Men at work: Forest-West Brom reaction

Forest still need work to according to both Seat Pitch and Through The Seasons Before Us after Friday’s friendly defeat to West Brom.

Both sites have suggested the Forest squad is a work in progress, but Seat Pitch reporter James Bolton remains positive, saying: ‘I think we’ve done a great job in such a short space of time.’

Fortunately this season’s unusual start, with a League Cup tie coming before the League fixtures, means there is still time for more rebulding. As TTSBU points out: ‘With the season proper kicking off on Monday night at Fleetwood for the Capital One Cup and then we’re into the League season next weekend I can’t help but think we’re going to be basically having a bit of an extended preseason into the real one.’

The schedule should work in Forest’s favour, with the manager getting to see his team in competitive action without the pressure of knowing there are league points at stake if they haven’t quite gelled yet.

With eighteensixtyfive also taking a building theme last week, images of Sean O’Driscoll as a site foreman spring to mind. Can he fix it? We hope so, but the chances are the first few weeks of the campaign will see him sucking air through his teeth and asking which cowboy last worked on this job.