Hello, world's got to boy, Red. Extra time is yet another international break, meaning not in forest have time to take stock. We can do the same, joining me to discuss hopefully some interesting topics and take a few of your questions. I'm joined first of all by Reds fan Michael Tempel. Temps, good morning. Alfresco, on the move. How are you?

Morning. Shouts greetings from the car park.

Good to have you with us, giving up your time. Our second guest today is Reds fan, Mark Sutton. You probably know from our F. P. L. Shows, but he's also a big Forest fan. It's good to have Mark with us. Mark, how are you doing?

Yeah, I'm good. My tech failed me, so I've got the iPad off the bench to rescue this, so delighted to be here.

Well, as we were saying before we started recording, Tempster is in his car, and Gary does the podcast with a shirt that matches his wallpaper and a phone in his crotch. I wouldn't worry too much about that, you've got a good set. Actually, we'll just start because obviously you've done episodes before, but you're probably new to a few people who will be watching and listening to this. I know I said this last time, but you've got the southern accent, but you do have a Forest story. Without making you tell it in full again, we just regale this with your Forest background.

Yeah. I mean, originally, shamefully, I was an Arsenal fan when I was about five when I knew nothing about it. At that point, everything was red in my bedroom because I was into the football without really knowing what Arsenal was on then. I think only because they had a gun on their badge. I was big on the badges. Then my dad was a Fulham fan. I think my mom used this mug, this is also must wash my hair, she smashed it. My dad went, Right, he's got to change his team now. I said, But I've got to wear red. Then he showed me two badges of teams that were doing well in red at the time. Liverpool and the Forest. I chose Forrest on the tree, basically. When we celebrated that badge not long ago, that badge played a big part in me choosing Forrest as my team. But other side of my family are up there as well. I do have connections.

He had a conflict between Forest and Liverpool and he's been tortured ever since.

I don't want to think about that. No, I'm pleased I'm supporting Forest. I went through a period, obviously, when we were the superior team and we were the powerhouse, but then Liverpool took over. But don't regret it, it's been more interesting, I'm sure, as a Forest fan.

Your uncle goes to games with you or something as well occasionally.

Yeah, my cousin goes and I hadn't seen him for years and I ran into him year before last at the Swansea game, the Sam Surridge Hattrick, and I hadn't seen him for 20 years. So it brought the family together. So it was a nice story. Good.

Well, good to have you with us. Hopefully you'll be a regular in the weeks and months to come. A few topics on the agenda today, away from what we discussed on Monday, although there is some James Whallprice references for Thempsey's benefit after the love it on Monday. But we'll start with just looking generally at the next six games. We've got four at home. We've got Brighton and Everton at home, Fulham away, Wolves away, Tottenham at home, and then Bournemouth away, take us into Christmas. So only one of the, you'd say, the big clubs inon them. It could be not season defining, but it potentially could be Cooper defining, Mark, couldn't it? Because we need some results in the next few weeks.

Yeah, don't say that. We had this at the start of the season when we saw the pitchers come out and we were like, That looks difficult, because we don't want the pressure on Steve early doors. It didn't happen. We navigate through that largely to the Chelsea win. Yeah, this run is going to be pivotal though, when you look at it. I don't think we've got another run like it throughout the season where we've got four games chained together that look winnable and we should get points from these. I also look at the fact that at the moment, the squad looks strong in terms of injuries. They're starting to clear. If Aaronie keeps together, then I'm confident we can get points out of this run. Brighton look beatable at the moment. There's no doubt about that. Matoma has got an injury. He's just withdrawn from international duty. We're not sure if that's like a phantom injury or whether that's true. But if he misses out, then that's a big factor. They've already got injuries, of course. I do fancy against Brighton at home. We turned them over last season. That was a big victory in our run-in.

Then Everton at home, Everton are traveling really well this season. I think they're a threat. We've got to watch that plays because we've just been exposed to that by a certain West Ham player we won't mention. Then Fulham away, Wolves away. Again, you look at those two games and we are looking more solid away from home. We do look as though we've gotten a pattern of play that can get us points away from home. We've already done it, of course. Full of them and Wolves are sides that I think we can have some joy against. This is a very, very significant part of the season. But we are, despite the defeat of West Ham, I think in good shape to take it on.

How are you feeling about it, Temp? Mark mentions you have a one-year key, Brighton have got a few issues. There's teams with issues, but we have issues as well. It feels like a succession of games that could go either way for us.

Yes, it's moving time, isn't it? I think we could take points off all those teams. Not a terrible time to play Spurs with the injury and suspension situations. One or two of our guys getting towards that five yellow card mark, we should be aware of that. But you've called that the key selection is Tyro Wany. I just feel so much better about our chances of scoring goals when he's in the team at the minute, ended his duck, but he's made decent impact since he's been back. I hope this isn't Cooper defining, which is the phrase you used at the outset, because I'm still firmly in the Cooper in camp. I really hope this is a period now. We've had enough time on the training ground to impose a style that we want to play to get the right blend out of the midfield in particular. That ongoing debate around centre-defence is going to be a biggie, I'm sure. But yeah, I'm confident that we could feasibly get four to six points from these consecutive home games, and that will create a far rosy outlook.

Do you see anything, Mark, in the theory that we are better against better teams and where we can sit in still and hit them? We're not super deep lying now, but we can sit in and hit them on the break like a Brighton or Spurs. Does that favor us potentially still?

Yeah, I think it does. I think just naturally, we're going to have less possession and we're better with less possession and trying to control the game without the ball and counter. That's our game. That's the way Cooper wants us to play. When a team comes to the city ground who naturally adopt that style like Brighton will, then it's going to play into our hands, I would hope. I think looking at the fixtures at Everton at home will probably be the hardest in my opinion, because I think they will turn up. They'll be wise to that. They've got the set plays, they've got paid and on the break they've got a center forward and Calvin Lueyn, who can probably cause us issues. So of the four games, I think that one looks the one that looks the dicest. And I think as well when you talk about Cooper, it's the home matches that are crucial. I think that while we're forgiving of letting games go like we did at West Ham, I think if we slipped up at home to Everton, that would really put the pressure on. So that's the one I'm worried about most.

I think at Fulham and Walls, similarly, I think Fulham and Walls will look to have more possession, and that could play into our strengths. I'm optimistic about three of the four games. It's just that Everton one, which I think is the potential banana skin.

Everton was a nightmare last season, Tents, wasn't it? We really showed our frailties there. A flick on from a pun to the box and stuff like that. We've shown that weakness again at the weekend. We need to eradicate it, don't we?

Some frustration, because we scored a good goal in that game, didn't we? And looked at times to be in complete control. The narrative of the past few days has been consistentour more Forest fans. We look sharper going forward. We've got Taawi in decent form and we have enough creativity in those in and around him to score goals. You are backing us to score now, even on the road. We're back at that point of trying to find some defensive solidity. But I don't think that's necessarily from the defensive selection. Now it's about set pieces, which has to be the focus of training this week if it wasn't already, because it's an obvious weakness that the opposition will be looking to exploit when they play against us. But yeah, there was some frustration in the Everton game last year. I'm still scarred by that a little bit and one or two others too. I'm interested that Mark says that. I just think that any home game is by form, since we returned to the Premier League, we are far superior at home as opposed to on the road. I'm probably putting more emphasis and more importance on those two home games and forgiving us a little bit more on the road at Wals and Fulham.

But yeah, Mark's absolutely right in terms of the makeup of those sides, but there still is a massive advantage to be gained from playing at the city ground.

Yeah, just on the set pieces. I think spot on it. It is a weakness and one stat that I took from the West Ham game. We allowed Warcross more crosses than any other team so far this season. We conceded nine corners and he had 13 crosses. And that was what worries me. You talked a lot about the problems at the set plays in terms of desire shown, maybe the marking, but we didn't do enough to cut it off at source. Conceding the most crosses to wall prouds, when surely going into the game, we knew that was the danger. I looked at the two teams and thought it was very balanced. It was a very even contest, and we were like for like in most areas of the pitch. The one area they were so superior was wall prouds. He was a factor that his set pieces can be the difference against any team. So we must have gone into that game going, watch for that. Let's be wary of it. And yet of all the teams they played, we've given them the most opportunities.

I was trying to explain this to David Broughton and he kicked my head in.

Yeah.

But Mark's got the stats to back it up. That's the difference. Good to have lots of people with us. Derek, Dan, Derek in North Carolina, Tom, Miles, Warren, who's going to the Brian game, Kev, another Dan, and another Derek. There's a lot of Dereks around. But good to have you all with us anyway. Do do us a favor and drop a like on and subscribe. If you haven't, we very much appreciate it. Looking at a few individual players then. One player we didn't discuss on Monday, Tents, was Serge Orier. I went back and watched the highlights again because the people were in the comments saying Orier was poor on one of the goals. I must admit I missed just how static and flatfooted he was. Obviously not for the first time because there was a looting incident. I thought he got caught out at Man City for Harlan's header. Where's Orier at? Do you think at the moment, because O'Lorena looks pretty nailed now.

It's a different Serge, O'Ready is the one that we were seeing last season who disproved all of the Tottenham doomsayers about his sporadic form, about the passiveness, about the mistakes that you had in possession. He produced consistently strong form, particularly towards the end of last season, got himself into that leadership group. He's captain Forreston on a few occasions. For me, it's absolutely inked in to be the starting right back. He's been surpassed now by Olerena, who but for that lazy back pass to Vlacodomos in the previous game, has been rock solid, has lived up to his billing as a great 1v1 defender and just has that pace, agility and the ability to read the opposition wingers movements. Montiel hasn't come to the fore yet, so the importance of Serge Orier was there for all to see, but he's not getting in the side on form. The clip that you and I will have seen from the weekend goes back to the start of last season and Forrest defense was, yes, deep and compact. When the low block came in, we did see results, but at times extremely passive. That seems to be a symptom of Serge O'Lear's play at the minute.

If he's going to surpass Olarina and get back in this side, he needs to make impact from the bench. His bench impact has been really, really poor, and it's on merit that he now finds himself out of the side. I think the best of Sir Jorye starts every week, needs to recapture that form because he's been a different player this season to what he was last. I fear for him in the sense that Olarina has proved to be more of an adequate replacement. He's flown on under the radar a little bit in terms of potential Premier League potential, Premier League ability. But there's a reason why Sarriet Airclubs backed him. There's a reason why he did so well on loan so young in the championship. I think he's managed to edge past Serge Horrye, needs to have a word of himself and recapture the form that he found last season.

What's your take on Horrye, Mark? There was a lot of talk. We thought he'd probably go to Saudi in the summer. He's in the final year of a contract extension. Does it feel like maybe time's moving away or are you backing him to get back in ahead of Hayne?

Yeah. I think it's harsh on him because I think he was such a key figure last season. He has transformed as a player to become that reliable defender that at Spurs, we didn't see that often. He's been brilliant for us there's no doubt, but I think the other Hayner situation, he's just getting stronger. He's made two attacking contributions. Now the goal, obviously, against Villa and a fine assist at West Ham. It's just his comfort on the ball and his ability to break against the press as well. I think he's got the edge on Uriya in that respect. I think that at the moment, gives him the shirt. Defensively, I think it's closer. I think Uriya has shown that he can be a mainstay in our defense in terms of his qualities he brings there. And Ane has prone to an error. We've seen it. But I think just comfort on the ball going forward. Hayna has the edge. I don't think Uriya is getting back in at the moment in that system because we've got good width in Ane and Tofolo providing some service. And as we've seen, he did just that. And Uriya, for me, one thing I've always questioned about is his end product.

He can produce. He produced the crosses for Chris Wood, if you remember, and the Sheffield United game. And at times he has delivered on that front, but I think he's also been disappointing in our occasions as well. So I think at the moment, Uriya is struggling to get back in. When he does get his opportunities, he's got to take them, but he certainly didn't do that at West Ham. Just a.

Couple of follow-ups on O'Reary, one from the comments, but I'll come to this other one first. O'reary only signed a one-year deal, Thames. Is he already at the stage where we need to be offering him probably a rise and certainly a contract extension to keep him at the club?

Yeah, I'd be interested to know what salary level is on, because I don't think he came in as anything other than an understudy. I think there was an obvious advantage that he's come to Bullet right back and left back and he profiled slightly differently to the defenders that we already had. But I'm sold on a Lorraine. I'd be looking to extend his deal by at least two years. And if a raise in finance is required to do that, then so be it. I think he's more than adequate. I think there's more improvement to come. And the manner in which he slotted that first goal against Villa suggests that he's a good all-round footballer. Far more to come from him. Let's tie him down.

You can answer that, Mark, as well. But also, I'll throw this one to you, a good one I had to talk from Greg in the comments about, Nico's done well off the bench and Tempster talks about minutes off the bench and making an impact. Maybe Nico is actually better suited to be the sub that comes on at right or left back instead of our A, do you think?

Yeah, he's a bit of a forgotten man, isn't he? I think he's a bit of a mystery. When we were making the signings in the summer, I looked at it and thought, well, we're setting up for three at the back and win-backs. We must be. I mean, we haven't talked about Tavares yet. His signing in particular for me indicated that we were going to go three centre-backs and play win-backs. And that made sense with the number of fallbacks that we had in Williams, Montiel, Uri, and Aena as well, with Williams and Aena being able to play both sides. It looked as though we were so well stocked in those areas. It must be that we're going to have some rotation, play wing-backs, make substitutions in those areas late in the game. It hasn't turned out like that because we've settled, it seems, into a back four. And now all of a sudden, we've just got excess here. And players like Uri and Williams can't get into the side. I don't think that Williams defensively is as sound as the other options that we've got. I think he is that utility man who can play either side and come on late in the game and bring some energy onto the pitch.

I don't think he's a starter at the moment, but I think he is unfortunate because the system that I thought we were going to go with for the entire season isn't there, and I don't see it coming back.

That leads nicely into just a little bit on Toflo. I mean, he's throwing the cat amongst the pigeons, really, in a sense, hasn't he, Tempes? Because there's no way he was... I mean, he was like fourth choice left back, and now he's done so well, he's very much merit his place. That prevents of switch to wing-backs as well. You've got to give a lot of credits to Toflo. Is he good enough to hold the place for you, do you think?

His place inside at the minute is completely merited, and he's the winner in exactly the situation that Mark describes. We go out to recruit, expecting to play a back five and and two in the middle. All of a sudden, Sangare, Mangala and Domingez become undroppable and Merillo emerges. Cooper feels he can play two centre-halves and that the whole system unfolds from there or evolves rather from there. Niko Williams is a big victim of that. He was bought in as the like-for-like, Jed Spence, at least we thought he was when we were making that acquisition. Now we're seeing classic fallbacks required in ain a back four, which seems pretty set in perhaps all but the very best sides of the... When we play against the very best sides in the Premier League. Proud of Tofflow, actually, because he was written off almost as soon as he arrived. He let us in a little bit more and he's pretty much interview against West Ham when he spoke about mental health struggles rather than just wasting the grand on an acro at the weekend. He made that leap that he was having some challenges of his own, spoke very openly about that.

Now he feels born again. You've got a happy, settled player who's back in the side playing week in, week out in the Premier League when perhaps anticipated a ban, a lengthy ban, derailing his football career. Alone, he's standing at a forest. Now we're seeing the very best of him. No more going forward. I think some of his delivery, his cross for the award, new chance against West Ham, his vision to lay on, Aner for the the opener. In fact, both goals against Aston Villa. There's a remarkable simplicity to Harry Toffalo's game. I'm sure debate Morgan Gibbs White at some point and his tendency to overcomplicate things, Harry Toffalo sees a pass and plays it. There's nothing particularly complicated about the assist that he's made, but they were effective. He keeps things simple. He does the job that he's asked to very, very well. And for me, he'll keep that place at left back on merit as long as we play back four.

He surprised me because I thought he was going to be one of those players that's top end championship, not quite decent Premier League, but he's come in and he looks very defensively solid and as Temp said, he's good going forwards. On Sunday, Mark, Mohami Kudus was a big test, a rising star in the Premier League. I thought he was West Ham's best player, but he held his own against him, didn't he?

Yeah, absolutely. I think this was my fear when he broke into the side of Tofflow. I think we went to Liverpool. I was worried about how he would handle Seller because everyone seemed to struggle against Seller because he's world-class. I don't think he was too exposed in that game. Against Kudos, he was excellent, I thought. I don't think any defensive priorities are there to see at the moment. I've never had a question about him going forward. He got double figures for assist with Huddersfield. He was always a fallback that brought you something in the final third. We've seen it. Tempsey is absolutely right. That vision for the goal against Villa in particular, I don't think he got enough credit for that because it was a Langa who stretched to cut it back. But Toflo's vision to see Hayner coming in from the right-flank, is there to be admired. And also the pace he puts on his crosses. Let's not forget, he set up the Domingues ahead of early in the season as well. We're really well placed across. He just seems to have that composure in the final third to find that quality pass. I think he's one of our best opponents of that in the entire team, let alone from the back.

So he's got to be a starter at the moment, there's no doubt.

Let's move on to a slightly different topic. Actually, I mean, Themp's mentioned Morgan Yves White. I know he's still a big topic of the week, so let's talk around him a little bit. One of the questions is, Temp's, what happens when Hudson and Joy's fit, Donilo's fit again and could play that role, is his place back under pressure now?

The one you add to that is, Nico Domingo was dragged at half-time in anger after a series of pretty high-profile mistakes in the game. Could that luxury playmaker role come free again in the center that Gibbs Whitewood hold is his best position? But there's no doubting. He's out of form at the minute. For all of the stats that Skylauded and I repeated in light of the West Ham game, he's got one assist and no goals this season. For a player that's been back to become the heartbeat of the side, that level of output is not enough. The back heel out of play was symptomatic, perhaps, of a pressure that he feels sometimes to overcomplicate things. But I repeat the point I made before, and it's an important one in tofflow style of play. Morgan Gibbs White has a certain vision and range of passing that is far more valuable to this side than him trying to do three scissors and a back heel. He can execute a pass, the timing of the pass, the weight of the pass, whatever it needs to be to thread in the players that he has in and around him.

He's got better minders in the side than he's ever had in Mangala and San Garay. He's got better pace in the side, as good as pace as he's had in the side with a langer, who I'd back against Brennan Johnson in a foot race. If Hudson and Doy plays and he's got two-wingers and he's in the tens lot, he's got everything he needs to succeed. I don't know if he's trying too hard. I got shot down yesterday talking to Charlie McPartland, suggesting that he's probably just exhausted after having a baby on Tuesday and may not have slept in the interim period. But we need more from Morgan Gibbs White. And frustration from Forest fans comes because we know it's within him. We know what the best of Morgan Gibbs White brings to the side. We're just not seeing it at the minute. I think he's slightly unsettled by being put in Brennan Johnson's position without possessing the type of weaponry that Brennan Johnson had. Cooper wants to keep him in the side. He's having to be a make way on the right-hand side to do that. He doesn't seem quite comfortable, and something needs to change so we can get the best out of him.

I'm backing him. I think he's got a long-term future at forest. He's experienced in a period of in different form at this moment in time.

I suppose with better plays around him, there's an argument it should free him up to deliver more, but he's still bedding in. We've all had a say on what could give to on this podcast, except for you, Mark. So where are you at on him?

He's got to be in the 11. He's got to play because he brings us something different. He's the player. He's the spark. He's the creative spark, there's no doubt. I have him in my 11 every time. I think Cooper's struggling to find a role for him. That's the problem. I think the midfield three, just going back to that, they're just too solid. I don't think we can disrupt that. And just the word on Domingez who got flat for the mistake. At the moment, if you look at midfielders with 500 minutes or more, so regular starts in midfield, only Polina at Fulham, who's probably a standout defensive midfielder in the Premier League. Only Paulina has won more tackles and had more tackles than Domingez this season. And in fact, Domingez has won a higher percentage of his tackles than Paulina, 78 %. Now that has gone unnoticed because we almost see Domingez as a box-to-box midfielder. But actually, as a defensive midfielder, he's been very successful second only for Paulina since he's come into the side. So I think he's too important to take out. And because he's playing that well with Mangala and St. Galway.

And one of the things that I really liked on against West Ham was the combination of Menkala disrupting the West Ham midfield, St. Galway winning the ball and setting Gibbs on his way. The St. Galway-mengala partnership, we can't break that up either. I think that three midfielders have got to stay. We've got to get Gibbs White closer to Arrone because he's out on the flank, that's not happening. I think a couple of times this season we've seen Cooper tweak it where he's definitely brought Gibbs White in behind Arrone more and sacrifice that width. I think that's how we've got to start matches. I think we're going to play either a Langa or Hudson and the door out wide. I don't see both of those starting. I see Gibbs White taking one of the flank roles, but he needs to be tucked more inside, closer to Arnie. That's where we can do the damage. You saw it. We saw it at West Ham, where it was his shot that obviously fell to Arnie. That's the positions we need in inside the fallback on that center back looking for those three balls when we turn over possession.

And as I've just said, Domingez, Mangala, Sangawe, they are players who are turning the ball over and winning this possession. Looking up, we don't have Johnson's place. We do have to give White an Amonie. And it's just to give White two peripheral. He's starting positions too wide and we need in closer to Ane. That's where we unlock the best of Gibbs, White.

Are you taking him off set pieces? That was the discussion we had on Monday.

Yeah, I think for set pieces, for me, there's no variety there. We need tofflow and gives-away over the ball. The defense doesn't know what to expect. At the moment they see Gibbs White behind, they know it's going to be the in-swing and it's going to be right-footed delivery. And it's just too choreographed. It's just too obvious, I think. When you put tofflow over the ball as well and you've got that variation, we might have more success. And when you've got Tofflo in the side, you're wasting him, if you're not putting him on set pieces, I think, because he's got that delivery and therefore is crying out for that. I'm not saying take gives white off them. I'm just saying put them both on them, introduce a bit of variety to get the opponent to think about it, because at the moment it's just too predictable, I think.

Yeah, I think that's a good shot. I've not thought of that. Even if Tofflo takes two a game or something, I think that would speak out. That's true. If you're liking this video, do us favor and subscribe. There's 250 people with us, which is great on something. Are you laughing at my graphics? It's so amateurish, because you do like books and you've got amazing graphics.

I'll get you a better one, mate. I'll talk you out with that.

Actually, I'll give a plug for Mark, because if anyone plays F. P. L, he does F. P. L. Blackbox podcasts. So do watch that. It's slicker than this operation, certainly. And that's how he's armed with all these stats, certainly. What are you laughing at? You're not signing a cast, so it's true.

Well, it's gleefully disarming, isn't it? The lack of self-congratulation that you have. But Mark's ashamed of your graphics. He's far too polite to say it, and he's still pulling out the main guests that are in of themself world-class. I just have a little chuck at that. But time for new graphics, Davis.

I know. Well, yeah, there definitely will be some coming. Don't worry, there will be. Just touch on Danilo as well. We discussed him a little bit on Monday. I went back and watched the highlights, and Don Goodman was saying he made a really big impact at the start of the second half. And he did because he held the ball up and played, I think it was a Langa temp, so when they played that 1-2 with a 1, you should have scored and he had a hand in the goal. So he did have these moments. He doesn't look quite back to where he was last season for me. But like Mark says, he's got such a problem. He's not breaking up that back three. We've already said, Gibbs White needs to play. You need the pace for Langer. What do we do with Danilo? Does he have to just buy this time to Laffcon, which will come on to you?

He needs to jump in when there's a one-match suspension off the back of totting up, doesn't he? The five yellow card thing is going to affect the central midfield three. That's to Nilo's in and he has to grab the chance. He's so dynamic. He offers a bit of everything. I think, as I said before, that's why he's ahead of Yates as the next cab off the rank in that position. He needs a spark. He's well of form last year. He's well of goal scoring last year. Was was consistent, wasn't it? He was one of the first names on the team sheet in and around that period where he was scoring goals and forest got the points. He's himself away from the drop zone. There's a plan for Danilo. He's probably in that Brennan Johnson's spot as being the next saleable asset, if it's not Merillo, that needs to attract 30, 40, 45 million quid to allow that the current forest recruitment model to continue. But he's only going to do that if he's in the side and playing well. I'm backing him to get in the side in the next three or four games, either on the back of form or on the back of a yellow card suspension for somebody else.

And he needs to put on a showing because he can win. He can live with the level, he can win games with Forest, and he can be more of a goal-scoring threat from Centre-Mid.

He's got such a high ceiling, hasn't he, Matt? I'd say he's ceiling... I love Mangala this season, but in terms of monetary value and what he can do on the pitch, Danilo probably is above him and above Domingus, as good as Domingus has been. Danilo is the one that could be worth 50 million quid and be a match winner. He just needs time and a bit of maturity, I guess, to deliver.

Yeah. I mean, he was much coveted before he arrived at the City round, wasn't he? There were a lot of teams watching him. So he had a reputation. I know Arsenal were monitoring him earlier. I think he is a very cellible asset in a few seasons. I'd like to think we'll get a few more seasons out of him. For me, I struggle to define what he is because I think when he arrived, there was a feeling that he was a deep-lying playmaker. He played deep and set up to play with his passing. He's got the vision to do that. But I think in that role, he's been caught out a few times. He's dwelt on the ball or he's been slack with his passing and he's put us in trouble when playing deeper. And then we saw the talent the last season in playing further forward and he got those vital goals. He played a massive part in keeping us up. He surprised me with the composure he showed in the penalty area to take those chances. And that made us think that perhaps he's more a box to box and maybe a number eight, I think that's probably the role that we have him in going forward.

I think when the suspensions come, Domingus will drop back and Danilo will take that spot, that one that's further forward and the closest to supporting Arany down the middle. But I still think long term we're not... It's a bit like Ives White. We don't know what his role is yet in our 11. If he breaks into 11, where does he play? What function and role does he play? I think Cooper's got to figure that out as well. So he's a puzzle, I think, as well.

We haven't. We We normally mentioned André Santosh, we haven't mentioned him on this podcast. Mark mentioned Tavares, two loan signings who weren't even in the squad. Tavares is one that have to buy Temps if he plays a certain number of games. It's probably pretty low knowing how far he's done these loan deals. Do you think we might even have seen the end of Tavares already, potentially?

Neither of those plays are anywhere near it, unfortunately. It probably takes three injuries or suspensions for André Santosh to get game time at Forrest at this moment in time. And Tavares another victim of the back four and the rise of Harry Toffalo. I can answer this one really quickly. I think they probably both depart in January.

What about you, Mark?

Yeah. I mean, Santosh is odd, isn't it? I can't help but think that was just a safety net in case we didn't get Singaro. That's the way it's turned out. I don't think he's near the 11. Chelsea fans will say he's an incredible talent and it's a real waste. I haven't seen enough of him to go against that. I think it is a shame for the player and obviously Chelsea aren't getting what they need from it. I think Tempsey is right, he'll go back. Tavares is a strange one. I think he's not a left back in a back four. There's no way he's good enough to do that. What he is, is a marauding wing-back. When he arrived, I was really positive about his signing because I thought that was the system we were going to go with. In that system, Tavares can be a weapon, but it's not going to happen while we're playing a back four. I'm with Tents, they're both going back, I think, in January.

We'll be here for another 10 minutes or so, maybe 15. We'll take some questions if anyone's got any. There's plenty of people watching. So if you've got some, drop some in. While we do that, we'll just touch on one more topic around AFCON. We mentioned it briefly last week, but we've got seven players, Temps, who could go. They play for some of the biggest countries. They potentially miss four Premier League games and two FA Cup games if they go all the way. I don't think they're going to miss that many, but say, Ivory Coast make the final, that's Sangare, Arié, and I think there's two others off the top of my head, I've forgotten. But are they concerned or not?

Well, yeah, it's going to impact the spine of the team, isn't it? Taewo, Sangaray, Boli in particular. I think that's a real mess. But it's opportunity for others. It's why we carry these squads of 25 and the debates that we have around team selection just become that little bit more complex. Thankfully, with geography, Brazil won't be competing in that tournament, and we'll perhaps see those guys come to the fore even more. One man's disappearance, one forest is another man's opportunity. Necessity is the mother of invention. The reason why we found some of the pairings combinations that did so well last year was because of the teams we selected for games like Spurs in the Cup. What was supposed to be rest and rotation became a selection, which stuck even when players came back into contention. There'll be winners from this and players will emerge and succeed and see this opportunity, be biding their time, waiting for this moment when they get on the plane so they can jump into the frame and hopefully carry on with the form that Forrest find by that point, need to keep Chris Woodfit, for example. He's going to be crucial in the continuity of the style of play when Tyro, Tyro disappears and the disappearance of San Garay will certainly allow us to see the best defensive qualities of Domingez and perhaps Danilo coming back into the side.

So yes, it'll be a problem, but the depth and the strength of the next three or four players into the side don't concern me anywhere near as much as they would in last season.

Let's move into some questions then. Just a comment to say Mark's doing a good job. So from Emma, there you go, Mark. I'm sure you're happy to be receiving praise. It's a better than criticism. So thanks for that. I like.

The iPad. That's good.

Yeah, when Mark's on next time, he's got an amazing setup. Like I say, tempts in his car, so it's not really relevant. But no, it's good to have Mark with us. Let's go to, Who else will we offload in January? Robin asks. I suppose, Mark McKenna stands out. There's a few other fringe players that are nowhere near it. Joe Waller hasn't been in the squad for the last two games. Are they going to be some departures or with AFcon, are we going to have to carry this big squad still?

I guess that's going to depend a lot on whether there's any incoming as well. I do wonder, we showed a lot of interest in young strikers' potential long term options in the summer. There was a lot of discussion around several Brazilians, surprise, surprise, who could come in to deputize for R&E. I do wonder whether that's on the cards again, whether we'll go back and try for one of them. Because of all the AFCOM situations that we've got, and I think we're one of the most heavily affected teams, the R&E thing is the one that really worries me. Yes, we're going to lose Niakate and Sengare, but I think Tempsey is right. The signings we made in the summer were all about squad depth, and we've got that now. When you look at the 25, I'm far less worried than I was last season about that. I think with Niakate and Sengaray, I think we've got options to come in and do the job. With R&E, yes, I think Chris Wood has got the monkey of his back with the two goals against Luton, but I do worry that that is a bigger jump. Losing our knee and replacing with Wood, there's a gap there between what the two players bring, I'm afraid.

I do wonder if we're going to go back in for a striker option in January, whether there's the funds there, whether FFP will allow it, I don't know. I think the incoming may affect who goes out. Mckenna is sellable, there's no doubt. I think there are teams in Scotland who would want him. He's still getting international recognition. There are championship sides who would take him as well in a heartbeat, I'm sure. I guess there's Karate as well who slipped down the peck in order who could go out and we talked about OEA too. There's three or four I think would be potential to move on, but I think it will depend on the business we're going to do in terms of bringing players in.

A couple of people asking about a strike we could sign. The name that was most prominent was Mateias Nas cemento, I think, from South America. He's only 19 tents. There's a bit of a gamble there. So do we have to really probably rely on wood realistically, unless we can go out and get batched wide or find 20 million quid down the back of the sofa?

We've got market intelligence in Brazil, which has proved very successful. The last three times we've dipped into it. I'm excited about any prospect that we pull out of there, because wherever that information is coming from, it's accurate and it's proving advantageous in spotting rough diamonds that can go on to become very, very strongly established players on the world stage. I genuinely believe, Moila in particular, will go on to do that. Yes, I do trust whatever scout network we've got in Brazil. I'll add Nico Williams that list of potential departures because I think it's in his interest to get a move at the age he's at and the amount of time he spent already being a bit of a bit part player at Forest in a system that he can see he isn't suited to. I think that's one that the player will be pushing for themselves. The striker thing is interesting. Chris Wood is very much a Steve Cooper signing. He pushed really hard for him. Before that injury, we did see the best of Chris Wood in that game. It was his best performance for Forrest before. He had that unfortunate disappearance. Again, a regey appears to be a miss.

He had that shot on target, didn't he? In the dying seconds against West Ham. But I don't think he's a guy that we're going to trust anytime soon. I think strengthening the striker options would be my priority in January, even if that is a lone move, given that Tywell has been identified as the man and upon his return from AFcon, he'll be straight back in that spot. Pleasing that the rumor mill is whirring and we're looking at strikers. Chris Wood does deserve the first crack for me. I don't think O'Reilly is anywhere near, and I'd be excited if we were able to pull somebody in, even if it was a relative unknown from Brazil.

Chris.

Wood still drives people in the comments. In fact, the comment is mostly negative about him today. He's actually won me over this season a bit. I think the trouble is he's not tie-well, he's not mobile, but he's done a job. He's got a couple of goals. He's okay, but there is a huge drop off. Is Tywo an elite Premier League striker already, Mark? Do you think there's not many like him around? You could get into a lot of Premier League teams, couldn't they?

Yeah, I don't think he's there yet. I think the raw material, though, is outstanding. The athleticism that he's got and his composure that he shows when given chances is coming on his progress. I think when he first arrived, he was a bit headless. He obviously had the pace and the energy upfront, and he wasn't holding the ball up efficiently. I think he's come on a lot in that respect. I think now when the ball goes up to how many, I expected to stick. We saw the other day when him and Allanga had that partnership and they almost walked through the West Ham defense. That epitomized how Howney has come on. That first touch, that awareness of players around him to lay the ball off and also the running off the ball was impressive in that little cameo. So I think he's progressing at a rate that would suggest that this time next season, we're going to have people sniffing around for sure. I think he is a 20 goal striker in the making. I don't think he's there yet, but there's no question. He's absolutely vital to how we set up. And I think that that's my biggest concern going into the AFCOM period, is that we will miss him because of the role that he plays.

There's a question from Richard that I don't know the answer to, but I'll put it up because people might be interested. About South American qualifiers for the Olympics, we have to reach Murillo and Danillo. I suspect not. I think Premier League clubs will find a way to keep them. So yeah, want to monitor. There was another question here, Tempes, and I can't find who asked it. The filling in the corners at the City Ground came up before, and now they've got this World Cup thing with the shipping containers. What do you think about it? It's a temporary measure, I guess. Or is it a long-term measure? What do you reckon?

Well, we haven't really heard from the new chairman in this regard yet, who's a recognized expert in development of major building and infrastructure projects. But we do know from projects elsewhere that rebuilding that mainstand is 50 to60 million straight off the bat. Any opportunity they will find to fill in a corner, to develop the fan zone, to do whatever they can do to drive incremental commercial revenue to make us even more of a force relative to those teams we play against in the Premier League, they will do. My instinct is that those smaller projects, those filling in the corners, those adding seats here and there, improving corporate facilities, whatever it might be to drive commercial income will be implemented and is far easier to implement than a mainstand project tied to massive blocks of residential housing on the banks of the river. It's word on for so long that we can all see that the complexity of that. One thing we know our owner has lit a love is patience in a positive sense. He wants quick action, he wants quick improvement, he's prepared to finance it. If there's steps he can make to get towards the end goal, then he'll take them.

What I would take from any development of the city ground is a firm indication and that's where we're going to stay. We're going to move away from this debate about brownfield site on the edge of town and commit to getting that place towards 40,000 cap to allow us to compete with more sides in the Premier League. What's my hunch? I think we'll see us fill in a corner long before we build a new mainstand.

It was Simon Alton who asked that question, by the way, so if you couldn't find it. But thank you for that one. Simon. I think we'll probably leave it there. Anything you want to add before we depart, Mark?

No, just on that point, though, I think anything—I think that gets us more tickets and improves the atmosphere in the city ground, not that it needs improving, is going to be a big plus. So getting more bodies, more voices in that ground is only going to help us. Every time I drop in on away fans doing stuff on YouTube, they always talk about how noisy we are, how loud it was. And we've said before, there's no doubt that has an impact on the opposing fans. It keeps them quiet, it reduces them being a factor, but it also impacts the away team. We don't know how much, but it does have an impact. So getting towards that 40,000 capacity will be huge for us, not just for the city, because more people can come and watch the games, but also increase of the role that the atmosphere has. And I just don't want that to drop. Anything we do to keep that up and strengthen even more is a win for me.

Tim, anything from you before we move on?

I was just going to say I'm going to get in the habit of contacting Mark for stats before every podcast appearance. I think that how you see a player and how you frame what they're good at, you've got to watch a game every 90 minutes, but look at the numbers is important too. Framing Domingez as a defensively effective player, despite his advanced position, shows the value he brings to the team, because that is high turnovers. That is winning the ball unexpectedly. That is us becoming a pressing side and a massive demonstration of how effective he's been in that. However, if you walk a straight pass against a 6'8 lad in center mid and the opposition score from it, Coupes is still going to hoik you at half time and have a stern word. Really interested to see the next team that we pick. Really interested to see if he reverts to two-wingers or tries to accommodate Morgan Gibbs-Wight or sticks with the status quo. But so many reasons to be positive, and I will back us to win our next game.

That was a good stat about Pallonia, because Pallonia loves the yellow card. If a ref had booked him in a game when he really should, and I would run 50 quid on a bet, but he really showed some lean-back to you then.

Just quickly before- He should have got a red, shouldn't he?

Oh, I know. Just quickly before we go, Mark, on stats, obviously you do a lot of stuff around that. What value do you place on stats versus eye test, as you call it? Because a lot of our viewers might be skeptical around the stats, but I see a bad one.

I just use them for confirmation of stuff and to raise awareness of things that perhaps I haven't noticed watching games. You can't watch every game, you can't watch every player on the pitch even when you watch a game. I think what the data does, and we know that clubs use it, some clubs based their entire scouting network on data. I won't mention Brentford because I know it upsets Greg, but yeah. So there are teams out there who rely on data heavily. As an someone, I mean, on the website that I built, I brought Optistats to that website years and years and years ago. I was one of the first to jump on data as something that could be used in what I did in fantasy football. Since then, it's crept into the mainstream of football. We're seeing on Match of the Day now, and XG turns up on there every week. I stand by using it as a tool to raise awareness, but it doesn't replace watching matches for me or watching plays for me. We scout players using both the data and using scouts to go and watch players playing matches, and that's how I approach it as well.

It needs to be twofold. You can't have one without the other.

No, I think that's true. You get more of that on F. P. L. Blackbox if you play F. P. L. On... Is it tonight? No.

No, I won't be anywhere this week. We take a break in international break, but I'll be back next week if I can fix my setup, I'm not going to be on an iPad on Blackbox.

We'll check it out, people, if you haven't checked out before. Thanks to everyone who's watched long. Lots of comments. Very much appreciated. Me and Greg are off to the Football Content Awards tonight. I'll report back if we win. I don't think we will. We're off again tomorrow.

Good luck with that, Matt. I'm moving for you.

Thank you. Well, you're up as well. You just can't be there.

No, we can't be there, but we'll see.

You can go up on his behalf and make a speech. You can accept on behalf of Mark, Matt, and do a Gwyneth Paltrow.

I might do if I lose out on two awards tonight. It'd be nice to get some adulation for something I've had nothing to do with. Certainly. Thanks very much, everyone, for all you've watched along. Temp, thank you.

Cheers, Tep. See you soon.

Mark, thank you very much.

Lovely. Thanks, Matt. It's great to be on.

Yeah, you'll be back with us some more, hopefully. We shall be back next week previewing the Brighton game. So do join us for that. In the meantime, have a good few days and we shall see you soon.