Championship: Millwall- Nottingham Forest
Millwall started strongly in their FA Cup derby with Crystal Palace last week, but the Eagles eventually showed their edge in class to come from behind and win 2-1. The Lions look exactly what they are, a mid table Championship side, in a below average second tier this season, that is not to do them down, they have budget limitations and always make the most of what they have got, but will be playing in this division again next season and I am likely to be typing the same thing then.This is their 10th of the last 12 seasons in the Championship and their average finishing position in the previous nine was 14.0 and never higher than 8th.
Forest have themselves spent the last 14 seasons in the Championship, but the difference is that they are under and not overperforming to stay there, they have finished above 14th six times and should have been promoted once or twice and even that is not good enough for a club of their size and history. This season, following the change in head coach and upturn in fortunes the sold out signs have been going up at the City Ground and regular crowds of 25,000+ are commonplace. We have previewed a lot of their games since Steve Cooper's arrival and ahead of a trip to Swansea last month my notes went an awful lot like this ...........
Along with Bournemouth, Forest have been the Championship side we have discussed the most and they have served us well , most recently with a 4-1 win away to Swansea City (December 11th)..........
That did indeed end in a draw (0-0) and Forest followed up with a 2-0 win at home to lowly Peterborough United last week, that is 7 games unbeaten , with four clean sheets in the last five and a 6-6-1 record since Steve Cooper took over, the only loss in that sequence came against leaders Fulham and Cooper probably regrets the change in formation he made that night, as his team were all at sea early and his sides are usually nothing if not very disciplined and well organised. That team he has led has been today's host, Swansea City, for the last two Championship seasons, where he took them to the playoffs on each occasion, losing to Brentford in both the semi finals in 19-20 and final in 20-21...............what a shame ! Cooper knows City better than anyone involved at the South Wales club currently. The Swans have won just 3/8 and two of those wins were against bottom 2 teams and they have lost their last two and they are very much in transition . I wrote about that in the early season, but have now apparently, made the decision to completely overhaul their recruitment policy/process and head of recruitment Andy Scott, who a while ago held a similar position at Brentford and was a former Bees head coach (2007-11) left the club. What club parts company with their HOR four weeks before the transfer window ? I cannot see that as a positive. Forest off level ball.
After that resounding win, they then beat improving Hull City 2-1 here at the City Ground, but then lost for the first time in 10 games away to highflying Middlesbrough on Boxing Day. I will let head coach Steve Cooper explain how that played out and his thoughts are reproduced at the foot of this email. There is no shame in losing any game in the Championship, a league which is as tough and draining as any in world football and one with a relentless schedule, but it is how you bounce back which separates the men from the boys.
The Tricky Trees ( worst nickname in football ?) have lost their only subsequent league start since the Boro defeat, but we need not lose any sleep over that, it was to a top six team and Forest "won" ITB attempts 13-2 , xG by 1.0 and dominated . They beat Arsenal in the FA Cup last week to get back on track, but it is the bread and butter league games which matter and Forest need to close that gap to top six and the playoff spots, they currently sit in 9th, six points off the pace, but are very much in the mix. You can say what you like about Cooper, he is not everyone's cup of team, but he has a tremendous Championship record after taking Swansea to the postseason in both seasons at the helm and averaging 1.65 ppg across 109 starts which should almost always be good for 5th or 6th place . Cooper has far more funds and flexibility to deal in the transfer market here than he ever did at Swansea, at least in the final 18 months at the Liberty and in this current transfer window he has already bought in striker Keinan Davis on loan from Villa and signed vastly experienced Steve Cook from Bouremouth and Richie Laryea from Toronto FC and that pair will improve greatly defensive options. Forest sold out their 2,000 ticket allocation for today some time ago and I expect those supporters to be heading back to London Bridge in buoyant mood.
2.25 units Nottingham Forest level ball 2.17 asian line.
Good luck !
Steve Cooper was left disappointed by his side's performance as Forest's unbeaten record came to an end at Middlesbrough on Boxing Day.
The Reds fell to their first away defeat since August and suffered their first loss in 10 as they lost 2-0 at the Riverside Stadium.
Ryan Yates' own-goal put the hosts ahead in the 17th minute, before Andraž Šporar found the net in the 69th minute to put the game beyond The Reds' reach.
Steve Cooper's side squandered chances before Boro scored a second goal, with Philip Zinckernagel firing over from seven yards and Joe Worrall heading over the crossbar.
The head coach was left disappointed by his side's first-half display, but wants to quickly turn attention to the next game in a hectic schedule.
"First half, there were lots of reasons we played like we did. It wasn't good enough and we conceded a goal you don't expect to concede.
"Half-time, as bad as we were, it was only 1-0 and we felt that it couldn't get any worse. We made a couple of changes tactically, including the formation, and to be fair we started the second half and got a way back into the game in terms of performance.
"I know Middlesbrough had good chances today, but we've missed the chance of the game and it could have been so different.
"Techinically, we were poor today. We fell short, a lot of balls went out of play, we had chances to make final passes and touches let us down. Because of that, we couldn't get any momentum in the game.
"If we had won 2-0 today, the approach would have been the same going into the next game. You win, lose and draw games in football and that definitely happens in this league.
"It's always about the next game, it's always about getting ready for it, learning from whatever was good and bad from the game before and that will always be the plan."
