Nottingham Forest crashed out of the EFL Cup last night at the fourth round stage as we made the trip to Burton Albion.
Losing 3-2 on the evening at the Pirelli Stadium, manager Aitor Karanka made changes to the starting lineup and whilst plenty of fans on social media were happy for him to shoulder the blame, and he did apologise for the performance at the fulltime whistle, many others blamed him for sending out the team he did, believing his should’ve known better.
It also raised the point of our transfer dealings given the ties to superagent Jorge Mendes as the almost immediate impact he had with Wolverhampton Wanderers has not been replicated and we don’t see to have the depth to mount a real challenge.
Karanka’s words can be read in full by clicking here.
“I’m really angry because a team from League One, a team which has played four games in ten days, has looked much better than us. They were much stronger and they wanted everything more than we did. I can’t understand why that was the case and I don’t want to say something that I’ll regret tomorrow. I just feel embarrassed and sorry for the supporters who travelled this evening because we all came here thinking we could achieve something good.”
As the chance for a first quarter-final appearance in 25 years slipped through our hands, as you can imagine some reactions to the match were quite tasty.
Yep looks like Wolves took the best Portugese players. We got the tripe.
— John Kasino (@johnnykasino) October 30, 2018
Thanks Aitor. Sadly the players were not up for it. I’m sure you’ll sort it out.
— Tricky Red (@Trickyred1) October 30, 2018
Karanka out!! Mourinho 2.0 without the titles
— Fred Vasquez (@FredRPVasquez) October 30, 2018
Here’s a stat for you @JBarnesy38 491 passes and only 110 in the attacking 3rd… to much time spent tapping it round from side to side at the back inviting pressure on. Same against Leeds . pic.twitter.com/1qYxVxGdPg
— tim martin (@tim__martin) October 30, 2018
I’ve got another stat for you 12 wins in 39.
— Barnesy (@JBarnesy38) October 30, 2018
Total rubbish, played off the park by Burton and to be honest they could have had more 3-2 flatters #nffc @Karanka got his team selection totally wrong & blew a great cup opportunity for the fans! Only a couple of players come away with any credit
— corby macdonald (@corbymac) October 30, 2018
Didn't play today and has been good all season …
— knqst (@knqst) October 30, 2018
Made far too many changes and under estimated Burton which you can’t do in cup competitions, especially when it was our first chance to make the quarter finals for 25 years! ???????? #NFFC.
— Will Thorpe (@ThorpeyNFFC) October 30, 2018
At least Karanka came out with the right comments. Best team on the night won, they wanted it more and deserved the win. Our lads weren’t good enough even for a League One side……no offence to Burton Albion
— Amreesh Mishra (@Amreesh75) October 30, 2018
I guess it's a good thing they didn't cost the club 20 million ????
— ✊Darrr✊ (@Hound_Darrr) October 30, 2018
Knew what was gonna happen when you saw the Line Up.
— Mr Feet (@TheFootLong) October 30, 2018
Negative play and not enough energy , how many times this season have we seen teams go at us and put us on the back foot..
The Burton game tonight has shown that some of these players are not good enough and that’s Karanka’s signings.
Couldn’t blame fans tonight Karanka.— ray (@ray317) October 31, 2018
Sheffield United up next on Saturday – that could be fun.