At least this wasn’t a last minute change.
Nottingham Forest have announced that their U23 side will now travel to Mansfield on Tuesday night, rather than the senior team. In a club statement, Forest announced that they would be giving refunds to the fans who had already bought tickets but didn’t wish to travel.
Forest fans were looking forward to seeing their team at a relatively easy 16 miles away, it’s certainly a lot easier than having to flog all the way to Greece to see them get beat for example. It seems as though one man is to blame for this change, at least in the minds of the Forest fans, and that’s former boss Martin O’Neill.
This was MONs crazy pre season plan, was never feasible hence the Peterborough game being cancelled. If you read the post it says you can get a refund
— Jason ????⚪️ (@JasonIB93) July 18, 2019
Blame Martin O’Neill. Arranged 175 friendlies in 12 days! Save the first-team for the big one at Lincoln…????
— Lee Clarke (@Clarkey_No1) July 18, 2019
Good decision, CANT MAKE ONEIL EXCUSES NOW!!
— Baz (@HarryyS98) July 18, 2019
O’Neill had set up quite a lot of preseason friendlies before he was sacked as manager, and new boss Sabri Lamouchi has had to do his best to manage the situation. This did mean the cancellation of the friendly against Peterborough, and now this change against Mansfield.
However, it seems that Forest fans are for the most part in favour of this decision, especially as the club has handled the issue of refunds so well. It’s also another example of new boss Lamouchi’s way of dealing with things that has once again gone down well with the Forest faithful.
Smart move. Way too many friendlies. Gives the U23s game time as well
— GrapsTalk (@GrapsTalk) July 18, 2019
The right decision! ????????????⚪️⚽️
— Henrik NFFC Johansen (@henjohansen1) July 18, 2019
Fair enough, had a massive pre-season schedule. Gets more game time for the youngsters for their pre-season and more time for the first team on the training pitch #nffc
— Scotty J (@ScottyJwheeler) July 18, 2019
Genuinely hope that it’s still a good turn out away fans wise , will be a mint experience for the u23 lads
— tom connors (@tomconnors910) July 19, 2019
Shame, would have been good to field a strong team in the only East Midlands derby that matters……
— Martin Staley (@MartinStaley) July 18, 2019