OTHER FOOTBALL

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
There is a company called Genius Sports that captures all sorts of detailed match data and one line of business is to partner with competitions and betting houses to identify fraudulent events in football and other sports during game time. They run training seminars for players and clubs to indoctrinate against bribery and corrupt practices.

I have never heard any public announcement of their findings - really wouldn't expect to as I imagine it's all wrapped up in non-disclosure agreements - but if match officials show acute or chronic patterns of bias or dubious conduct ... they're aware of it. Given the evidence I would expect competitions to quietly recalibrate match officials on an ongoing basis .... but they clearly need to do a much better job.

Perhaps these two referees have taken their recalibration to heart !!! At least some people in the the crowd did.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Just watched Forest spank Leicester 4-1 in the battle of the ex Swansea managers. Couldn't believe my eyes! Was this a Steve Cooper team performing in front of me? They defended with commitment if not ferocity and attacked with pace and penetration. Premier League Foxes couldn't cope and were blown away. And all this, mind, without top scorer Lewis Grabban!! The commentator was moved to say that Brian Clough would be looking down and smiling his approval. Martin Keown added that Forest were tougher, stronger and wanted it more. When was the last time we heard that said about the Swans?????

I never saw us perform like that under Cooper for sure. Does that mean that Cooper was hiding his light under a bushel? (no, I don't know the origin of that saying either) Or might it be that Forest have a far stronger and better team than we had complete with the likes of Connor Gallagher, Marc Guehi and Connor Roberts et al? I don't know. I do know that, had Cooper got us playing like that when he was with us, I don't think any of us would have wanted to see him leave.

I hope Russell Martin was watching because that is the sort of football I want to see us playing. It could be that Forest had one of those days when everything clicked but remember, they were playing a good Premier League team who were the present Cup holders and blew them off the park. It will be interesting to see if that was a flukey one-off and I will be watching closely to see how they go from now until the end of the season.
 

CroJack

Key Player
It could be that Forest had one of those days when everything clicked but remember, they were playing a good Premier League team who were the present Cup holders and blew them off the park. It will be interesting to see if that was a flukey one-off
IT IS A FLUKY ONE-OFF. Sorry I'm shouting, but Cooper hasn't changed. I've watched some of the Forest games, and all of their Championship highlights. And my conclusion is that Forest and Cooper have been lucky so far, which can't be said about us.

I haven't calculated Forest xGoals and xPoints yet, but their stats show they have been clinical in front of goal, and their opponents wasteful. Another Forest strength is defending set pieces, and protecting the lead (defending again).

This isn't a top team:

Forest.png

I repeat, Swansea are short approx. 10 points, which means we should be ahead of Forest in the league table with one game in hand.

This is a top team in making, but we have to cut out stupid mistakes at the back, cross more, shoot more, and start scoring from our chances:

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ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Very interesting data, CJ, that tells us a lot but, also, I know what I saw tonight. And didn't Forest beat Arsenal as well? I doubt we'd beat either team and Forest already stuffed us 4-1 on our own turf. They might be better than you give them credit for: on the other hand they may not be, which is why I'll be watching to see how they do with more than a passing interest.
 

CroJack

Key Player
Ivor, you watched the game yesterday, so you saw Forest's first three goals. Leicester defending was simply awful. And we are talking about the FA Cup here where the underdogs normally give 200%, and the favourites often don't show up. Leicester players body language told me they didn't want to be there.


Here is what Martin Samuel wrote about Leicester attitude
Screenshot at 2022-02-07 13-05-40.png

I pretty much agree with this guy here

Screenshot at 2022-02-07 19-29-30.png

You know, it's easy to play when your opponents don't show up and even gift you goals like we did when we played Forest and lost 1:4 a month ago.

Ok, so why on earth have Forest been winning their games since Steve Cooper took over?

  • In 22 league games Steve Cooper has been in charge Forest have conceded 19 goals. Against Fulham they have conceded 4, so in the rest of their games (21) they have conceded 15 goals. That's an excellent defensive record. Forest under Cooper, just like Swansea under Cooper, play a well-organised, defensive brand of football. They wait for the opposition to make a mistake and then they counter-attack in numbers. The difference between Forest under Cooper and Swansea under Cooper is that Forest have more creativity and more goal scorers.​
  • Steve Cooper has an ability to motivate his players. His laid back approach doesn't put an unecessary pressure on the players, and they play for him. Our players loved playing for him.​
  • A tight defence and defensive football will give you success and results, no doubt about it. If you don't concede you can always win 1:0 with one shot on target, or at least get a draw and one point. And when the players see they don't lose games, then they are even more motivated.​
  • Forest have a good squad. Lewis Grabban has scored 112 goals in 233 Championship and Premier League appearances from start (300 appearances when we add subs). Forest have just rejected an £18m offer from Brentford for Brennan Johnson, who is an extraordinary talent (and Welsh). Zinckernagel, Mckenna, Yates, Worrall, Colback, Lowe, Figueiredo and Lolley are all experienced, and Garner, together with Spence, talented young players. So, Cooper has something to work with there. But, they might be in trouble when they sell Johnson, and lose Garner, Spence and even Zinckernagel, who are all on loan at Forest. And Grabban is aging as well.​

 
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ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Thing is, CJ, if they carry on this sort of momentum they might well be very much in contention for auto promotion and certainly top six. I guess they'll lose Johnson anyway to a bigger club as he's a huge talent with great potential. But the others would probably stick around and, in any event, Cooper will have them all to select from until the end of the season. The question is: will they run out of steam or carry on with the impetus they have gained? As I said, it will be an interesting watch to see what happens.
 
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