Key events
“My thoughts: I prefer Cloughie’s single breasted to Tel’s double effort,” emails Jeremy Boyce. “Does anyone know whose idea it was to hold hands ? Too late to ask them now. Shell suit tops and skimpy shorts, Stuart Pearce’s thighs. Forest may be riding low by today’s comparison, but will Spurs ever win a European Cup/Champions League ? Never mind two on the bounce.”
Unless my memory is playing tricks on me, I remember the holding-hands being discussed during the live coverage on the day, I think both managers were asked about it. As I remember it, Clough just did it instinctively when they were walking out, and Venables was happy to go with it.
No shortage of football news around today, it being the weekend and all that:
What we can say about Postecoglu’s Spurs is that they will give this a good go. Will that mean space for Forest on the counter? Could a seven-goal thriller await? Might this turn out to be the greatest match of association football ever seen?
Any thoughts? About this football match, I mean? Why not send me an email?
Kick-off is under half an hour away …
Here’s a photo via Spurs’ Twitter of Venables and Clough holding hands before the 1991 FA Cup final.
Ian Woan and his magical left boot have to be mentioned tonight, obviously, but how about this lesser-remembered but equally brilliant winner by Steve Stone for Forest at Spurs in 1995?
“We know him,” Steve Cooper says of Brennan Johnson lining up against his former club. “We know the impact he can have … but you get these players week in, week out in the Premier League.”
Kelly Cates, presenting on Sky Sports, prefaced that by asking “Do you have a plan?”, to which Cooper smiled and said: “I hope I have a plan … we do some work, you know!”
Then he, Cates, Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher all laughed heartily. Cooper seems fairly relaxed, which is a good sign for Forest fans on a very important night.
Morgan Gibbs-White, who makes his 100th Premier League appearance this evening, tells Sky Sports there is “massively” a strong sense of togetherness in the Forest camp, and that all the players back Steve Cooper to turn their form around.
“Everyone believes in him,” says Gibbs-White. “You can see the fans believe him in as well. We’ve got to keep building as a team and look for the next challenge. We’re looking forward to this game tonight and hopefully we can get three points.”
Teams
Forest are unchanged following last weekend’s draw at Wolves. Spurs are also unchanged after that 4-1 win against the Magpies: Brennan Johnson starts for against his former club.
Nottingham Forest (3-5-2): Turner; Boly, Murillo, Niakhate; Williams, Yates, Mangala, Kouyate, Toffolo; Elanga, Gibbs-White. Substitutes: Wood, Hudson-Odoi, Dominguez, Vlachodimos, Origi, Danilo, Montiel, Omobamidele, Aina.
Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1): Vicario; Porro, Romero, Davies, Udogie; Sarr, Bissouma; Johnson, Kulusevski, Son; Richarlison. Substitutes: Skipp, Hojbjerg, Gil, Emerson, Dier, Forster, Veliz, Donley, Dorrington.
Referee: Jarred Gillett (Aus)
Preamble
Nottingham Forest v Tottenham is a fixture steeped in history, most notably Spurs’ memorable FA Cup final triumph in 1991; a clash of two managerial legends in which Terry Venables ultimately got the better of Brian Clough.
But this no time for nostalgia – or it certainly won’t be when tonight’s match kicks off. Urgent matters must be attended to – namely, from the hosts’ point of view, the miserable run that Steve Cooper’s Forest been on lately. They have won just once in 12 matches, with a low point coming in a 5-0 thrashing by Fulham 11 days ago, although the slump was arrested by last Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Wolves.
Tottenham put a stop to a worrying slide of their own by thrashing injury-ravaged Newcastle last weekend but are, in truth, looking distinctly injury-ravaged themselves. Can Ange Postecoglu’s side back up that performance and make it back-to-back wins against a home team who will be, in the opinion of many, playing for their manager’s job this evening?
Team news and more coming up.
Kick-off: 8pm
