Admiral Nelsen

Just showed the goal on Sky, decent finish.

Not sure if this is the right thread to post this, but Carter has put Burton in front on his debut

Speculating in the extreme, I wonder if Travis would be a covid-related omission?

For international superstars, that's mostly correct. Other very good players in certain positions often emerge quite a bit later. You could just as easily say look at Lallana or Scholes, who only started getting games in their early 20s (Lallana in a team which was then relegated from the Championship). Just as it's too early to say that he's on his way to the top, it's equally ridiculous to write him off at this point.

Let's see - I think we went about the summer the right way (broadly) in terms of spending the budget on the right areas, so I'm not saying that I'm particularly annoyed about us not getting him. Even so it's never easy to see how these 'too good for L1' types adjust to going the step higher. I'd be shocked if he's as effective in his role as Travis is, but it took Rothwell ages to get to his current level, which is still inconsistent. Holtby is too hot and cold too. Buckley not there yet. We're well off for good/promising/useful midfielders in a way that we never used to be, but most have ques

Vaguely, big reputation who didn't really justify it. To be fair to him he didn't exactly come in at the best time to showcase his talent!

Pretty close to the team I'd like to see, although was Butterworth one of those isolating against Birmingham? Probably not going to be able to play if so.

The boy has clearly been very unfortunate with the timing of his injuries - but I'm inclined to agree. There could very easily be a good player in there, but unless he's playing well at a much higher level in the next twelve months, it'll be best for all concerned for him to move on.

No Carter? Have to admit I didn't really think bout Downing - definitely should be starting him in this one. I know he doesn't really possess the attributes that Tony wants from his attacking players, but as a one off I'd have him on the wing for this one.

Not usually one for making wholesale changes for cup games, especially in the FA cup, but I'd make an exception for this season. Chance to get minutes in for players who need them, rest the ones who have been flogged in a crazy start to the season. Pears Pike Lenihan Johnson Douglas Davenport Travis Buckley/Dack Dolan Gallagher Brereton

Not so sure. I'm not denying that there's something awry with our ability to pick up points against the better teams this year, but there's nothing in the games that we've lost which tells me that we should be frightened of any of those teams. Norwich away could end up being very difficult if they improve with more players back, but Bristol and Brentford at home & Millwall away don't scare me one bit. Reading blow hot and cold, as do we. Definitely some wins to be had if we look after our game (admittedly a big if). 100% with you on tomorrow's game. We have to look at the four

As things stand, a win tomorrow would put us in the top 6 if Brentford don't match our result. Usually the sort of situation when we start a 4 game winless run!

I might be misremembering, but in my head the Reading game was one of those where we seemed quite badly depleted. If we had a decent team out then I'd definitely concede that they outplayed us. I remember Watford as being very similar to Bournemouth in that they were much more adept at taking their chances when they came along, but rightly or wrongly I recall feeling that we were very unfortunate to have lost.

True enough, but he did well at Birmingham when it was a madhouse and not particularly well resourced. No guarantees that he'll do similar at Forest of course, but personally I think the smart money will be them finishing mid-table then competing for the top six next season.

Completely with you on Mowbray. I'm one of those sad people who even looks at message boards for other clubs when they play Rovers, and it's amazing how often fans of other clubs have compared Mowbray favourably to their own manager. I disagree about overestimating Hughton though. I think we always deal with uncertainty when it comes to football managers - there's always the possibility that an otherwise good manager might not work out at a certain club at a certain time - but Hughton's record at this level is pretty much unblemished. It's probably too late for Forest to think about the