James Forrest

The man in my avatar has turned up far more often against the rotten mob across the city than Forrest. I still feel he's far too limited a winger in Europe & Sevco fixtures, constantly left frustrated by the majority of his performances in those games, we need far better than him in those fixtures. A great squad player to have against teams the standard of Aberdeen & below though going forward.

Btw Paddy got about 5 assists against the huns including winning pens, he has about the same number of assists in those games as Forrest having played a fraction of the fixtures plus he's about 6 years younger than Forrest.

 

We have still missed him this season. We would have won us a few more games with him in the team regardless of whether he is the best player against the Huns or not.

 

Perhaps, his goal against St Mirren was huge, same with his opener against Motherwell, he's never had a problem against that standard of opposition, just Europe & Sevco fixtures I feel he doesn't turn up enough.

As I said earlier though, Forrest refused to take on his man before his injury this season, he'd constantly go backwards when squaring his man up, but maybe that was down to the injury he was carrying, we'll see when he returns.

 

Hoping we find out soon one way or the other.

Whilst waiting for that I wouldn't mind seeing a bit more of your namesake.

Particularly as this feels like his last year with us.

 

Typical Lenny, gets him back into the team after nearly selling him in the Summer, rescues Lenny out of a sticky spell & livens the team up a bit with crucial moments at Pittodrie, Fir Park & Hampden, then dropped like a hot potato when there's a new kid in town.

The frustrating thing is, there's a way of getting both Turnbull & Rogic into the starting 11, just play Turnbull at RCM (the role Christie is currently occupying) & Rogic at the tip, imagine Rogic in the team receiving quick passes from Soro on the turn with Griffiths & Eddy ahead of him, the stuff of dreams for us & the stuff of nightmares for the opposition. Instead Lenny is prioritizing lower quality in possession with Christie due to him having more energy & covering more ground.

Turnbull Soro CalMac
Rogic
Eddy Griffiths​

 

In fairness rogic does have more goals against the huns, but in your own words in a previous post, they were * then. He has also contributed virtually nothing in European group stages, something you are criticising forrest for. Seems, just like lennon, you have a favourite

As for Patrick Roberts you'll have to jog my memory on those assists. I can think of 1 for Griffiths at ibrox and 1 for McGregor at Ibrox, but they were * then weren't they.

 

The stick this player got after what he did for the club is astonishing.

Same with Brown, Lennon and now Christie.

I don't know how these people can look themselves in the mirror without feeling embarrassed?

I think it's a case of being bored with the same face, being a sheep and also a bit of pride refusing to admit you were wrong! It's not difficult! Couple examples I have are Mulgrew and Rogic. Bitton as well! I slated those players who turned out great!

 

My whole point about them being * back then was that Forrest did so little against them when they were in that state compared to others, Paddy has nearly the same number of assists as Forrest does against the huns in about a fraction of the appearances, he's also 6 years younger & was far less experienced against them than Forrest. Paddy has assists with the two you mention, winning a pen at Ibrox in the 5-1 game, winning a pen at Hampden in the 4-0 game, with another assist for Rogic at Ibrox in the 2-0 game.

How many starts has Rogic had compared with Forrest at the Group Stage? Far less I'd guess & regardless, overall Rogic looks far more capable at that level than Forrest & doesn't look out of place, he's far more composed in possession & in his decision making over Forrest, he also has a better first touch, technique, control, skill set, awareness, vision, decision making, passing ability etc over Forrest at that level. One example is Copenhagen at home last season, Rogic came in from the cold & was one of our best performers that night, whereas Forrest had one of his usual under par performances at that level even though he was playing regularly at that point compared with Rogic.

 

So why should it matter how a player performs against 1 * team compared to all the other * teams? Whats more, James forrest has a winning goal and an assist to a winning goal against them since they have been a proper challenge, so in a period we have only won 4 games against them he has directly and significantly contributed to 50% of those wins.

And just how has Patrick Robert's career went since the start of 2017/18 season compared to James forrest's? And as much as I like Tom rogic he has shown nothing at a European group level, nevermind that he is more capable than forrest. There is most likely a reason rogic has far less appearances across all competitions under 3 different managers. The most likely being his lack of fitness, pace and consistency. Your citing a game we lost 3-1 at home and failed to create much at all with Tom starting in the no 10 position? Come on.

There are many things wrong at our club right now. Other than being injured and unavailable, James forrest is not one of them.

 

We've really missed him.

 

Stop trying to sugarcoat his efforts against the huns when there's no dressing it up, it's nowhere near good enough & he has a clear mentality issue in those games because he fails to turn up in far too many, which given the number of times (20+) he's played them then of course every dog will have their day in at least a couple given the law of averages.

Why are you trying to now have a dig at Paddy without acknowledging the five assists that you had forgotten about? Paddy is 6 years younger than Forrest, how do you know what Forrest would have done outside Celtic? Given his International record with Scotland, and his European & Hun record for us, I don't think he'd have made it at a high level. Opposition teams of Aberdeen standard & below are Forrests ceiling in terms of consistency against them.

Btw Rogic was very creative that night, played Elyounoussi down the left with great passes multiple times as well as putting two on a plate for Eddy either side of H/T, on another night those chances are took so it's bizarre to me that you claim Rogic didn't create much when in fact he did.

 

I'm not sugar coating anything. It was you who said rangers were *, and you're correct they were. For 2 full seasons they weren't even a challenge. Since Gerrard arrived they have been an entirely different prospect and we have only recorded 4 victories in that time, James forrest was instrumental in 2 of those. Thats not "sugar coating" anything, that's simply fact.

Not having a go at roberts he was a good player for us for a spell but ultimately he found himself out of our starting 11 in favour of forrest. Merely pointing out that being younger may not have any bearing on the comparison. Roberts played the best football of his career to date during the invincible season, since then he has definitely been on the wane. So it could be argued that roberts' career peaked during that season whereas James forrest has played the best football of his career in the 2 seasons prior to this one, culminating in winning both poty awards when they were last available. BTW it wasnt me that brought paddy into it.

Likewise, not having a go at rogic either. I think he's a cracking player who I hope sticks around. But what I find bizarre is you are willing to lambast a player for not turning it on for our big occasions and champion another who has a comparable but less consistent record simply because he has scored more against a team who by your own admission were *.

 

Look mate Forrest is usually brutal against the huns & a couple good games from 20+ doesn't paint over that, where was he in his three starts against them last season when he was subbed in all three? Nowhere as he usually is in those fixtures and btw in one of those games you talk about Forrest being instrumental in beating the huns whilst Gerrard has been their manager it was actually Rogic who instigated the Ntcham goal by winning the ball back in our own half & then carrying it the length of the pitch, that goal doesn't happen without that initial intervention from Rogic, that's a fact.

Paddy found himself out the starting 11 due to him telling Brendan that he didn't want to make his move permanent, nothing to do with his performance levels, so Brendan took the hump with him & decided to freeze him out, that's why he spitefully didn't even give Paddy a sub appearance in the Double Treble final in which he knew would be Paddys last competitive game as a Celtic player yet didn't even give him a fan send off after being a fan favorite for two & a half years.

Mate I just rate Rogic as a superior footballer to Forrest & that's all there is to it, they play in different positions of course but I just think Rogic is more composed/comfortable in possession (especially against tougher opposition i.e Europe & Huns), has better technical ability/technique, first touch, control, awareness, vision, skill set etc, when I watch both in Europe & Hun fixtures I always feel Rogic looks less out of place, just a shame he can't last 90 mins.

 

"Look mate" Wouldn't even question Rogic role in that goal, he did win the ball, carry it forward and lay it off to eddy, who then slipped it in to forrest, who provided the assist. If we're going to start looking for assists to assist an assist then I'm sure we could go back and dissect plenty of other games.

James forrest frequently picks the ball up in our half and drives into the final 3rd with it, he may then directly be involved in a goal or may not be involved further in a move that leads to a goal or even a chance creation. Thats actually a huge part of his job, carry the ball forward quickly and allow the team to move 50 or 60 yards up the pitch . An aspect that's all to frequently overlooked, something that also happened to mcgeady when he wasn't providing glamour moments.

Forrest also does a job out of possession, something that roberts didn't. This is probably why he found himself playing second fiddle to forrest long before that season came to a close and unless you have inside knowledge and proof of what you claim transpired then it s just rumour and hearsay. Did the same scenario play out with the managers of Girona, Norwich and Middlesbrough?

I wouldn't deny that rogic is a better player, technically, than forrest and provides more Hollywood moments but by the same token James does a job that rogic never could. Rogic may look better in your eyes but ultimately has delivered nothing, or very little, in terms of end product in europe and its a bit harsh to be critical of forrest for that very same thing when arguably none of our players have consistently. Sure it would good to have someone better than forrest but it would be good to have better in every position, including the no10.

 

I watched several games today on Sky v them and Forrest was outstanding.

 

Man of the match and a goal in the 2016 League Cup Final, Scored the winner away to Rosenborg in the euro qualifiers in 2017 which was key on the way to making the groups that year in the Champions League, scored in the 2017 League Cup Final the third League Cup Final he has scored in, his goals and performances earned him the player of the year award in 2018-19 as a handful of examples. 90 goals in 404 appearances for us overall is pretty impressive overall numbers for a wide midfielder.
No question he has become a vital player for us over the past 4-5 seasons IMHO and I will be delighted when he is back from injury.

 

No questioning his consistency against teams of Aberdeen standard & below domestically, I know that he can turn up against all those sides on any occasion, whether it be league or cup. Going forward though, I'd like a new RW for Europe & Hun fixtures, someone whom I'd be actually confident in turning up more often than not.

 

Ye couldn’t sign a player like Forrest and have him here for any more than 2/3 years. That tells you it all. We are lucky to have a player of his quality to come thru the academy, and not only that, want to stay here his full career.

 

Many a time has Forrest got us a winning goal to allow us to even play in Europe.

 

He's been decent in the Qualifiers tbf, although he's also pulled a few Houdinis as well, for every Karagandy, Rosenborg, AIK Stockholm & Cluj, there's been Ferencvaros, AEK Athens, Suduva & Malmo where he didn't turn up, he'* & miss in them.

I'd rather we got a new RW, which doesn't look like it'll be Shved or Karamoko, that'll turn up more in the European games after the Qualifiers as well as the hun fixtures.