Forest - A Fork in the Road?

And so it had arrived, after blips against Bournemouth and, for want of a better word - a pumping in a lacklustre display against Man City - we faced Nottingham Forest, who have defied all expectations to sit 3rd in the Premier League. Adding to the anticipation to this game was it was my first home game this season - haven’t exactly had the luck of the Irish with the ballots this year.

It is always a pleasure now to be able to go to Dublin airport on a match day or before and know that there will be a few people to hang out and have some pre-flight chats and pints with. We had a good crew with us for this match - some over on the Saturday and some on the Sunday with our main man podcaster extraordinaire Paul heading over on the Friday morning - which he nearly didn’t make after a 4am start due to shocking winds at Dublin and in Newcastle. He did make it by the way but more on that later.

Straight into town after realising I had booked the wrong Leonardo hotel - I made my way back from Gateshead and over the Millennium bridge. An experience as to be honest I had never been over that side of the Tyne before. It was peaceful away from the hustle and bustle in the city and let me tell you - Saturday night in Newcastle is just that. It was mayhem in every pub or restaurant we passed on our way to get some much needed sustenance - especially when I had knocked back far too many ales in the Airport. Oops.

The night went quickly and was enjoyed immensely - so much colour and frantic craic. Old George, Filthies and Katie O’Briens - was a quick trek around the centre but one that needed stamina. People in the Toon like to party and let their hair down by jaysus. Let’s just say we did you all proud and managed to stay out until 5am and still make it back to our hotels - just. I tripped over a monument trying to get a photo and ended up with two bruised knees but a small price to pay.

Irish Mags on the Toon

Waking just 5 mins before check-out is never a great start to a match day but I managed to get out and across into town to meet the rest of the Irish Mags at The Stack. For anyone who has never been over to the Toon - Stack is a must see. It has good food, a great atmosphere and to have such a massive collection of Toon fans under one roof having such good craic is a sight to behold. In fact, the same Irish Trad band playing Toon songs that were downstairs in Filthies were at the Stack - obviously they weren’t falling around at 5am to be there so early and sounding so good. A few more delicately balanced pints were had as it was all just a top-up to the night before and on we went.

Up The Stack

I managed to get the best seat I have ever sat in at St. James’ Park - right at the corner flag - front row. I was ready for some goals and some sliding celebrations right into my outstretched arms. All I got was a wonder strike from Hudson-Odoi which was nearly too quick for me to see and obviously had caught Nick Pope standing on his wooden legs. We had started well but 6 mins in were 1-0 down. Yikes - would this be the first time in 19 years I would see a home loss? It wasn’t looking good.

But wow let me say within the next 28 mins - we managed to score 4 goals, some of them lucky and one a very complacently taken penalty but were 4-1 up in 33 mins. It was lightning paced. It was relentless. It was what I had expected from Newcastle United. Sometimes we just blow teams away no matter the opposition. I was amazed and so were all the people around me - fans were elated but gobsmacked. Credit to Pope who obviously had been instructed to feed down the left and much credit to Hall, Willock and Gordon for terrorising the right side of Nottingham Forest - like three chainsaws they felled through that Forest defence so efficiently. Neat one-two’s, incredible speed and taking their chances. Something we have missed on some occasions this year.

I know you all know what is coming now - nothing. That is what. Nothing. As we just did nothing after that apart from nearly making 5-1 with Schar’s header against the bar. From a rare second half attack. Whatever had happened at halftime - maybe some of the lads were spent from that ferocious 20 mins spell in the first half but we played as poorly as I have ever seen - we barely got a sniff. One standout was our new superstar in the making - Lewis Miley - he was fantastic all day. Assured, confident, finding space, precise and took his goal nicely. There was something we could cling to as to be honest that was abysmal football in that long 48 mins of that second half. Nothing got me to wrap my arms around. It was gobsmacking in a negative sense. There was disbelief for the wrong reasons. No-one in the stadium could understand it. A game of two halves it most definitely was.

Alas, we managed to scrape a 4-3 win - something I never thought I would be writing after the first 33 mins of the game. How did it come to this? What had gone wrong in the second half? One thing - Forest are a good team - they are not 3rd for no reason. They showed grit and determination - they believed in themselves. They showed fight whilst we whimpered, chasing shadows around the pitch. We were bombarded from all angles - some of our players looked exasperated and exhausted. Eddie - please try to make subs earlier next time! The mood was one of relief and like I said above, disbelief - how had it come to be so close? What is wrong with us - it has encapsulated our season so far. Up and down. Yo-Yo. This will not do for the next few fixtures.

Not least against an unstoppably great Liverpool side - first on Wednesday night and then again for the League Cup Final. After that showing on Sunday - I got a grumble in my stomach. It persisted until the next day. I am weary now. I know some of you are too. We need to do so much better in every department - I spoke to one local fan and they exclaimed that if we play like that against Liverpool in any of those fixtures “we will be humped 4 0r 5-0 maybe more than that” - this cannot be. I know Eddie Howe and his players know that - they will have to play a near perfect game against Liverpool. Let’s see how the stage rehearsal goes tonight but if I am honest I am not that hopeful.

Thanks for reading - HOWAY THE LADS.

Chrisho.