If God had intended football to be played in the clouds...
16/08/05 | by Paul Severn
Forest fans are often criticised for living in the past, embracing the Clough-era successes and traditions in neglect of the present day. This accusation isn’t valid – Forest are cheered on by their fans in defeat at places such as Walsall and Swindon, while supporters of other clubs would simply stay at home. But this season, Forest’s style of play makes fans pine for the days of Paul Hart, never mind Cloughie.
Forest are in effect a long ball team these days. In the two matches I’ve seen, not one defender has looked to pass the ball out from the back. The ball is continually lumped forward to Gareth Taylor or Scott Dobie and time and time again possession is given away. Not only is this style of play unattractive, it’s not working.
It’s difficult to know who is to blame for the aerial approach, which has been in evidence from last season. Gary Megson criticised the players after the Swindon defeat for playing too many long balls, which suggests it is the fault of the players, but Megson has never been renowned for pretty football. Last season, Forest were so poor that on occasions it was too dangerous to pass the ball as it simply set up attacks for the opposition (Coventry away springs to mind). But in League One, the long ball will not get us promoted. These teams are adept and experienced at dealing with long punts and won’t crumble under aerial pressure.
The fact that Forest’s only genuinely skilful player, Kris Commons, has had a hand in virtually all of Forest’s goals this season, shows that the way forward is good football. Lower league teams don’t face that likes of Kris Commons on a regular basis, but he won’t be as effective if the ball is continually booted downfield. Furthermore, what do we do if he gets injured?
One player who is getting criticism is Gareth Taylor. This is unfair. Taylor has a near impossible task flicking on huge punts to his strike partners with burly League One defenders on his back. Teams know that this is our only tactic and Taylor is rendered ineffective. He has been jeered off by some supporters this season, but this is not the way to treat a player who clearly cares for the club, has scored some important goals and has even filled in admirably in defence from time to time. If we put some decent crosses into the box, Taylor would be guaranteed to get goals. He should be used as a variation, not as our only tactic.
Successful teams play real football. We need more skilful players in the side – whether that means recalling the likes of Eugene Bopp, bringing in Jack Lester, or signing a new player. Forest fans are proud of their footballing heritage. Paul Hart was the last manager to achieve any sort of success at the club and this was done playing the Forest way. The midfield was made up of real footballers – Gareth Williams, Riccy Scimeca, Andy Reid – and teams were simply out-passed. The situation these days is so bad that even Scot Gemmill is missed!
So let’s get back to playing proper football. Let’s make sure that young players like Ross Gardner and James Perch are developed in a team that plays in a good passing style. And let’s start getting some results.