Walsall welcome Forest Green to the Bank’s this weekend. Forest Green sit in the play-off’s, but have dipped in form, and over the last 5 games, have had a worse spell of form than the Saddlers.
To take a closer look at the visitors, I spoke with Laurie and Ollie, from @thefgrpod, to chat all things Forest Green.
With Forest Green sat in the play-off’s, have you done enough to earn that place, and potentially gain promotion?
Up until Good Friday, Forest Green had always bounced back from a defeat in the league, with the two losses against Bolton and Bradford being the first incident of consecutive defeats for Mark Cooper’s men in League Two this season. Throughout the campaign, Rovers have been consistent with results and performances, looking likely to secure the playoff places at a minimum, with automatic promotion a massive possibility. The team had managed to overcome various injury problems, Covid-19 issues and tactical changes, with Cooper’s side well-rounded and nicely balanced to adapt to different situations and varying opposition.
The loss of Jamille Matt through injury has coincided with a stark drop off in results and performances in recent weeks, with just one point from a possible 15. Despite scoring just one goal in the last five games, due to teams around us dropping points, Rovers are still just two points off the automatic promotion spots and simply looking at the league table appear to be in a good position for the final seven games of the season. However, disregarding league position, there needs to be a significant improvement from Forest Green moving ahead if they are to mount a serious promotion challenge, whether that be through the play-off’s or not.
Forest Green and Dale Vince divide opinion within the football community. Why do you think that is?
People dislike FGR simply because of the unique, unorthodox stance the club has off the pitch. With the backing off Dale Vince, there is a feeling among others that the club has been ‘bankrolled’ up into the Football League, with Forest Green a small club in terms of fan-base and geographical location. Some rival supporters respect and appreciate the different approach to running a football club that Vince uses at FGR, in terms of the sustainability efforts and eco-friendly beliefs, while certain fans target these ideologies as something to ridicule.
How would you rate manager Mark Cooper?
Mark Cooper brought the club into the Football League and has created a promotion chasing squad during his close to five-year tenure at Forest Green. Amongst the Rovers fan-base, I think it’s fair to say that he certainly divides opinion. He’s in his final season of contract at the club, and is yet to sign a new deal going into next season, with his future in Gloucestershire likely dependent on the outcome of the current season. The relationship between Cooper and supporters hasn’t been perfect while at the club, and at times, certain players have been frozen out, with over 100 signings made in four years at the club. Despite this, we’ve had some real successful periods including spells of superb football and a clear identity in place under Cooper. He could be potentially taking the club into League One come May, an achievement you can’t argue with.
It is a big game for both teams, for different reasons. Do you feel that Walsall are a good opportunity to turn your form around?
On the surface, it appears that Walsall are the perfect team for Rovers to face as they attempt to break their torrid run of form. The Saddlers are without a win since the departure of Darrel Clarke in February and have scored just four goals in their last ten games.
However, when you look a bit deeper, Walsall are higher up the form table than us, have only conceded once in their last four games and appear to be a side that have found some solidity across the pitch, mainly defensively, with four straight draws, including one against in form Leyton Orient. The points need to start coming from somewhere for Mark Cooper’s men and Saturday’s trip to Walsall can be a good opportunity to turn things around, but Rovers will be made to work for their chances and hopefully(fingers crossed) somegoals.
Who has been the standout player this season?
Jamille Matt has been the main standout performer for Forest Green this campaign, with the striker’s 16 goals a major factor in firing Rovers up the table. His absence these last few games, after a horrific season-ending arm injury against Bolton, has been extremely noticeable with the rest of the squad scoring just once without Matt and finding clear-cut opportunities on goal hard to come by.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the team?
A weakness of the team would be breaking opposition defences down, a task intensified when in a losing position. When players sit back and let FGR have the ball, the team often struggles to find gaps to play into and can sometimes find themselves caught in possession and vulnerable on the counter attack. The loss of Carl Winchester to Sunderland in January forced us to adapt our possession based style of play to a more direct method of football, utilising Jamille Matt’s presence as a focal point up top, meaning forcing ourselves through with patient possession wasn’t as much of an issue. However, since Matt’s injury, the team hasn’t had that outlet up top to be able to hit, meaning we have had to resort to our passing roots a little bit, as shown against Bradford when we continued to try and play it out the back despite pressure from their forwards. When it works, the passing style of play can be sublime, especially with our attacking wingbacks Kane Wilson and Nicky Cadden, however when the tempo drops and there is no urgency to go forward, resorting in simple sideways and backwards passing, this can be less effective or take longer to break teams down in my opinion. Against Salford, we looked lost on and off the ball however, with out an identity, whether that be direct football, more patient possession based stuff, simply lots of crosses, or a mixture of everything. Hopefully there is an obvious approach for Saturday’s game and the team can play with confidence in their ability, which obviously hasn’t disappeared over night. A positive performance, ideally a good result too against Walsall, could be a massive morale booster in the camp and a catalyst to improving our form going into the final games of the season and potentially playoffs.
Predictions for the game?
@OllieSmith24 0-1 Aaron Collins to score.
@LaurieMartin263 1-1 Jake Young to score.
