bartley, really. Good pace and won some very important tackles. Looks a bargain. 

Krovinovic. 8. Buzzed around the pitch and always wanted the ball. Forest struggled to get near him. Came deep, when he had to show for it, and got forward to support Zohore and Burke when he could. Lovely soft feet, but also physically strong. A bit like a non lightweight Texiera. Potentially a star for us. 

Sawyers. 8. Lovely player to watch. Distribution was almost perfect. Always willing to drop or go forward. Never gave possession away. 

Livermore 7. Good first 60, then tired a little and may have been subbed if Edwards hadn't taken a knock. A couple of times when he gave the ball away, trying to spray it too long when simple balls were on. One loss of possession gave Forest an attack which they did win a corner from, but he was fairly decent overall. 

Edwards 8. This lad is really coming on well. We saw flashes last season, when Moore & Shan gave him a chance. Great goal too, did well to twist and turn to get his shot away. Keeper could have saved it, but deserved his luck. Always a willing runner in support of the attack, and he has good pace. Looked like he'd been playing 10 years or more.

Phillips 7. Very Good first half and caused problems with his pace and power. Maybe fortunate with the goal, but it was a teasing , curling ball he put in which caught the keeper out. Less of an impact in the second half, but was always still an outlet. 

Zohore 6. Did fairly well and hassled their defenders in the first half. Not bad with back to goal. Won a few headers and found team mates. Needs a strike partner. 

Subs Burke (for Zohore, 63) 5.5. Worked hard as he chased and pressed their defenders, but lacked support at times as we sat deeper. I did notice he was behind Krov when we broke a couple of times. Needs game time for confidence. Did well later on in the corners when playing the clock down and won a corner with his pacy running. 

Townsend (For Gibbs, 72) 7. I thought he slotted in well and defended stoutly. 

Harper (For Edwards, 84). 6. Not on long enough, but did fairly well. 

All in all, a performance which bodes well. I do not remember Forest really troubling us too much. Every cross bar one was headed out and they couldn't get around us enough. We won by defending well, concentrating and controlling 75% of the game. After the first 10 minutes, as soon as we equalised, there was only one winner as we wrestled control of the game from them. Maybe Forest are still bedding in, but we looked far more assured than they did. 

Now we need 4 players (and perhaps re-signing of Barry) and we should be challenging.

[Beachboysbaggie]

Agree with all that. Edwards excites me. He has the poise and balance of, dare I say it, Laurie, and I can give no higher praise. He could become fantastic.

[SW4Baggie]

...for what they're worth. I'll give the ratings as I saw it. 

Johnstone 7. Might have saved the shot for their goal. Perhaps slow getting down to it, but Cash hit it with venom and I think he may have been a bit unsighted. After that, virtually faultless when he had to do things and good distribution.

Ferguson. 9. MoM. What can anyone say about this lad? Forget Holgate, he's going to be better. Furlong may have a bit to do to get past him. Early days , but a great performance, linked well with Phillips and defended with calmness.

Gibbs. 8. Great player at this level, as we know. See Ferguson's comments, but he got forward well as he likes to. His defending has improved since he first came in to the club as well. Quality. 

Bartley. 8. Defended very well. Didn't lose a header. Only slight issue was he may have backed off a bit for their goal, but there was probably little else he could have done. Solid overall.

Ajayi. 8. See Bartley, really. Good pace and won some very important tackles. Looks a bargain. 

Krovinovic. 8. Buzzed around the pitch and always wanted the ball. Forest struggled to get near him. Came deep, when he had to show for it, and got forward to support Zohore and Burke when he could. Lovely soft feet, but also physically strong. A bit like a non lightweight Texiera. Potentially a star for us. 

Sawyers. 8. Lovely player to watch. Distribution was almost perfect. Always willing to drop or go forward. Never gave possession away. 

Livermore 7. Good first 60, then tired a little and may have been subbed if Edwards hadn't taken a knock. A couple of times when he gave the ball away, trying to spray it too long when simple balls were on. One loss of possession gave Forest an attack which they did win a corner from, but he was fairly decent overall. 

Edwards 8. This lad is really coming on well. We saw flashes last season, when Moore & Shan gave him a chance. Great goal too, did well to twist and turn to get his shot away. Keeper could have saved it, but deserved his luck. Always a willing runner in support of the attack, and he has good pace. Looked like he'd been playing 10 years or more.

Phillips 7. Very Good first half and caused problems with his pace and power. Maybe fortunate with the goal, but it was a teasing , curling ball he put in which caught the keeper out. Less of an impact in the second half, but was always still an outlet. 

Zohore 6. Did fairly well and hassled their defenders in the first half. Not bad with back to goal. Won a few headers and found team mates. Needs a strike partner. 

Subs Burke (for Zohore, 63) 5.5. Worked hard as he chased and pressed their defenders, but lacked support at times as we sat deeper. I did notice he was behind Krov when we broke a couple of times. Needs game time for confidence. Did well later on in the corners when playing the clock down and won a corner with his pacy running. 

Townsend (For Gibbs, 72) 7. I thought he slotted in well and defended stoutly. 

Harper (For Edwards, 84). 6. Not on long enough, but did fairly well. 

All in all, a performance which bodes well. I do not remember Forest really troubling us too much. Every cross bar one was headed out and they couldn't get around us enough. We won by defending well, concentrating and controlling 75% of the game. After the first 10 minutes, as soon as we equalised, there was only one winner as we wrestled control of the game from them. Maybe Forest are still bedding in, but we looked far more assured than they did. 

Now we need 4 players (and perhaps re-signing of Barry) and we should be challenging.

That's pretty much how I saw it really.... 

Livermore is a liability unfortunately, he does so much right but his lack of mobility and lack of fitness for 90minutes is going to be a real challenge now he has fitter and faster players around him. Will be interesting to see if Harper or Field can displace him given Sawyers has bags of experience and seems so confident sitting back and pushing up.

Thought Gibbs over-committed and left Bartley with a lot to do for their goal, so 8 is a little generous, and if Johnstone was unsighted for their goal, it's down his positioning... where that shot was going was obvious.

Really promising first game, but our lack of a cutting edge is clear... we can't rely on a fluke/brilliant finish and a goalie error every week, but our organisation, game management and control of a decent side was really pleasing. Couldn't be more different to last season!

[Dumbo]

On the Livermore issue...

I’d be tempted to play Ajai next to Sawyers when Hegazi is back.

Ajai was a beast at the back yesterday but he also showed his calmness and composure with his feet.

[Geralous]

Sawyers was my MOM.
He’s what we’ve been missing. Seems to play the right pass intuitively. Kept it simple when required. Mobile. Won 2nd balls.
Went alittle unnoticed but massively encouraging.
Midfield looks a lot more fluid and there’s less of the predictable passing of last year.

[Beachboysbaggie]

Agree with all that. Edwards excites me. He has the poise and balance of, dare I say it, Laurie, and I can give no higher praise. He could become fantastic.

[Mickyfudge]

Would love Livermore to do well ,but he put us trouble a few times yesterday with loose passes ,said before game that I was confident of top six ,am even more confident after yesterday .lovely to see the ball moved so well from midfield

[chasetownbaggie]

Only issue for me yesterday was we didn't create many clear chances. Not sure if it was credit to Forest defence or Zohore not finding space. Time will tell. Defence were very good and I liked the balance in midfield. Most energetic performance in a long while.

[WorcBaggie]

...for what they're worth. I'll give the ratings as I saw it. 

Johnstone 7. Might have saved the shot for their goal. Perhaps slow getting down to it, but Cash hit it with venom and I think he may have been a bit unsighted. After that, virtually faultless when he had to do things and good distribution.

Ferguson. 9. MoM. What can anyone say about this lad? Forget Holgate, he's going to be better. Furlong may have a bit to do to get past him. Early days , but a great performance, linked well with Phillips and defended with calmness.

Gibbs. 8. Great player at this level, as we know. See Ferguson's comments, but he got forward well as he likes to. His defending has improved since he first came in to the club as well. Quality. 

Bartley. 8. Defended very well. Didn't lose a header. Only slight issue was he may have backed off a bit for their goal, but there was probably little else he could have done. Solid overall.

Ajayi. 8. See Bartley, really. Good pace and won some very important tackles. Looks a bargain. 

Krovinovic. 8. Buzzed around the pitch and always wanted the ball. Forest struggled to get near him. Came deep, when he had to show for it, and got forward to support Zohore and Burke when he could. Lovely soft feet, but also physically strong. A bit like a non lightweight Texiera. Potentially a star for us. 

Sawyers. 8. Lovely player to watch. Distribution was almost perfect. Always willing to drop or go forward. Never gave possession away. 

Livermore 7. Good first 60, then tired a little and may have been subbed if Edwards hadn't taken a knock. A couple of times when he gave the ball away, trying to spray it too long when simple balls were on. One loss of possession gave Forest an attack which they did win a corner from, but he was fairly decent overall. 

Edwards 8. This lad is really coming on well. We saw flashes last season, when Moore & Shan gave him a chance. Great goal too, did well to twist and turn to get his shot away. Keeper could have saved it, but deserved his luck. Always a willing runner in support of the attack, and he has good pace. Looked like he'd been playing 10 years or more.

Phillips 7. Very Good first half and caused problems with his pace and power. Maybe fortunate with the goal, but it was a teasing , curling ball he put in which caught the keeper out. Less of an impact in the second half, but was always still an outlet. 

Zohore 6. Did fairly well and hassled their defenders in the first half. Not bad with back to goal. Won a few headers and found team mates. Needs a strike partner. 

Subs Burke (for Zohore, 63) 5.5. Worked hard as he chased and pressed their defenders, but lacked support at times as we sat deeper. I did notice he was behind Krov when we broke a couple of times. Needs game time for confidence. Did well later on in the corners when playing the clock down and won a corner with his pacy running. 

Townsend (For Gibbs, 72) 7. I thought he slotted in well and defended stoutly. 

Harper (For Edwards, 84). 6. Not on long enough, but did fairly well. 

All in all, a performance which bodes well. I do not remember Forest really troubling us too much. Every cross bar one was headed out and they couldn't get around us enough. We won by defending well, concentrating and controlling 75% of the game. After the first 10 minutes, as soon as we equalised, there was only one winner as we wrestled control of the game from them. Maybe Forest are still bedding in, but we looked far more assured than they did. 

Now we need 4 players (and perhaps re-signing of Barry) and we should be challenging.

Good write up and as always kudos to those that do. Loved the one from Dumbo yesterday and the rawness of doing it straight after the game. Some absolutely bizarre comments on his thread from getting names wrong, marking SamJ 4 and some of the remarks made about his scores. For me (sat in the stand next to our fans in the upper tier) it was really interesting being in with the Forest lot and pretty high up and as yet haven't seen the recording on Sky. Their fans were impressed with Ajayi and Bartley (played really, really well) and 'the kid on the wing' - Edwards. As much as Ferguson was great especially given his age/debut etc I felt Sawyers was MoM by an absolute mile. 
SW4 made a great point about their goal and where Gibbs was when we lost the ball. Just the way he plays but that together with Adomah's flick made me feel, slightly, for Bartley and Johnstone and both recovered to play well.
Where I absolutely agree with Dumbo is on Zahore. Thought he was excellent and think we need to cut him the slack that MAF had as he will be more likely to be in that mould. Accept we need the mythical 20-goal striker but his movement even just showing a few feet/yards and creating little angles meant that some of our best play came when he was involved, be it directly or indirectly. Think he has a big part to play this season.
Signs are very good and fingers crossed for signings this week.