ForestFanBase

Let me put this clearly in perspective to start with and put my cards on the table. I’d put character above ability when I pick a football team. Everyone anywhere near selection has ability but when the chips are down it’s their mettle (or I think thrux is the local term, maybe not spelt like that) that actually wins you games. If you don’t have it you lose those games. You need winners or at least enough of your soldiers who are prepared to really fight. I have no doubt that Eric is not lacking in that department and for that reason alone I’d want to keep him at the club. He is a loyal and capable soldier and these are always valuable. I know that from what I have seen from him on the pitch but it’s only been backed up by anything else I’ve ever heard about him from people who really know him off it too. I do not doubt him for a second. He and his family love the club, the area and are 100% behind all that is good about Forest. There’s no doubt Kat is a little out there. How many of us would be comfortable with a week on Come Dine With Me? What’s wrong with that? What are WAGS supposed to do? What amazes me is that she manages to hold her council so well. If you prefer your WAGS to be seen and not heard then just don’t follow her. All I know is she’s 100% committed to Forest and does everything she can to support Eric and the club - for me they are a huge asset to the club as people. It’s not the be all and end all, but it’s a huge tick for me.

So where has it all gone wrong? Because only a little over a season later the picture is nowhere near as rosy. You get the feeling the club might not have announced the winner if he had retained his POTS award. They ignored him winning the FA Cup Goal of the Season vote and then captaining his country recently. It might just be he’s not best mates from the PR bod at Forest, but maybe it’s the sign of a fall from grace that seems to have befallen him. So where has it all gone wrong?

Of course this has been yet another season to forget. The defence in particular has come under intense scrutiny. I want to cover that in detail elsewhere so I mustn’t get started on that but the fact is it hasn’t been good. Everyone has been picked apart by the pundits. For me you defend and attack as a team though and there’s a much bigger issue there. Forest always looked solid with a proper defence featuring - Lichaj, Mance, Hobbs, Pinillios for example. No problems with that. Start playing Mance at right back, Eric at left or just having people fill in, however manfully, it isn’t the same thing and everyone suffers. You can make a great player look bad or an average one look great depending on how you ask them to play and what they are asked to do. Lichaj had a few dodgy games at the end of the 2017 season which didn’t seem to impress Warbs and after being away on International duty was a bit patchy when he first came back too. It’s fair to say he hasn’t been at his best but he’s often been part of a chronically dysfunctional defence and often playing on the left which is part of the reason for that. 

You can’t blame Lichaj for answering the call from his country when it came but it couldn’t have been at a worse time for him. Initially he lost his place to the shiny new right back signed by the new manager he hadn’t made the best start with anyway. Fair enough. Adding insult to injury he hardly played despite his long absence, scoring a rare goal and the team managing to fail to qualify for the World Cup in catastrophic circumstances. The whole episode was really a lose-lose for him as it turned out. He had to be patient and wait for his chance when he came back in the team. Fair enough but unfortunate, although Darikwa had made a great start and was looking the part too.

When the chance came the team were starting to struggle and he started to produce some decent form having a decent run in the team. The tables were turned and Darikwa was the one having to be patient to get another chance. Normal service seemed to have been resumed and the new(wish) manager finally won over. Occasionally he’d play on the left and his versatility opened the door to lose his place once again but things seemed to be generally back on track.

Then after Warbs had been shown the door came one of those once-in-a-lifetime games. The FA Cup holders and regular winners were stuffed and Lichaj had grabbed two vital goals to make it happen. Arsenal were slain thanks to his goals and one was a worldie too. Lichaj was a headliner along with the Gunner-saga, his Mrs. Finally giving in in the face of a public outcry and agreeing to add an adorable puppy to the family team sheet. He doesn’t get accused of being a glory hunter too often but maybe having the glare of publicity fall so heavily on an individual in the aftermath of a great team performance didn’t go down very well in some quarters? Whether or not that was the case I am sure that Lichaj would rather have dodged the TV cameras and let someone else take the plaudits if they, rather than he, had been the one to conjure the unlikely rabbit out of the hat that evening.

Whilst everyone was given a chance by incoming manager Aitor Karanka as he shook up the (mainly) misfiring team it seemed that Lichaj had made a decent impression and was still in possession of his shirt. There’s no doubt however these were turbulent times and Karanka was trying to establish his authority and impose his all-too-desperately needed standards on the team. Most importantly in respect to attitude. So when someone let the team down it was inevitable they were going to get both barrels. So when the referee decided to overlook a nasty tackle on him in a feisty away fixture with Burton Albion, that 99% would have given. It was the normally controlled Lichaj who could not resist the temptation to punish the indiscretion when the opportunity for payback appeared seconds later. The wet conditions didn’t help and he went through his victim and out the other side in spectacular style. Whoops! Normal service resumed and the expected red card duly followed. Stupid if understandable. The silence was deafening and two potentially valuable points had been missed probably down to this one indiscretion alone. The expensive lesson had to be taught and another long punishment absence had to be added in addition to the mandatory FA one. However wholly understandable, no one else to blame for this one but Eric.

There’s no doubt Tendayi Darikwa is a very decent full back. I feel he’s better than he often looks and he’s definitely no mug by any measure. I’ve often thought about playing both when we have been short of wide options and resorted to playing Ben Brereton out of position on the wing as I feel what he lacks is the positional sense and confidence to use his skills when he is the last man. Lichaj is more dependable defensively for me and despite his committed runs forward you could possibly view Darwikwa as a more expansive type of player. For me both have attributes and probably represent a perfect combination - two capable players who generally stay fit. Quality and cover you can pick on form as necessary. Nothing to see here, one position that seems to be pretty well covered surely?

Maybe it’s not as it seems currently. Maybe the ‘vibe’ isn’t quite so negative and this is just another unfortunate circumstance that seem to have befallen Lichaj this season? However there’s no secret Karanka has been sharpening his knives and is no doubt aiming to make lots of signings over the summer. Whilst right back might not be the highest priority no one can sleep soundly and certainly not Lichaj with the season he’s had. Karanka has told the squad ‘the truth’ about their prospects for next season and we already know some of the results of those talks and we can guess many of the others. A few of those debatable ones in the middle is where the speculation centres and as unlikely as it seemed a year earlier Lichaj now is potentially around those stormy waters of uncertainty too. For there to be anything for Lichaj or Darwikwa to worry about there would have to be a new signing and then that have to be quite a significant one too to knock them both down the pecking order. Even if that might be the plan it might not happen. Even if it does there’s not much between the two current contenders by any measure anyway. Maybe the picture will be come clearer, maybe not? 

So what next, or now, for Mr. Lichaj? If you know anything about football then you know that anything can happen and often does. So it can only be speculation. Where does he stand now? What will he want to do? He has a year left on his contract so if he wasn’t really wanted he could choose to stay and fight for his place or elect to leave now. I wouldn’t want to speculate on what might happen as I would only ever wish him to extend his stay at Forest rather than end it and I am sure that is his wish above all else too. There are strong ties to the area and also the possibility to play in the MLS for a decent portion of his career too so that must also be a serious option if they are able to wrench themselves away from the East Midlands. As a career move that would probably be the obvious choice and it could be the route eventually taken whenever that happens to be. However Lichaj isn’t just a jobbing right-back for hire. He and his family have the strongest ties to the club and the area those would be very hard to break and on top of that, above all else, he’s a fighter. My hope is that he does whatever is best for him and his family as he deserves that much. I personally hope that he stays and fights to regain his place. If he does I have every confidence that things will look a whole lot better in a year. Because even if the headlines aren’t as big, the goals, dogs and opportunities don’t come along like they did this season… Eric will make the most of the chances he does get and will win his battles given half a chance. That’s what winners do.