Very Strange Times at NG2

Something strange is happening at the City Ground.

Five wins in a row, a chest-puffing knockout on live television, a last gasp winner on a damp Tuesday evening. Clean sheets.

Clean sheets?

I’m fairly sure I wasn’t the only person pinching myself when Guy Moussi dementedly volleyed in his winner on Tuesday evening. I’m absolutely certain I wasn’t the only one to take celebrations a pint too far on Saturday.

It’s forgivable; this isn’t the sort of thing we’re used to.

At any other point over the last five years Dexter Blackstock’s scuffed finish would have bobbled wide, and during Calderwood’s stint – marked by its repeated frustrations – we would surely have been beaten in a game as fairly split as Tuesday’s.

The effect of the form is remarkable. Saturday’s atmosphere was hair-raising; songs rippled around all four stands for 90 minutes – just a decibel or two away from match a D*rby day.

Tuesday’s game drew 2,000 extra lurkers from the shadows they usually hide in during midweek fixtures. And they’ll have enjoyed it.

Despite a heavy-legged second half that was fraught with errors, Tuesday evening was spliced with crisp passing football, resilient defending and enough chances to win five games. Saturday’s game provided unparalleled entertainment throughout.

Of course, it can’t last. The Championship is volatile and fickle; in three weeks we could have been spat back into 16th place, in six we could be stamped into the relegation zone.

If we can somehow brace the tide of niggling injuries, overlapping suspensions, finicky referees, and waving fortunes then things might just get an awful lot stranger.

Personally, I’m just enjoying it while it lasts.

Toes

Not an inspiring evening, but an enjoyable win and one that could prove important.

We have successfully extracted six points from two tricky fixtures, both of which were fraught with frustration. Tonight especially was like repeatedly stubbing your little toe into the frame of a door.

For a long time we threatened to descend into a familiar pantomime of squandering chances until there were none left to squander.
But quality prevailed and this will be remembered as a comfortable win. After a series of frustrating home performances this is an important turning point and hopefully the beginning of a precedent.

At times we even played some fairly progressive football, and the very fact that we seem fated for mid-table brought an element of humour to the toe-stubbing.

Tyson’s various jelly-legged collapses raised sniggers as opposed to the clenched fists of a supporter fearing relegation, and quite a few were able to muster knowing grins when Gunter somehow failed to score from four centimetres.

Davies is overtly content with our mid-table destiny, and if this sort of easygoing affair is the sum of a season with modest ambitions then so am I.

Ratings:

Camp – 7 – the usual competent response to searching corners; gobble them up.

Gunter – 7.5 – aggressive, niggling and generally excellent.

Chambers -7 – sensibly backed at 33-1 for first goalscorer by a chap sitting nearby. Luke Chambers has never been so popular with anybody on the planet, including his mother.

Morgan – 7 – solid performance and kept their lumbering centre forward quiet until the last ten minutes.

Cohen – 7 – solid performance and good going forward.

Anderson – 7.5 – pace and spontaneity were a constant threat. However, what on earth was his 45-yard second touch when he broke clean through?

McKenna – 7 – a picture of competence.

Majewski – 6.5 – took advantage of some static defending with some of the best corners we’ve seen at Forest in a while. Otherwise he was quieter than he can be, but he still looks a very good player.

Garner – 5.5 – a forgotten man over pre-season, now a Davies’ favourite for every position barring the one he’s suited to.

Blackstock – 7.5 – a real handful and another goal.

Tyson – 6 – his pace almost always causes problems, but he had one of those goofy evenings where his legs quake and his concentration drifts.

Subs

McGoldrick - 7
Lynch – 6
Moussi - 6