The Hotel End

Mark Cooper brings his Forest Green Rovers team to Sixfields for a top of the table clash.

Same again for Cobblers? Hopefully McCormack will be fit after last weeks scare.

This should be a good game for our last home fixture before Christmas.

I do hope that we don't let their fans into Carr's Bar and make them drink outside, like they do to us despite them having a huge bar. The most unfriendly club in League 2.

What???
One experience hardly makes them 'most unfriendly club in League Two"!

In the cup, their bar was one of the most welcoming!

To be fair in the cup, when they were non-league the bar was fantastic and was really looking forward to going back .... It could not have been more different.

I'm expecting a tough tight game that we might just edge 2-1. Charlie Goode to score first again ar 40/1 with Hills.

Exactly

Got a bad feeling about this one? Could be looking at 0-2. Still my predictions of late have not gone as well as I’d hoped so there is, well, er, hope?

2-1 I reckon   8)

McCormack out today as a "precaution"......

Cornell
Goode, Turnbull, Wharton
Adams, Watson, Lines, Anderson, Harriman
Hoskins, Oliver

Subs: Arnold, Warburton, Williams, Hall-Johnson, Martin, Smith, McWilliams

Out of the 18:  McCormack, Kaja, Pollock, Waters

Afternoon

Fancy us to bounce back strongly today

Goal for us within the next 9 mins....

i dont

No Baldy again...partimer

I fell asleep on the settee. Sorry I'm late.

Maybe not

Get in there!!!

Goooooooalllllazzzooooo

Boom

Chuffed for Hoskins

All the stick hes had, hes turning into a key cog in the machine

Missed the goal..I was dusting the plants. It shows an OG

Nice to see Martin, Smith has re-signed for us. I thought he had retired.

Does that mean McCormack is injured or is Curle tinkering?

Time to break out the big guns.
I truly believe theres a second goal in us

I don't

This will be a horrible last 15 mins.
Time to break out the Scotch

A quote from Nicola Sturgeon, perchance?

Very good.  ;D

Just the Smith part on for the last 15.....  Will that be enough?

Atd 4534 with 139 Vegans.
Very low imo

1-0 FT.

Thank fook

Gonna win the league easily if we can win without Willo and McCormo starting.

Was pretty low, however it is nearly Christmas!!

Stevenage were the visitors on the corresponding weekend last season, a game which attracted 4,756 of which 340 were visiting fans (4416 home) so only 21 fewer home fans this year.....although given the form, league position, and higher opposition for this game it is still disappointing.

Great win against a good side that caused lots of problems . We worked so hard in that game and closed everything down very quickly until we tired badly in the second half and spaces opened up .
The back three were superb today . They won everything thrown at them .
Oliver is really coming alive and Anderson is getting better every week.
We rode our luck today but we do now look a solid outfit even without McCormack in the side .

The best midfield we have faced all season but we kept our shape excellently.

The ref caused the most problems with decisions which were simply WRONG!

100% agree - although I was not at the ground, today.

I believe this was the challenge given to the side - to prove that they can grind-out results without Super-Mac!

That was a battle and a half. Truly believe that this will prove to be a very significant result at the end of the season. We didn't play our best but the work rate was relentless. We also had one of the worst officials that I can ever recall watching. Hope he doesn't visit us again in a hurry.

Charlie Goode for me had his best game for the club. An unbelievably good performance and was stunned that he wasn't voted by the sponsors.

Apparently Cornell’s favourite Xmas tipple is PUNCH it’s so weak though you can drink gallons without getting pi55ed.
Real battling performance today, why the foook was Williams not starting?....
Great 3 points  ;D

Another clean sheet for big Dave today  :-*

Great result, getting the rub of the green for a change. Assessment on the referee Deepcut please, he looked hopeless to me?

Well, we certainly had a big, Alan McCormack shaped hole in the middle of the side today and at times they just waltzed right through it at will! We hung on in there though, albeit in a far less controlled manner than we've become accustomed to when he plays.

A special mention for the entire Forest Green team though - what a horrible display of gamesmanship. A really thoroughly unpleasant team, full of cheats and niggly foulers.

I reckon it was a good job McCormack wasn't playing as he would not have stood for their antics and would quite likely have got himself sent off, especially with that inept ref who gave them everything. They may be doing well in the league and they may have played well in the second half but they are a horrible side to play against. The ref even gave them a free kick second half because Cooper shouted at him. I am so glad we won.

Sounds like Mark Cooper was his usual obnoxious self today.

Curle said in his post match interview that he set us up ‘to play ugly’ to counteract their physical presence.
Doesn’t make for much entertainment but gets the results.

https://www.ntfc.co.uk/news/2019/december2/forest_green_h_reaction/

They were very similar to Crewe - lots of possession and pleasing on the eye but no end product. You can see what a difference at this level doidge made for them.

So pleasing to find that all those forgiving supporters didn't abuse Marl Cooper today.

Any chance of a personal apology to me?

One very good save and the other one whilst being hampered by one or more opponents at corners ( ref was watching!!) still managed to be in the right place right time to make a secure save.

I shouted some abuse at his brother Mark

Thankfully though our goalkeeper held everything that came at him and didn’t remain static on his line at a corner allowing the opposition to score like an ex over rated keeper did in the first half for them

dont know why why but u seem to be the biggest melt on this forum u just seem to be a right knobhead

FGR could be a really good team, but their ability to fall over and con a very poor ref was a disgrace. Sorry Mark Cooper, but to say that you deserved to win that game...how embarrassing that should be! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a match before where the refs decisions were so wrong, so often, and the players managed to hoodwink him so easily.

got to agree never seen a ref be so poor and conned at every opportunity that's probably why they sitting in top 7

Quite surprised at FGR’s tactics when defending corners 1st half to leave 4 players up?  I suppose if they managed to clear quickly they’d have had a 4 on 1, but it’s a risky strategy that eventually came back to bite them

Talk me through Cornell's "punch" in the 1st 5 minutes,  the one just after Smiths save from Hoskins. Kust to give a bit of balance to your views.

It was poor goalkeeping simple as that - however he did nothing else wrong and there is not a player on the pitch that didn’t make a mistake so I would not demonise him for that but as you say a bit of balance to address those that think any negative comment on any aspect of one of our players is not allowed.

That save from Smith was unbelievable. Still can't believe that header didn't go in. Nice to see him back for the first time since leaving us. And equally nice to beat him  :)

Interesting to see him called overrated when he was ever present in the title winning side, and in the League 2 team of the year. But we all see players differently.

Was it like the save he made for us at Czmbridge away? That was also one of the best saves I've ever seen.

Smith just lost his way under Rob Page that's purely and simply why he was moved on by Edinburgh. Nothing should take away from what he achieved for the Cobblers during the championship winning side.In terms of the debate about Mark Cooper then it is not just against the Cobblers that his teams play act .When they played against Tranmere Rovers in the play offs last season their manager Micky Mellon was complaining at great length about FGs time wasting and play acting tactics but they had the last laugh like the Cobbs did yesterday by turning FG over.

I heard you; was in row V 141- terrible language!

I think Cornell thought he had to try something but had almost no chance with all the players in front of him. If he had managed a good firm punch on the ball that Ref would probably have sent him off for violent conduct!

I think u are wrong,  it was poor goalkeeping.

TBF to Cornell he has exceeded my expectations of him as a GK this season but isnt faultless.  Id say him and Smith were on par yesterday.

It's obvious that you have a strong dislike of Adam Smith, but he was named in the League 2 and EFL teams of the year, so he was "over rated" by quite a few people. I don't think that you praising Dai when the opposition get a corner is showing him at his best as I can't remember him EVER coming out and catching a corner.

I agree it was a poor decision by Cornell although most referees would have (wrongly) given him a free kick. He has also surprised me how well he has played this season.

It wasn't too dissimilar to this one.

I  thought the first half was pretty even but always felt we were going to grab a goal. You could see that they were going to come out and have a go in the second half but I didn't expect them to be quite so dominant as they were in the last 20-30 minutes. Still, despite riding our luck on a couple of occasions, plus one very good stop from Cornell, we restricted their chances enough to see that game out.

I thought they were probably the best side at the PTS so far this season - they could play when they wanted to, and were generally a very difficult side to play against. Unfortunately this was partly due to their s***-house tactics which actually exceeded my expectations. Disgusting stuff really, but if that's how they want to go out and try to win matches then I feel embarrassed for them if anything.

A mention for the ref, who as already mentioned was terrible. Absolutely clueless as to the shenanigan's being pulled by their players and they got away with virtually everything. A weak ref and a weak linesman who both seemed easily influenced. I even thought for a second he was going to rule out the goal after being pestered by some of their players, that's how bad he had been.

Can anyone say what happened in the first half with the off-the-ball incident involving their number 14?

NTFC 1
FGR 10 10 10 10 10 for their perfect diving.
Ref  embarrassing
Cooper  Bell End.

Could of written this all myself, including the question about number 14! Nothing else to add!

Their number 14 tripped Wharton up as he ran past him . It was right in front of me and in front of the ref and Lino .
As for Smith , he lost his way before Page arrived . He was voted as league 2 keeper because the votes went in before January . He was brilliant then and went downhill badly afterwards . He was dropped by every manager at some point with good reason . He has since never firmly held down a first team place for another club . Says it all really . Over rated . Possibly at fault for our goal .
Cornell meanwhile ..... another clean sheet .

But what about that punch ?

Dai got away with that one, unlike De Gea this afternoon :)

On way to the gents at half time, I accidentally caught the back of the heel of the bloke in front of me. He half turned and I immediately apologised. "No problem mate" he replied "but if I'd been Forest Green I'd have gone down!". Made me smile but he was right.

.

I think myself that B&S is probably right on his opinion of Smith. After the Manu game and his howlers Smiths form deterioraited which ended up in his release. I can remember games against Stevenage and Mansfield which Smith was somewhat culpable for a couple of goals. In the scheme of things  Cornell's weak punch led to nothing and is irrelevant to the result.

The votes went in before January? How did Holmes make the L2 team if he'd only made a few sub appearances prior to then, and didn't start a game until January?

I am not a violent person but I am tempted

You still cant provide an answer or a balance view can you.

Regarding FGR, I thought their fans were great. Both of them!

Have to agree that the referee was poor, but we don't like Charles Breakspear either. Saturdays referee obviously sees the game in a totally different light to Breakspear as he has not issued a red card all season.

I don’t know what anyone else thinks but I thought FGR managed to keep Adams pretty quiet from open play - their right wing back and right sided attacker looked they were consciously forcing him back into a defensive role which obviously isn’t his strength. Having said that there’s nothing anyone can do about his delivery from set pieces which is lethal. I know a lot has been made about us winning without McCormack and we did miss him, but I think that if Adams was to be out for a length of time then it would hit us harder in that we haven’t got much creativity from open play without him. The same goes for Goode - if he was missing for a while it would hit us as he is one of the best defenders in the division. When I think of where to strengthen in the window I would probably say we could upgrade on Anderson (despite the fact that he is a real trier and possibly some more quality and pace out wide.

Every player on that pitch made a minimum of one mistake in the game . Some made quite a few mistakes .
Cornell made one mistake , a missed punch . Everything else was fine and a clean sheet was kept .
Is that what you want ? Next ?

Smith lost his way after the Manchester United game, and from the training inadequacies of Paddy Kenny. He was without doubt the best keeper in League 2 in 2015/16 though. I wish him well in his FGR career except for when facing us again.

He made a howler in the WBA game, previous round.

I came to the conclusion at the time he's a bit of a bottler. Big crowd/being on TV gets to him. Then factor in confidence. As soon as he made a couple of errors, it all went down hill.

When things were going well, he was brilliant for us. As soon as things tipped he became one of the biggest 'problems'!

Smith is still a better keeper than Dafydd.

Fair enough, but Cornell's performance was no better than Smith's, who also only made one similar 'error'.

Have you got a link showing that the team of the season votes are cast before January as you say?

...in your opinion - but nothing to separate them from Saturday's performance.

I think Smith had a lot to prove when he came to us after his sacking by Leicester and undoubtably had a fantastic season and I think we were all sorry to see him go but I don't see he has improved from that season and (theoretically) swap him for Cornell and I don't think it will change where we finish this season.

LOL!  Brilliant!  Good man!   ;D ;D ;D ;D