Hello everyone, and welcome back to Garaboldy Red, a Nottingham Forest podcast. We're across YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. So be sure, as always, to give us a review and a share if you do enjoy. And as Forest get their first league win of the year. In fact, I just put in my notes of the season. I'm glad it's not the season. Thanks to Tywo and Hudson. I doy a Marillo Masterclass and more. That's a tongue twister. Join today by Sarah Clapson as ever and Forest fan Steve Oldham. Morning to you both. Sarah, let's start with you. Nice to be talking about a Forest win, a big Forest win, probably one of the most important of the season.

Morning. Yeah, it was a really good all-around performance, I thought. A lot of positives to take from it. Obviously, the result was the main thing. It's made the Premier League table look a little bit healthier. Five-point gap between the relegation zone now, which is a bit more breathing space. But just an all-around positive performance, I think. In individually and collectively. There was a lot of players stood out with their own individual displays, but just in general, a really good, solid, good attacking, good defensive performance. A lot to like from it, I think. A lot to take away from it and plenty to build on as well.

Yeah, definitely. Plenty to build on. Steve, I mean, just how crucial is this win? I like the background, by the way, with Erin in the picture.

Yeah, there she is. She'll be there Sunday. Saturday, sorry. She won't be there Sunday, I'll be day eight.

Yeah, you will. Steve, just how crucial this would have been, I can't remember seeing you at the end of the game, actually, and talking to you sitting a few rows behind me, but just such a big win for Forest.

I thought coming up to the game, on Saturday, it was a must win. If we'd have lost the game or got a draw, I don't think it would have sent us down. I just think confidence-wise, the next two were, obviously, we've got Villa and Liverpool, and theoretically, you think, Well, we're not going to get anything out them two, but football is a funny game, and I'm not too sure about that. I think we might. We might surprise a couple. But I thought the way how we started, I was thinking, Wow, we're on fire. I listened to talk sport going home on Saturday, and they were saying West Ham were poor. And I thought, I thought Forest were good. I thought Forest were good. And I think they'd have gave A good game to anyone on Saturday. But again, there was no pressure, was there, on the players? You thought they might have had pressure because got to win. Was it we were looting behind us one point? And of course, you get this, everything like that. And yeah, fair play. I really enjoyed it. My only concern was, Max, and I did say to you, and I think Sarah might agree with me here, about 70 odd minutes into that game, I'm thinking we've had all these chances.

A West Ham award proud is going to get a free kick, and it's going to come into the box, and we're going to be like jigsaw puzzles again, going to pieces. But we didn't, we held out, we defended well. And if we would have won that game 4-0, the scoreline would have flat Flattered us, wouldn't have flattered us, would it?

No, I know.

The way we played.

I just think it was one of those performances where they showed so much, and it was nice to see Forest start a game well. I mean, how often we talk about Sarah, especially in recent weeks, in recent times that Forest has to almost grow into the game. But we started really well. We looked like we were the team almost at home. The atmosphere was behind us. And we really went for it, didn't we, Sarah?

Yeah, it was straight on the front foot. Could have scored within the first, I think it was five minutes, Alanga had a chance. Really positive from the off and just kept going from there, really. Never let up, just kept... I do agree, created a lot of chances. At one point, you thought it was nearing halftime. I hope this doesn't come back to buy them, but scored at a good time just before the break. And then just kept going, really, in the second half. I think under Nuno, Forest have always looked good going forward. The scoring goals hasn't been a problem. Creating chances hasn't been a problem. It was at the other end. So I think that was what was more encouraging and more promising for me was the clean sheet and the fact that Matt Sells, again, didn't really have a save to make. Marillo and Felipe, I thought that partnership was really good. The partnership of Danilo and Dominguez in midfield, again, I thought that was excellent. And the fullbacks as well, given Nuno Tavares a little bit of criticism in recent weeks, but I thought actually he was really good on Saturday. He still perhaps needs to learn when to shoot, but he did get a bit closer with an effort this time.

And his all-around game was really positive. Nico Williams on the other side, I thought he was absolutely excellent and deservedly got the man of the match on the day. I think there was a few contenders for that. But the link up in general between everybody in the team, the connections and the cohesiveness, I think, and the discipline as well. We mentioned it before about James Warprouse and not giving away free kicks, and other than one that I can remember, didn't really happen. It was a really disciplined, organized performance. And I think for me, that was just as encouraging as how it was the opposite end of the pitch.

Yeah, definitely agree. And Steve, I suppose when you just score before half-time and it almost unsettles the other team's dressing room, and it really must have unsettled West Ham. And Taewo, again, he scored three goals against West Ham in his last three starts against them. They must hate him. But again, right place, right time. And he was a bit quiet first off. He didn't necessarily get the service, but he just does what he's done for Forest for the past 18 months, which is be there at the the right place at the right time.

Yeah. I mean, the first thing about what you said about the West Ham's changing room, it changed David Moyes' team talk, didn't it? Because you're thinking you're going... He actually scored for about 48 minutes in those four minutes of injury time. It was virtually nearly the last kick of the first half. So that changes Moyse's halftime team talk because he's thinking, We're going in nil-nil. We've kept it tight. They've had all these chances. As for Taewo, that's what he's there for. And I think if you look at all the teams down the bottom, and I think Sarah has just mentioned something that this might come as one of them stupid statements, but if we actually don't concede goals, we're going to win more games than we've won for a long time. Because going forward, when you look at us going forward under Nuno, we are a threat. I mean, the language should have had two, maybe even three. You missed one in the second Taewo is going to score you goals. We are a real good team going forward. So it did change Moises' halftime team talk. But at the end of the day, I still think Forest would have won that if it had been nil-nil, the way they played.

I don't think that was detrimental to the way West Ham. They didn't capitulate or anything like that. But Forest were a different beast on Saturday, and I hope we take that on to Saturday.

Fingers crossed. Big game against Villa on Saturday. Sarah, let's touch more on the players and so many key performances. Again, we'll talk about that Merillo masterclass shortly. But you look at Hudson Adoy being involved again, as well as Alanga having 12 goal involvements in the Premier League this season. Just the link up between those two since obviously Brennan's departure and Forest bringing Alanger and Hudson Adoy coming in. Just the partnership and how many chances as well they're really creating for this Forrest side.

Yeah, Callum Hudson Adoy, I think he just looks absolutely full of belief at the minute. He's really starting to show what we all hoped he could do. He's getting back to the player that had so much potential earlier on in his career. He just needed a run of games. He just needed to get going. And I think we're starting to see now what he's all about. He was brilliant, really, really good, deserved his goal on a little scoring run now. So hopefully he can continue with that. I think it was just a case of getting his confidence going. When you've had a difficult few years, perhaps like he's had, you've not had a consistent run of games, just finding your feet a little bit and getting some consistency. I think that's been what's key for him. Gio Reina now is going to have a real fight in his hands to get a starting spot. Getting into the number 10 position in place of Morgan Gibbs-White was always going to be tough, but I guess he was looking at those wide positions and thinking, well, maybe I've got a chance of They're breaking in there. But the way that Callum Hudson-Odoy and Anthony Langer are both playing at the minute, they're keeping their shirts.

I think it's going to be difficult for Reina to get a start, but he's good to have on the bench still, and he's certainly an option to have. But you want players full of confidence and in good form and at the top end of the pitch, that's certainly the case at the moment.

For sure. And Steve, when you look at a player like Anthony Alanga, that Forrest brought in after the sale of Brennan Johnson, they sold Brennan for really good amount of money just above that 40 million mark. And then they bring in Anthony Alanga for 15 million, and obviously Callum Hudson, the Doy for 3 million. Forest have been criticized in the past for the scatter gum recruitment approach, rightly so at times, but you can't argue that that piece of business, unbelievable from the club, really.

No, I tend to agree with Sarah. I was thinking, Coming over here today, how does Reina get in? As it stands at the minute, Reina is only going to get in if there's an injury, and that's the reality of it. You've got the three lads that are coming back from Afcom. Where do they get in? Because the team Looking so different. One thing I do want to say about Alanga and about Ute N'Hadoy, 18 million combined for them two in Premier League is an absolute snipp. And I'm Manchester United. Sorry, I just don't know who authorized that deal because that was... I've got Man U fans, obviously, who I know, and they're scratching their heads. They've got Anthony for 85 million, and Alanga's ripping it up, and they've sold him for 15. One other guy that I just want to mention, and you might mention them, and I might be shooting, is Dominguez. Dominguez and Danilo on Saturday were absolute brilliant. And I love that guy, that little Argentine guy in the middle. Everyone was coming up on Saturday saying, Well, Sengar is going to come back into that team against Villa. I don't know.

I don't know where... These guys, the bench, all of a sudden on Saturday is going to be so strong. It's going to be really, really strong now for us. Yeah, so onwards and upwards.

Yes, onwards and upwards indeed. Sarah, Steve touches on Dominguez and I was going to come to him. I think just what a player in a way. And he seems to be always there, almost does the dirty work. And one thing I have noticed about him, which Forest have lacked recently, is having leaders on the pitch is having those players that can be there almost in the referee's face and maybe talking to opposition players, shall we say. And just being there, this similar sense of almost Ryan Yates and Having him in the middle alongside Danilo, as Steve mentioned, what a partnership, considering that they haven't played that frequently together. And as Steve mentions, all these players coming back from AFCON, the likes of Sangari, how on earth do they almost fit into this Forest Side now?

Yeah, I thought Dominguez was really, really pivotal to the win on Saturday. He just goes through so much work. You look at his work rate in every game, and he just... He never stops running. He just keeps going. He puts in so many tackles. He's always in and around the action. And that ball that he played for Taewo for the opening goal was just pinpoint. Amazing turn by Taewo in the first place as well. And a lovely finish, but a terrific ball to get him going. And he's at the center of everything, Dominguez. You just watch him and he never stops. All game, he keeps going, he keeps going. I think Nuno has got a real headache for Saturday, a real big decision to make in terms of who comes in and who starts or whether he keeps it the same because you always... Do you change it for change's sake? Do you stick with a winning team? Sangare, we haven't seen the best of him yet, I don't think. I think there's a lot more to come from him. I'm not so sure you can break up the partnership of Danilo and Dominguez though for Saturday because they just worked really together.

Getting that right midfield balance has been difficult. I think Sangare has been missed, but that partnership worked so well on Saturday that I'm not so sure you could break it up against Villa. I think you probably have to stick with near enough the same team because from one to 11, they all deserve to keep their places. I'm not sure you could look at anybody from Saturday and think, well, they didn't have a great game or they weren't integral to the performance or they didn't play some part It was front to back. Everybody did really well. I don't think I would change it. I think I would probably stick with the similar team.

Yeah. And Steve, I suppose there was a lot of talk last week about the Afcom players coming back. Were you disappointed that none of them almost featured on the bench even, considering that Sangari had hardly played and Willy Bolley hadn't kicked a ball for three weeks in the tournament?

Well, I had a bit of a moan about it towards him. I thought the club should have done better and said... I thought they'd at least be on the bench. But look, If we'd have lost that game, we'd be criticizing that, but we didn't. We won. So, yeah, I thought they should have been at least on the bench. They're all back now. I tend to agree with Sarah. I don't know where you can change, if you can change anyone. I think Dominguez and Dinelio, they're forward-thinking midfielders. And I think on Saturday, we all know that Villa play a high line, and we've Hudson Adoy on one wing and a langer on the other, we're going to be able to exploit them. I was disappointed, Max, but look, I won't say we got away with it. We've won. We're in that This shit. Now we've got everyone back. We've got no excuse now, Afcon. If everyone was fit, what would be that start in 11? That's the question you've got to ask now, because you now look at your bench and you think, well, if so and so is out, we're all back now. Afcon's gone.

We know we've got to put as many points as well because we've got something hanging over our heads. And let's go for it. I do think this is probably a very difficult time for Nuno because he's going to be... And it's a good time for him because he's got players now wanting to play We've got no one who wants to hide. They all want the ball. We said a minute ago, Callimudson-Hedoy, I think six, seven weeks ago when he was playing, at Brentford, Max, when we went to Brentford, he didn't look as if he wanted the ball, now he wants the ball, give him the ball. When he's got the ball, he's at him. And no defender likes a player running with the ball at the feet. No one.

No one, especially if it's Murillo on for the opposition side. And I suppose let's touch on him, Sarah. Every week, he seems to get better. Such a young player, he's going to go on to not bigger and better things. And that's no disrespect to Forest, but he will go on to be a very, very top player. Unbelievable from him. You look at the chance that Antonio had, he's right across there and he's always there. And I just think what a remarkable piece of business, again, from Forest, in fairness, to get a young player like him in through the door for a small fee. And he has been absolutely crucial to Forest. And again, another partnership to mention, him and Felipe, with Felipe coming back into the side for the performance.

Yeah, Murillo is going to go on for a huge amount of money at some stage. I hope it's not for a long time yet, but he is just so good. He's so good on the ball. He's so good defensively. His awareness, his positioning, his pace to get back for that challenge as well after Philippe had a little bit of a stumble to race back to stop Antonio. He was a good player and put a really good tackle in. Just a brilliant, brilliant performance from him. And there was that moment as well, where he was shackling Antonio and then he turned to the crowd. I think he got a free kick from it. He was geeing everybody up going, Come on, come on. He's just so good and he's got so much more to come. He's still a really young player who we forget hasn't played a great deal of first-team football. His ceiling and his potential is really high. He can keep improving. I think playing alongside Felipe on Saturday probably helped him, not just because obviously they're both Brazilian, and I'm sure that the language probably was a part in that. But I just think they worked really well together.

Having somebody with a bit of more experience in Felipe, I think made a difference. Having a steady settled presence there helped Marillo. He played that lovely ball as well. I can't remember who it was to now, but a brilliant long pass forward. And that's what he's got in his locker as well. He just does everything. And the good thing is he can just get even better.

Yeah, he can. Young player and a big future for Forest. Let's stay on the defense, Steve. And when you look at both fullbacks, we'll start with Nico Williams, and then we'll come on to Tavares. I thought, Williams, again, deservedly man of the match. Big cheers for him in the crowd from the fans. He's almost becoming a cult hero, as if you like. Excellent performance. Again, always there, battling, not afraid to just get involved. And as you said, talking about players hiding, Nico William certainly hasn't been that. And I just think what a performance from him on Saturday.

Yeah, I tend to agree with you, Max. I thought he was brilliant. I think he made one mistake, didn't he? Bless him. And that was he gave the foul away for Ward-Prowse, but one mistake out of that performance. He gets up the wing and he gets back. He puts his body on the line as well, where you want him to be doing that down there. Again, I'm not quite sure. Was he playing under Cooper before Cooper? Did he play the He was playing, yeah.

He was playing bits under Cooper, but not loads.

Yeah, and then obviously, Aina then went back in under Nuno. Obviously, he's gone to AFCON. And he's done what any good professional will do. He's got hold of the shirt Like Sarah says, the shirt's his. And his effort, I like him, his hard work. And he's not just hard work, obviously. He's got a bit of talent. He's showing that he gets up, supports down the right. Yeah, he played. He was amazing on Saturday. I'd actually turned to the guys in front of me and said, 'Williams has been far the best game I've seen him play this season. ' I'm not saying he's had bad games. I just He's saying, 'File, ' the best game he's had. And he's been absolutely 'utter brilliant today. And he was. He was filed for a penalty, but we won't go there. We won't go that We will go there eventually.

We will. In a minute, we will touch on VAR and all of that. But, Sarah, let's touch on the other fullback for Forest, Nuno Tavares, a player that Nuno has favored more recently. I feel like we have this debate every week. We had a chat with Max last week and he disagreed about him starting in the efforts, but one nearly did go in, but his pace, almost his quickness to react and efforts on goal. I think from that performance, for me, you can maybe just start to argue why Nuno has favored him over Harry Toffalo more recently.

Yeah, I think absolutely that. You can see why Nuno has picked him because that's what he offers. He hadn't been doing it to the same level in previous games as he did on Saturday, I don't think. We'd seen glimpses of it. He can still go from looking brilliant one minute to making a bit of a sloppy error the next. But just the outlet that he offered was so important. His link up with Callum Hudson-O'Doy, I thought was really good. And he was really on it on Saturday. I think you could see that's what Nuno has clearly been seeing in training and why he thinks he gets the edge over Harry Toffalo. I think it's the attacking side of it that really offers something. We know that Nuno likes to get forward with pace. We know he likes to counter-attack. Nuno Tavares offers that. I think Harry Toffalo does as well, but perhaps not quite to the... His pace isn't quite at the same level. We all know he can put a good ball in and put across him. But Tavares had his best game I think on Saturday. And hopefully he can build on that.

Hopefully he can take a lot of confidence from it and pin down the spot if that's what Nuno favors. I guess You've got Ola Eina coming back who can play on either side. He was in the best 11 of the tournament at Afcon, so he's going to want to get back in the team. He's shown what he can do before. He's really solid defensively, likes to get forward as well, offers a lot. So that's going to be a tough decision where he comes in, because as we mentioned, Williams was brilliant on Saturday as well. So trying to get Eina back into the team is going to be tough. I think he's going to have a bit a fight on his hands as well. But they're the decisions and the dilemmas that you want. You want players that are performing to their capabilities and giving you a headache. Nuno Tavares has done that now. I know we've all been a little bit critical of him in the past, but Saturday, I thought he was great. Really, really good. Hopefully, one day, one of those shots is going to go in and we're all going to say, Well, that's what it's been coming to.

Because he does love having a goal from some distance. He got one a little bit closer on Saturday. I think there was another one that wasn't quite so close. But one of these days, he's going to put one in the top corner and we're all going to stand back and applaud because it has to be coming, surely.

Yeah. God knows what Forest is going to do if they put those new fancy boxes in the corner and an effort on goal from Tomares ends up for hitting someone at the top of the box. Steve, do Do you see why Nuno is picking Tavares? Do you like him? Do you prefer him over Toffalo?

I'll tell you why I think, because I think the way Nuno wants to play is when we get the ball from the back, he wants to break very, very quickly. I think if you watch the first half, there was a couple of times where West Ham were round our box, he got the ball and he drove us forward very, very quick. And he passed it to the door a couple of times. So I see why he wants to play him that way. I'm not sure about his defending. You can't criticize too much because obviously we've kept a clean sheet. I think Harry Toffalo is a better defender, but I think Taveras is a better for the team because it brings us forward quicker. And that's the thing. And I think even in the Premier League, when you've got someone like Marillo, you can most probably get away with that a little bit because you've got a fast centre-back that if he gets caught out, it can recover. But if someone said to me, I think Toffalo is a better defender I mean, if you were playing against a team where, let's say Liverpool, all right?

Let's just say Liverpool, and I'm no tactician or anything like that. Say you were going to set up a different way by defending, you'd I must probably think, well, do I put Tofflo in there because he's a better defender? But if you want to break quickly, you're going to play Nuno because he gets on the ball. And one thing he does do, he gets the ball at his feet and he brings it forward. I know his shooting is... Well, Sarah says he's getting closer. I just thought, Yeah, he's getting closer, Sarah. He hit road D in the top block at the Trent end. That's getting closer. I mean, there was a rumor that when the fans out Nuno He was playing, the flight path around East Midland Airport had changed because he didn't want him to hit any planes if they were landing. If he hits one in the top corner, then I'll come on this show and do a jig, I'll tell you. Because it reminds me a little bit- We're holding you to that, Steve. Yeah, it reminds me a little bit of my missus when he gets in front of the goal and her Google Maps has just crashed.

He's all over the place. You don't know, What am we going What do you do with this? And he just has a punt. Yeah, what day it's going to happen, but I'm not holding me breath. I don't think you're laughing this season.

Oh, you made me laugh there, Steve.

I bet them people at the training ground, I don't know how many footballs are in their back garden. Can you remember when you got a little kid like my son, Jake, he's always kicking the balls over in the next garden. I bet there's loads in the training ground.

Yeah, probably. To be honest, if I played for Forest, it'd be the same with me. Although Tavares is a professional footballer. Yeah, so let's hope he converts one soon. Moving on and we look at VAR and Steve, we were going to touch on it. So now is the time. And we'll start with you because I I remember having a conversation with you, actually, about Clattenberg being appointed. The news breaking on Saturday morning, that Forrest have appointed Mark Clattenberg as almost the club's referee analyst. He will be there to advise the club on certain referee decisions that will most likely go against Forest and basically advise Nuno on how to go about it. We touched on it before we actually started recording this as well, Steve. It's a bit of an odd appointment. What do you make of it? And also what do you make of VAR's involvement with the game on Saturday? Luckily, we won. But as you said earlier, it should have been a penalty on Nico Williams.

Right. Mark Clattenberg's appointment, I don't know why. What are they going to say? It was a penalty. Obviously, Whether it's there to advise them, for him to say, No, leave it, it's gone. Because I do think Forest have now complained to the PGO three times now, I believe, and they've brought it out public. And I do think sometimes that might be going against us a little bit. Var is just not working for me. I don't care what anyone says. This is just my opinion. I think there is certain bits of the element involved that if that happens at Anfield, it's a penalty. If that's a Liverpool play, it's a penalty. I think the one week before, it was the same goalkeeper, the same referee. It was worse contact than what it was with Jota, and that wasn't a penalty. So I think this is where it goes. We touched on it before, the one at Brentford, Ivan Tony. That was just a joke. These people are not accountable, not being held accountable for this. Now, we always watch where we sit. I watched Nuno on Saturday and the coach. And I tell you else, I watched, it was Kevin Nolan when it went to VA They are Kevin Nolan walking back to his dugout, looking at Moores going to shake, banging his head.

It's a pen. It's a pen. They're all on that bench. No, it's a pen. Origi's got the ball under his Under his arm. I don't know whether Origi's taken it. And they're walking towards the spot. They're walking towards the spot. They're all known it's a penalty. They're saying it's a penalty. It's definitely penalty. And then it gives it no, no penalty. They're all up in arms going like this. And the worst thing about that decision on Saturday, Nuno gets booked because he puts his arms over there as if to say, What? What's going off? We will most probably get Howard Webb and Michael Owen on that sky thing going, Well, Howard, what about this one? And Howard Webb giving his percentage of this, that and the other and whatever. But it's got It's got to be a clear line. If it's a penalty, it's a penalty. I mean, he's touched him. I mean, apart from actually hacking him down, he's touched him. And no one has come out and gone, Well, it wasn't a penalty. ' We've made them say, I could deal with that, Max. I think we all could if someone just put their hand up and went, 'Do you know what, guys?

' We've made an absolute ricket here. We're so sorry. We're going to get better. But we're talking about it more now than what we're talking about, referees.

Yeah, and that is the problem. And also, I think fans are getting more frustrated with the inconsistency of it, hence why maybe Forrest have opted to appoint Clattenberg. But Sarah, what did Nuno have to say in his press conference? Did you have a chance to actually almost ask him about this appointment because it only came out Saturday morning?

Yeah, no, he was asked about it. He hopes that it's going to help explain some of the decisions because I think that's sometimes what is the most frustrating, and particularly on Saturday with that penalty incident, that you don't get an explanation as to why it wasn't given or why it didn't... Var didn't suggest to the referee, Go look at your screen. How it wasn't... It didn't get to that point, I have no idea, because Nico William's blessing was left with a bit of a hobble afterwards. He clearly got caught. He was luckily he wasn't more injured or it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I think that's what's particularly frustrating, not just for Nuno, but for the majority of managers, that You get decisions like that and then another week you'll get a different decision or a different club or a different team. It will be the opposite. It's the inconsistency, and that's what's so frustrating. That's what I think Nuno is hoping that Mark Clattenberg will be able to help with, offer that explanation. I mean, after the incident, whether it counts for a great deal or not, I don't know. He was there on Saturday, Mark Clattenberg and he was alongside the owner.

So I would love to have been a fly on the wall afterwards when I'm sure Mr. Maranakis was quizzing Mark Clattenberg about it and asking him what he thought about it and why that penalty incident wasn't given. He's trying to get consistency. That's something that the VAR and officiating throughout the Premier League needs. It's not there at the moment. And that's what's so frustrating with it all, that You don't know what you're going to get week to week. You don't know what you're going to get referee to referee or even within a game, you can have a similar incident and it goes one way and then a few minutes later it goes the other. It's that inconsistency that's so... And it's costly as well. Big decisions like that. Luckily, it didn't this time. The week earlier against Newcastle, similar scenario, it did. At 2-2, a penalty could have been different. It needs addressing. And I think Forrest are just trying to find a way of looking at it and also to help relations, obviously, with the PGMOL. I think that's what Mark Clattenberg is hoped can help with as well.

Yeah, I was going to say PGMOL, I'll probably expect a letter from Forest every week. We might have, I don't know, almost stamps ready and reserved for them, given the amount of letters we've had to send recently. Steve, I want to touch on actually Calvin Phillips's red card. It was second yellow. He argued in terms of an interview after that it wasn't. But for me, he was deserved. I actually thought, in fairness, the referee on Saturday the day, people might disagree with this, until the penalty and until VAR, and I think that was more VAR's decision of not sending him over. But I thought he actually let the game flow quite a lot. I thought his decisions in terms of letting the game flow and almost not stop starting. I thought you had a much better performance compared to Anthony Taylor last week. Obviously, that doesn't say a lot, but I just thought that it was an all right performance from him. It was just up until the VAR incident. Again, it's the one talking point coming out of the game.

Yeah, I mean, firstly, I think Anthony Taylor is not a very good ref anyway, so we will just part that one there. The only problem I would have said, Max, on Saturday about the ref, and I think he was a young ref being promoted through the ranks again. We need referees because if we haven't got no referees, we haven't got no game. So it's as simple as that. I would have said, and again, I said to the guys in front of me, he was giving out cards a little bit willy-nilly. I actually touched on their shoulders and went, Guys, I can tell you this now, there ain't going to be 11-11 left on this pitch the way he's giving out the cards. Because you knew the way he was given the first Yellers, I think it was two or three in the first eight minutes, which worries me then. You got players that are on and they got to watch themselves. As for Phillips, I haven't seen it. It always looks worse than what it does, so I haven't seen it. It's social media is not going around saying it's not a foul. It wasn't like the William Bolley one or anything like that, second yellow.

So again, I didn't know Phillips was on the pitch until the second half. And seriously, I didn't know he was playing. In fact, I don't even think I know he's been moved from Man City. That's how bad it was. And then I saw him and I went to Dan, I went, 'That's Phillips. ' He went, 'Yeah, he went in January. ' I didn't know he was playing. But yeah, so again, the ref, if you said... Let's not turn this into giving refs our time. Var is there to help the referees didn't help that ref on that occasion. We get that. What I'm trying to say is he started giving cards out very, very early, and then you caused yourself a bit of a problem because in a game that was fast and furious, you're going to get those little tackles that maybe the ones that weren't a booking in seven or eight minutes and now are a booking, they're going off. So, yeah, I see it. I might have disagreed, Max, with you a little bit. I think he was a little bit too card happy. He could have just... An experienced ref would have most probably let one or two of those tackles flow and just say, Look, one more, you're in the book, and keep it.

So it's one of them.

Yeah, one of them. And fingers crossed next week, we won't be talking about referees because it does honestly get boring and tiring talking about them all the time. At Sarah, before we just quickly touch on the Villa game before we go, let's just touch on the atmosphere at the city ground. I wanted to give a special mention to that. It hasn't been at its probably best most recently, but it was loud. It reminded me a lot of last season And also when Nuno came out just before the game and almost gave a standing ovation to the fans and clapped the fans, I just feel like almost that connection is coming back a little bit, which forest have lacked recently, and it massively helps. It is a cliché about the fans being the 12th man, but they really, really were for Forest on Saturday.

Yeah, I thought the atmosphere was really good on Saturday. I thought it was loud, it was noisy. It was maybe incidents like the referee as well helped because it gets everybody onside and gets you jeering at the officials. But the performance was so important to them because the fans had something to cheer. They had something to get behind. And the players responded as well. It was a mutual connection. It was great to have the celebrations back at the end, have the fireworks back, have everybody coming away in a positive, happy mood. I think you can see that the players are... You can see that there's a real spirit there. You can see that there's a real sense of unity and a sense of fight. It's not through lack of effort being in a difficult position at the bottom end in recent weeks. It's just It's just been a case of sorting out those errors. Saturday did that. Hopefully, it's a case now of building on it and keeping that going. But yeah, the fans played such an important part, and they will do between now and the end of the season for sure.

Yeah, definitely. Steve, you go home and away with Forest. You'll be there away at Villa on Saturday, as will I, and of course, Sarah from the press box. But really time now for Forrest to kick on. Villa will be a tough game. Let's not forget that. But with Momenage, momentum, taking that into the game, you just never know.

No, Villa will be a tough game. I think we could get a point. I think anything above a point will be absolutely brilliant. I think we'll score. I just think that from three at the minute with gives white as well. I think we'll score, Forest will score. Keep a Clean Sheet, win the game. I don't even think we We draw the game. I think Keep a Clean Sheet, we win the game. And that's how confident I am. It will be a tough game. They're also on a bit of a bad run where they've lost two or three at home. Is that right? Yeah. On the bounce. So they weren't one of those four. Two, I think. Is it two?

Yeah, I think so.

And they're a good club. I just think, yeah, Like I said, Max, if we can keep it tight at the back, I think we will get something. Cut out silly mistakes. Because our front three are going to score. I'm saying this now, we're going to score on Saturday. Now, that's most probably a nil-nil coming in it.

I was just about to say that actually, Steve. I did say, actually, I did say before the West Ham game, I did I would say that Forest would get seven points out of these three games. Yeah, and you also said- I'm working out. And you also said, Steve, that Forest would get promoted in the season we got promoted. Yeah, fair play- Not over. Mystic, Steve. You have been right before. We'll have to ask you for the lottery numbers next week. Sarah, just to close, really, I wanted to touch on Nuno, and I don't think he's had an easy ride so far as Forest Manager with points seduction with the injuries with Afcom, with all other controversy off the pitch. But it really seems like now there's a connection growing between him and the supporters, which is crucial given him replacing Steve Cooper as a fan's favorite. And as Steve mentioned, we're scoring under him. Attacking-wise, we look absolutely brilliant under him. He's made a huge difference. And I just really think that this now is time to kick on, and now it is the start of something special under him.

Yeah, he's had a to deal with. I think last week was the first time that he'd had near enough a full squad to work with for a while, obviously with the January additions as well. The players who came back from the Afcon final only arrived on Thursday. So even though he had a full squad, he was only for a couple of days and he's still got Gonzalo, Monte Ella, and Chris Wood out injured. So he hasn't really had a proper amount of time to work with the squad for the second half of the season. He'll have a free week again this week, no midweek game. That's got to be hugely beneficial, just getting time on the training grounds, spending time together, working on getting his ideas across and getting to know his players more. Because as he pointed out last week, it's still a fair Fairly new team to him, but also fairly new in terms of working the way he wants, new with the players who came in in January, integrating into the squad. So he's had a lot to deal With injuries, AFCOM, everything around the potential points deduction. It's been a challenging few weeks for him.

It feels like he's been in charge a lot longer than he has because he's had to go through a lot. But the performance on Saturday was hugely positive. I think it has been in most games. Forest have been in pretty much every game, I think, in the Premier League under Nuno. And that's got to give them real encouragement. It's got to be good for confidence, good for belief, and good for having a platform to build on. Some tough games coming up, but going into them with a result and a performance like that, that's everything you want, particularly the clean sheet. Having that to build on is good all round. And hopefully, we see the benefits of that on Saturday at Villa Park.

Yeah, definitely. Big game. Against Villa on Saturday. I think that does us nicely. Steve, Sarah, thank you very much. Fingers crossed. Next week, we won't be talking about any referees. Yes, Steve.

Can I just say one thing, mate? Nothing about football. Can I just, especially me and you, Max. Gary Woodford's dad, Barry, is obviously not very well at the minute. Can we just send him our regards and a speedy recovery? And we're thinking of him, all right? And we're missing him at the city ground. Get Get well soon, Barry. Come on, you're right.

Definitely, Steve. We all echo that. Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery from him. We will see you this week for our Villa Preview. Steve, Sarah, thank you. And as always, if you did enjoy this podcast, like, share, subscribe across all your YouTube and audio platforms, and we will see you next time. Come on, you reds, and have a great week.