Transcript of Forest make FA Cup Quarter Finals whilst Top 4 dream is still on

Hello.

Welcome to Garibaldi Red podcast, a Nottingham Forest podcast. Without your regular host today, Max Hayes is once again off stunning himself. This feels like a pretty regular occurrence during the season. We really need to talk to him about that. David, joined by Aussie Dave, a regular to the pod. Good to see you, my friend. How are you doing?

Man, I'm a little under the weather. I've been in Las Vegas at the rugby league match matches over here for the NRL. So the eyes are a little weary, and I got to watch the match with a whole bunch of Aussie fans with a stadium as big as a house, not a stadium, a screen rather. So it was good fun. And a whole bunch of random expat Aussies turned up to watch what It was a pretty exciting penalty shootout. So I'm sure we'll talk about that and then look beyond. It's always good to chat to you, the real host, Mark, of the Garibaldi Red podcast.

Well, there's so much to unpick from what you've just said there. Let's start with the first thing. You are actually stateside So you're on this side right now. You and I are broadcasting this essentially English podcast from the United States. You're about two states over from me. That's right, isn't it?

Yes. So with an Australian in Las Vegas, which doesn't happen very often. So yes, that's where I am right now. And that's a terrific time out here. I'm convinced that the Premier League should borrow this concept or steal it and take an entire round of matches globally. If Nottingham Forest were playing Man City this weekend at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, it would be 90,000 sell out. It would be an incredible atmosphere. And can you imagine the Nottingham Forest fans traveling to Las Vegas for a weekend away? It'd be a terrific time.

Well, I don't think I've ever felt sorry for the people of Las Vegas before, but with however many thousands of Aussies that were descending upon it these last few days. I mean, you dropped them dry, I'm quite sure. So their profits look healthy, even if you don't. Were there any other Forest fans in the room with you watching the FA Cup game, or were you able to recruit any and turn them I recruited some, recruited a couple.

Last week's match against Arsenal, I was at a local bar in Las Vegas, and there was about 15 Forest fans there watching this one. But this one, that was more my Aussie mates that have seen me posting and seen me on this podcast, not really understanding. They said to me, are you going to get nervous about this game? I said, No, not really. But if it goes to a penalty shootout, then I'll be pretty nervous. From what I can understand, there might be a few videos of me screaming at the television rather loudly. But you can't get noise complaints in Las Vegas. So, Mark, at least I'm in a good spot.

This is true. You're absolutely right. And there must be something about Arsenal. I'm watching Arsenal against Forest internationally because I had a similar experience. I was in Montreal two years, two seasons ago when Forest essentially ended Arsenal's title run and secured their own safety in the Premier League. And I was in a bar with some Forest fans in Canada. So maybe there's something to that. Who knows? But anyway, delighted to have you state My friend, and who knows, maybe we'll have a chance to actually connect. Maybe.

It's a dream.

It's a very small country, so very-It is.

Well, it is. We did almost cross past at Las Vegas Airport. We were chatting pre-pod, which would have been absolutely hilarious to run into you. Just, I would have been so excited. Where did you watch the shootout and the match, Mark?

I was watching it at home. I was working, and I couldn't even put it on the TV because I was in back-to-back Zoom So I had it set behind my laptop where I had the Zoom call going on, watching my iPad. Trying to do my best to contain my excitement while I'm talking to customers. So interesting. So let's get into that game.

Yeah, let's get in. So watching the penalty shootout, Mark, were you feeling confident? I was feeling really, really confident about the quality of the players that we had in the shootout. They're just so technically strong, like those five. I was a little worried with Callum Hudson-Adoli because he'd obviously played 120 minutes. But with Nico, Morgan Gibbs-White, Chris Woods, and Elliott Anderson, fresh, I just am not expecting those guys to miss a penalty. What was your take?

All right. Well, keep your powder powder dry here. This isn't Max hosting this episode, Dave.

I'm going to run you in and go chronologically here. Well, I'd like to jump around from the most exciting bit.

I know you do.

I'm all about the excitement, whereas you're just chronologically, you've got your green brain thinking, what's the first thing? What did you think of it? All right, do you want to talk about what we thought of the team list then?

Well, here's the problem. You and I both like to do that. That's okay with Max is hosting, but it is Mario. All right, you go. For me to get everything. Okay, so I want to start first with the starting lineup, because there's a lot of conversation beforehand about this is a place at the quarter final of the FA Cup we're going for here. It's time to put on our big boy pants take this seriously. Let's not wheel out the resis with respect those guys who don't have as many minutes. It's time to put a few more of the heavy hitters into the starting lineup. We did see a couple of additional players in the starting lineup that had featured in the previous round, but it was still a blend. There were still some of the big guns on the bench. What was your take on Nuno's selection?

It's a team I would have expected him to pick, really. We're in the final 16 of the FA Cup, playing a few of the players, and then also having the strong bench that he brought on later to seal the game. And none of those players that were featured were really... You wouldn't be surprised to see any of them starting a Premier League match. Typically, obviously, the midfield with Sengare Yates and Danilo is, they're all not first-teamers because they've only really got one spot. But I was interested in how the three of them would perform when the team was picked without Morgan gives wide to the fourth outlet. We were perhaps not creative as we might be. That was my really intriguing, interesting moment. Then I was pleased that he was taking it seriously. The selection of Murillo, I thought, was the real sign that, All right, yet we're on here. Then also not putting in Wayne Hennessy, and he's a great Third choice keeper, Wayne Hennessy. But Matt Sells just gave you a bit of confidence. All right, we're on here. We should be able to deal with this. But I did think the draw was a good bet for when I was at the sportsbook in Las Vegas.

I don't normally look at the odds, but when you go and watch it, when you go in Las Vegas to watch a Premier League match in a place called the Sportsbook, they're just trying to pitch you on betting. What about this bet and this bet?

Absolutely. It's a done thing. Yeah, that's right.

Exactly.

Absolutely. Well, I agree with you. I was very bored by the starting lineup as well. I enjoyed seeing a couple of the regular starters, additionally in the last round. It was great as well to see that depth on the bench. And of course, we needed it later in the match. And that's one thing it really struck me as well as the substitution started to happen was that Ipswich's bench wasn't particularly... I mean, obviously, they had...

Oh, gosh.

Thank you. Yes. It's not my job to remember the opposition players' names, but they had to lap on the bench. But On that, no one really there that could put the scares into you. As far as Forrest was concerned, though, there were definitely some players there that you felt could step in and elevate proceedings, and we did see that as the game wore on. But before we jump to that, I'm going to follow my own code here and I'd say, with the chronological. In terms of the scoring, obviously, the game ended up 1-1 with Ipswich scoring through Hearst after 53 minutes. And of course, your favorite player, our skipper, Ryan Yates, leveling things up just shy of the 70th minute with an excellent header off an Anthony Alanger cross. At the end of regulation, David, did you feel like 1-1 was a fair reflection of how the game had gone? It felt to me like Forest really were the better team of the two on the night, but what was your take? What are the thousand And then the Aptunologies in Vegas take on the game?

The goalkeeper for Ipswich played well. So we made a whole bunch of chances and shots. And look, the goal was a little bit against the run, I thought, but we just don't see We just didn't lost our mojo on the corners. I watched with one guy who's watched a lot of football, and he's going, because it didn't mark him on the back post. What were they doing there? It's just like they just missed the marshaling. And maybe it was because Malencovitch wasn't there where he wasn't telling them where to stand. But it just looked like they got schoolboyed on a corner for that first goal. But I just thought we had the quality on the pitch. These are our top guys, like Elliot Anderson, Gibbs-White, and Chris Wood. These are seriously famous. If you just look at from a famous perspective player, most Premier League fans know those three players. We're bringing on our top guys, and they're bringing on, what is it, Liam DeLapp, who would be lucky to make our team on the bench. And arguably, I guess he's probably better than Tywell. If we were to name our strongest possible team, he might get a bench forward spot.

And even then, it would be him on the bench with Tywell. So I didn't exactly quaking in my boots by the Ipswich bench. But he also rolled the subs earlier, didn't he? So it was a 60th minute. He wasn't mucking around. Thought, All right, 30 minutes is enough time here to let these guys take control. And we were traveled once or twice. But I thought the hip switch goalkeeper, he had a really standout game And look, when you're the goalkeeper for one of the bottom three teams in the Premier League, it's a good way to get some good practice in, I guess. He had a particularly good game.

Yeah, that's a great observation about rolling the subs out sooner. We have seen Nuno wait to the 17th, 75th, in some cases, the 80th minute before he really starts trucking on the bench. And he wasn't messing around the other night. We could tell at the final whistle, we'll get onto the penalties, but at the conclusion of the- Don't go ahead, Mark. You can see just how much it meant to him. He's taking He's doing this seriously, and I think Forest fans are excited that he is. Obviously, we're having a fantastic season anyway in the Premier League, but this is just the cherry on the icing on the cake. Hey, it just occurred to me, I need to ask an Aussie what the reception was for the Kiwi Chris Wood when he came on.

Well, it was more interest just from explaining Chris Wood to the other people around. So the more casual football watches or the people who's that guy. And so they could just tell us a bit more of a reaction. I bring it on the key guy and then the stats go up of how many goals it's called. The way I describe him, he's New Zealand's best footballer ever. So I'm like, oh, God, what do you mean he's the best New Zealand footballer ever? So, well, That's a good track. But he would be certainly New Zealand's best footballer ever. In terms of New Zealand athletes, if you rank top 10 New Zealand athletes, he's up there with Jona Lomu and the other famous ones that they've got. He's the top all-time scorer for New Zealand football, period. So if you consider who the English one of those is, which I assume was Wayne Rooney or Alan Sheeran, I don't follow the English goal scorer that much. But how much of those players considered a legend of English football? He's like that. So he's like an absolute gun. So he's well received and well liked. And apparently, he's also the...

The girl said he's very handsome, Mark.

Is that right? Okay. Well, people have liked me to Chris Wood, so I think that's probably an excellent observation by the lady He's there. I want to focus on the goal on the... Well, both goals. You talked about the Ipswich goal. I don't want to linger on that too much because I hate doing that when it comes to opponents goals. But it does bear mentioning that you're right, we do seem to have lost our mojo from set pieces in the last few games. Obviously, Neil know in the game prior, and so it was great to have that clean sheet against Arsenal, a team who are very good in corners. Yeah, probably the best in the Premier League, right? So that was good to be able to obviously keep them out. But it was a little disappointing to see that Ipswich goal go in. As you mentioned, there was a player unmarked at the back post. It just seemed very rudimentary. I imagine had he had hair, Nuno would have been tearing it out at that point. A little frustrating. And then Forest level up through a headed goal of their own. What was your take on both the delivery and Ryan Yates popping up in the box to dispatch the Elanger cross?

Well, it being Las Vegas, I had to pop out for a quick rest break and came back and then was immediately greeted with the, We're back, your man. And so even my mates know to freaking taught me about Ryan Yates scoring. I'm literally popping it from a whole bunch of people. Look, he's a nuisance in those spots. I've been saying it on this podcast and I got the receipts. Anthony Alain is crossing and pinpoint He went passing. He's really good. Anthony had the standout game, and that's what we want from Ryan Yates. I think if Ryan Yates is to be the player that... Look, we all hope that he can be, and the one that I don't think he's going to quite get to, but the one that you do, he's He's popping up for 5-10 goals in the season and scoring goals like that in big moments when we need him to. I was pleased for him that he got that. I thought it was him and Alanga for mine that were the forest standout man of the matches, really. I thought he had a good ball winning game. There's still moments of him not having the quality on the ball in possession.

There were one or two where his distribution was not to feet or in front of the player. There was one, I remember, to a langer where it was behind of the ball. That's held us up a little bit. But overall, the passion, like Ryan Yates in a cup run, it's good. You just know, because in the cup games, Yates is playing, isn't he? How much would we lose our SHIT if Yates was lifting the FA Cup? That would be just next level, wouldn't it? Sorry, I'm daring. I'm now going way too far ahead. Now we're daring to dream.

Now, that will be absolutely mega. And it's interesting. You mentioned it'd be nice if Yates could wade in with 5-10 goals a season. I'm going to extend upon that narrative a little bit and say between Yates, Anderson, and Morgan Gibbs-White, I don't think it's reasonable to expect about 15 goals from that midfield trio. And so you can't really lay that exclusively at the door of Ryan Yates. And why isn't Yates scoring 5-10 goals? He's capable of it. Everyone needs to be wading in. And if you can get 15 goals out of those three, and then you get Danilo chipping in with another couple, maybe Sengari chipping in with another couple. Then you really ask that. And of course, obviously, you're going to get goals from out wide from Alanger and from Callum Hudson-Adoy. Then you're taking the pressure of Chris Wood and Taewo and whoever else ends up in our forward rotation, hopefully as players are required this summer. So, yeah, I agree with you on the eight goal scoring feats, but I also would turn that observation back on, particularly Morgan Gibbs-White and Anderson as well, and say they need to step up in that regard as well.

They did step up, or at least step up off the bench and join the fray. And I want to talk to you about that midfield trio then that we had midway through the second half, because I actually mentioned to Max, and I think maybe you and I were on that episode together, about how would these guys fit together? What's our best midfield trio right now. My suggestion was to have Yates in the 6, Anderson in the 8, Morgan in the 10. To me, it doesn't seem that difficult. Now, obviously, with Ryan Yates, you have the challenge in that he likes to roam. As we saw, he got his goal, so we're delighted for that, but he got his goal because he got further forward than anyone else in that midfield trio on that particular occasion. But I don't hate that. I think as long as he's disciplined and holds his position in the 6 most of the time, I like that combination. What was your take on the three of them when they're on the field together in that set up?

Well, look, he's such a hard one, this six with- The three of them.

I don't think- It's not focused on Yates.

I just don't think we I don't know the answer to who plays with Anderson and Morgan gives wide in the- He didn't see it against Ipswich. No, it's Ipswich. I just don't think we have it. Whilst they were fired up and Yates had a great game, it's not like Anderson and Giveswight came on and we just blew them out of the water. We went to penalties. Whilst he's holding with them and unleashing them a little bit more, I don't think he's got it, Mark. I really don't. I'd love it.

If you're looking at Yates, Dominguez, Danilo, and Sangare, which of those four do you pick for the six?

I think it's Dominguez, and Dominguez was not picked because he's only marginally better than the other ones, and they're saving him for Manchester City. I think Dominguez in the pecking order is currently ahead. Do you not?

Well, he may be, but I wouldn't agree with that assessment. I think Dominguez has been poor in the last two games. I think he started the season strong, and he looked to cut above. He looked classy. He looked like maybe he was bringing something to the party that the others weren't. Yates, not as technical, of course, Sangari and Danilo injured. So to have Dominguez in the fold, and then once he got minutes under him, he looked like he might be a special player. But I don't know if you've seen that as the season's worn on.

I'm going to give you an answer. I think if we get the best Anderson and the best Morgan gives White, and they have 8. 5 out of 10 games, then Ryan Yates is very good with them. Because then he doesn't have to be creative. And the weaknesses that the things that I complain about with Yates, well, it doesn't matter as much. Yates win the ball and pass it to those two. Whereas when Sengare has got a better pass on him, and so when Yates, not when Yates, when Morgan gives wide and Anderson are not as good, I feel more comfortable having Sengari because he can play a pass and do a little bit more. And Danilo is a little bit more crafty. So it also depends on how we can get the consistency out of those two. It really does just show that football is a team game, and better players in around people can lift them up, doesn't it? So we've talked about it ad nauseam. I'm not sure.

No, it's a good observation. And one of the reasons I beat the Ryan Yates drum so much, and I mentioned this before, is because I play midfield, I play the position he plays. I play similarly, of course, nowhere near the same level, but in terms of energy and the things I'm trying to achieve. And I recognize my shortcomings. My job is to get the ball and pass it 10 yards to somebody more capable than me. And I see that in Ryan Yates, and I like that simplicity. I like the energy. I like the S-Housery that he brings proceedings. He wins a lot of free kicks. It's interesting with Sengari as well, because folks are starting to get on this talk track now. Well, Sengari, he's really good at assists, and he can really throw out a pass, and he can. But I'm going to ask fans to keep in mind where he's doing it from. Now, generally speaking, Morgan gives why even Ryan Yates to a certain extent, when they're trying to link up play, they're almost always within about five to six yards of the opposition box, trying to thread that last ball, which is challenging to do because everything's so compressed.

Sengare tends to be about another 7, 8, 10 yards further back than that. So he's not under as much pressure, generally speaking. Now, he can thread a great ball 15, 20, 25 yards. I'm not arguing that. But all I'm suggesting is his assist statistics are a little colored by the fact that he's delivering those balls from different parts of the field where maybe a Morgan gives white, an Elliot Anderson, or Ryan Yates are trying to deliver that cutting pass a little further forward. So something to keep in mind.

I could be wrong, but- No, I think there's something else to think about, too. When Sengare plays a pass and Yates play a pass. There's one reason, one of the reasons why Yates is is conservative is that if Ryan Yates, where he is in the six, if he loses the ball, it's a hell of a much bigger problem if Morgan gives why or Anthony Langer are losing the ball. You actually want Anthony Langer and Morgan gives why playing passes that are dangerous and taking risks and seeing if they can pick the run for Chris Wood before he's even worked out where he's going to go. If they can do that, then that unlocks him and he can score. Whereas if Sangare is doing that or Yates is doing that, it's harder for them to pick that pass because if they do, especially when teams do exactly that against us, that's actually what we're playing for. We're inviting teams to try and play that pass on us because we know if we get a Langer, Hudson, Adoy, or Morgan gives white winning the ball in those further forward areas, then they're hell for leather, going for it fast break basketball style to score.

So I think you're right and wrong, but more right at the same time, Mark, if that makes sense.

That's always the dynamic we have, David. I want to come back quickly to the Forest goal. Obviously, nice header from Ryan Yates. He scored almost a carbon copy a few minutes later. Sadly, that was pulled back for offside. It was offside. The Alanga cross, I agree with you. It's excellent, and Alanga played pretty well, although I felt like the crossing overall throughout the game was pretty poor, both from open play and also from in dead ball situations. Not been able to get the ball past the first man or whenever the ball went into the box, it ends up on a nip switch head. Were you seeing something similar or am I being a little harsh?

You're doing the same thing again, where you're right and also wrong at the same time. So yes, you're right. Some of his corner delivery is doing a great impersonation. You are right. What are you trying to do? That play for Ryan Yates. I heard in the Ipswich comment, Ipswich has got to be clearing that. And like, Elanger is literally dropping the ball on a dime on a really good forward moving midfielder that scores goals from that position and knows how to place a header into the back of the net. That's a particularly difficult thing to deal with for the Ipswich defenders. He's not always going to get it right. So I think he's more accurate than not. But when you're playing the corner, goodness me, it's good to be. It's so frustrating when he plays a corner, though, and you're like, man, even I reckon I'd beat the first defender. Come on, Anthony.

Yeah, it wasn't It was him. It was Langer. It was Hudson Adoy. It was Elia Anderson. Can we talk about them swapping?

What about them swapping sides and Hudson Adoy being on the right with Oler Aina? My take was that that was because I thought, well, why wouldn't you play Hudson Adoy with Aina on the side, the two of them, because they're more familiar with each other. So I thought it was less of, oh, let's swap them over for a tactical more just to keep Aina with Hudson Adoy was my take.

I love Nuno's response in the post-match when he was asked about when Callum and Anthony ended up on the same side, literally holding hands. The interviewer, I think it was Colin Frey. Was that a tactic? Is that something you told them to do? He's like, no, they just do their thing. Wasn't part of No. I mean, they just do what they want to do.

Maybe. But if it was the strategy, I'd like that Nuno wasn't saying that it was the strategy. So either way, the answer is good.

Well, I think something you've highlighted there is it's really interesting to me. We have a lot of really young players. They've been around the block. You look at Callum Hudson in the door, he feels like he's been playing this game professionally for 20 or 30 years. It's ridiculous. He's been a staple in the English game. But they're very young players, whether it's Callum Hudson-Doye, whether it's Anthony Alanger, Morgan Gibbs-White, Elliot Anderson. And yet they seem very, not only are they technically very good, obviously, they seem both courageous and also very They're willing to take risks. They seem to balance the percentages. They're not reckless about it, but they do exciting and different things. They give other teams things to think about. I really like that. I like that. It's the X factor that Forrest have right now. Yes, our formation looks good. Structurally, we're sound. Tactically, we know what we're doing. But I love that we have that little bit of an X factor in each of these players as well, where they can show up and do something a little bit surprising.

The decision-making of the Nottingham Forest players is is a big area that we've seen under the improvement of Nuno. That's what we've seen. The other thing that I like about the loading up the sides, I think this is a Nuno tactic, is they like to load up the sides. I don't know what it is. You seem to see it at the city ground a lot on that left-hand side. They load up the left-hand side, and they're trying to spring Anderson, or they're trying to spring someone. The second that they spring one of those guys, they're so skillful because all the players are on one side of the field, you then got You then typically got Chris Wood hanging out on his own in a one-on-one situation where he's then got the chance of getting free and to steal from, because we're both in America talking about it's you getting your top guy, basically like your wide receiver in the NFL free on someone else, and then you're giving him a chance to score. That's a clear move that we've got that I thoroughly enjoy every single time that they do it. They're like, Oh, yeah, here we go.

They're loading up aside here. Game on.

Yeah, absolutely. All right. Let's fast forward to your favorite part of the game.

The shootout.

Finally. Game finishes 1-1. No additional goals, an extra time. We go to the penalty shootout. Five impeccable penalties from Nottingham Forest. Score is Chris Wood, Morgan Cribs White, Elia Anderson, Nico Williams, and Callum Hudson-O'Doye in that order. David, which of those penalties was your favorite, and which one gave you a bit of a squeaky bum syndrome?

I'm really scared for Chris Wood kicking the penalties because he's kicked a few. He's kicked so many in and a row. Oh, goodness me, he's so close to... Every time you get one, you're closer to... Look, I've given a lot of thought to penalty shootouts in my lifetime. One of the things, and I've gone and studied the numbers and looked at- You sound very English when you say that. Well, my take is, well, firstly, you should start with your strongest kicker first, your second strongest a second and work down the line that way. There's no, I'll save the best one for fifth or any of that. Because once teams start missing, they start missing. So I think Nuno plays to that. He clearly, like Wood's the penalty kicker, gives Whites next, Anderson then, and then it makes Nico and then Callum Hudson-Doye. If you were to pick the five most technically sound just strikers of the football from the Nottingham Forest team, I would say those five are the five Given that the first four hadn't gone on until the 60th minute, these are professional footballers. They can all kick a penalty. But the reason why you often can't kick a penalty is, yeah, try doing it after 120 minutes.

Then by the time I got to Callum Hudson Adoy, I was confident. A first minute Callum Hudson Adoy penalty, sure, it's never going to miss. 120th minute, I was like, oh. But boy, they were really good penalties. They were. They were not missing. The Ipswich keeper was really on point. I thought he was, in terms of match form coming into the shootout, had the better opportunities to warm himself up for a penalty shootout. And if he had, or if Ipswich had won that match, then the narrative around the whole match was the Ipswich keeper, what was his name? Mark, he loved the names of the keepers. Palmer. He would have been the story. Yeah.

He got all very close to Morgan Gibbs-White penalty That was the one that made me wince a little bit. Also, just Morgan from the spot makes me wince a little bit.

Well, he has missed at the city ground, hasn't he?

Well, when he was playing for Sheffield United, he did.

Yeah, correct. That's one of the great penalty misses.

All right, absolutely. But anyway, and then as you mentioned, the Ipswich penalties as well were very good. They were good. Come hth the hour, come hth the man on the fifth Ipswich kick. It was Matt Sals, who became the Forest hero, guessing the right way and getting a strong hand to that fifth and final kick, putting Forest into the quarter final. Another great performance from Sales and really steps up when Forest needs him, doesn't he?

Well, he certainly does. He doesn't get to celebrate like he scored too many goals too often. So good luck to him. He took off. He was off. He was just like, Yo,. So good luck to him. But the Ipswich penalties were... I was actually thinking he could save two of the five at the start. I'll save two. The Ipswich penalties were really good. And it took... It took cells. Even the fifth penalty was not that bad. It wasn't as good as the first nine, but just not as good. That's what happens. The other observation on the penalties is everyone's like, Oh, it's a bit of a luck and a bit of a lottery. I'm like, No, Forest were on top in that match. We were not as run down. We had better quality players, and the quality of the Forest players just shone out from the goal keeper through to the five strikers of the football. We were just better. By the time it got to the 10th kicker, Callum Hudson-Adoy was better than the poor guy from Ipswich, who probably played a whole bunch of minutes and missed.

So, Forest, on to the quarter finals where they will be facing the team they battered a few weeks ago, 7-0, Brighton. At Brighton, which is a tough place to go, Brighton obviously have been on a good run of form since Forest took them to the Cleaners, and the no-mugs. We caught Brighton on a right day and everything went in our favor. Don't expect more of the same in the quarter final of an FA Cup. What do you think, David? Can Forest advance to the FA Cup semifinal at Wembley or are Brighton going to extract their revenge?

I think we are the rock to their scissors. I just think there are some teams that beat other teams. And given where we are with how we play them, as long as we turn up and we play, I think we can be confident whilst taking it seriously. Interestingly, the odds for Nottingham Forest to win the FA Cup are seventh, which I thought was astounding given the league positions, because we are the top Premier League team currently in the FA Cup. But a trip to Brighton is a little tricky. It's not a It's not a short distance by any means from nodding them down to Brighton. It's a good night out in Brighton. It is, yeah. That's where the legendary Trev lives. Yeah, right.

Right. We have to go down and hang out with Trev.

But I'm confident in it. So I think we should be feeling pretty good about it, really. I'm regretting my bet on the top four and winning the Premier League. I should have done FA Cup instead. I checked yesterday. I was like, damn it.

Yeah, absolutely. Well, definitely, they could have been worse teams to draw. Talking about bogey teams, we've got Liverpool, Bournemouth, Man City have undoubted quality despite the fact they've had a bit of a rocky season. I'm not excited about being on the road. I'd rather I've had them at the city ground again, particularly given how recently the echoes of that big defeat would have been for them. But nevertheless, you have to take what you're given. And it's off to the South Coast Forest Go with high hopes and the ability to advance to the semifinal. Before we wrap up, David, let's go ahead and just turn our attention to Forest next match, Premier League game against the before mentioned Man City. It's going to be a tough one. City have definitely seen an uptick in their form, and they obviously are in Champions League places now and know how to stay in them, and we'll be expecting to stay in them. It looks like there'll be five teams in the Premier League this year that will get Champions League spots. So City have to be odds on favorites to snag one of those positions. Forrest are welcoming City to the fortress, to the city ground.

Thoughts on that game, David?

I think that this game is absolutely critical for our ability to finish on the points. I was looking at the points, so I made estimates that I thought 68 points was going to be enough for us to make the Champions League. So I'll just read it through. So the last 10 seasons, the fourth-place teams finished on to make the Champions League was 68, 71, 71, 67, 66, 71, 75, 76, 66, and 70. So the lowest number of points for fourth to make the Champions League has been 66. The lowest number of points to be fifth has been 62. So we think about this season, if we hopefully We have Liverpool running away with it, that's going to take some points off the teams in and around us. And then when we look at that table, it's pretty congested below us with Bournemouth, Brighton, Fulham, and Aston Villa, all being quite good. And whereas the lower parts of the table with Ipswich and Leicester and Southampton, well, those teams aren't taking points. What does that tell you? Have I just told you that we need to get more points or fewer points? Looking at the numbers, if we get six wins, that's 18 points on top of our existing 48.

Now, that would take us to 66. If we were to beat Manchester City and have seven wins, then that would take us to 69 and seriously dent one of our competitors. If we beat Manchester City Mark, it might be enough because of the matches that we have, we have the best draw. Every team who plays in the bottom half of the table, right?

Through the rest of the season.

Pretty much. So we've got the remaining. We've got Ipswich, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Everton, Tottenham, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Leicester, West Ham, and Chelsea.

Aston Villa, okay. Aston Villa.

Even if we drop Aston Villa and Chelsea, and we get six of those of wins. The points against Manchester City, it is absolutely a critical match. The problem is that we're scissors to Manchester City's rock. They just seem to have the wood on us, whereas Liverpool, we perform a little bit better. They They seem to be improving. And they've got what, Mahmush and Gonzales and a couple of those new guys starting to fire. And Docu was looking pretty good the other day when I was watching him. They got a seriously good team, these Manchester City guys. We're going to need the smartest, most intellectual bunch of football fans at the city ground that we know that we have to be on point with chanting at the appropriate times to get our team up for this match. It's a biggie, Mark. It's looking at it and having prep for this part. I How am I? Do you think I'm riding on the money there? Is it as big as I think?

No, I think I forgot as well. We have Chelsea, of course, as well. So we do still have some... I mean, all the games are difficult. We're playing teams, we're fighting for their lives. They're under the table, and that's a contest in and of itself. But I think Villa, Chelsea, and certainly the City game are going to be huge. You have to hope the Villa are going to be distracted by the Champions League. That's not a familiar experience to them, and they may turn their attention to the Champions League and perhaps get a little distracted from the Premier League because really, they're not in the running for anything. Obviously, they'll be looking for a European spot, but I think they're more than capable of securing that. Chelsea is all over the place, so you never know what Chelsea is going to show up. So I think the City game really is crucial because they have gotten some momentum now. You mentioned Mahmoud Hsu, I think, has been outstanding. He set the ground running in the Premier League, and very few players do that, so you have to give him props for that. So, yeah, I think this could be key.

Could it be key to whether Forest make it to Europe this next season? No. I think Forest are more than capable of being in the top seven or eight spots. But could it be the key to whether they make a Champions League position? Yeah, it could be. So we'll see. What would you take this weekend? What would be, obviously, Do you want a victory? What would be a score prediction? I'm going to do a max and put you on the spot.

Oh, goodness me, a score prediction. Head says, Forrest is going to be tough for us to beat Man City. I think we'll be spirited, but perhaps lose 2-0, and the Forest fans will be pulling their hair out, worried. I said we'd be fifth after the Manchester City game. I expect us to drop this game and then storm it at the end and come back. It's what I think will happen.

All right, so 2-0 City.

2-0 City, which is just depressing to... And I rarely pick against Forest. I'm winning at Nottingham Forest only Tipping Comp by Tipping Forest more than anyone else. That's rare for me not to tip them. I think they're also They're going to know, Mark. They know this is a big game for them. If they can see us off, they can put a little bit of a gap between us and them and kick away from us and lock up. Stop worrying about, are we even going to make the Champions League and start focusing on next season. Jack third, put their little FA Cup run together. But yeah, good as me. If the fifth position comes into play, then a win against Manchester City just makes all the difference. So do we need to beat Man City to make the Champions I think now if we did, it would enormously help.

Yeah, absolutely. I'm going to go with a one-one. I think we could see Haaland and Wood squaring off on the score sheet. So that would be nice. And I will take that point. I think that would be a good point, the city ground, and get a momentum for the rest of the season. And like I said, I do expect Forrest to secure a European place. What flavor that spot is, only time we'll tell David, it's been fun being on the podcast with you, my friend.

Always a pleasure, Mark. The real host of the Garibaldi Red podcast.

Take it easy in Vegas. Don't go too crazy. You have to go all the way across country to New York thereafter. So take care of those kidneys.

I'll definitely try. It's been a hectic few days. I'm out in the perbs of Las Vegas now with a mate of mine. So no forest match between now and then. I'll be in New York for the match this weekend. I'm going to try and get along to that hub on 25th Street in Chelsea, in the center of New York, a whole bunch of Forest fans there. So if anyone's looking to get along, I'll drop me a message to watch me again with me. More than happy to do that. But yeah, as again, forest all over the world, Mark. It's just such a great time to be a Nottingham Forest fan. So let's just get amongst it and enjoy it. And just I look forward to you telling me that I was wrong about Manchester City.

Well, I will say you're going to be in New York watching the game. I'm going to be in New Orleans watching the game. And Forest are plowing new territory for many fans as the double is still on, folks. The double is still on. League and Cup, Forest into the quarterfinals in the FA Cup facing current champions, Manchester City this weekend. All three points in the city ground? You never know. With this Forest, anything is possible.