Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Garibaldi Red podcast, a Nottingham Forest podcast. And as Forest kick off their season tomorrow at home at the city ground to Bournemouth, it has come round quick. We thought, why not? Let's do a little bit of a chat with one of our favorites to get on the podcast, former Forest player, and well, I think a lot of Forest fans would call you a legend. Robbie Irinshore joins us to discuss the summer of Forest and how he thinks the forest will get on this season. Robbie, good to see you. Hope you're well. We've just been chatting actually before we started recording about your summer. What have you been up to and how you've been keeping?

It's been a good summer. A hectic Summer in some ways, but enjoyable summer. So now I was enjoying the Euros. I was doing a few hits for Sky Sports with some stuff with that transfer stuff, management stuff. So So it was good, but just getting ready for the season. But it was nice to just be a fan in the Euros, watch the games, and enjoy the football.

Yeah, definitely. Can imagine it's always nice as a player sometimes when you've retired, and even someone like you does a lot of media just to sit back and watch it as a fan sometimes.

No, it was great. It was great, actually. I really enjoyed it. I mean, listen, I won't say no to any time off and just be able to just relax and and watch the football from afar.

Yeah, good stuff. Let's touch on Forest then, and you covered them a little bit during the summer. You commentated on the Villarreal game for Forest TV when it was streamed on Forest platforms. First of all, actually, what did you make of that game and who stood out for you? And I suppose what have you made from afar of Forest during this, what a lot of people have been calling quite a positive preseason for the club?

Yeah, I covered the Villa Real game. It was a good game, actually. I was looking forward to it because Villa Real, listen, they've got a great history in European football, but they're always a solid, very, very good team. And what I wanted to see was Forest against that, against a good Villa Real team, a little bit of a mix of experience in there. Raul Albiol, I think he was 38 years old, playing somebody experienced like that. But I wanted to see because Forest, in the last two weeks, normally the preseason will be the last two weeks, you start to get a bit of an idea of how your team is going to go into the season, really. 90%, 85% of the team is picked. It's just about, again, fitness, but Villa Real game was good. I tell you what I did like from it. I thought they looked quite energetic. Forest, this is. I thought they looked energetic. I thought they looked fit. I like that. Because it felt like they were ready to start. They were still two weeks away, but they felt like they were ready to start. So that was a positive thing.

I liked how they set up that 4, 2, 3, 1, which I don't know if Nuno will go with, but it was interesting and good to see because I wanted to see Elanger, Gibbs White, and Hudson Adoy with Chris That front four to see how sharp are they, how good are they working together. So it was good to see that. Obviously, the game was nil-nil, but I just thought in little moments, they looked quite sharp, especially in the first half. I thought first off, especially, they looked as if there was times where they looked very energetic, especially pressing the ball, winning the ball up high. Because I think a good or something that was missing last year was that is really Forest pressing up higher, stealing the ball back a little bit earlier instead of waiting a lot to drop back in positions and go 60 yards back sometimes and wait for the opposition to come to you. I think you can, number one, get a lot of goals from pressing up high sometimes. Not all the time, but sometimes. They did that in the Villa Real game. Then sometimes your defending can start from the front earlier and you can break play early when pressing.

And they did that also in the Villa Real game. So I thought that was positive and very, very good. And I think there was no injuries as well from that game. And I tell you the other thing, it was nice to see how many players off the bench that came on in that second half. And you thought, oh, actually, he could probably start. It'll be 50-50. Well, he starts instead of him. And then another sub came on. You thought, actually, he's got a chance as well. And he's got a chance. So I thought it showed a really good balance of, I guess, depth in the squad for Forest. So I thought that was good as well. But the performance was good, though. I thought it was good. Created chances. And I thought they were starting to look ready for the season. What do you think? Did you see the game? How have you felt looking at Forest the last few weeks?

Yeah. I mean, It's interesting. I actually thought that game, I watched quite a lot of preseason, more from afar and watching them via the streams that the club actually thought did a great job and especially getting former pros on, like yourself to commentating things.

I thought the Villa Real commentating was the best one. I don't know who was doing it.

It was good, wasn't it, Robbie? I wonder who was doing it. I followed them quite closely. I I just think it's been a really positive preseason. I don't know what you think from a player's point of view, but I think when you look at often the squad and as you said, they look fit, they look energetic, do people go too far sometimes with Oh, well, a good preseason is going to mean a good season. Because truly, we don't know until the ball's kicked tomorrow against Bournemouth, it could all go wrong. What's it like as a player during preseason? Do you have that positive feeling? Then you carry that in. I mean, does it have that much of an impact?

Tell me what it does do. It does build a little bit of confidence as a team based on, I guess, building that Connections within your team. If you have a positive preseason, it's definitely better. I mean, as a player, being in those positions and you had a decent preseason, it What it does, it gives you a little bonus just mentally. It's more mentally, I think, as a player that you feel, okay, all the work that we did, all the tactics we put in, all the fitness that we put in, it was starting to show. I mean, it's never perfect in preseason. That's the thing. And you know that as a player, but you want to see your work reflect a little bit in little moments in games. So I think that's helpful. And especially, I think with Forest, A few players, a few players have only been in within a year. When you start, it's your second, or some players, it's your actual first preseason with the club as well, even though they've been in a little while, I think what it does, it gives you connections and to get to know your teammates better, because sometimes you're away for a week or two weeks preseason.

Those are the moments as a player that you actually get to know them a little bit better. You spend more time with them. You go for a coffee, you're at dinner three or four times during the day with them. So there's little things that you start to have those little conversations and you just start to get to know your teammates a little bit better and what they like and how they like the ball. It just builds those little connections. So that happens, I know. But at the end of the day, to be honest with you, your results, how you go preseason, how well you performed, it never really goes into results in the season. So that is never a reflection. I've seen sometimes where we've had great preseason, results, unbeaten, all of these things lose game one. So you think, Hold on a minute. We felt good. Well, okay, season started. It's different. But I tell you, though, overall, I'll take a good preseason with good results over a not so good preseason overall. But I thought... I mean, for me, that's what I felt is that it's always better to build those relationships, and especially with Forest having a few new players as well, it's more important for the new signings than the current players.

As a player, what's it like almost before Forest kick off their their season tomorrow? Are you itching to get back into it? What's the message from the manager? Almost is it like the Christmas Eve, I guess, for the players? You're waking up excited, ready to kick it all off?

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. That's the thing, because the whole of preseason as a player, you come back and you start, obviously, get moving again. You always dread. I mean, I always used to dread the first two weeks. I hated the first two weeks of preseason because I I know there's about six weeks away till the start of the season. I'm like, It's so long away. This is not the enjoyable part. Take me to six weeks further. Close my eyes. Wake me up when it's six weeks time. That was the feeling. I never liked the first couple of weeks of preseason, and it was all about that last week, getting into that last week. Now is the exciting part of football. Start of the new season, especially the day before the season starting. And As a player, you're excited. It is that Christmas Eve feeling, and you just think, Let's get to the game tomorrow. I can't wait and start the season off. So it is that. It's definitely that feeling. And it's a nice feeling to have as well when you're in that position. I remember what was also nice when I was at Forest is, generally, the season before we would finish the season, a couple of weeks later, we'd have internationals.

And because Because I always hated preseason, for me, I needed maybe two or three weeks of preseason. I was ready to go. Six weeks was too long. But I remember when I was in Forest, especially, we always had internationals at the end of the season, and we would go into June. And normally at the end of June is when the team start to come back or sometimes a little bit earlier. So there was times where I would literally have two weeks off in the year and then we go again, bang. So I remember the first couple of years, I was just like, Listen, I need an extra couple of weeks off. So I used to generally miss that first 10 days to two weeks of preseason, which was always nice. But I knew that I would be... Take me into that last week of the season, I'll be ready. I'll get myself right. It's nice to go into a season, and especially, I think this This season is going to be an interesting one for Forrest because it's another Premier League season. That's number one. I think that's the most amazing thing. It's another Premier League season.

It's a fresh, almost... It feels like a blank slate. I think the first two years, it's been feeling like, Okay, we just need to hang in there and stay in there. But this one feels like, Okay, it's a bit more settled. You can start to feel like a blank slate. It's like, Okay, how do we now approach this Premier League? We've been here a couple of years. We felt it. Okay, how do we make that next step? I think that's where Forrest are. I think that the players will be there as well because the likes of Gibbs White and Chris Wood, people like that, have been in around it. But Murillo as well, people like this, they've been in in the last year. So it's now an opportunity, I think, for Forest.

Yeah, I know. It's an interesting point. I think a lot of fans feel the same. What did you make to Nuno towards the tail end of last season as well, Robbie? Because I can remember we talked quite a bit about Steve Cooper and when he departed and then when Nuno came in as well. It wasn't an easy end to the season at all with obviously the points deduction and all the financial situation off the pitch. But Forest stayed up. They got the job done. And Nuno has had that first full preseason, which surely has to be beneficial as well in the long run.

Yeah, it's always hard, especially for Nuno. I mean, listen, we miss Steve Cooper still, so we got to give him a nice mention. We still miss him. But listen, I think Nuno was really good because I think he handled a lot of things towards the end of that season last year. I think a lot of the referee and VAR stuff, what was going on, I thought he really classly handled all the situations that were getting thrown at him, not just the football. And And listen, at the end of the day, he was brought in to keep Forest in the Premier League, and he did that. So I thought that was really good of how he dealt with a lot of things. And the nice thing was for him to have a preseason and go into preseason and work with his players. And also, what's interesting is he's not having 10, 12, 15 players coming in over a summer, almost a brand new team. And he's thinking, Okay, we've got a brand new I think that's nice, to be honest with you. I think a lot of Forest fans will feel settled with that as well, that there's less numbers coming in.

But I thought the biggest thing for Forest was staying in the Premier League. I think you don't realize how big that was. For me, that was the biggest thing because I've seen teams, they go up, stay one season, come back down, and it's so hard to jump back up again. It's so hard. It was a danger for Forest that second season to go down. And it was about, can you get through to the third season? Because you always feel a little bit better and a little bit more confident once you hit that third season. So for me, it was like, Forest's probably next five years is so critical for them to stay in the Premier League that second season. And I think that was the job that he did. So I thought he did great to keep Forest in the Premier League because that was the aim, that was the objective, got it done, brilliant. It gives him an opportunity now to start the season and say, Okay, how do we approach this season now?

The Premier League gets harder and harder every year, and there's new teams that come up and the likes of City and Arsenal, the gap gets bigger and bigger. But how do you see Forest doing this season, Robbie? Because it won't be easy. A lot of people probably maybe are slightly over-optimistic, and I guess surviving would be another successful season and just continuing to build on becoming an established Premier League side?

Yeah, you've got to build. Forest have to look at it now and third season in and you think, okay, Forest really have to start to think, how do we How do we avoid being a relegation team? How do we avoid being in that conversation and start to build more now? It's more consistency, I think, I think, hopefully, the learning was, was there too many signings each summer, each window in the last two years? Is that a lot of rotations for players? A lot of players coming in, a lot of players going out. Is that something that we've learned from? And how do I see this season? To be honest with you, I think Forest will be in a better position going into this season than they have been in the last last two seasons. I think for me, they look a little bit stronger. Maybe not always because they had some good players even last year. But I just mean more of when you look at the last few weeks and you look at the starting lineups, a lot of these players have been in a year, at least. A lot of players have played together for the last year on and off over the last year.

So you could be looking at a team that starts against Bournemouth And it's a team that's probably played together for a year or so, apart from maybe one or two. I think Forest will stay up. That's what I feel. I think Forest will stay up. I think Forest need to really... There's a couple of areas where I worry for the team. Number one is center midfield. I really worry about that because what I've learned from the last two seasons is Forest don't keep the ball anywhere near enough in central midfield. Because I'm a chess player. It's like chess. If you control the middle, and this is what Man City do, and even the Liverpool's and the Arsenal's do it as well. If you control the middle a lot, and there's times, and I know this as a player, there's times where you need to just hold the ball a little bit because, yeah, you're all fit. Yeah, you can all run, but You don't have to show it all the time because that's how the injuries come and over running and all of these things. Sometimes you just have to control the game, especially in the Premier League, because that tactical awareness and tactical battle is a little bit higher.

There's times that possession actually gives you little openings and makes your team a little bit more solid, because if you have the ball, even for five minutes longer in a game, it's less likely for them score because you have the ball and they haven't got it. So I think those little moments is what I've learned from Forrest, that they need to control that a little bit better. And the other thing is this. I think maybe attacking-wise, we can start to score more goals and be up 2 and 3-nil a little bit more because can't fault the energy from the team, can't fault the effort and the work rate from a Forest side. Whoever plays, I think it's great, it's energetic. I think we love that. But I I think we just want to see that extra little bit of quality. We know Alain Guez quality. We know Gibbs-White is quality, and Hudson-Hedoy, and Chris Wood, and Wony. We know those guys are quality. We just want to see them Share the goals. I think adding probably... This is what I would be looking. If I was looking at, and I'm Nuno, and I'm looking at the Forest team, I would be thinking, Okay, can we get an extra 10-12 goals from that front four?

Whoever that is, but those attackers, how do we develop? How do we go up the next level? Can we get an extra 12 maybe goals from you guys? How do we do that? Okay, let's get to work. Let's break it down that way. Because those extra 12 goals maybe gets you another 9-12 points maybe. And now you're completely safe. You're not battling relegation. You're thinking of, Okay, can we beat that fifth team, the sixth team in the league, the eighth team in the league. Those are the areas. But I think Forest will be fine. I think they look stronger this year. They look more settled. They look a little bit more depth. I think when you look at the team, especially when you look at the preseason, I like the signings that they've made. I think that's really, really good. Anderson, I thought in preseason, he just looks clean, he looks sharp. I think it's a real opportunity for him to play Premier League football within a great team. Dominguez, I really like as well. I think He really helps the team. I think he's always sharp and clean, always creative. And the Jota Silva, the new player, I quite like him.

I was watching a little bit of him just to do a little bit prep. And I think the touch is how clean he is and how good he is. Technically, very, very sound. He can pop in with a few goals. So I like his addition as well. So there's players there that could really be challenging for places. So I think Forest will be fine. The way I look at it, I mean, I was looking at the first few fixtures, Bournemouth, Southampton, and then Wolves. And when I looked at it, I was like...

We should be top of the league after that.

We could be top of the league Exactly. Exactly. Same thing that I was thinking. I was like, Who could be top of the league after three games? I love it. Now, listen, I think you've got to build momentum, I think, for Forest. Get your points early. You're playing Bournemouth. Bournemouth is going to be a good team, but beatable. Southampton, they've just come up good team, beatable. Wolves, good team, but beatable again. Also, we play Wolves at home as well. So I think that home advantage is key, especially for Forest. It's very interesting. Sometimes I don't say that about all teams, but with Forest, that home advantage is very, very different. It really is. I think the fans have made the last couple of years in the Premier League, especially, so special. Every time I come to the city ground, it's amazing. I think what the fans really add to the players and what they give, the energy that they give, is so evident to see. I mean, it really is an amazing atmosphere. But listen, I'm hoping Forest can really step up. I mean, this is what my prediction. My prediction is I think Forest could be well avoiding relegation.

Potentially, I think Forest are in mid table, to be honest with you. That's what I feel that they could do. That's what they could achieve. They need to sort out a few little details around that to achieve that. But player for player, when I look at player for player and I think, okay, can these players compete in the Premier League and win some games? Yes, they'll lose some games. But can they win some games? Absolutely. Can they win enough to be mid table? I think, yeah, because great energy, especially home games, some good players. Have we got speed? Yes. Have we got players that can score goals? Yes. We just need to be a little bit more solid defensively. I think that's a big one as well. And I think Forest could end up in mid table. I hope it's not another season. It's been exciting. It's been really up and down and really exciting for the first couple of years to be avoiding relegation.

It's not good for the heart, though, is it?

Yeah. But listen, I don't want it for too long. I want also Forest to build now and be comfortably a Premier League team. I think that's the next stage for Forest.

Yes, hopefully. Fingers crossed it is, Robin.

What about for you? What position you're thinking? If you were going to... If this is the position that I think Forest will finish in, what would it be?

I said 12th of the week when I did a few previews, which I've been quite optimistic for. But genuinely, I just feel that there's a... I know I was just on about preseason, not reading too much into it, but I feel that there's There's a good feel factor around the club. I think Nuno, as much as we obviously love Steve Cooper, I thought the football has been better under him. And I just feel like if we give him time and he gets more time, which he's had during this summer with the squad, I think we'll go from strength to strength. So I'm positive, Robbie. You never know, we might be top of the league at the end of August.

Imagine.

Yeah, as far as the top of the league, that would be a surprise.

But we'll take it.

Yes, we certainly will. Robbie, thanks for your time. Really appreciate it today.

No problem.

Yeah, I think. Yeah, no, you're welcome, as always. And hopefully we'll see you back on soon in the new season. If you did enjoy this episode of Garabody Red, give us a like, share and subscribe on YouTube. Follow us across Spotify and Apple podcast from me and Robbie. Fingers crossed for a positive Forest performance against Bournemouth tomorrow and three points to kick off the new season. We'll see you next time. Bye-bye..