Chris Wood has deflected credit for his Premier League goal-scoring heroics.
The Kiwi striker's scored a hat-trick in the 7-nil pasting of Brighton, but has praised his team mates for providing the opportunities.
In other results - Liverpool's lead on the top rung of the ladder has been extended following a 2-nil win at Bournemouth - Salah with both goals.
Forest Focus podcast host Matt Davies joined Piney to discuss.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport Podcast with Jason Vine
from Newstalks ed B.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Unreal scenes in the Premier League overnight. Nottingham Forest, who
are in the midst of a season which is becoming
increasingly more special, have beaten Brighton seven nil if a nil,
their biggest win since the nineteen ninety seven ninety eight season,
their biggest ever in the Premier League and it keeps
(00:33):
them in third place on the table. Our very own
Chris Wood, who himself is having a season to dream of,
had another day out helngo.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
It's it that.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
On this same it's Chris Wood who gets it charging forward.
Now for Forest still going what Chris thanks their mistake.
It's a hard trick for him this afternoon. Not a
good Forest half five.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
And went on to get seven. A hat trick for
Chris Wood. Seventeen goals this season now by far his
best and there's still plenty of time to go. Eighty
six all up in the Premier League. Now for Chris Wood.
That has him inside the top fifty goal scorers since
the start of the Premier League in nineteen ninety two.
Let's get you to the UK. A host of the
(01:31):
Forest Focus Pod, Matt Davies joins us. Matt, I want
to talk a bit about Chris Wood, but let's start
with the game seven nil. Where does it rank among
the many dozens, maybe even hundreds of Nottingham Forest games
you've watched?
Speaker 5 (01:46):
Oh man, well, I think I said on the podcast,
it's one of those kind of generational games that people
talk about in twenty years and thirty years. I remember
we had a seven to one win at Sheffield Wednesday,
which every time the anniversary comes around you see all
the goals, and we had a seven to three win
at Leads. So they're the big ones in terms of
score margins. Obviously there's games against right where you have
(02:07):
late last minute winners and stuff. But to win a
game like that in the Premier League as a team
that finished sixteenth and seventeenth in consecutive seasons, and to
be where we are now, it's it's kind of you
always wonder what the tip of the you know, the
icing on the cake is, but the cake kind of
keeps getting bigger and you wonder when the icing is
going to go on the way we're playing, it's such
a roller coaster to throw a load of metaphors in
(02:27):
there certainly.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, I love the metaphors. It was I mean it
came off the back two of an outlier as far
as the season was concerned with the five no loss
away at Bournemouth last time out, So I mean talk
about talk about a bounce back statement performance. Did you
see this coming?
Speaker 5 (02:45):
No, not really, I'm honest. I thought we might win.
We've We've done well against Brighton. I'm not even sure
we might have lost once to them since promotion, and
I think you know, their their tactics match up well
with our tactics from our point of view. They struggled
against defensive minded teams like Everton they lost too and
they only had one midfielder on the pitch, which seems
(03:06):
kind of crazy. So it was one of those days
where kind of everything played into our hands. But to
be so clinical and to play so well, I know
we'll talk about Chris Wood and he was great, but
there's probably you know, four or five players we could
easily have won Man of the match ahead of Chris Wood.
And it's one of those special days where it all clicked.
It was just the pole opposite at Bournemouth where everything
(03:26):
that could have gone wrong went wrong, and this was
kind of just the total opposite.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
It's not even a surprise anymore. Over here in New
Zealand met to wake up on Sunday mornings and find
that Chris Wood has scored another goal or goals. How
key has he been to Forest's success this season?
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Oh, totally central, totally central to it.
Speaker 5 (03:46):
I mean we had Tyler or one year was our
main striker for as kind of a season and a
half and he did really well for us. Then he
has some injury problems and Chris Wood steps to the four.
He'd done well at Burnley and he was a kind
of a backup striker at Newcastle and when he came
I think a few people doubted if his best steers
were behind him.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
But he's been unbelievable. The whole attacks kind of geared
for Chris Wood to score the goals.
Speaker 5 (04:11):
So if Forrest score a goal, you know there's a
big chance Chris Woods either scored it or set it up.
But I think that's his second hat trick for US
and seventeen goals in twenty three games. He's pushing for
the Premier League Golden Boosts at the age of thirty
three and he feels like he's sort of he's peaking
in a way, even though he's probably in the.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Latter stage of his career.
Speaker 5 (04:32):
But the football he's playing and the goals he's scoring
are just unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
He's frightly admurded Chris Wood. He won't beat three defenders
and put it in the top corner from twenty five yards,
but when the chances come, he will take them. So
tell us about the service Chris Wood is getting from
his teammates.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
I might back him to beat three defense he's playing.
I do. He's scored some good goals.
Speaker 5 (04:57):
No, he's like he's not the quickest, but his movement
and he's in you know, his football intelligence is right
up there with anyone in the league. So if you
give him the service, he'll find the right positions. And
we've got a winger in anthonya Langa who's come into
form at the perfect time. He had three assists today
and the quality.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Of the balls he put in for Chris Wood were great.
Speaker 5 (05:17):
But you see the way Chris Wood peels off a
defender and finds that pocket of space in the congested
area around.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
The six yard box.
Speaker 5 (05:24):
So you've got to be a special talent in Chris
Wood to get into those areas.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
But we've got a couple.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
Of wingers Callum Hudson and always injured, but Anthony Alanger's
won Hudson and Doys the other and Morgan Gibbs White
who's now in the England team, has a real creative
force in our side. So there's a lot of talent
in the team, but Chris Wood's the one who's kind
of the spear at the tip that puts the goals away.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
So you know, so much revolves around what he brings
the team.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
What else though, man apart from Chris Wood and his
goal scoring, what else has led to this remarkable season?
Far as to Heaven, it's.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Probably a few things.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
I mean, Nuno came in halfway through last season and
he made quite a few positive change that perhaps weren't
born out in the results. We were terrible at defending
set pieces and they addressed that in the summer with
the signing of Nikola Milenkovitch. He's been brilliant at central
defense and you know, had that whole preseason which managers
don't always get, and he you know, tactically they look
(06:23):
more tuned into what he wants to do. So those
are probably a couple of things, but things just snowballed
in the right right direction.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
We started the season.
Speaker 5 (06:32):
One and one at Liverpool, drew at Chelsea, and it's
probably probably everything just comes together at the right time
and you get a lot of momentum. But there's a
lot of quality in the squad and there's a lot
of good characters and Chris Wood's probably at the forefront
of that in terms of leading a dressing room. You know,
Woods very experienced, Milenkovitch who I mentioned, Ryan Yates, who's
the local boy in club captain, and it seems like
(06:55):
a real harmonious group. There's no idiots in there, which
you can often get in any sporting dressing room. And yeah,
they've created a really no talks a lot about culture
and they created a really good culture to go with team.
It all seems to work. Everyone knows their role in
the team and it's a different way of playing. It
can be looked quite defensive, but we score some thrilling goals,
(07:15):
as people might see today if they watch the goals
back when they wake up. So yeah, everything's pointing in
the right direction. It's a crazy time to be a
Forest fan.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
And David is so third season Beck in the Premier
League after a long time out seventeenth last season, of
course there was the four point deduction in that equation,
but stayed outside of relegation sixteenth the season before. What
are your realistic expectations now, man, of where Forrest might finish?
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Are you?
Speaker 2 (07:40):
We're talking about a Champions League qualification here, aren't we?
Speaker 3 (07:44):
I think so.
Speaker 5 (07:44):
I mean, people who listen to our podcast know I'm
quite a bit of a realist, I suppose not the most.
I'm not always the guy that says, you know, we're
going to get promoted or we're going to win the
league and all that stuff. But we've got a bit
of a head start, you know on the team's below
us in like man City and Newcastle and Chelsea and
they're playing each other. You know, Newcastle lost today, a
(08:06):
Born has lost today. City are playing Arsenal tomorrow as
I say in the UK, so yeah, and the other
team is going to play for the next week and
I think Newcastle have got Manchester City. So we've got
some really tough games coming up against City, Arsenal and Newcastle.
And if we keep our head above water and we're
still in the top five because five team should getting
(08:28):
the Champions League next season. If we're still in the
top five going into what would I think be the
twenty ninth game of the season, I would massively back
us to get in the Champions League. But even if
we don't, I think we'll get European football next season,
which would just be an unbelievable achievement for you know,
as your reference there the sixteenth and seventeenth place finishes
and European football opens a lot of doors to the
(08:49):
football club as well in terms of signings and TV
money and all that kind of stuff. So nothing but
excitement ahead.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Wonderful stuff. Great time to be a Forest fan. There
are many dotter around New Zealand. They're probably more and
more every week, and Chris would obviously ol all white
talisman and yours as well. Matt, thanks so much for
joining us across New Zealand and long may this.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Continue, hopefully saying hopefully.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
So, hopefully so. Indeed, if the realist mass good on
your mate, Matt Davies. He's the host of the Forest
Focus pod. You can check it out if you're a
Forest fan, even if you're a well a new bandwagon jumper.
Nothing wrong with jumping on a bandwagon when a team
is doing what Nottingham Forest are doing right now.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to News Talk z B weekends from midday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Weekend Sport Podcast with Jason Vine
from Newstalks ed B.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Unreal scenes in the Premier League overnight. Nottingham Forest, who
are in the midst of a season which is becoming
increasingly more special, have beaten Brighton seven nil if a nil,
their biggest win since the nineteen ninety seven ninety eight season,
their biggest ever in the Premier League and it keeps
(00:33):
them in third place on the table. Our very own
Chris Wood, who himself is having a season to dream of,
had another day out helngo.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
It's it that.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
On this same it's Chris Wood who gets it charging forward.
Now for Forest still going what Chris thanks their mistake.
It's a hard trick for him this afternoon. Not a
good Forest half five.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
And went on to get seven. A hat trick for
Chris Wood. Seventeen goals this season now by far his
best and there's still plenty of time to go. Eighty
six all up in the Premier League. Now for Chris Wood.
That has him inside the top fifty goal scorers since
the start of the Premier League in nineteen ninety two.
Let's get you to the UK. A host of the
(01:31):
Forest Focus Pod, Matt Davies joins us. Matt, I want
to talk a bit about Chris Wood, but let's start
with the game seven nil. Where does it rank among
the many dozens, maybe even hundreds of Nottingham Forest games
you've watched?
Speaker 5 (01:46):
Oh man, well, I think I said on the podcast,
it's one of those kind of generational games that people
talk about in twenty years and thirty years. I remember
we had a seven to one win at Sheffield Wednesday,
which every time the anniversary comes around you see all
the goals, and we had a seven to three win
at Leads. So they're the big ones in terms of
score margins. Obviously there's games against right where you have
(02:07):
late last minute winners and stuff. But to win a
game like that in the Premier League as a team
that finished sixteenth and seventeenth in consecutive seasons, and to
be where we are now, it's it's kind of you
always wonder what the tip of the you know, the
icing on the cake is, but the cake kind of
keeps getting bigger and you wonder when the icing is
going to go on the way we're playing, it's such
a roller coaster to throw a load of metaphors in
(02:27):
there certainly.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, I love the metaphors. It was I mean it
came off the back two of an outlier as far
as the season was concerned with the five no loss
away at Bournemouth last time out, So I mean talk
about talk about a bounce back statement performance. Did you
see this coming?
Speaker 5 (02:45):
No, not really, I'm honest. I thought we might win.
We've We've done well against Brighton. I'm not even sure
we might have lost once to them since promotion, and
I think you know, their their tactics match up well
with our tactics from our point of view. They struggled
against defensive minded teams like Everton they lost too and
they only had one midfielder on the pitch, which seems
(03:06):
kind of crazy. So it was one of those days
where kind of everything played into our hands. But to
be so clinical and to play so well, I know
we'll talk about Chris Wood and he was great, but
there's probably you know, four or five players we could
easily have won Man of the match ahead of Chris Wood.
And it's one of those special days where it all clicked.
It was just the pole opposite at Bournemouth where everything
(03:26):
that could have gone wrong went wrong, and this was
kind of just the total opposite.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
It's not even a surprise anymore. Over here in New
Zealand met to wake up on Sunday mornings and find
that Chris Wood has scored another goal or goals. How
key has he been to Forest's success this season?
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Oh, totally central, totally central to it.
Speaker 5 (03:46):
I mean we had Tyler or one year was our
main striker for as kind of a season and a
half and he did really well for us. Then he
has some injury problems and Chris Wood steps to the four.
He'd done well at Burnley and he was a kind
of a backup striker at Newcastle and when he came
I think a few people doubted if his best steers
were behind him.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
But he's been unbelievable. The whole attacks kind of geared
for Chris Wood to score the goals.
Speaker 5 (04:11):
So if Forrest score a goal, you know there's a
big chance Chris Woods either scored it or set it up.
But I think that's his second hat trick for US
and seventeen goals in twenty three games. He's pushing for
the Premier League Golden Boosts at the age of thirty
three and he feels like he's sort of he's peaking
in a way, even though he's probably in the.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Latter stage of his career.
Speaker 5 (04:32):
But the football he's playing and the goals he's scoring
are just unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
He's frightly admurded Chris Wood. He won't beat three defenders
and put it in the top corner from twenty five yards,
but when the chances come, he will take them. So
tell us about the service Chris Wood is getting from
his teammates.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
I might back him to beat three defense he's playing.
I do. He's scored some good goals.
Speaker 5 (04:57):
No, he's like he's not the quickest, but his movement
and he's in you know, his football intelligence is right
up there with anyone in the league. So if you
give him the service, he'll find the right positions. And
we've got a winger in anthonya Langa who's come into
form at the perfect time. He had three assists today
and the quality.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Of the balls he put in for Chris Wood were great.
Speaker 5 (05:17):
But you see the way Chris Wood peels off a
defender and finds that pocket of space in the congested
area around.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
The six yard box.
Speaker 5 (05:24):
So you've got to be a special talent in Chris
Wood to get into those areas.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
But we've got a couple.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
Of wingers Callum Hudson and always injured, but Anthony Alanger's
won Hudson and Doys the other and Morgan Gibbs White
who's now in the England team, has a real creative
force in our side. So there's a lot of talent
in the team, but Chris Wood's the one who's kind
of the spear at the tip that puts the goals away.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
So you know, so much revolves around what he brings
the team.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
What else though, man apart from Chris Wood and his
goal scoring, what else has led to this remarkable season?
Far as to Heaven, it's.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Probably a few things.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
I mean, Nuno came in halfway through last season and
he made quite a few positive change that perhaps weren't
born out in the results. We were terrible at defending
set pieces and they addressed that in the summer with
the signing of Nikola Milenkovitch. He's been brilliant at central
defense and you know, had that whole preseason which managers
don't always get, and he you know, tactically they look
(06:23):
more tuned into what he wants to do. So those
are probably a couple of things, but things just snowballed
in the right right direction.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
We started the season.
Speaker 5 (06:32):
One and one at Liverpool, drew at Chelsea, and it's
probably probably everything just comes together at the right time
and you get a lot of momentum. But there's a
lot of quality in the squad and there's a lot
of good characters and Chris Wood's probably at the forefront
of that in terms of leading a dressing room. You know,
Woods very experienced, Milenkovitch who I mentioned, Ryan Yates, who's
the local boy in club captain, and it seems like
(06:55):
a real harmonious group. There's no idiots in there, which
you can often get in any sporting dressing room. And yeah,
they've created a really no talks a lot about culture
and they created a really good culture to go with team.
It all seems to work. Everyone knows their role in
the team and it's a different way of playing. It
can be looked quite defensive, but we score some thrilling goals,
(07:15):
as people might see today if they watch the goals
back when they wake up. So yeah, everything's pointing in
the right direction. It's a crazy time to be a
Forest fan.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
And David is so third season Beck in the Premier
League after a long time out seventeenth last season, of
course there was the four point deduction in that equation,
but stayed outside of relegation sixteenth the season before. What
are your realistic expectations now, man, of where Forrest might finish?
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Are you?
Speaker 2 (07:40):
We're talking about a Champions League qualification here, aren't we?
Speaker 3 (07:44):
I think so.
Speaker 5 (07:44):
I mean, people who listen to our podcast know I'm
quite a bit of a realist, I suppose not the most.
I'm not always the guy that says, you know, we're
going to get promoted or we're going to win the
league and all that stuff. But we've got a bit
of a head start, you know on the team's below
us in like man City and Newcastle and Chelsea and
they're playing each other. You know, Newcastle lost today, a
(08:06):
Born has lost today. City are playing Arsenal tomorrow as
I say in the UK, so yeah, and the other
team is going to play for the next week and
I think Newcastle have got Manchester City. So we've got
some really tough games coming up against City, Arsenal and Newcastle.
And if we keep our head above water and we're
still in the top five because five team should getting
(08:28):
the Champions League next season. If we're still in the
top five going into what would I think be the
twenty ninth game of the season, I would massively back
us to get in the Champions League. But even if
we don't, I think we'll get European football next season,
which would just be an unbelievable achievement for you know,
as your reference there the sixteenth and seventeenth place finishes
and European football opens a lot of doors to the
(08:49):
football club as well in terms of signings and TV
money and all that kind of stuff. So nothing but
excitement ahead.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Wonderful stuff. Great time to be a Forest fan. There
are many dotter around New Zealand. They're probably more and
more every week, and Chris would obviously ol all white
talisman and yours as well. Matt, thanks so much for
joining us across New Zealand and long may this.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Continue, hopefully saying hopefully.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
So, hopefully so. Indeed, if the realist mass good on
your mate, Matt Davies. He's the host of the Forest
Focus pod. You can check it out if you're a
Forest fan, even if you're a well a new bandwagon jumper.
Nothing wrong with jumping on a bandwagon when a team
is doing what Nottingham Forest are doing right now.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to News Talk z B weekends from midday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
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