Transcript of 7 days that will define Nottingham Forest’s title credentials

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Garibaldi Red, a Nottingham Forest podcast. We are live at five on a Monday evening. That's got a good ring to it. I might use that again sometime to discuss Forest in... Well, Forest being into the fourth round of the FA Cup, but more importantly, the huge game against Liverpool tomorrow night. Under the lights The City Ground, dare I say, a title challenging game. We will discuss all of that, chat through all of it as ever, joined first of all by Forest Trust Board member Steve Bennett. Steve, good to have you back on, mate. How are you feeling? You must be loving talking about Forest at the minute, mate.

It's fantastic, Max. What could be better? There's a little bit A bit of me starting to get nervous about tomorrow night, which is ludicrous because it's not that it's the first Forest Liverpool game I've ever been to in 500 years of supporting the team. But yeah, what a fixture. And I looked at the weather forecast earlier and it's due to be misty, which has got to be an omen, hasn't it?

Yes, absolutely, Steve. I just think the atmosphere is going to be electric, miss rolling in from the Trent and all of that. Good omen. Also joined by Sarah Sarah, Brown. Sarah, good to see you. I was about to say, Sarah, we should have started a couple of minutes ago, but we had technical difficulties here, there and everywhere because of your camera and my mic. But good to be here. How are you? Are you ready for tomorrow night?

Yeah, I'm really nervous, though. The nerves are starting to build, I think, because it's a free hit, but it's not, is it? Because we're all dreaming, aren't we? Definitely.

We are. We're absolutely dreaming. I did a earlier for BBC Sport, actually, about Forest and can we actually mount for the title challenge? Can we mount a title challenge? It was just crazy actually saying it. I sat on the fence because obviously we're not completely out of the picture. We know that and everyone's writing us off, but it would just be unbelievable. But a win tomorrow and it could change it all. We'll go back to Liverpool and we'll talk about it later on in the podcast. But we've got to touch on the looting game with Forest through to the fourth round now of the FA Cup. A nice little away trip to Exeter. Let the battle of the tickets commence. That'll be harder to get, I think, than Luton or Bournemouth. So we'll see about that one. But a nice little cup tie there set up for Forest. Sarah, you were at the Luton game. What did you make of it? Obviously, a whole scale of changes from new no, but maybe a good sign that Forest, according to my dad, never really got out of second gear. There was players in there that showed that they could maybe feature in Premier League first 11 as well.

Yeah, it was a comfortable game. Is there a bit of an echo?

No, you're all good, Sam.

Perfectly clear. Sorry, that's okay. It was a comfortable game. It was nice to go and watch us and think, we'll just win this. I don't know. I didn't even see it being a banana skin. I don't know about you guys, but yeah. And there was actually some Luton fans sat behind me because behind me is like hospitality. And they'd come to see... Wood wanted to watch his young lad, he was about eight. He was like, Chris Wood's going to come on. And he was so excited about seeing Chris Wood. I mean, wow. But I turned around to them and said, This 11 that we've made, 11 changes, if they had a run in the Premier League, I actually think they might even stay up.

Yeah, it's a very good point, actually. And I was speaking to a mate and I said, do you think this The 11 that played against Luton would be an 11 that could take Forest almost into the latter stages of the FA Cup, albeit the look of the draw may have to be on our side. But then you have the benefit of playing a second team. It's still doing well. Then we talk about if we're near the quarter finals or possibly even later on. And you talk about, actually, we play a full strength side now and you've got a chance to get to Wembley in the semis and have a brilliant Cup run. So, yeah, one of those. Steve, What did... Obviously, you weren't there, but I'm sure you've seen the highlights. I'm sure you saw a lot of the changes. What did you make to that game? And also, do you think Forest should be taking the FA Cup seriously? Maybe if we were mid-table, you'd be thinking, Yeah, let's take the Cup seriously. Let's have a Cup run. But at the minute, we're fighting up there. So is it a distraction or is it almost just let's keep it going and let's keep winning football games?

And I suppose it transfers into the league.

I don't think it's a distraction. And I think both the Club and Nuno really value the FA Cup, don't they? I think what was great for me, and as you say, I wasn't there, but looking at the highlights, it was a change of 11 players, but to exactly the same system, and everybody knew what they were doing. They knew their position. And I go back to the away game at Everton, when the team that finished on the pitch at Everton was pretty much, if we call the second team that started against Luton. Most of the big hitters, if we call them, that have been taken off or were substituted. And Everton were pretty poor that day, but we didn't look troubled at all in that last 20, 25 minutes when all the substitutes came on. So isn't it fantastic that we've got 22, 23, 24 players who all have... They all know what the positions are. They all know what they're doing. They're all being properly coached. They all seem to on. There doesn't seem to be any dispute within the squad, and they're all moving forward together. So for me, it's a great opportunity, the FA Cup, to give those players more runouts.

I think it was a great shame that we lost in New Castle in the Carribell Cup because that would have helped the fitness and everything about some of those second string players. I hate to call them that, but second string players. Because we're not going to go injury free between now and the end of the season, are we? And we need those players to step in and keep whatever run it is that we're on, and we're going to keep going just to keep that run going. So I think it was great. That's what, three games or is it four games now with a clean sheet, which is fantastic. The interesting thing I think that came out, as he said that Carlos Miguel will be the Cup goalkeeper. I read that somewhere.

Yeah, I think Nuno asked, as far as I'm aware, Steve, Nuno was asked about it and he said we'll see, but he'll definitely be getting a good run in the Cup. So assuming that he is, probably.

So Matt Sels can come back in for the final at the end of May then. Perfect.

Absolutely. Have you already booked Wembley for then, Steve?

No, but I've got two kids who live and work in London now, so there's always a floor space I can get.

Perfect. Yeah, absolutely.

I guess you can before you ask.

Can I stop there as well, Steve?

No problem.

Perfect. Lovely. Thanks. Sarah, you might want an invite. In terms of the game, Sarah, who actually stood out for you? Obviously, there was lots of changes. Steve mentions there Migue well being in goal, but Ramon Sosa getting on the score sheet, Jota Silva having a good game. A lot of changes. Eric De Silva-Merrera as well. My dad said he had a great game. So who stood out for you? Who really press and you thought, actually, if you put them into the Forest 11 at the minute, they wouldn't look out of place.

Well, I suppose the easy one to say Sosa because he got an assist and a goal. I don't think I couldn't mention him. Although actually noticing on the pitch, obviously, Jotter just goes for everything, doesn't he? I do like him. He's like a terrier. But yeah, a tie way where I thought he didn't I'm trying to follow through from the Wolves game because he looked really good as soon as he came on at Wolves. He looked like he was going to score straight away. I didn't quite see that, but they just were all quite comfortable, weren't they, really? So I don't know. Probably Jotter because he got the assist and Sosa looked really good. It's hard, isn't it? Because like I said, I thought that squad, that team could do quite well, but I think, again, it's the subs that are really important that we've got a really strong sub-bench. And if you flip it, the first 11 that we put out is as good as they are because of the sub-bench, isn't it? So I think, yeah. I don't know. I think they all did well, I thought they did well. I can't really say that I could single out one person, Sosa for his assist in his goal.

And I think Sosa, probably we haven't seen the best in him because he hasn't had a really good run in the team. Obviously, Morato, I think he's great. I think he would be absolutely fine in the first 11. When he comes on, he shows that and proves that. But I probably don't really see him. It's like me saying Ryan Yates would do well, isn't it? They are in our first 11, I would say, really. He even probably jutter so much because he does come on and get the 20 minutes. But yeah, probably Morato, without a doubt.

Yeah, absolutely. No, totally agree. Steve, when we talk about a player Ramon Sosa, and it must be difficult for Nuno to keep everyone happy at the minute and players will be chomping at the bit to try and get on. But he is young, he's enjoying his football, and it's credit again, isn't it, to forest recruitment in the summer to bring him in. But also you look at him and as Sarah says there, he could do a job if he needed to start games. Yes, it's only looting, no disrespect to them. They're a struggling Championship side at the minute, but he gets a goal, he gets an assist. That's everything you want from the players that will be on the bench. It almost adds to our squad depth and knows that you can trust those players if needed.

I think it's great. I mean, think of what happened at Everton when Marillo got injured in the warm-up, and he turned to Ramon Sosa to play that game, and he played really well. He didn't look out of place. They changed the formation to bring him in because my guess was they were going to play five at the back or three plus two wingbacks, but they went back to a back four. So Nuno's We got confidence in him, and that showed on Saturday. I don't think there's anyone who played on Saturday who couldn't do a job in the first team, if we call it that, in the Premier League. And that's all because for me, they all know what their job is. They all know what they're going to do. And so huge, huge credit to Nuno and the rest of the coaching team that they've got that. A I've heard that we've not been able to use for a couple of seasons, that they've got that discipline to come on, play a position, and stick with that position, and stick with that role. I mean, think about the Wolves game that we scored that early goal.

Walsh had quite a bit of pressure. I never thought we looked in real danger of losing it, but they stuck to the job that they'd been given. They stuck to their tasks. They stuck to the tactics that they'd been given. And we ended up a pretty comfortable win in the end, 3-0. So what a time to be a Forest fan. Flipping out.

Yeah, absolutely. And it was media of the week talking about where the Forest were going to do a Forest against Luton. I had this nasty feeling, but there you go. That's just the pessimistic Forest voice in me. And just to know, I just think, as I've said before, this season feels different, doesn't it? Sarah, when Steve mentions there about players coming on and almost, I suppose we go back to Steve Cooper's next man mentality phrase. But Nuno and the coaching staff have done such a good job, haven't they, of having that team spirit. Obviously, you saw with Wolves, with Taewo's goal, we're going to get onto Danilo as well, featuring in a minute, of course. But we saw with Taewo's goal away at Wolves, the way the players were around him and supporting him and everyone was there, there was that togetherness. That just must be so important at the minute, isn't it? Because if Forest do want to continue this unbelievable run we're on and having this unbelievable season, then the team spirit and togetherness is so important, isn't it?

Yeah, I feel like I want to get hold of them all and just keep them all together. Nothing change. So, yeah, the best business we could do this window is to get the ones that we need to sign back up, I think. Maybe keep the squad together. I'd like to see Taewo stay unless there is somebody going to come in as a striker. But we really don't want to unbalance it. Like you say, Taewo is obviously a really popular guy, and it's so important that camaraderie, isn't it? Nobody's too big for the boots. There's some big characters in that team that have played for some big teams in the past, and everybody is on the same page, aren't they? It's absolutely fantastic to see. And I just love them all, really. And Oler Aina is just second to me is brilliant, isn't it? His TikToks and everything. I love it.

Yeah. No, absolutely. I think Honestly, it's great viewing is Snapchat. If you've got Snapchat, which I don't know, Steve, you might... I don't know if you're down with the kids, but if you've got Snapchat, there's some great videos on Oleraina's Sorry. So get on that. But, well, I'm not sure.

I'm not going to disappoint you, Max. I've got most social media, but I've not succumbed to Snapchat. Sorry, mate.

It's all right mate. I got it, but I don't use it. Somebody always put some on TikTok or Instagram for me. I see him second-hand.

Do you have TikTok, Steve? Yeah. I'm impressed. Good. Right. Moving on. In fact, you can let us know in the comments on Garaboye ready for you. If you're over 50 and you're a Forest fan and you've got Snapchat. I'd like to be only over 50. Let's talk about Danilo. And obviously What a massive moment for him and everyone in the ground. You could hear the chants on Radio Nottingham listening. It was just brilliant just to see him obviously come on. He gets injured in that first game of the season. We didn't know how long it's going to be. It's maybe a little bit quicker than we probably imagined, but he's back. The chance about Danilo, they were singing it in the Wolves away and the Forest fans as well. Even obviously, he's not featured then, but they're still singing. We're all together with him. Just a brilliant moment. Steve, I When you think about Danilo and he could possibly feature for the rest of the season, but having him back in the squad and possibly back in the starting 11, it's just another big boost, isn't it, to the squad? And you think the team morale must be at an all-time high with that?

Well, it's like a new signing, isn't it? It's a January window new signing. And the other forgotten player is Sangare. And think that the first home game of the season, the midfield two, with Danilo and Sangare, So they must have both had a really good preseason, and Nuno must believe in both of them that they were going to be the midfield too. So hopefully, Sengari will come back at some stage and he'll be another new signing. So fantastic. And with the players that we've currently got, I mean, I thought it was really interesting for me that Dominguez didn't play on Saturday because that confirms to me that Dominguez, with his performances over the last a few months, is absolutely in that first team squad with Anderson and Gibbs White. And it's Yates that's going to have to fight for his place back in. But to have Danilo and then Sangara every come back at some stage, it's just more competition in midfield, which is already a very strong and really well balanced midfield. So fantastic stuff.

Yeah, absolutely. Do you think, Sarah, obviously, we talk about not wanting to disrupt the squad. But as Steve says, Danilo was a first team starter at the start of the season for that opening game. I can remember that brilliant goal he scored away at Brentford as well last season. He was instrumental, really, in Forest staying up towards the tail end of that season. Can you see him coming back, Sarah? Do you think Do you think Nuno could trust him in the next couple of weeks once he gets back to full match fitness?

I think he would trust him, but he certainly wouldn't be on for the full 90, would he? But I suppose there's quite a few in front of him, probably, that would get on before him. He's a great player, isn't he? I mean, I wouldn't like to second-guess Nuno. I think whatever he does is going to be the right decision. Danilo looked good when he came on. Actually, he looked really sharp. I was quite surprised. It wasn't just a token, let's put you on and see how you go. He did actually make some good tackles and he played quite well. So, yeah, but But it's a difficult one, isn't it? Because there's quite a few that have put their hand up for that position in the first 11 and also on the bench. So I suppose we'll just have to see how it plays out. And I think talking about Singara, if Sangare as well, has he still got the most interceptions or something from the first few games he played or percentage rate because he played that well at the beginning of the season. I might be wrong now, but last time I heard he was still quite high up there.

Yeah, I mean, you're testing my stat knowledge, to be honest, Sarah. I have no idea. Somebody watching live might be able to tell us, but you're right. And you just wonder with Sangare, don't you, as well, whether he would come back into the starting eleven once he returns.

Again, I don't know. Why would you try and fix something that's not broken? That's how I'd see it. The way we're playing at the moment, I can't see. Liverpool tomorrow night, there's It's going to be the first team on that sheet and subs. There's going to be none of this sentimental, putting anybody on the bench or anything. So, yeah, I'm sure there'll be games where he can play a part in, but I suppose it just depends on how his development goes over, his recovery goes over the next few weeks. And what injuries we get.

Definitely. Football is unpredictable. So it's good to have that squad depth for Forest. We'll get on to Liverpool very shortly. Steve, what did you make to Exeter, though? It's a nice little draw, that.

It's a nice little draw. I'd love to go. I think we'll get, is it just over 1,300 tickets, won't we? Because it's 15 % of their capacity which is 8,700 or something. If I could get a ticket, I'd probably go because I've never been to Exeter, but Flipping Neck, it's a trek. And it'll be interesting there, won't it? I We still put out the same team. Why would you do anything else at that stage? Because it gives the first team players another break, which is fantastic. If we carry on as we're doing at the moment, even if we slip a little bit, but we still keep a good high point ratio per game, then it's another free hit, but it gives us the opportunity, doesn't it, to progress into that competition? Let's be honest, we would all sit here now and go, whichever team we put out, we should beat Exeter, even though it's away.

Yeah, absolutely. I wouldn't be surprised if it was on telly, actually. You'd think it would be a proper little cup tie, really, on telly.

Yeah, a Thursday night or Friday night to make it really easy for the fans to get there and back.

Yeah, down to Cormal. Well, I suppose people can make it into a weekend away, but I know it'd be a bit cold, wouldn't it? To go on the beach and have an ice cream and go in the sea and all of that. I don't know if there'll be many people swimming if Ryan Yates had spawn him. You never know. It cracked me up actually on Twitter. Some Exeter fan tweeted, which made me think how far Forest have come. He put on Twitter, My toxic trait is thinking that Exeter can beat Forest, but arguably this is the best team in the country right now. And I thought, wow, best team in the country. He was saying that Forest... Obviously right, given the form, but just mental that you're reading that, Steve.

Max, it's best team in Europe, mate. Did you see that tweet? Seven Wins on the shot is better than Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Russia, Dortmund, anyone else in Europe. We are currently on form, the best team in Europe.

Absolutely. There you go. I keep pinching myself every time I... Well, even at work, I'm trying to fit in title contenders or title chasing Nottingham Forest where I can. I've got it in three or four times so far in the past few weeks, so I'm going to keep that up. Right. Let's talk Liverpool. Obviously, let's put the FA Cup to bed. We'll pick it back up in the next few weeks when we need to. But let's talk Liverpool. Sarah, just how big almost is this week for Forest? How big is the game tomorrow? You say you're nervous. It is a free hit. Yes, the pressure is on Liverpool. But as you said at the start, we're all daring to dream and we're all thinking maybe the unthinkable.

Yeah, I think we are, aren't we? And that's the beauty of football. We're all thinking we're all quite confident. I'm talking to Forest fans and they're all quite confident. I mean, when did that happen against Liverpool? So, yeah, I don't know. It's one of them. Sometimes when I'm confident, I'm thinking, oh, maybe I shouldn't be. But yeah, been massive game because it suddenly does become the reality that we are title chasing and we aren't just having a good half season. And if we don't win tomorrow, that probably does take us out of Of a title challenge, but we're still up there, hopefully top four, top five. But God, if we win, they are going to have to take us seriously, aren't they? The media. None of this, Oh, but Forest aren't in the title race. We will be thoroughly... Why we're not even being discussed in that way now? I don't understand at all, because they don't say, Is Arsenal in the title race when they're on the same amount of points and in poor form compared to ours. I mean, you I just mentioned the form. If we win tomorrow, that will just be amazing.

I mean, even... Yeah, I suppose I'd be disappointed with a draw. How mad is that? How mad? But we're definitely in slot's head, aren't we? So I think he's going there trying to get three pastas, and hopefully we'll pick them off and we'll have a bit of luck again, because we've definitely rode our luck a little bit, certainly first half against Wolves. And then when we did the sucker punch with Wood, I couldn't stop giddling. I couldn't stop laughing. It just made me laugh because it was like, I can't believe that. It was just unbelievable. But that's what teams get, don't they? You get the run, you get the look. So it's with us, and I'm hoping it stays with us tomorrow night. We carry on playing like we've been playing, and I think we should get something out of it if we do.

Yeah, absolutely. You mentioned the media and that, and they've maybe not given Forest enough credit or are considering that Forest are in a title race. Steve, do you think the media have been a little bit harsh on Forest this season?

I think at the beginning of the season, they were unnecessarily harsh. If you think We did that. I think I did one of your early preseason podcasts, and we were looking for predictions about where we'd finished and we talked about 11th to 14th or something like that, and everyone else had us to get relegated, which I didn't believe would happen. I don't think anyone's believed it. And if we win tomorrow night, they'll have to believe it. And it's fascinating, isn't it? Because I think everybody else in the league probably wants us to beat Liverpool tomorrow night. Because if we lose to Liverpool and they then win their game in hand against Everton, then they'd be 12 points clear of us, which is middle of the season because the Liverpool Everton's game being announced hasn't it, for a couple of weeks time. So I think if we lose to Liverpool, I've no doubt the Liverpool goal will win the league. If we win tomorrow night, we have a chance because it just sets up that little bit of doubt in and around the Liverpool environment, which is exactly the tactics that we used at Anfield on that day.

We squeezed them and squeezed them and squeezed them for the first 60 minutes. Nuno played really narrow, got them frustrated. They were beginning to argue amongst themselves. They made some substitutions. He brought Alanger and Hudson Adoy on and we scored the gold. And what a day. Absolutely fantastic. I believe we can win tomorrow night. I believe we will win tomorrow night. Am I being silly? No, I think we will win tomorrow night, but I'd happily take a draw and I wouldn't start crying if we lost, but I do think that we can and we will win tomorrow night.

Can we do it, Sarah? Do you think we can win tomorrow?

Yeah, definitely. I think the city grand will be absolutely rocking. Everybody will be up for it. We'll be definitely the 12th, 13th, and 14th man tomorrow, without a doubt. Under the lights, Steve just said it's going to be misty earlier. So it's all on for us, isn't it? You've got Trent, Van Dyke, Salah not signed the contract. Contracts. I've heard there's a bit of unrest going on between them because I think Van Dyke... I mean, this is all hearsay, but obviously, of course it is. But Van Dyke has been fairly quiet about his contract, whereas Salah and Trent, they possibly... I mean, I was listening to a podcast this morning with Liverpool and we're in their heads, definitely. They're saying they don't really talk about any other team apart from Forest this year. Well, obviously, as much as they're talking about Forest when they're playing them and they're watching our game I think they watched the game against Man U, this podcast, it was three of them on, a Forest fan. And so we're definitely getting in their heads, I definitely think, and I think if we're getting in their heads, we're getting in slots because it's the only team he's lost to all 2024, isn't it?

Is it the final he used to manage? So yeah, of course we can do it. Definitely. We're at the city ground. Let's get it rocking. Let's get one-nil. Yeah, lovely. I've got a nephew who's a Liverpool fan, so my text is ready.

Yes, absolutely.

And did you see the papers on Sunday? Sorry. I read the paper. I took my mum's paper on Sunday, the mail, and it had our chant in there that we'd been singing.

Yes, I saw it. Yes, I did. About you. Yeah, I'm sure Forest fans can finish it off. We're coming for you. We're coming for you. And honestly, you could hear that chant not only on Saturday, but also on the telly away at Wolves. Honestly, it was so loud. You could hear it. Brilliant. Steve, in terms of how Forest will set up, you look back at the last League game. Can you see Ryan Yates almost replacing Dominguez, or can you see it being very much the same team against Wolves?

Same team as against Wolves, no shadow of a doubt. I think Yates will be on the bench. I also don't think Trent will play because he played in the FA Cup whenever Liverpool Paul played in the FA Cup, and he was captain. I wouldn't be surprised if Arnault doesn't play Conor Braggly at right back instead. For me, the fascinating battle will be probably something like Murillo, whether he can get hold of Mo Salah. And it's a challenge that he'll absolutely love. But for me, it'll be the same team as we put out against Wolves. I don't think it will be the same result, but that would be nice. But the same team, yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. I wonder what the odds are for Forest to beat Liverpool 3-0 tomorrow. I will have to have a look. Sorry, that's someone ringing me.

I'll tell you in a minute. Keep chatting, I'll check.

Go on. Keep talking, Steve. Keep having a look.

I'll pass David to Sarah and I'll have a look at the odds.

I think what I was going to say Steve's right about Trent. That's what they were saying. They don't think he'll play. They'll think Bradley will play.

I think as well, Sarah, you mentioned it a short while ago, but the pressure is on Liverpool, isn't it, really? Forest have this... Forest almost have this free hit. Obviously, it's completely different, but it slightly reminds me to when Forest went away to Bournemouth towards the end of the season we got promoted and the pressure was on Bournemouth. If Forest had a one, we'd have taken it to the last game, we'd have taken it into that automatic promotion race. But there's just that feeling that we can rock up and we'll just see what happens in a way.

Yeah, I mean, obviously, Liverpool already feel like I think the title is in their hands, don't they? Almost. They're touching it, aren't they? There's nobody really competing for it apart from Arsenal. And I think Man City is going to come good, and I'm sure Chelsea will turn their last few games around. But it's theirs to lose at the moment, isn't it? If they win tomorrow, they've got quite a big gap, and then it puts the pressure on Arsenal. Are they playing Tottenham? Because I think I was listening to something else, and they were saying there's a London derby this week, Tottenham-Arsenal, but that's not the main game. The main game is title contenders, Forest and Liverpool. And I'm listening to this thinking, who would have thought that that's the biggest game this year, of this week? Not Arsenal-Tottenham, but Liverpool-Florist.Un Unbelievable.

Unurable.

66 to one, Max, is your answer.

66 to one, Forest.

For a three nil win.

Oh, three nil.

Yes, not just to win.

I bet it's still about five to one just for us to win, is it?

14 to one, one mil. That's Paddy Power. Other bookmakers are available.

Thank you, Steve. Yes, and obviously Bet responsible, if you're going to bet tomorrow, if you're going to bet tomorrow. Well, in fact, before we talk about Marion Ackerson, a few other bits and pieces coming out of Forest, give us a prediction, both. I'm going to go one-nil Forest. What do you think, Sarah?

Well, I was going to say one-nil, but I'm going to go 2-1 now.

Steve?

2-1.

We will take that.

If you do fantasy football league, it absolutely wrecked my selections this week because I used to have three Liverpool players and three Forest players, so I've I need to change everything around.

I'm leaving it. I'm superstitious, so I'm leaving Trent in because whenever I have him in, I had him at the start of the season, he was rubbish. I took him out and he started scoring. I was putting him back in and he's rubbish again.

I'll put him back in. He's only just for this week, please.

Exactly. He's back in, don't worry. He's back in. He was in last game, rubbish.

We're going to get on to Maira Nackes in a minute. We'll just read out a few comments Jamie says, We need to enjoy the game tomorrow. Let's not put pressure on ourselves. It's a great time to be a Forest fan. Alex says, Slot didn't stop talking about Forest and the earlier game in the Liverpool press conference. Yeah, saw that. This one, a couple of young backup strikers is probably all we need right now. Let's talk Maranacas because quite a bit of nice news that's come out of the club and I will read it, so I'll make sure I get it all spot on. But Evangelos Maranacas has converted another £72 million worth of loans into share capital at Forest at the club. That's just over a week after he had done it with the same £82 million. He basically converts that from debt to equity. There's no interest on it in terms of... I mean, I'm not a financial man, but it's good news. It means that it writes it off and Forest are in a good position financially. I'd recommend listening and watching Kieran Maguire, who is the football financial expert. You might have seen him on various other podcasts and He did a great bit about Forest and he's put some stuff on social media.

So have a read of that if you fancy the ins and outs. But again, Steve, it just shows the ambition from Mr. Maranacas. It shows that we're in a good place off the pitch as well as being on the pitch at the minute, it all going well.

Yeah, completely. It backs up everything he said that was all a bit unbelievable the day after we got a promotion. All those words he said on the council, the council celebration about he was going to support, he was going to provide the funds, there was ambition, et cetera. I mean, it all goes hand in hand with that. Let's be honest, huge credit to him. Long may it continue.

Yeah, absolutely. Sarah, when and Steve obviously talks about that, Maranac has shown the ambition when we got promoted. Has he proven people wrong with that? Has he proven Because he was very much criticized for having that ambition and saying that Forest would be in Europe in the next couple of seasons. But albeit this unbelievable season continues and Forest did finish in Europe, then a lot of people, a lot of pundits will be regretting probably what they said.

Max, do you mean will, not did?

Of course, will.

Yeah, thank you.

Well, I don't know about you guys, but I stood in the market square listening to him and believed every single word he said because He's delivered so far. It might have taken him, was it five years? It took him longer than he expected, but he will deliver Europe of some description, whether that is this season or next year, or if he doesn't get it this year, he's going to make sure he gets it next year as much as possible. I just don't think the media are keen on him, but I don't know whether it's because he is outspoken, he wears his heart on his sleeve, he He says what he thinks. He probably doesn't always think before he says something, hence the tweet after Everton last year, if that was him. Obviously, I don't know. But in one way, I like that. I really like it, and I like being a bit controversial, and I like it that we're not one of the big six. Is there a big six now or a big four? They seem to be able to say and do what they want, and nobody really has much to say. But little old Forest, they've come up and he said those things.

And yeah, I think they wanted to... They did laugh at us a bit, but I stood there as a Forest fan thinking, I believe every word he's saying. It was just euphoric, wasn't it, at the time? Brilliant.

Yeah, absolutely. I look forward to Simon Jordan's apology. On Talk Sport.

You'll never get one.

Yeah. Well, invite him on the podcast and we can have a chat with him. Just finally, before we go, we didn't touch on it in the last podcast because of the crossover and everything like that. But Nuno getting Premier League Manager of the Month, again, and dedicating it to the staff. Steve, fantastic for him and fully deserve just another nice thing that gives Forrest recognition in a way.

I think also gives him recognition. He's a very, very humble guy, and he's very straightforward, and he seems to be very, very calm, but he deserves huge, huge amounts of credit for what he's been able to with a lots of help from lots and lots of people, both in terms of the playing staff, the training staff, and behind the scenes. There's a calmness at the club, isn't there? Which seems to stem from him, which is a completely different scenario than how it was, say, even a year ago when he first came in or soon after he first came in. So fully deserved, delighted for him. We did win, what, five games in December, nobody else did that, so it was unlikely anybody else was going to get it. But what a fantastic accolade. And it's his second one of the season, which is, again, so it's not just a flash in the pan or that thing. So we deserve to be where we are. Let's hope he wins a couple more in the next half of the season.

Yeah, absolutely. And we shall see after tomorrow as well. Thank you both as ever. Great points to score It's 38 minutes all about Luton, the FA Cup, and of course, Liverpool tomorrow. It's a bit of a mad one tomorrow. We're doing a podcast. I'm hoping to bring you some audio reaction after the game, particularly if we win. Getting back to Manchester will be late, but trying to do a podcast after the game, I will try my absolute hardest. It might be an audio only one. It might be one recorded from a car on the way back up here, but we'll try and do that. Then hopefully, all being well, Mark might be able to bring you a podcast as well. That's because Wednesday, I'm out of action all day. A bit of a difficult one to talk about Forest Liverpool after. I'm on the half past six train from Manchester to London, Steve, and I'm sure I won't get back till gone, maybe even one o'clock. I don't think I'm going to sleep much if Forest win.

No, but it won't matter, will it?

Well, exactly. Yeah.

You'll probably do as I did after the Wolves game and get home and go I'm going to watch it another couple of times on telly before I go to bed and go to bed at three o'clock in the morning. But as Sarah said, just sit there just grinning and smiling and laughing and going, let's enjoy it because it's absolutely fantastic.

Absolutely. Let's enjoy it. We shall see. Like I say, we'll try and be back tomorrow. Steve, thank you. Sarah, thank you. Let's hope all of our predictions are right and on another good day for Forest as Marenackus does what he does and shows more ambition to the club Forest. Hope to beat Arne Slots Liverpool and do the double. It would be nice. Our Forest in a title chase, maybe after tomorrow. We'll see you then. You, Reds..