Transcript of Can Forest ACTUALLY push for a European place?

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Garibaldi Red, a Nottingham Forest podcast. I'm Max Agile, your host, and as Forrest climbed a third in the Premier League table. Yes, you heard me right. That is third in the Premier League table. We will finish this weekend third as well after the other fixtures played out today, and it's the best start to a Premier League season since 1998. And it is certainly a very, very good time to be a Forrest fan to discuss the three goals, three points in third place in the Premier League, joined first of all by Talk Sport broadcaster and Forrest fan, Max Scott. Max, good to see you, mate. Like in the air, The Forest merch. Is that the art of football, jumpers?

This is art of football. I can't tell you how much money I've spent on their stuff, but what a weekend, eh?

Well, I think a few of the art of football guys listen to this podcast. So if you're listening, and watching and see Max in it, send him some merch.

Well, I'll say what, I've been in touch with Art Football and they were absolutely delightful. I bought a Cluffy Forest jumper. Cluffy green, just the forest on the back. I lost it, left it on a train and I couldn't get it. And I've asked Art Football if they can reprint it and they couldn't at the time. So if they can, crikey, Moses, I will be in debt forever.

There we go. Art Football, get on it. Also joined by Forest Fan Podcast regular at Aussie Dave. Dave, good to see you, mate. You were in the posh seats yesterday as well, and you've been here for the last three games. You've seen seven goals and three probably- Nine points. Yeah, nine points. It's three of the best games all season. You must be loving life, mate. We need you to stay in the UK.

Yeah. So the link to the GoFundMe page is going to be in the description later to keep David Bolderman in the UK. I've got 21 points from four possible record. But yes, I, too, have been purchasing myself some merch. So I got myself a lovely new scarf, courtesy of the lovely people outside the hotel, and got myself this lovely new Modest Forest hoodie from the Forest shop yesterday after the lovely, lovely day. I met John McGovern yesterday. What a lovely fellow and just terrific ambassador of the team. And he was able to recount for me the story of how his family-owned a pub in in Brisbane, Queensland, called McGovern. So just a It's a lovely time to be a Forest fan, but I was actually thinking, Max, that I was trying to remember back to when Forest were last third and this time in the Premier League. And I thought to myself, well, Max Hayes is probably not going to remember that. And then I thought, well, maybe Max Hayes is so young that he doesn't even remember the promotion season. He's very fresh and young face, but he's a little older than that. But what a terrific time.

So great to be here. Great to be at the City Ground yesterday. And can't wait to talk through 11 fantastic on field performances and five great substitutes.

Yeah, absolutely, mate. Absolutely. Mark will also hopefully join us as well later on. We are live on YouTube, Garibaldi read in Facebook, Nottingham Forest News. So on this Sunday evening, because frankly, what else are you doing with you Sunday evening? Come on, no one does anything. So let us know your thoughts on the game and do get involved in the conversation throughout. And Max, let's start with you then, mate. I mean, just what a great day yesterday. Three points, three goals, as David said then, some standout substitutions as well. A nice display from Fawzia Garibaldi. The atmosphere was there and it just felt like it just summed up Forest season so far. And to finish the weekend third in the You know, you could cry, actually.

Yeah, it was a fantastic day. I thought it was the best atmosphere I've seen at the city ground in quite a while. For me, the standout moment was, obviously, there's loads of things we can talk about the pitch, but the standout moment was when Forest fans were singing Forest Our Back. It just felt quite poignant, really, that we've been in the Premier League now, this is our third season back, right? And we started singing Forest Our Back, Forest Our Back, when we first got promoted. I think it was quite poignant yesterday that a convincing result, albeit against the 10-man West Ham, to put us third in the Premier League. That's when we start singing Forest Our Back in unison. I thought it was indicative of where we really believe we should be. The owner's ambition to get Forrest back into Europe and to be fighting in Europe has been balked at, understandably, you could say. But I think that he deserves credit for almost setting the standard for fans, for setting that as an expectation. There's a fine line between genius and lunacy. The fact that we are here talking about potentially, can we maintain some European place this season?

It's going to be a fight, but it's in our shared consciousness now and our shared expectation because we know this is really where we do belong. We don't just belong in the Premier League, we belong at the very top, even though a generation of us have never actually seen us at the top. Maybe two generations, really. And so, yeah, a magical day, as always, when Forest went on the city ground. But for me, that was a really poignant moment.

Yeah, absolutely. And I also thought just before the game as well, I thought that the minute's silence was beautifully observed by both West Ham and the majority of the Forest fans as well. I thought it was really nicely done. And then the display and mulleting tire after was really loud. It just felt like one of those proper footballing days at the city ground. David, I just wonder when we're going to games now, you can obviously tell me what you thought the game as a whole. But Max talks about the generations now, almost not seeing the success where we are and third in the Premier League. But I almost wonder now when we walk to the city ground, and even just any away game at the minute, you have that special feeling. And Nuno and everyone involved with the club on and off the pitch has done a great job of almost bringing that special feeling back to sing Forest Our Back.

The Forest Our Back chant was a terrific moment. And if you think back a week to the Leicester City match with the Stevie Cooper chant as well, the Forest fans' ability to understand the moment that they're in and that team is going through and giving their team something on the pitch is a sight to behold. But to your point on that, I was in a different seating experience yesterday. The professionalism of that club going through the posh seats, as you called it, Max, and how the How I was greeted by John McGovern and that whole set up. If you ever have the chance to do the vault experience or any of those corporate Ospo experiences, it is a moment of a lifetime doing that. And it's the professionalism of the entire outfit. And it just shows. And so for being someone who hasn't been to Nottingham for four or five months since the end of last season, even the city just feels different. After the match, there's more fireworks going off. There's just more energy. The Italian place that I go to has got a few more people in it. It's just a little bit more up vibe and upbeat.

And so you can just tell that expectation is just, what does that say? Rising tides lift, saw boats. And so to your point on Marenacus, he's certainly delivered for us. And look, even in our Content Creator Network. There seems to be a new Nottingham Forest podcast every single week. It's just spurring up. It's just a great time to be a Forest fan, Max, but I love getting the games. It's just the best. It's emotional.

Yeah, it is. It is mate, it is. I I remember when there was just one, two Forest YouTube channels when I first started, and there we go, there's about 50 odd now, but it shows the growth of the club, really, and in particular, the growth of the fan base. Max wanted to go back to the first half in particular, and I was talking to a few people and they said, Oh, I thought Forest started quite, not sloppy, but it was a little bit of a slow start. I just thought the first 15 minutes was quite even, and I thought West Ham had chances, and obviously Forest did too. But I think then It's when Forest almost, I think this throughout the first and the second half, they don't almost step it up a level, but they almost regroup. And when the ball goes out and there's a bit of time for Forest to get together, and then you almost trust the plan now that Nuno is putting in place. And Obviously, Morgan gives why it comes in to replace Anderson. So there's that one change there. So you almost felt like you could trust the plan, even if maybe the first five or 10 minutes didn't go too well.

Yeah, I think that's a hallmark of Nuno's side. It's just organized. It knows what it's doing. It's patient. I can't really remember many games where we've got off to an electrifying start, and I think that's not the point, really. The point is, how does it finish? And this season has been finishing really well most of the time. So I think there's a stealing and an assuredness about the size. And I tell you what, we've not spoken since the Leicester games, so sorry if this goes back a little bit, but when I watched Forest Leicester, when I was watching Leicester, it felt like, and I mean this in in a respectful way, I felt like I was watching a Steve Cooper side. And that's obvious, Lester are a Steve Cooper side. But it just made me compare the assuredness of under Nuno, there's a clear plan, they know what they're doing, they know what position they need to be in all the time, going forward, going back out of possession, et cetera. Whereas it felt under Steve Cooper, perhaps at its worst, that we didn't really know what we were doing. And there were players capable on the pitch, but there wasn't a clear way of playing.

It's just magnificent that we've gone from one magical manager, Steve Cooper, who did everything he could for us and got us up, kept us up, and now we've managed to stumble across Nuno, who's given us this stealiness that I didn't think was possible in such a short space of time. We've gone from almost being relegated last season to being third in the Premier League, and I know we all know that. But it's magnificent and remarkable what one preseason has done, essentially, which everybody knows their role and everybody knows their place. I honestly didn't think we'd get there this quickly. I think now it's about maintaining those standards throughout the rest of the season because teams will start to figure us out a little bit.

Yeah, definitely. Long may it continue. A few comments on YouTube and Facebook. Ian says, Every player across the team now seems to have absolute clarity there in each other's role and demonstrating leadership throughout. We have stability and an amazing foundation on which to build. Phil says, So happy for Ola Eina getting that goal. ' How happy the squads are as well. This one from... There was a funny one here that made me laugh from Peter. Never thought I would cheer Topman Man United this weekend. ' 'Field dirty, but strangely cleansed now. ' Yeah, I agree. Who'd have thought we'd be... It's actually funny. I was speaking to a good mate, Pat, who's been on the podcast before, and we talk a lot about Forrest, and we go to games with each other. So share a lot of opinions. And he was saying And to me, how bizarre it was today. He was checking the top four, five's results, and he wasn't looking down the other end of the table. And I think that just really is, as you were alluding to, Max, just a short while ago, how far Forest have come in such a short space of time.

But cheering the draws, Max. We're hoping for a draw so that it takes the point off of them. Can I just build on Max's point on the role of the players? The match yesterday, clearly, they weren't pumping it long to Chris Wood in the same way because they knew that the strength of the West Ham defenders were bigger. And so the simplicity of the strategy that Moreno side of the ball touched it twice as much as Aina's side. And we just saw the dividends of that with that first goal that we got. And so the simplicity of the strategies and just those ways to change it. And he just absolutely nailed it from the strategy for the players that we have, Nuno in place as well. We don't win the ball in the top third. We try to win the ball in the middle and then just release. Oh, goodness. Coming to us live.

I'm not sure about the audio. Mark, sort your audio out. Are you in some casino or something? He is. He is in some casino. Mark, can you hear us?

Yeah, give me a second.

Okay. All right.

Okay. So, Max, I can just confirm that Mark is in a casino because he's just worked out that if he puts 15 quid on Nottingham Forest at 200 to one to win the Premier League, that will cover all of his the Champions League fees for getting to every match next season. That's what he is doing.

Absolutely, mate. Get those plane tickets booked. I don't know where you were, David, with your point. So we'll come back in a minute. But I honestly wanted to start, really. We go around and we talk about key performances at Forest. And in fact, Matt, you can kick us off with this one. When we think and we talk about players that maybe go under the radar, and I wanted to start quite quickly on him, and we mentioned him last time, but I just think Nicolas Dominguez and how he does go under the radar, and he is an absolute... Every single challenge, every single 50/50, the turnover of play when you watch him and you follow him quite close, and I did that yesterday for the first time in a while, I just followed him quite closely, not only on the ball, but out of possession. I just thought he was excellent. Almost that shows that Forest have got such strong players that aren't even getting onto the... He's starting 11 a lot the time, and now Dominguez comes back in, just how good of a job he's done.

Yeah, absolutely. And he was just incredibly composed, I thought, yesterday. There were loads of little moments where he didn't panic and kept possession when he might not have done or when you might not think he would have done. Yeah, I think you're absolutely spot on. He's been fantastic. And I think it goes to show that in a team where there's a really strong culture and there's obviously a shared set of values and a shared way of playing, all those things we see, it means that people, when you have quality players like we do, like Nico Dominguez, they can come in and do a really important job. Then I've got no doubt that James Ward-Prowse, at some point in the season, is going to have a really important role to play, and he's going to come in and out. We'll see it with Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson. So the fact that you've got people like Nico Dominguez that can come in and know exactly what they're doing and impress in such an important time for us says everything about the culture of the Yeah, absolutely.

And he's apparently a big character in the dressing room as well. It seems that he fits in very well. And there's so many players that have that buzz about them. If you've not seen Olerena and Callimudson adore dancing in the dressing rooms, there's a video on Twitter, I think, from Oleraina's Snapchat. Go and watch it. It's brilliant. It honestly made my night last night. Mark, we've got to come to you because I don't know how long you're going to be here with us for. Are you working on a Sunday, mate? Where are you?

I am as my name... Can you hear me okay?

We can hear you loud and clear.

Great, great, great. As my name tag suggests, I am Maracopa. If you don't know where that is, Max, I'll save you digging out the Atlas. It's in Arizona. And I'm here for a conference. Yes, it's being held at a casino. So tough life. I had to travel on a Sunday, but I am in a casino. So I guess that's what you call the yin- yang. I don't know how long I I love with you guys, but I do have three hot takes.

I wanted to drop on you, if that's okay. Go on. Of course. Fire away, mate.

Fantastic. The first of which is, I don't think in forest history, there has ever been a better free than Ola Aina. I'm prepared to take hits online. People can drop notes in here.

I can't think of one. I bet a free transfer.

Free transfer.

I thought you were saying three then for a second. I was like, wait a minute. I'm like, well, these But yeah, free transfer.

It's a good point.

I'd have to think about it, look through the history of it, but certainly in recent times, I can't think of a more effective free transfer. I wonder if there's any transfer magic that Cluffy pulled off, because I don't know how much all those boys cost in that time. But certainly in a modern era, I think you can't go... Just initially, I can't think of anything better. Do you know what I mean? And he's our player, he's not a lone player. There's a lot of fun stuff there. I think that's probably quite a good shout.

All right, cool. Here's my second one. This is going to raise some heckles, I'm sure. But I think in modern times, so since the European Cup triumphs, I don't know that we've had a better, more balanced fullback pairing than Aina and Moreno. We've had excellent fullback. Stuart Piers, undoubtedly the best fullback to Grace our club, possibly the greatest fullback England's ever produced, period. We have David Anderson. We've had good fullbacks down the years, but- Kim Brennan and Matthew Louis-Jean.

How about that?

Thierry Bonalair and Alan Rodgers.

They were absolutely gold.

I'm talking about balance. So defensively, they both do their jobs. I mean, one-on-one, has anyone taken Anus to the Cleaners yet? It's ridiculous. Moreno is different class. So defensively, they give it you. Offensively, they give it you, as we saw yesterday with an assist and a goal. I'm thinking about balanced fullbacks. Have we ever seen a better pairing in modern day forest?

I'm going to say Stuart Pears and Dez Little have certainly got there. Max knows I'm happy to tell you. They've certainly got those two covered. It's look, one sunny day don't make a summer, Mark. Let's end of the season. If we could finish higher than the third, then I'm prepared to give it. But Stuart Pears and Des Little. Des Little, he was in Forest. He's like one of the great Forest right backs. He was almost right back in the century or whatever it was. Class player, Stuart Pears, come on. He's got 16 goals at the Premier League.

Come on. I'm not arguing with Stuart Piers. He and John Robertson are my favorite players ever.

You could argue that Stuart Piers and anybody is the best fullback combination in forest history. But it's a great take. You're certainly right, Mark. I think, look, Moreno's ability to get forward, both their abilities to get forward, the passing game and also the skill on the boat. You're not wrong in terms of a set of and the balance that they bring. Goodness me. And given that they're keeping Nico Williams out of the team, and he's not in terrible form.

Yeah, absolutely. And it's a 10-game sample. So I know I'm being slightly hyperbolic there, but it's something to think about. I think we do need to appreciate, as Forest fans, how lucky we are to have the two of them at the same time because they're an incredible combination. Final hot take. Really going to handle him with this one. Yeah, I don't think Forest is getting relegated this season.

Really? That's a great take.

I'm prepared to stick my neck out. I'm sticking my neck out on that one.

What's more likely, Mark, Champions League or relegation?

All right.

So it's possible that I reached out to a certain Trevor that Max knows, at least transidentially.

He don't know me directly, but- Trevor.

Trevor's mentioned every time you're on this podcast, man.

Anymore, he is. And quite possibly have him put a bet on Forest in the Premier League, I can neither confirm nor deny. But I heard David at the end of his pattern there a couple of minutes ago, and yes, my Champions League trips will be covered.

Absolutely. Good stuff, Mark. I don't know how much longer you're going to stay. Have you got to get back to work or anything, Mark? I do.

I need to run back here in a couple of minutes. Yeah.

Okay. Well, look, you tell your boss, mate, that you've got the guy I've already read podcast to do. That comes first. Come on.

Well, seriously, I'm wrapping up thoughts. What an incredible, incredible day. Sat in my front room in Colorado in America, screaming He was giving me my head off. And I was talking with, oh my gosh, he's going to get a second name check, with Trev. In fact, when Aina scored, I facetimed Trev, and he was on delay, so he hadn't seen it. And so I was like, Oh, gosh, I need to shut up. I need to shut up for you to watch it. But I was saying to him, In modern times, I don't think I've loved a Forest team more. He said, Oh, what about the promotion team? I'm like, Well, to Max's point, a third of that team were loners. It didn't mean we don't love them, but they weren't our boys. This team is just, oh, man, it's just something else. All facets of it, the way it plays. The pressing yesterday, oh, my God, the pressing was fantastic. Seeing them just in the grill, in West Ham play this grill, and they didn't know how to deal with it. And then just off the field as well, the energy that they have and the connection they have with the fans.

I am so in love with Nottingham Forest right now, and yesterday was magnificent. So, yeah, I just wanted to be on here to share that with you boys.

Lovely. Thank you, Mark. We appreciate it, mate.

Great cameo.

Yeah, great cameo. That was absolutely...

And Mark, I'll just say to you, you were a doubter of Ryan Yates all along, and I told you that Ryan Yates was a good player, and he's been in such good form. I can't believe you've been as an attractor of Yates all this time. And on that note, bugger off.

Yeah. Do one, Mark. Brilliant. Thanks, Mark. I appreciate it. It was the best cameo since my cameo of the turkey episode. Can you remember that? You and Mark did that video. Oh, yeah. Right. Let's get back to talking about forests and not talking about casinos and everything like that. Max, Mark just mentions there about how likable having the current Forest team is. And I think that is key. Last season, I did struggle. I know obviously there's a few players in there still that were there towards the tail end of last season. But whether that was to do with the points deduction and it just been a bit of an uncertain time and maybe under Cooper, but I just felt like I couldn't really relate to that Forest team. I think every football fan at a football club wants to be able to do that. I think this season, as Mark alluded to, it just seems like everyone's smiling, everyone's happy. There's a great buzz off the pitch. There is that relationship there between not just the fans and players, but the fans in the club now as well.

Yeah. Well, that's what happens when you're third in Premier League. I mean, it's a pretty simple equation, isn't it? I mean, I think last season, considering the points deduction and the uncertainty around that, and then Nuno came in, and it's a really difficult time to come in as a manager under that pressure to try to establish yourself. Yeah, it's pretty simple, isn't it? When your team is third in the Premier League, particularly when it's forest against the odds, and in the backdrop of there being this feeling of injustice towards the PGMOL and the FA for the fines and all that stuff, then it's turned out to be quite a good mix, really, for Forest. But yeah, we're third in the league, we're scoring goals, we're beating teams comfortably. We're beating rivals away. I mean, it's absolutely magic. I think the conversation really is, how does this look in 10 games time, after the first 10? Do you think we can maintain I mean, are your teams going to figure out what do we think?

Well, I think, in fact, before David gets in and as his take, I think I read a tweet last night from a Liverpool fan, and it said that that defeat to Forest didn't look as bad as it did for them back then than it does now. And I think that's really key is people call that Liverpool result fluky. And look, it might have been Forest might have won that game, and then we might have lost the next three, four, and lost all of them since, but we haven't, right? And we maintain that. That's shown consistency. But I I don't just think that the Liverpool game, but I think the standout performance against Leicester 3-1, it's Friday night. A lot of the media are there. A lot of fans are watching it on the telly as neutrals. Yesterday as well, 3-0 in the Premier League, it's a bit of a rare score line unless you play in Man City or maybe Arsenal in the 21st century, right? You don't see that so often. So I think that the consistency is already there. It's just how long Forest can keep it going. And of course, we're going to hit a bad patch naturally.

That bad patch might be at the end of the season or it might be next season. We might keep it going for the next six months. I just look at it like something no one's going to want to play against us.

It's really difficult to predict, but the way you hear Nuno talking about the standards and he sounds almost like lovingly ruthless. The players love him. He's really calm, but he's got this edge about him that it's never enough. We're always reaching for the next level. There's clearly no complacency in his messaging towards the players. And so that fills me with confidence. And it also makes me think like, City and Arsenal, they're not going to want to play us. That doesn't mean we're favorites, but we're an absolute after-play. Just the how dogged they are, the determination, the yards they cover, the fight in it, all those things that you want to see as a fan. I think we've got an abundance. I don't think that those things seem like transitory things that are going to change. Do you know what I mean? Or they're things that are built into the squad, they're foundational things. That's what's so impressive is it's not just like, oh, Hudson Adoy had a good game today and he won the game for us, or Morgan Gibbs, why it was electric. Everyone is doing the small things right. And so that is what encourages me to think, I don't think that we're just going to slip off and end up 14th, which if we finish 14th, at the start of the season, you'll probably took that.

I really think the foundational things they've got, and that's what fills me with confidence.

Yeah. Do you agree, David? Do you think that Forest can almost maintain this European place at the minute?

Well, the time to play us, if you're one of the opposition clubs, is actually now. We've got a couple of injuries in midfield. We had James Ward-Prowse out suspended, and Morgan gives why it was injured.

And the manager is not able to stand on the sideline of the pitch.

And so it actually makes sense to play us now. In a game or two, we're going to get a couple of bit more back. James Ward-Prowse will be a little bit more settled. And so we're as strong as we can possibly. Even Taewo responded really well to the Leicester City chant the other day, and he seems really eager to try and prove himself and win the ball and also force Forrest to buy a developmental young striker rather than a second or first choice striker that can come in. And I'll throw it back to you, boys. Who right now is an Oddingham Forest player is an out of form player? Remember, we used to play Jesse Linguard. We're like, I guess we put Jesse Linguard in the team because he's out of form and he's less out of form than this guy. Who is genuinely out of form in Forest at the moment. And I think we could talk about the player that I think you both might answer, but interested, Max Hayes, who do you think? Who's genuinely out of four?

Adam, maybe if I had to say one, I'd have potentially said Tywo, but maybe that's a bit unfair. I think given his. He's a bench. Well, yeah. If we're talking about players that just start on the pitch, I don't think there is one, right?

I'll put my neck out there. If I had to choose one, I'd I'd say it was Alanga, but not because he's playing poorly, but because I don't think that he is as direct as he could be or as direct as Kalim Hudson Adoy. I think that when he gets the ball, he needs to use his pace more and try to knock the ball past players. But then, caveat, I don't think he's playing poorly. I think everybody in that side is playing well. But if I was to ask for more from one of those players, it would be Alanger. Who is it for you?

I'm going to challenge you, Max. Don't dispute. Ladi, Alanga's accuracy of the pass is underrated, and I think he does more for us in terms of unlocking the other side of the field. But I'm on team Alanga. I'm not dropping him for any of the other Souser or Silvers.

No, I'm not dropping him. No, I'm not dropping him. But you asked a question and I answered it.

Yeah, I know.

I gave you some. I stuck my neck on the line.

Yeah, you did. And I knew you were going to pick Langer too, Max. I knew you were going to pick him.

Who's yours? If you had to pick a I don't think any of them are out of form. I don't think he's out of form. I don't think he's playing as well as I have seen him play in a Forest shirt. But like you say, it don't matter. The balance of the team is really good. I wouldn't drop him for the next game. I wouldn't take drastic action because things are working really well, obviously. But I would just like to see him be a little bit more direct occasionally, but I'm nitpicking there.

Yeah, and I also will throw it in there that having a Langer that might not be at his best at the minute, and then you've got Jota Silva on the bench, you can come on and ram on Sosa. Is it a slight thing in a way that Nuno sees it? Well, we can play a Langer for 70, 60 minutes, and if we're one, two goals up, like it has been for the last couple of games, well then off the bench, you bring on players with such creativity and such... We just look at the squad depth at the minute, and the bench looks excellent for Forest.

Imagine you've just dealt with the The physicality of Chris Wood, the speed of Kalim Hatzido in a langer. You're like, Oh, I've seen these guys off. And then you get those Jack in the boxes come on, and then they bring on just the beast that is Taewo on you just running at you. And that just must give people nightmares. Like, what a terrific outfit. And then you've also got Elliot Anderson in the mix. And I'll throw it to you, Max, on Elliot Anderson. I thought yesterday he was a little jaded not being starting, but I thought that it was the right move given that they're probably trying to manage Morgan gives white. And so it was clearly a strat of, well, let's see how long Morgan gives white. We can bring Anderson on. But boy, was Anderson good when he came on. Four in the three, what happens?

Yeah. He was mate, he was, mate. He was. You brought me quite nicely to our next point. It's time to single out some players as we do most episodes. And let's talk Anderson then in terms of the stats. He played 27 minutes for Forest. He was the most fouled player actually on the pitch. He got an assist from one of those fouls also, of course, spotting Callum Hudson-Adoy for the second goal. Max, throwing it to you when we talk about players like Jota Silva and Ramon Sosa on the bench. But to say that we dropped earlier, Anderson, maybe a little bit harsh, but you can understand why, given it's Morgan gives away, and he is ultimately the star man. But to have a player like that on the bench to come on to make such an impact, as I've just mentioned there with the statistics. But also when you look back to the summer and I was critical of the signing, I think that is probably one of the best pieces of business that Forrest have done, and it will help us going forward. We'll look back at it in hopefully three, four years and think that is a great piece of recruitment right there.

Yeah. I think he was injured, and I think worked. He had a knock before the game. And so it worked out really nicely that Morgan Gives-White was coming back and that he probably needed a bit of a breather. He's a magnificent player. I think he will have been devastated to leave New under the circumstances, knowing that ultimately he was a part of a PSR, jiggery, pokery deal. But that's one of the flaws of PSR, that it encourages clubs like Newcastle to sell their homegrown talent because you get 100 % profit for it. So that's just a mini caveat. But I guarantee you'll have been absolutely gutted to leave. But I think it's just one of those ones where it turns out the move that he didn't want is perfect for him. Because when you look at him playing for Newcastle, he never played in his preferred position. He's come in and he looks like an absolute general in there. And also, lots of Forest fans expect or see a world in which Morgan Gibbs-White isn't a Forest player because of how good he is. A top four finisher would certainly change that. But the thing about Anderson is, one, he's a very good replacement for Morgan Gibbs-White, and two, it shows that Forest aren't relying on Morgan Gibbs-White to succeed.

So I'm delighted to have him at the club. I think he looks more and more confident every game. He plays the way you want him to play. He's a bit like a Ryan Yates as well in that regard, but he's got this technique of Morgan Gibbs-White. Just so lucky to have him. Great recruitment.

Absolutely, mate. Spot on. Lots of comments on YouTube and Facebook, a few hundred people watching as well, which is good to see. A podcast friend Sarah says, We are the dark horses of the Premier League this year. Yes, we can get Europe if the stars align. A few injuries, bit of luck, and morale stays high. This one that says, Get through the next six games, see where we are. If we are still top seven, Europe is definitely possible. And this one from Phil also, again, this team seems to have confidence that they can win every game in the same way that the Championship Promotion team did. Yeah, that's a nice little point there. David, I think with earlier Anderson, And as Max was saying there about Morgan Gibbs-White, you almost feel that Forest aren't relying on players that much. And I know that sounds a bit of a silly comment with Chris Ward and how many goals he scores us. But if a player does get injured, let's take Chris Ward out the occasion because maybe we would be a bit knackered right now if Chris Wood gets injured. But if you look at the midfield and the same way that Danilo and Sangare got injured at the start of the season, you feel like, similar to that promotion winning team, actually, that Forest aren't just relying on one player or two players.

A bit It's like last season where you're building teams around those, it feels now that every player knows their position, as we talked about earlier, knows their worth, and the fighting for each other that you feel it's almost that next man up mentality we used to talk about.

It certainly is the next man up mentality. Last season, they were bandying around the statistics around Nottingham Forest's poor form when Morgan gives white wasn't in the team. Now, we literally haven't blinked with him out of the team. You can make an argument that Elliott Anderson offers a bunch of elements that Morgan gives white doesn't. So we're not struggling for any of the positions. I wouldn't underestimate the ability maybe now of tie well, if Chris Wood caught an injury, I think he would be in a better spot than he was two or three weeks ago. And I also think let's not underestimate the strength that we have in Jota Silva up front. I think he could offer us a completely different perspective if the strategy presented itself. But so far it's just made absolute sense to have Chris Wood. So, yeah, the strength of the squad now, every player seems to have a position and a role and a contributing factor. It's just really setting us well up for if we do have to go into Europe or wherever. What about Murata? Every time he's come onto the field, he's filled So well, so well.

Imagine if we were out without Malinkovich or Murillo, I wouldn't bat an eyelid with him in the squad.

Yeah, absolutely. I wanted to talk about probably... We'll start again with the defense for Forest and we talk about Olerena, but the whole back four, really. We'll talk about Chris Wood as well. We do obviously mention Chris Wood a lot, and it's nice to mention them, to mention all the players that are so impactful for this Forest team. David, when you look at that, Marillo and Malinkowitch partnership at the minute and the whole back four, Alex Moreno and obviously Olorena, would you make an argument that Forest currently have one of the best defenses in the league and probably the cheapest defense when you think about it?

Well, we certainly have the cheapest defense. Good as me, the best deal. The saying that I've banded around is that Malinkowitch is a better defender than Marillo, but Marillo is a better footballer. And so they're just a perfect yin and yang. And so there were two moments yesterday watching, and because of the angle where I was, there was a half second where I was like, oh, no. And then, of course, Malinkowitch is just there, and he comes out from under the player and just tidies it up. And there was another one, like Marillo's scramble defense when he has to move quickly and just understanding the reading of those plays, is just absolutely terrific. And even when you look at the heat maps of where the two of Marillo and Malencovitch stand, they're really on each other's side, on their own side of the field. And so they're just so confident with each other. And that is just breeding confidence throughout the entire team. And even some of the skillful plays and playing it out of the back in the passing and a few moments where Milencovitch just jinks around and switches it around. It's just so good to see the way Forrest are playing it out from the back and with the fullbacks that we've got and the balanced fullbacks, as Mark said, certainly starts from the back.

Yeah, absolutely, mate. Absolutely. Max, I think with the defense of Forrest, we talked about last season about set pieces and conceding from there, but airily, you've got Malencovitch and Marillo, you've got Marillo as David alluded to there about him always being a better footballer, maybe as well in terms of his technical ability and his pace and the way he can get out quite quickly. But is that Forest defense almost... Do you think it's here for the foreseeable? Because people talk about Murillo going, possibly in January, we were talking about Murillo going at the end of the season. We talk about it consistently, but is it a defensive line that Forest can keep hold of, simply? And also So maybe just throwing this one at you as well. If Forest do well this season, all right, maybe Europe, but even just a top 10. We're an attractive club in January, and maybe Murillo and Morgan Gives-White don't fancy going.

Yeah, I'd be really disappointed And at that point, if any of them left in January, I think we'll really struggle to keep Murillo past the end of the season for sure. I think there's a strong argument to say that staying at Forest another year at such a tender age, developing in his craft, if Forest can get a European space, then even more so, we can be one of the main men in the European side at a club with such rich European history. But in answer to your question, I think, yeah, it'd be really difficult to keep both of them, Milinković and Marillo, if we keep going this way. But particularly Marillo, he's got the eyes of the biggest sides in Europe, biggest sides in the Premier League on him. But I'd be really disappointed if an offer was accepted in January. Why? Why accept an offer mid-season? When is stocks only going to rise towards the end of the season anyway?

So, yeah, I think- It might be 70 million, Max.

Sorry?

It might be 70 million reasons to- Yeah.

No, absolutely. But I don't think someone's going to come in with an initial bit of 70 million quid. Look, we'll see how all this plays out. I don't know. I just think for the The balance of the squad in what could be a historic season for the club, just keep him.

I reckon Marillo right now looks a little... He loves Forest and he loves being there, but he does know... I think he just looks like he knows his time with Forest might be coming to in, and he doesn't look as... Did you guys understand what I mean? He doesn't look as in. He's nine out of 10 enjoying it, whereas Olerain is 10 10 enjoying it. Morgan gives white gates, they're 10 out of 10. He's loving it, don't get me wrong. I'm not being critical by any means. But if a club comes in and they're offering double his wages that he's getting now, it's going to be very difficult for for us to hold on to that player.

Yeah, I know what you mean. It's a little bit amateur psychology, isn't it? But I'm the same. I'm exactly the same. I've looked at him and thought, Oh, does he fancy it as much as you He fancied.

He looks like a guy that knows he's about to break up with his girlfriend, but he still loves her. It's a bad analogy.

But you're right, he knows, doesn't he? I honestly think this guy's generational talent. I think he could be one of the greatest centrebacks in the modern era. I really do believe that. You look at his frame, yet despite that, how quick he is. I thought you were going to mention it, that That moment with Jared Bowen, when I think Bowen leaves something in on him, gets the ball off him, and Moreno tracks back, absolutely puts the afterburners on, and then manages to turn and smile at Jared Bowen. You'll have only seen it if you were maybe in the A block towards...

But anyway, the cockiness, and I love that about him, the needle.

I think he's got everything. I really think he's got everything to become a generational talent. His next move is massive and staying injury-free is massive. That's true. But I can't think of... Honestly, I think he's far better technically than Virgil van Dyke.

It needs to resist the urges from the Forest Vans to shoot every time he gets the ball in any remote position. It's like we think he's Pierre Van Ouydog, and he's going to score from 40 meters, but it's very entertaining.

Yeah, absolutely. Let's rattle through and try and get through some more players before we finish up. Let's talk Callum Hudson-Odoy. Of course, a brilliant goal. Why on Earth West Ham left him unmarked on that set piece? Maybe Lopeteghi wants to get sacked or something, but I don't know who's in charge of West Ham's set piece, is because that was a bit of a poor decision. But Hudson Adoy does what he does. He capitalizes on that, and it was a great goal. And not taking that away from him, he scored as many non-penalty Premier League goals now, which is nine in 2024, the same as Mo Salah and Bakayo Saka. So there you go. He's up there with the very top and the top six where Forest find themselves at the minute. David, when you look at Callum Hudson Adoy, as we were just talking about their personalities, and maybe Mirillo not almost in it as much, but Callum Hudson Adoy is loving life. He's dancing with Oleraina. That relationship you can see. He's obviously this big influential player in the dressing room, and we talk about it every episode, but it must breed confidence when he's scoring.

The fans are singing his name with a new brilliant chant, and just everything's going right for And in a way, he's turned his career around, given the injuries he had when he was younger.

Kalimard to DeDoye is the pinnacle of all the stand-up poster, really, for what Nottingham Forest offers all of these Premier League players. It's the land of opportunity. He was unsure where his career was going to go. He couldn't crack it into the Chelsea team when he comes to play for us. And he's an absolute stand-out performer. And he's so much like many of the other players. Alanger couldn't quite crack it. And Morgan gives what, what was he going to do at Wolves? And Moreno couldn't get into Villa. And Kalamata D'Adoy is just absolutely loving life. And what is so entertaining about the way he plays, it's one thing to know what his move is, Max. It's another thing to stop it. And so now he's got teams so frightened of him pulling that move on them that they're either double marking him or he's able to cut through on that left-hand side. So how many nice little through balls did we see from Marillo on that side? There was the one for Moreno and also the one for Anderson that they were playing through. He's just also so dangerous that he's creating so much for the rest of the team.

And he's also just so skillful. He's just touching speed. He's just a terrific... How can he not work as a player for Chelsea? You just got to look at that and go, What went wrong for those guys, don't you?

Well, you look at Chelsea, don't you? It just accentuates how much of an absolute mess it is at board level. They've spent whatever they did on Mikaela Mudrick and look at Callumudson-O'Doy. I think you're absolutely right. That's what Forest can give to these players, is a place that they can call home, which sounds cliché, but isn't, because there's fans that are rooting for them. There's slightly less expectation. There's got a clear way of playing. I think the big concern, though, is we've got so many players that... How long are they going to value that for? I don't mean to be cynical, and I'm not saying that they don't care about Forest, but everyone's got a price tag. There are so many players in this Forest side, Crikey Moses, Alanger, Callum Hudson-Hedoy, Morgan gives away, Elliot Anderson as well, Murillo, All of these players, you would not be surprised if other bigger clubs with more money behind them would want to sign those players. I do think that's going to be a concern for us. How do we replace three of those six players that inevitably leave? What does that look like for us in terms of a recruitment policy?

Because what we want to be doing is something like Brighton. I think the next transfer window is going to be really telling for Forest and where they are strategically at a board level. Because my question is, and I don't know the answer, have they just been really lucky that they've had a good window and they've managed to sign the right players? Or, you So, yeah, are they lucky or is this a real strategy, something that's going to play year in, year out? We buy in players, they get better, we sell them for more. We buy in players, they get better, we sell them for more. And I think that's going to be the big challenge for Forest off the field is how do they establish that as a club so that it doesn't matter if Callum Hudson or Doy leaves, it doesn't matter if Murillo leaves, et cetera.

I'm actually going to throw it back as well, Max, and say, I was thinking about this yesterday. Forest are in the top, let's say, top seven, come the January window opening Is that a time where the club look and Marinoacus thinks, hang on a minute, adding just a few key additions, I'm talking maybe two players here, a striker and I don't know, a winger, if the right person comes about. Or let's say that Forrest just going to get a Premier League striker, he says in quotation marks. But that's where you wonder whether Marinoacus will look then at strengthening the recruitment even more because he knows what's the state. There's something to play for. It's not going to be a mid-table finish. Yeah.

No, I think it would be nice to do that.

I was going to say that the recruitment looks more strategic and considered with Nuno now at the helm. So I think it's a few things different going on at the same time. One is the Maranacas family and that water falling down to the recruitment team, they're just better at it now. They're three years in. They made a mistake with Lingard and a couple of other ones. It just worked out with which players work and which ones don't. So you've got that. Then you've also got, because they bought so many players, they have hit on a couple. They've hit on Morgan, Gibbs, White, and Ritz. So because they've hit on a couple of players, it just gives them a little bit more flexibility. And they've also signed most of the players to long term contracts. So really, the only contracts we're talking about is Olerena and Chris Wood, who if they left, we'd probably be okay. We sign a new striker in January and we got plenty of fullbacks. It's not like we've got contract problems with gives white in any of these ones. So we should really be able to manage and understand when is the Murillo bid coming in?

And if the Murillo bid is coming in this time, have we lined up the replacement for Murillo? That's the key question for me. Have we got That's the key thing. Because if you could get 70 million pounds for Murillo and Murata slots straight in, and your team dips in performance by 2%, then that's an enormously good trade, because Then you've got 70 million to go by three Chris woods. I just feel like they're in a really good considered spot for considering all the different players. Also, of the squad of the 25, there's really only Emmanuel Dennis who's not really contributing or playing some role, I think. I'm feeling really good about the squad shape at the minute, if you can't tell, Max.

No, I love it. I think it makes It makes sense what you're saying. I want to be clear. I hope that this last window, this summer, everything they've done has to turn to gold. Even the likes of Sosa and Silver who aren't playing as much, but you just look at them, you're like, They are ready. They don't need loads of time. They can come in and contribute straight away as they have. I guess it's just the analytical part of my brain is trying to think, was that a flash in the pan? I don't think it was, but when you look the likes of Brighton and the likes of Villa who've shown how to sustain themselves and survive and really progress as Premier League sides, we have to be doing that. I really hope that that is happening, and I do believe it probably is. But it's a funny club forest and it's got its quirks, hasn't it? With Mr. Varadale, and all of these signs and things like that. I just think, does that, does his charisma marry itself up with the measured thinking of a Brighton. I find it difficult to connect those things.

But the evidence is actually, despite his charisma and his, you can call him quirks, you can call it disgraceful behavior if you believe the FA about him spitting. Despite all of that, what I am seeing a bit more of a connection is that there is actually this measured, reasoned approach, and I hope that that's the case. Do you know what I'm saying there? That those things are married together.

Yeah, Can I tell you a funny story, fellows?

Where I was sitting on the weekend, four rows in front of some of the players, I said to the person next to me, We're up 2-0. And then I said, Yeah, but it's Forest, we can blow it. And he said, You can't say that with Danilo three rows back. And I'm like, Sorry, guys, you're right. But as you said, Max.

It sounds like you were in the dugouts, David, by your seat.

Not quite in the dugouts, but in a very I was very lucky, Max.

Yes, very nice. Right, we'll wrap it up. In fact, it's cracked me up. My dad has just messaged me with a picture of my mom, my dad, and my dog all with the wood burner on watching us on the big 10 in the living room. There you go. That's what you can do with your Sunday evening for Garra. I've already read. Who would want to watch us three with the fire on? Have you not got anything better to do with your Sunday evening. Right. Let's finish up, shall we? And we will talk about... Well, in fact, Because we've tried to get through so many places, but I'm a bit wary of time and everything like that. Let's finish it up with, and we'll start with you, Max. Can Forest, I know we've gone around the houses a little bit with it, but can Forest maintain this European place? Can Forest continue what they're doing?

Yeah, because I really think it, not that I think it will happen. I'm not one of those Forrest, like that. I hate that, about online sports stuff. But I really think we can. I think we can because what I said earlier, they've got the foundational, I guess, culture and behaviors and patterns already down. I don't think anything about our success this season has been luck. I think it's all been deserved. We, and then the rest of Premier League supporters, are catching up and realizing that this isn't just a flash in the pan, that I think this is serious, and I think it's all credited to Nuno. What I find fascinating is after he got sacked from Spurs, he was almost written off, wasn't he? There was a lot of... I guess you could say he was tainted by that. But when you look at what he did at Wolves is what he's doing with us, making us a European outfit. So we shouldn't sleep on Nuno. I think he deserves an incredible lot of credit. Yes, Max, I do, because I think the evidence is there that there's longevity in this, that this isn't just random.

David, you agree.

Look, in 94, 95 season, Max, we were sitting in a similar position. We dropped a match for points as to Blackburn and a whole bunch of others. November is going to be difficult. We know every season of the Premier League is long and it's 30 28 matches. What I will say is the energy and they're just having fun playing. And so we're having fun watching them. So why not believe? Why not get behind them? Why not have a crack at Spurs and Man City and some of these other teams? And if we cop a loss, guys, that's okay. We're far above our expectations right now of where we might sit. And so these next few matches, boy, they're a big set of matches. I was looking at it before. It is Newcastle, Arsenal, Man City, Man United, Spurs, and Villa. Goodness me. We might take nine points out of those six matches. There's a couple of there's a Brentford and a couple of others in between there.

It's only Brentford, David. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it.

Can I just say I don't even know where Brentford is. That's how we're at.

Really? Do you know?

Where is it?

It's in London, though.

Yeah, I figured it was in London.

Because you live in Los Angeles, don't you, Max?

Well, I live North London. But no, I think we can do it.

Let's also not forget Forreston.

Can I just quickly ask? We all think that we can. At this point now, what's the lowest we can finish where from From this point, it's a disappointment. Do you know what I mean? So obviously, we'd love to finish fourth and we think, Oh, maybe we can get a European spot potentially. But where does it become? Or that was a disappointing season, considering where we were after 10 games.

Maybe if Forest finished 15th, probably. 14th would be a little bit disappointing after the start, right? If you finish 12, 13th, you're moving up every year. So I'd say it's about small consistency. And the Premier League is such a hard league.

Max needs Forrest to finish 12th so that he can tear me a new one because I called him a fool for thinking that Forrest could finish 12th. Anything lower than 12th will be a disappointment for Max. I'll just say this Forrest- The hope of the Forrest Sunday is on base there, is that. Here's the thing. It is very difficult to be a newly promoted team and come up and have success. And over the last 45 years, it has been proven that Nottingham Forest have done it twice, where we've come up. Sure, it's not as quick this time, but there's something in that energy around the people in the club, and this stuff doesn't go away. Guys, we're in for a special time. Let's get behind it. And as one of the captains of Forest fans embracing international fans, let's try and we should all be working to get as many people to be Forest fans as we can right now, because now's the time. I met Frank Clark yesterday, and I said to him, you're a big part of the reason why I support Nottingham Forest because of the team that you built in 94, 95.

And in the year 2040, we want people coming up to Nuno with spirito santo and saying, you're the reason I support Forest. It's just a special time. So, yeah, fourth. I'll be disappointed if we're fifth. No, maybe eighth.

Very nice. Very nice, mate. Well said. Some nice words there. I'm going to end it actually on a little bit of a... I was thinking about saying this yesterday. I can remember a couple of years ago, it was about four or five Five years ago now, when I used to do some work for Forest, I remember we did a promotional video for kids for a quid. I don't know if you can remember all of that. We did this big video about getting fans down, everything like that. I can remember we filmed it on a Tuesday night and Forest played Preston in the Championship. I hate Preston, played him so much, didn't we, in the Championship. Forest lost 3-nil that night, I can remember. And it was that bad that the club couldn't even air the video. I can remember the club rang me up and said, Look, we can't use the video on social media because A, the amount of abuse we'll probably get from fans, and B, just how bad it will look on the club sharing this happy promotional video given that Forest were going through a really rough period of time. So I just think we have to all acknowledge someone that's followed Forest from...

And as we all have from when we were born, I think we have to acknowledge where and how far we've come as a football club. Wherever we finish this season, the start to this campaign has been like no other. It's been brilliant. It's the best since the olden days, no disrespect to the generations. And Max, you talked about it earlier, but me and you have never... Yes, the promotion was great, but when did we ever think we'd see Forest at third? At the start of November? On Sunday, the third of November, when would we ever think that Forest will be third in the Premier League? So I just think we've all got to acknowledge where we are as a club, how far we've come, and great credit to Forest off the pitch. They've done some great work this week as well. The Warriors video with the Down syndrome team going. We were lucky yesterday with Footprint to go and raise money around the Forest fan zone, and we've raised quite a bit, and they gave us a great interview on the fan zone and the two pages in the program. So Forest are getting everything right.

And yeah, I just thought I'd share that because I think things are moving very nicely at the minute. Long may it continue, both.

Max, I'll just say it's a great time for everyone involved with Nottingham Forest, except for the poor character that has to edit match day, or has to edit the post match videos because he's a lot busier now because he has to do one every week, whereas last season he was doing one every three to four weeks. So now that guy is going to need some more staff because we're winning a hell of a lot more matches. Matchday passes.

Yeah, the matchday passes. We love it. Right. That'll do us nicely. Max, thank you as ever, mate. Really appreciate it. Yeah, and we'll speak to you soon. David, appreciate it. Safe flight back, David. When do you go? When do you return to Australia?

Flying back on QF2, back to Sydney. And it is only 12 months until there's a flight from Sydney to London, so that'll make it a hell of a lot easier for me to come over and see Forest Matches. So I can't wait. It's been a terrific time. And to anyone who knows me and has seen me at Nottingham over the last couple of weeks, it's been absolutely tremendous getting to know everyone and seeing everyone, and it's very emotional for me leaving. So thank you, Max, for having me on. And great to hang out with you other, Max, as well. So come on, you, Reds.

Yes, absolutely. Come on, you, Reds. That does us nicely. Remember, we'll be back throughout this week and with review episodes throughout the whole of the season, wherever Forest end up finishing. We've got some good guests on. We all go to games as well, so that helps with our opinions. So keep listening. It really does mean a lot. Give us a like, share, and subscribe on YouTube. Follow us on Spotify and Apple podcast, Forest, our third in the Premier League. Yes, you heard that right. Come on, you bloody Rads. See you soon.