It was the perfect day for football in Nottingham. With fans shielding their eyes throughout the game as a clean shadow cut across the grass at the City Ground, it might have been tough for Bristol City’s away fans to see what was going on in the outline of the Saturday sunshine.
That being said, it probably wasn’t a bad thing. After not starting well, only level thanks to another heroic Dan Bentley masterclass in shot-stopping. It could have been 3-0 before 10 minutes were up and the City supporters would have struggled to see any of it past the orange glow over the top of the stand.
There were rows of hands going to foreheads to deflect away sunlight and create some makeshift ways of watching the game. They probably wish they hadn’t. This was yet another addition to the Robins' now enormous log of poor away performances.
They were, as Nigel Pearson put it, "second best in all departments" and didn’t get close to putting a mark on their hosts, who were impressive despite not having to be anywhere near their best.
City’s defence didn’t part, but on the ball they were ineffective and void of ideas. Had Brennan Johnson’s effort not been shut out for an extra five minutes then maybe City could have clung onto the game into half-time, but their uncanny ability to concede at exactly the wrong time hit them hard.
As they start games poorly, they start second halves just as badly and realistically, after James Garner had driven in Forest’s second there wasn’t going to be a way back.
That was summed up by the stats sheet. Rather nicely, City have been credited with a shot on target, but when they came isn’t too apparent. City hardly got into the Forest box to have a shot. That condemned them to a first game without scoring in 14 matches.
There was plenty to see at the City Ground though as the sunlight on a Saturday returned. Here’s some of the moments you might have missed…
Scott Murray dressed for the occasion
For once it was a glorious afternoon as City were playing their football. The sun-soaked Nottingham setting presented glistening and shimmering crystal gifts in the River Trent alongside the back of the City Ground.
The nicest football playing day of 2022 was laid out in front of the Robins and even made the all-black away kits shine on the chests of the City players. That isn’t to say these were optimum conditions, the wind around the ground did pick up as a chill was felt by the players. This explained the amount of black tracksuit bottoms that were being worn in the warm-up despite the glowing sun.
The one person that caught our eye wasn’t a player, but kitman and club legend Scott Murray. In typical style he was bouncing around the players and club staff outside the stadium, waiting at the ground’s gates as the team bus arrived and bringing his infectious smile to the midlands.
His appearance was more questionable. Someone in the press box described him as a fashionista, that’s pushing it a bit far.
With black shoes propped on a white sole, Murray was of course wearing shorts, he always is. There was no sign of an accompanying long-sleeved coat, jacket or body-warmer. It was a thin short-sleeve training top, accompanied by a fully black bobble hat with the City logo on the front.
This is standard matchday attire for Murray, but on a day with sun and wind, it was like he couldn’t make his mind up. We’re all here for it.
What was even better to see was his moment as the afternoon’s entertainer before the game began. As the final players hoofed balls around the pitch he was scurrying around to collect them with a long black draw string satchel on his flopped over his shoulder. Murray could have been Santa, but he’d ran out of presents.
The former City winger did save one final gift for his own set of adoring fans, as he tends to do on away trips. They’ve already seen over 350 games of Murray in a red shirt and he reimbursed them for their historical support. Punting a ball into the packed out away end for them to play with.
As the white speck was launched around the enclosed travelling fans every bounce was cheered and Murray was conducting it. Rounding up the final herd of balls, Murray was given the ball back, only for him to do a few kick ups and send it sailing back into the sea of red shirts.
Never change Scott, never change.
Cheeky Pearson
Back in his birth city and Pearson was making a day of it like he usually does. If there had been a heat map for the touchline the manager would have a pretty solid red glow bordering the pitch. The bullish figure was positioned pitchside for most of the match.
His best moment came just seconds before Forest went on to score. Attempting to slow the game down, he saw the ball in front of him and nipped in to intercept it. His old defender instincts are clearly still there, then he demonstrated why he probably never made it into midfield.
With Max Lowe looking to set up a Forest attack from the throw, Pearson deftly looked to flick the ball between Lowe’s legs as he went into the white box on the sideline. It was smooth enough, his initial touch enticed Lowe to get the ball, the outside of the foot sliding push was neat but Lowe was fast to stop the ball.
It did cause a bit of trouble that was all quite needless. The fourth official, James Bell, stepped across Pearson who had gotten increasingly angry on the sideline throughout the half. There wasn’t any malice and the City boss explained the bit of fun to Bell and gave him a quick pat on the back as a goodbye.
The referee in waiting might have been relieved when he did send him away a few minutes earlier he had a screaming duet of Pearson and Andi Weimann protesting for a foul on the Austrian. The backing singers joined in when Pat Mountain jumped off his chair joined in the complaints.
Klose chop
FIFA players from past years might have heard of a skill move named after one of football’s biggest names and best show-boaters. He’s got a brand with his initials and they are perhaps the most notable three digits in sport. CR7.
Back to sports gamers and if you played FIFA between 2010 and the present day you have almost certainly come across the Ronaldo chop. Why it was named after Cristiano Ronaldo given the simple nature of it isn’t one for us to answer, but that’s what it’s known as.
The little side foot cut to jump inside and drag the ball behind your standing foot has been a go to skill move on FIFA for a while. As it appears, Timm Klose might be playing the game in his spare time.
As a Forest attack was building from the back the Swiss centre back raced across the backline to intercept the ball ahead of Keenan Davis. Instead of clearing his lines he was calm and Ronaldo chopped his way out of the danger.
His confidence on the ball continued to grow and maybe EA need to consider bumping the defender’s two-star skill moves up a notch. In front of his manager in the second half he showed the twinkle toes that Alex Scott would be proud of.
Shifting the ball nimbly from his right sole to his left and back again, dropping his shoulder in the process and keeping the ball. On FIFA this is labelled ‘la croqueta’ and is another massively overused skill that you rarely see in actually football. Klose nailed it.
We’ve seen a few Paolo Maldini-esque touches from Klose in his two months at Ashton Gate, these two might just have topped the lot. Even if it didn’t look entirely comfortable.
Scott bulking up
If Bristol City losing on the road was a surprise then your revision wasn’t done correctly. What was more of a shock was whenScott sent Davis tumbling over in the centre circle in the first half.
The striker was dominating all afternoon and used his body excellently to supply neat touches for his surrounding teammates. Scott is a much slighter, less assuming figure. He floats around the football pitch and glides with the ball. That doesn’t mean he’s not afraid to put himself about when it comes to tackling hard and winning the ball.
As Forest looked to catch City in possession in midfield, Davis had come deep, allowing runners either side of him to open up the wide areas. As he planted his foot past the ball to shield the ball and set up his body to turn and run at goal, Scott came bounding in from the side and nicked his foot in-front of Davis.
Now it was a case of strength to win the ball. Scott had an advantage in now having his body between Davis and the ball, but Davis is a much larger presence and peered over Scott, looming large and casting another shadow in the centre circle.
Scott managed to swiftly touch the ball away with the outside of his boot and fling his body past Davis’ tug, upending the striker to the canvas. It wasn’t just a quick display of Scott’s impeccable technical skill, but the distain and anger in which he thrusted Davis off him was just as impressive.
The English midfielder has shown many of his countless and ever-growing talents this season, his feisty competitive spirit and determination to shrug opponents away from the play, leaving his own mark, is certainly one of them.
Given how Tomas Kalas and Klose struggled to deal with Davis’ presence in the air, Scott walking away unscathed and with the world championship belt around his waist was even more incredible.
Wincing Weimann
Only three times this season has Andi Weimann touched the ball less times than his minimal 25 against Steve Cooper’s well organised Forest side. Part of this might have been down to an injury he sustained in the first half.
The Austrian went down for a few minutes, painfully clutching at his right knee. This might have brought City fans close to tears given his previous ACL ligament injury issues in 2020 and his figure as a lonesome consistent goal scorer this season for the team.
Initially it looked like Weimann wasn’t going to continue, hobbling around and barely walking off the pitch as Nahki Wells underwent a vigorous warmup. As is right and fitting with the forward’s attitude, he went straight back out onto the pitch and played on.
At that point there was still no expectation that he would stay on the pitch, but he did do a job of keeping his team up with 11-men during a tough spell at the start of the game.
Despite looking fragile, Weimann continued to test his knee, sprinting to close down Ethan Horvath in the Forest goal. Still struggling to run properly, Weimann made to tape up his knee during the first half and had it quickly bandaged with a thin blue strap. This was ripped off 10 minutes later though as he was moving more freely.
There isn’t a way to know if Weimann might have been able to add or get close to adding to his 16 league goals this season if he hadn’t been nursing an injury at the same time. Pearson also didn’t seem to have much time for sympathy with his top scorer when asked about his fitness after the game.
“He just got kicked, he’s alright, he’s fine” replied the manager, whilst also explaining why Weimann had such a small impact on the game.
“It’s got nothing to do with the forwards. Wow. They’re not magicians. You can’t rely on that,” he replied to being questioned about his attack’s lack of threat on Saturday.
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