Jules’ Redemption!

What a difference a few days can make. Sitting in the (Sir) Brian Clough Stand on Tuesday night I witnessed an utterly fustrating performance as Forest failed to overcome Oldham Athletic despite a bucket-load of chances.
The players tried to do too much, when they should have just stuck to the simple passing game that had seen them go eight games unbeaten previously. The biggest offender for sloppy play and silly mistakes was Julian Bennett, and by the end of the game I was praying for the return from injury of Matt Lockwood.

This afternoon, just four days later and a week after our worst performance since Colin Calderwood took over, we hosted Tranmere Rovers. If this was last season, I would not have been worried about this prospect, but at the moment Tranmere are one of the form sides of the division.

Step up Julian Bennett.

Almost as if Tuesday hadn’t happened, Jules goes from Titus Bramble to Sol Campbell and turns out a man of the match performance. According to Calderwood, he was our main attacking threat despite a good team performance all round, and even had a hand in both goals. I’m sure words must have been said in the dressing room on Tuesday, and it seems this man was paying his full attention.

It’s a positive sign for Forest in what has been an awful week. Our first away defeat of the season followed by the Oldham match, and then the announcement that Neil Lennon has buggered off back to Scotland. So it’s pleasing to see this kind of redemption, also with Nathan Tyson getting back on the goal trail.

I’m not going to start saying that this win and a defeat for Leeds now makes us dead certs for promotion. I’m just going to cross my fingers and hope for a repeat performance against Southend in the week.

Category: matches

Tags: brian clough, colin calderwood, forest, julian bennett, leeds united, matches, matt lockwood, nathan tyson, neil lennon, oldham athletic, scotland, sol campbell, southend, titus bramble, tranmere rovers

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