On Saturday 6th January Forest welcomed fifteen overpaid, poncing, self deluded footballers to the City Ground then we stuck it up ?em Jonsey and they didn?t like it!

It?s becoming a feature of this season that following an emphatic defeat the group have displayed a certain ?bouncebackability? with an emphatic response. None more so than that win over Charlton off the back of a drumming from Oldham.

When the draw was made, many at the City Ground would have been rubbing their hands in glee as the game had all the ingredients for an upset. Yet with the arrival of Alan Pardew at the Valley I feared that the fire would have been re-ignited under a team playing aggressive attacking football ? everything this Forest team would have hated.

I couldn?t have been further from the truth; Charlton were quite simply awful. Unable to match Forest for pace and passion they were undone by a stand off attitude to defence and a lack of industry in attack. Forest, whilst unspectacular, worked hard did the basics right which was more than can be said of their far wealthier counterparts ? El Karkouri unable to complete the simple task of taking a throw in for example.

At the end of the game the divide between the two sides was character. In a week where that of some of the Forest players was put under the microscope not just on the pitch but off it following yet another apparent drinking scandal, it was refreshing to see the likes of Tyson, Perch and Agogo take the game by the scruff and go out and win it.

The Londoners, on the other hand just didn?t care.

With a little bit more quality in the middle of the park the League One side could have probably beaten a morbid Charlton by more than two. So it is clear where it is most important for Mr Doughty to splash some cash this January and I hope this win does not paper over that fact. We have some great talent up front at the City Ground right now and it would be a shame if it could not be utilised to the full because we don?t have a midfielder who can feed them properly.

In victory Smoulderwood remained focused upon the League campaign and the need to put some runs together in order to pick up the 30 odd points we need to ensure promotion. Yet the day was about the ?magic of the FA Cup?, and whilst we have all to oft been the ones upset, it brings back a sense of satisfaction to have the boot on the other foot this time. Cheered to the rafters at the final whistle the proverbial cherry was added to the top of Nottingham?s heroes? afternoon, by being first up on Match of the Day.

It was just a shame Andy Reid was injured.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 8th, 2007 at 9:24 am and is filed under Nottingham Forest. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.