Nottingham Forest’s procurement of Steve Cooper as manager is the most positive news for years at City Ground. His appointment ends a long list of aging, household names that invariably relied on the 4-2-3-1 formation and a worryingly familiar mantra of “avoid defeat rather than attempt to win a football match.” Seven points from his first three games in charge certainly constitutes an immediate effect and more importantly the goals for column looks wonderful in comparison.

Chris Hughton’s last game in charge prompted some furious fan reaction across the social media platforms which is no surprise these days, let’s face it, the vitriol and distain sometimes expressed after a solitary defeat is enough to break the resolve of the most ardent of manager and supporter alike.

The comments alluding to his playing style and the results it manifested were completely justified in my opinion, but as usual, the necessity to target certain players for hate wasn’t too far behind. Perhaps the most controversial angle of attack from the fan base was that channelled toward the Greek owners of the club. It’s fair to say that the tenure of Evangelos Marinakis and Sokratis Kominakis hasn’t been a bed of roses. Since taking over at Nottingham Forest, which was in a horrendous state, on and off the field of play, they have failed to win over the NFFC supporters by relying on a perpetual string of average, overseas imports, and an unconvincing link to Marinakis’s main club Olympiacos. So, when things reached rock bottom following the defeat to Middlesbrough, I wasn’t surprised to see Twitter erupt like the volcano on La Palma. I read several comments requesting a protest against the owners, to hopefully be spearheaded by a flag and banner brigade of the Forest supporters. Whilst I sympathized with a handful of valid points, I couldn’t help but draw comparisons between our rivals down the A52. Derby County are in an unbelievable mess and face a realistic possibility of going out of business like Bury FC; a situation which certainly puts things into perspective when our owners, despite their misgivings, are pumping around twenty million pounds a year into the club.

In an article I wrote shortly after the capitulation versus Middlesbrough I asked for change as opposed to replacement.
I used the term insanity to describe the Modus Operandi of our club given the regurgitation of the same behaviours time after time. But as I alluded to, I pleaded for change of direction as opposed to a Bolshevik revolution. In layman’s terms, end the baffling transfers of highly paid nobodies and hire a manager who wants to attack the opposition and who will dare to deviate from the monotony of 4-2-3-1!

Well, it seems to all and sundry that the hierarchy at Nottingham Forest are willing to adapt and throw caution to the wind having appointed Steve Cooper. Interestingly too, the club have retained the services of Steven Reid on the coaching staff, another indication that communication between the players, staff and owners is positive. Reid gave Forest their first Championship win of the season when he deployed a 3-4-3 formation and humbled Huddersfield Town in their own back yard; interestingly, that very formation has been the preferred choice of Cooper since his arrival, coincidence? One can only assume, and I use the word assume carefully, that the employment of Dane Murphy has impacted things behind the scenes prior to the arrival of Steve Cooper. Much has been made of the loan recruitment of both Max Lowe and Djed Spence in the last transfer window, whilst Hughton was still in charge.
Many NFFC supporters were quick to notice the potential for wing back duties by the aforementioned players should we ever dare to change the shape.

At this point it would be easy to get carried away, seven points from three games and lots of goals to regale upon. However, as the new gaffer touched upon, there is still a lot of work to be done, especially at the back, comments he made shortly after the Birmingham victory in which we could well have conceded as many as we scored to be honest. I speak for thousands when I say that I’m delighted to have Steve Cooper at Forest, a man who knows how to attack, a man who’s achieved back-to-back play-off qualification and a man who’s won a World Cup with England; quite simply, a breath of fresh air.

A golf day in Nottingham organised in aid of Warwickshire children’s charity Molly Olly’s Wishes, which supports children with terminal or life-threatening illnesses, has raised an incredible £26,252.

Jointly organised and sponsored by Nottingham companies, Oakland International (which also has a site in Redditch) and Avanti Print and Packaging, 17-teams from across England, Scotland and Wales took part despite the challenging weather to compete for golf titles including Beat the Pro, Longest Drive and Nearest the Pin.
The event took place at the Nottinghamshire Golf and Country Club and was followed by an evening auction and raffle of items donated by suppliers and supporters of the charity.

Molly Olly’s grants wishes, helps with emotional support and donates therapeutic toys and books to children directly and through hospitals across the UK. It grants around 40 wishes per month, an increase of 100% during lockdown, and at a time when funding has significantly reduced. 

Charity co-founder Rachel Ollerenshaw said;
“The golf day and auction were a huge success. We are extremely grateful to Jane, Lee, Paul and Holly at Oakland and Avanti for organising such a great day and helping to widen the reach of the charity with introductions to a new audience. All the golfers were very generous and big thanks to all the sponsors. Molly Olly’s has seen a sharp rise in the number of requests for support and the funds raised are much needed to enable us to fulfil those wishes which help to put a smile on poorly children’s faces.”

Oakland’s Chief Operating Officer Lee Whiting commented:
“Molly Olly’s Wishes is an amazing charity which supports so many ill children throughout the UK. We would like to thank everyone who joined us and supported this, our first ever joint event of this nature, which we are now going to make into an annual event, setting our fundraising target even higher next year!” 

Like so many other charities Molly Olly’s Wishes has found it difficult to fundraise over the last year due to the pandemic. An average wish costs around £500 and can range from a family day trip to a computer game to supermarket food vouchers.
To find out all the ways you can donate to Molly Olly’s Wishes, please visit https://www.mollyolly.co.uk/learn-about-donating/

After a very solid start to our season the road to glory would continue throughout September with no less than seven fixtures in twenty-one days. What a huge ask this was to be from a group of people playing semi-professional football that also had daily work commitments to attend to also. But this is what we all enjoy and this is what was asked of us by the Football Association in their wisdom to ensure that we aren’t caught out by the pandemic as we have been so over the previous two seasons.

So after our departure from the F.A. Cup at the hands of Stratford Town at the beginning of the month the team would now venture back into the league with a mid-week fixture at home to Sutton Coldfield Town. Two goals in the final fifteen minutes would see this one out and get the team back to winning ways after our disappointment three days earliar.

Yaxley 1-3 Carlton Town
Next up was a trip to Yaxley and this one was a bit of an eye-opener as we knew little of the opposition. We would go behind in the game after twenty-five minutes ,but two goals in three minutes just after half-time including another from Aaron Opoku continuing his rich vein of form would see us take a grip of the game. Tyler Blake two minutes from time would put this one to bed and ensure that we had the points in the bag.

Halesowen Town 2-2 Carlton Town
Three days later and we were at it again, a top of the table clash and potentially a large crowd to contend with also. This one was a real cracker played at a high tempo and with a lot of quality and was well worth the admission fee. The home side would take the lead ten minutes from half-time but the ever industrious Niall Davie would soon silence the home fans with a leveller five minutes later. To take the teams in at half-time all square.
‘The Millers’ with our never say die attitude came out in the second half and would take the game to the home side whom hadn’t been beaten thus far in the campaign and we would be rewarded for our efforts when Niall Davie would give us the lead with twenty minutes to play. This encouraged the home side to open up their game and Carlton had to dig deep to maintain the lead until we succumbed to the pressure and conceded a last gasp equaliser.

Carlton Town 1-1 Ilkeston Town
Local rivals Ilkeston Town were next on the list and some renewals with some old friends. This one was again another tight affair after ‘The Miillers’ took an early lead from Tol Omotola after only five minutes. This surprised ‘The Robins’ who to be fair on the day brought the game to Carlton. The game was evenly balanced throughout and a last minute equaliser from the away team would mean the points would be shared.

Belper Town 3-0 Carlton Town
Three days on and a trip up to Derbyshire was the venue for our next fixture and to a team that were sitting mid-table in the division. This one was a real slap in the face for ‘The Millers’ as the home side on the night would frustrate and combat us and never allow us to play our true game. The home team would hit the target three times in the last twenty minutes and send us home with our tails between our legs.

Wisbech Town 0-3 Carlton Town
So after our unfortunate result in mid-week the team would travel to Wisbech and to a team that in recent seasons have struggled at this level of football. It was important that after that defeat that the team returned to winning ways immediately, and this we did.
Two goals in the first half from Louis Czerwak and Niall Davie took us into half-time with a good lead and a comfort zone. Tyler Johal two minutes from time made it three and the points were secured against a team that at times didn’t look like they should be at the wrong end of the table.

So with one defeat so far the team have had a very consistent start to elevate us up in to the top five of the division. Obviously there is still a long way to go and we are only approaching completion of a third of the season with many more tales to come. The new players at Stoke Lane have fitted in very well so far making the team even stronger than it ever has been and the outlook is good as we pursue our goals.

Forthcoming Fixtures:

9th Oct Bedworth United(h) (F.A. Trophy)
16th Oct Loughborough Dynamo(h)
23rd Oct Soham Town Rangers(a)