McGugan: What To Do?

Lewis McGugan is a player I have written about before at length, and every time it seems it’s one of these debates about exactly what to do. One of the very first pieces I wrote for this blog featured the fact that Lewis was an obviously talented player who seemed to be squandering those abilities. Then he caught fire. Not literally I’d add, purely proverbially.

He went on a run of form where astonishing goals flew in from everywhere; we even ran a video based competition on which was his best goal. Of course the free kick against Ipswich won. However, that was all 2 years ago now. In the mean time, and arguably since the second half of that season Lewis has shrunk back into the shadows. Making infrequent substitute appearances, with occasional starts.

And it s not as if he is banging on the door to be in the first team. He isn’t. When he does play he doesn’t look great. Often so embarrassingly quiet you forget he was on the pitch. At least Radi, who I regard in a similar vein, makes ill advised poorly timed challenges to remind you he’s playing.

The future unfortunately for Lewis would look to be a move away I think, but the shame is after all the attention he apparently got 18 months ago whereby we could have got £3mill (again apparently) he looks like he will drift for free in the summer as his contract expires then.

Another facet is Lewis believes his own press, and rightly so when you have his talent. The problem is when you’re form doesn’t match then you don’t have a great bargaining chip. Look at someone like Torres who has great talent, but appalling form, would he still be negotiatecontracts like he did 18 months ago? Of course not. And the same applies for Lewis. His stock has plummeted.

Although in Giles Barnes case it was injuries I can almost see Lewis going that same way, and the precedent is there with Forest players before. Eugen Bopp for instance, talented players who just can’t seem to either fulfil it, or remain focussed enough in their career to be a top talent. They end up drifting down the leagues, or rotting in some reserves somewhere.

There is a reason he hasn’t been playing much lately. The competition for places means he isn’t anywhere near guaranteed first team football. When McLaren came in, his aim was to sculpt a team around McGugan, and maybe that’s why he failed. Davies managed to squeeze something out of McGugan, and maybe it’s challenging him. Before hand when he was good, there was some competition, but not a lot for his role. Now there are 5-6 players who can do what he does, so in that essence he misses out. Maybe he sulks, and doesn’t train, who knows. There was the element when Davies came in about saying he was too fat. Davies seemed to be able to challenge McGugan to prove him wrong in a way other managers have perhaps put him on a pedestal whereby he believes he is the best. That’s not when he is the best.

What’s happening now I am unsure? I think a lot of fans would be indifferent to his departure. A shame because we know what he can do. But not a shock, because he simply isn’t anywhere near consistent. There are times as well on the pitch he seems to sulk. Angry at now being allowed to take a free kick. His corners have been awful for a long time. It’s just not what you expect of your most creative player. They are an extreme art of managing. Look at Taarabt at QPR, some managers just don’t want passengers other see their ultimate benefit. This is why extremely talented players like them often move around. The likes of Hatem Ben Arfa end up moving around till touching down somewhere that gets them. I think maybe it’s for the best if we let Lewis do the same. Yeah he will go on and succeed somewhere else, but in the mean time he just doesn’t seem to want to be here, and even when he does succeed. It won’t last. He doesn’t seem to have the fortitude to make it last.

Whats Needed?

Saturday has made it abundantly clear that we are nowhere near good enough to be in the mix for promotion. No matter what you think of McLeish his record speaks for itself, he knows how to take teams up out of this division. So you’d hope he needs to identify what the problem is. And yet we seem to be struggling to put together a capable team. However, that said it might not be as simple as it seems. Here we look at what might be the key to unlocking the promotion capable side.

I for one think there is no point at looking at the front line anymore. Henderson now means we have 4 strikers who are good at this level, and have proven goal scoring records to back this up.

So is the problem in the midfield? We spent all January and the previous summer saying that this position looks sorted. We had so many options, that anyone targeting it looked mad. We could have a made a team of just midfielders!! However, the ball is just not being held by the midfield and immediately putting the defence under the cosh (don’t worry we’ll come on to the defence in a moment) the way which Watford carved through the midfield before getting to the defenders was alarming. Too often standing off and letting teams play. Is the balance of 1 holding and 3 in front, although narrow, working?

A flat 4 strung across the park is what many have called for, but it’s somewhat old fashioned, and to merely suggest a straight 4-4-2 does negate the whole evolution of tactics. But is Gillett, so lauded early on, doing his role? Not any more in my mind. If you look at the great teams at the moment, they all have that holding midfielder. So for those to cite a midfield with no holding misfield as the key and the way forward (I see people citing a midfield pairing on McGugan and Majewki as an answer....) is somewhat foolish. Man City have Yaya Toure, United use Carrick, Barcelona have Busquets, Juve have Pirlo. We have Gillette. If you look at those players above, they are not only great ball players, but also physical presences. Gillett is anything but a physical presence. I was one of his biggest fans earlier this season, but for me it’s one glaring area of the team we aren't performing. But is it his fault, or is it the structure of the team. If you think of those teams utilising that role, many of them are also playing the more evolved systems whereby it’s more a hybrid of 4-5-1 with a 4-3-3. Those 2 difference between midfield and attack are neither full on strikers, but neither are they midfielders. Look at Chelsea. As well as a sole striker they have very attack minded midfielders (although 3 in this example and not the 2 I have cited) who get forward readily to support. Lampard and Ramires or Obi Mikel would then hold. The same with City. Silva and Milner can get forward to provide the service. City often use a second striker though, a more deep lying number 10. A Trequartista. Aguero or Tevez but they are shorter take this on, with Dzeko as the lump to aim at. Arsenal are a great exponent of this. Barcalona have evolved it to a point they don't even need a striker

That would mean an evolution in our team. One of the 4 strikers would play. Now McLeish has tried to drop Cox deep, but I’m not sure that works. Dexter after Saturdays performance would likely look to be dropped. Leaving Sharp. Sharp is pretty much undroppable this season, but can he play that sole role? Perhaps not, but Henderson possibly could. This is all theoretical of course. I doubt this would be implemented, but is more looking what other teams do.

So in that essence we need a new enforcing midfielder. Moussi is not that man, he is imposing and should be able to play the role, but is so maddeningly inconsistent and is prone to horrific errors to consider that. Moussi though did work well in the Davies teams as that role. If we could get his form right, we already have the right man in the squad.

As for the defence, well when I look at the best teams, my main criticism that ours is too slow almost looks redundant. However, Vidic and Ferdinand at United aren’t the fastest and at Barca, Puyol and Pique aren’t fast either. However I believe we need at least some  pace, if not someone who isn’t going to get turned easily. Watford had two smaller zippy strikers and if we play that sort of team again we might struggle. We did well against Derby because they had a big focal point striker in Sammon that we could go like for like and clear up. But if long balls aren’t going to play through, and it’s all on the ground, our defenders struggle. Ward is slow. As much as he wins most in the air, he often seems to slide in late, when he does at all. Collins I rated until recently, and probably still would, but he too is more comfortable in the air rather than defending on the ground. Would Ayala be any different? Possibly. He’s more cultured, but he still isn’t exactly pacey, and Watford last time did the same thing, when he did play. So therefore a new central defender looks like it should be a priority.

Also where we also went wrong at Watford was the midfield cover. As much as I mention Gillett he isn’t the only one to blame. The midfield doesn’t defend well, because we play narrowly, there is now natural wide protection, and when things get sucked in down the middle we are fine. Attack with semblance of width and we struggle. Look at the goals from Watford. Two came semi wide positions, balls played across. Whenever there were players running through to support and  and the attacked played a squared ball, we just didn't cope with it, but lump it up the middle and we can usually defend. No natural width means any wide protection so attackers are on our full backs without any kind of forward defence. Whereas before we would have had a McCleary, Anderson or Reid, there is no one. Cohen tries to get wide, but down the right side on Saturday we had no natural width at all. And that’s why Jara didn’t look as good as what he has.

Now maybe when McLaughlin settles he can provide that, but we can’t wait. We need it now. Maybe this is why McLeish is so desperate to get in Burke. He could provide this width, and balance, and which paradoxically for the point of my arguments returns us to a flat 4-4-2. But that’s tactics. It’s such a convoluted and complex game that if it was so easy we’d all be managers. The variables on that midfield are almost endless. Different players bring different skills. We need a merry blend, and right now we aren’t getting that. All the best teams have this balance right. The ball winner, the play maker, width, pace, protection. On Saturday a lot of that was lacking.

And all this without mentioning the tactic of merely hoofing the ball long. Which doesn’t work with our players. They weren’t signed for that system, they can’t play that system. Play to your team’s strengths is something McLeish said he’d do. Saturday showed no evidence of that whatsoever.

Feeling a Little Disillusioned

This was a post made forum user Mr Geo Challenge that I have decided to transfer into a article, I do stress this was written last week, so may have been completely negative had it been written today.

Similarly if you ever feel like venting your spleen,come on over to the forum at http://www.soccer24-7.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=80 and post away, we regularly use forum users are guest columnists on here.

Had to come out of forum retirement because this is something increasingly troublesome to me. I will add this will possibly sound more gloomy than I usually feel...

My mind has been parked (poorly) in a paradoxical cul-de-sac of hope and frustration since the new owners arrival. I'm desperate to see Forest actually have some success after seemingly cursing the club with my presence, yet I always thought there was something special about Forest. We were different in my eyes, and not just in a garibaldi-tinted glasses way. Forest always (usually) did things right, we were the good guys, we had a bias for local players, we didn't just chuck stupid money at players that didn't care about the club, when we owed money we didn't just do a Leicester or Portsmouth - we sold our valuables to pay. We tried to develop out own - even under Doughty's failed regime we knew where we were - we had a plan for long term stability with the undeniable good of the club in mind.

This isn't an attack on our new owners because without them we'd be dead as that fish, however I cannot help feeling disillusioned at what I can't help suspect is happening. In sacking the slow and steady O'Driscoll they have blown away all pretence of carefully building - these guys want the Premiership as soon as possible. One point off the playoffs wasn't enough. They needed immediate success. Why?

The cynical demon perched on my shoulder is whispering that they're impatient at best, and at worst they only want our club for their own means - as a showpiece. Are they only interested in Forest in order to bask in the glory of their plaything? And what if their new toy dosen't provide what they wanted? How patient are they willing to be? What has their track record in patience been so far?

I dismiss the above fears - I've no choice, they're unthinkable.

However there's another, almost as equally ugly demon on the other shoulder querying the direction in which Forest are being steered. O'Driscoll was clearly building for the future, he was level headed, transparent with the fans when they disagreed yet steadfast in his decisions, I was frustrated with some of his tactics but he clearly wanted us to play proper football - he was sculpting a vision. He was slowly and steadily moving us forward and building for the future.

Slowly and steadily isn't good enough for our owners though. They wanted better, quicker, and they sacked him, bringing in a new manager not as known for good football, a manager less inclined for transparency (see the "ill" Hutton whose position he didn't think needed wasting on a loan... ah wait... hello Mr Jara), a manager with absolutely no contractual reason to build for the future, in short a manager that will turn us into just another success-hungry (now!!!) football club.

Maybe it's a natural aversion to change, but my fear is turning up to the City Ground in a years time to watch eleven grossly overpaid mercenaries hoofing the ball and cheating their way to mediocrity. I fear us gambling like all the other financially turgid clubs looking for immediate success - it doesn't work and it promotes the erosion of the club's character.

I don't want to watch another Wigan. I want Forest to be something special - I want us to do things different, properly. I want to see us building for the future, playing attractive football, developing out own product and competitive in the Premiership (and inevitably the Championship).

I support our new owners, and even our new manager, however I also fear we're merely chucking 10p in the slot-machine on the off-chance of making a pound.

A Bad Day All Round

I had a bad feeling about the game yesterday that however didn’t stop me thinking we could do it and me putting a little something on for the Forest win. That’s' now money lost, which makes it a little bit more sour.

We deserved to lose make no mistake. What was also crushing was that we just played abject ugly football, yet we don’t have the players for ugly. The problem there being the core of the tam was built for a pretty passing game, and now they are being asked to play physical. They have those tools; they just aren’t very good at using them.

Watford are a very good side, and the Udinese influence on them was very strong yesterday. Vydra is of course on loan from the Italians, and whether they take him back next year or do what Udinese do and look to make a profit, they have a very talented young man on the hands in Matej Vydra. He looked dangerous all game, and in a way reminds me of Arshavin when he first arrived, not being the tallest but being very capable with his feet.

We let him do that all too often. Having to physical but no very quick or mobile defenders played in Watford’s hands with Deeney and Vydra like a pair of wasp’s constantly buzzing round. The lack of pace at the back really cost us when repeatedly they got in behind us. Darlow cannot be blamed for any of the goals which is pleasing in one regard that at least the three goals can’t be pinned on his fragile career and destroy his confidence.

I left this awhile to write to try and digest just what I saw instead of a raw emotional review. I think that might have been the better idea. I feel so flat about yesterday’s game now that it's hard to even get any motivation to discuss it. For one I can't seem to think of any single positive we can take, whereas in other defeats there is something to hold on to.

We never looked capable of winning, the best chance we had of scoring was unbelievably missed by Deter Blackstock, and I can only remember maybe 2 shots on target. Almunia didn’t have a hard day at the office.

And all this makes me feel rather despondent. Now I see other sites or on twitter the doom mongers are out in force. Really also starting to call into question the al-Hasawi's but that performance wasn't their fault. It was just the wrong side, the wrong players, the wrong day and the wrong opposition.

Positivity though needs to be returned. A defeat like that knocks the stuffing out, and I can see partially why McLeish is saying he is so desperate to bring in some freshness and new faces. However some of what else he discussed after the game was a bit weird. And to be honest he didn’t sound like he really knew how to fix this malaise in the team. That’s another worry. 

Promotion and the playoffs look further off than ever, and to be honest an unachievable dream.

Allez Adlene

It’s a new emotion for me today. I always have a passing interest in the African Cup of Nations, but today, and in matter of fact in 3 hours from when I write this, Adlene Guedioura (as far as I know) will become the second ever Forest player to play in the African Cup of Nations.


Of course the previous Forest player to play in this was Junior Agogo in 2008 for Ghana, and he ended up playing a starring role, which ultimately led to a move to Egyptian club Zamalek. Let's hope he does have a starring role, but one that doesn't attract too much unwanted interest.

Algeria face off against their neighbours Tunisia in South Africa. And to be honest apart from Guedi I don’t know too much about either side, giving this the chance to be a real eye opener. In fact it may be worth even putting a couple of quid on Guedioura as an any time goal scorer, we all know he loves to have a pop.

In fact there is somewhat more of an Algerian connection, save for Adlene's brother on Forest’s books Nabil. We also once had Hamza Bencherif of course, who is over the river at Notts County.

So yeah, it’s a nice little change to be able to watch this competition with more than passing interest and with an actual club connection. Algeria probably don’t have the best odds, but for the next 3 games at least they will have my support.

And let’s hope Algeria get into the newspapers for all the right reasons after a troublesome week for the North African nation (yes Forest 24-7 even occasionally dips its toes into the murky world of global geo-politics)

Allez Les Fennecs

Derby Day Positives

Well, we didn’t win and so Derby still have the Brian Clough trophy, and a certain amount of bragging rights because it has been 2 years since we beat them. But all that said there are more positives to take from this game.


After the shaky start to McLeish tenure, and when arguably the team was more in SoD’s guise than his own, we struggled, and to be fair, as much as I defend SoD, there were times we lacked steel and the team looked idealess. With McLeish there does seem to be a bit more a mindset that if Plan A doesn’t work, there has at least been a Plan B discussed. Under SoD there never seemed that idea.

So anyway, there are negatives of course as well, we did draw after all, so it’ can’t all be plain sailing. There is of course the fact Gillett got dispossessed by Sammon, and although many demonised Gillett for that error, which happens all the time all over the field, it resulted in a goal. It’s easy to blame Gillett, he plays that role that always seems vilified by Forest fans, and when he makes a mistake it usually results in an attack. What is to forget is the fact there was still a lot to happen to result in a goal, the way the defence stood off and allowed a fairly immobile back man to waltz through, and for Ward to get space and score. So there were other elements to blame, though maybe not directly.

One thing that greatly worried my friend was the use of Darlow in goal, maybe harking back to the days of Barry Roche. He was worried that should he make an error and generally concede a lot of goals that he would in turn see his fledgling confidence shot to pieces and generally destroy his Forest career before it really began. We needn’t have worried, and although yes he didn’t have lots to do, generally what he did have to do he got right, tipping shots over the bar and kicking well, for me its kicking where you can a lack of confidence in a keeper, slicing ball generally indicates he isn’t getting IT right. Darlow had no such worries. And now the Post this Morning carries a headline saying he could be the keeper for years.

On a personal front, and I always do enjoy the more unusual aspect was the ironic jeers you can hear on replays when Cohen misjudges his first shot and slices it. Those ironic jeers all the more funny as they are soon replaced by Forest fans cheering as Cohen tucks it away at the second time of asking. No more than a good stalwart like Cohen deserves, especially with the role this fixture has played in his recent career.

For me Lansbury was good too, showing why he was rated. I have said he needs a run of games in the team, and for me he can be a more mobile form of Reid. His passing is finding its range. He takes a better corner than Majewski, McGugan or any of the other the usual suspects. Bodes well for the ex-Arsenal man.

Another pleasing aspect was the complete anonymity of Will Hughes, the great white hope of Derby, the “albino” as a few have tagged him was largely a passenger in the team, not showing any sense in the rumours of a “dossier” held on him.

Jara continues to impress at right back, and that looks like an astute addition. So much for the moron element on Twitter decrying his signing with “who?” He has been a breath of fresh air at right back.

However all these positives, I was informed by some friends, who are Derby fans that there was unsavoury element, with Greg Halford apparently having spat towards Derby fans. I can’t comment on the element of truth, but will say they aren’t the people who usually lie. A shame if it was true.

But a game we could easily have won, whether it’s Cox shot being 2 inches lower. Sharps last kick of the game that went in (though I don’t hold any doubt that derby had stopped, ergo, potentially making it that it wouldn’t have gone in) More so in the fact we didn’t crumble when conceding, but buckled down and took control of the game again. Even making really attacking changes late on, McLeish noting the importance of wins against your nearest and dearest and going for the jugular which was pleasing, he knows from Rangers days that winning such a game can rally fans and players, and unify them into a run of games. Fair play to him for that.

Had we lost, there may have been unneeded focus on the sackings last week, or a general negative feeling around the club. A commendable draw changes that, and moves us on to a very tricky but winnable game against Watford. It will be a challenge; they are a good side, but then so are we. Game On!

The City Ground Night of the Long Knives

Well if you understand the heading you understand where this article is heading already, but if you don’t Wikipedia or Google are your friends. Essentially it’s a historical reference of back stabbing, covert operations and the putting down of subterfuge.

Right, business. The sackings of the three members of senior staff at Forest, or the sackings of two and one’s subsequent resignation, if you believe other channels has sent tongues wagging, brains taxing, and rumour mills into a spiral.

Clark, Burt and Arthur have all gone. To this were mixed emotions. Arthur’s departure is pretty much mostly delirium, though it still puzzles me exactly why he is as vilified as he was. To all intents he was a very nice guy, had good contacts and always operated in the clubs best interests. There was a reason Doughty trusted him so, and the al-Hasawis kept him on for a while. Keith Burt's dismissal is a little odder. I say odd, it’s clearly obvious the board want a new angle on scouting and recruitment and want to overhaul this. Burt was a Doughty appointment, essentially at Calderwood’s request, who wanted to concentrate more on the team and leave the signings to someone else. Burt basically has clung to his job for a long while considering. Davies was a constant enemy, and the fact he was retained suggests Doughty believe caution in the transfer market via an intermediary to make informed decisions on managers targets was required, as thus the much maligned transfer acquisition panel was born, with Burt being integral. Therefore for me it’s a surprise he was still here, never mind that he got removed.

The Frank Clark element is a little more unappetising, but to be fair his job was essentially a ceremonial one now. He has been removed from doing not very much. What is the sour taste is his complete removal from the club, after serving so well in many guises and his role in trying times. Perhaps they might have held on to him in some capacity.

Now comes the speculative parts. Why now? Why remove them all at all? What reasons, and where does the truth lie. More “facts” (we don’t know if true” are coming out. The latest being Arthur resigned on the back of the first two dismissals, Hence why his departure was much later in being announced, and the al-Hasawi’s have spun this to be his sacking. Perhaps also aware of his unpopularity amongst many fans.

The next step was for a number of supposed well informed journalists (Rob Dorsett from Sky mainly) blindly speculating about why and suggesting this is all bad news, based on nothing more than to presumably to try and create a story where there might not be. Immediate comparisons to the Venkys are extremely misguided. The Venkys at Blackburn have never been involved in the sport, the al-Hasawis have. The Venky’s were so unaware of the game, they didn’t know that relegation existed from the Premier League, and had no idea that Blackburn’s subsequent relegation and loss of incomes was possible. The al-Hasawi's have at least shown an awareness of the game. They have run admittedly Kuwaiti clubs, in the past but it’s still an awareness of the game.

Now, from what I have read, there have been question marks in the past with their very hands on approach at al-Qadsia. But it has been a successful club. The problem we have here is that the moment foreign owners start tinkering with club structures everyone gets very upset and starts questioning reasons. Why? Because think about it, every club is stuck firmly in the past. People say we are, but I don’t know a single club that doesn’t immediately point to its past glories. We all do. So for them to remove a club great immediately gets tagged as misunderstanding the English game and the clubs roots. They get tagged as trigger happy foreign owners.

If they were so trigger happy why were they all retained for so long? Most regime changes immediately overhaul the board level. It happened with Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City. Man United at least retain the likes of Bobby Charlton in roles, but purely token ones. The old regime failed. Face it, what those three employees stood for was a failure to achieve what the al-Hasawis want. Premier League football. And so we evolve. And evolution is also a football fans worst enemy. There are many elements I could suggest. Fans clinging to old formations, and not liking change. Not liking a popular player essentially being usurped by a new better player being parachuted in. The hegemony of the big clubs being challenged. We immediately decry and almost ridicule the “new money” clubs of Chelsea and Manchester City “buying” success because we don’t like change.

Now whether Rob Dorsett has an agenda I don’t know. But he has curried a certain amount if dischord. As I say whether it is to create a story, or whether because some of the now removed people were personal friends or contacts. He already said he has not spoken to the clubs new owners who have turned down interviews. Agenda’s.

Now this is not a party political broadcast on behalf of the Hasawi’s. There are obvious questions that need asking. The main problem now is though we all imagining the worst. The completely hands on role, in as far as actually managing the club itself at Qadsia is a worry, it shows a slightly megalomaniacal approach. I can’t see them trying this, but there is a precedent. By the way these are things I have read in the past and can’t find the sources anymore, so therefore I can’t comment on the reliability of this.

The complete conjecture that the sackings signify that the al-Hasawi's are now on a power monger charge is ridiculous. But lets' see where we go from here. They obviosuly felt the time was right for a change and as such have acted in that regard.

al-Rashidi Signs, But Some Aren't Happy

I would very much like to start this piece by reinforcing my support of the al-Hasawi regime. I am firmly behind what they are trying to do, and without them.... well that doesn’t bare thinking about.

And yet some of our supporters are just never happy. I am have repeatedly called for fans to have patience. Today for me seems to be s turning point in some regards. Perhaps for the worse.

Khalid al Rashidi has been granted his work permit and as such is signing for Forest. This is a keeper we know little about, but has international experience and spent time on trial in he summer with Reds. But the way some fans have reacted to the tweeted news was as if we were signing a 12 year kid who has never seen a ball never mind played in net.

I have just read a tweet that read “when can we sign some good real players, rather than loans and your Kuwaiti mates.” This last week would have been targeted at Fawaz of course who has announced he is scaling back from Twitter. 2 years ago we had a chairman on Twitter. He too was forced to scale back and remove himself from there. Which led to a reduction of financial support before Nigel Doughty’s untimely death.

Now we have a similar situation where after begging for more interaction and information from board level, when what we do get we don’t like, a minority, but a very vocal minority immediately feel the need to illustrate their feelings. Varying from just a moan, to directing their tweet at either the player or board member or relatives in relation to their gripe.

The news that Fawaz won’t be as active on Twitter is a great shame. It’s been pleasant hearing the news first hand of signings and his excitement. Now because for some fans what they hear isn’t good enough its forced him to come away. The problem is with this vocal minority is that they will see this a weakness and a lack of willingness to connect with them. Not the actual truth that's there little or no point connecting with people who are never happy with what you do.

This club may well not exist with Fawaz, and if it did it wouldn’t be in the position we are. But fans want the moon on a stick. We make a signing, they wanted one who was better. We sign a potential rough diamond, they wanted a polished diamond. The problem is, and I’m going to say it, these people are basically stupid. They don’t understand bigger pictures. They see things as black and white and incredibly simple. Why sign this player when we could have that player, without even thinking is it possible, would they come, what the wage situation is, would they fit in systems, would they upset morale.

A lot of people seem to question why trade in camp for an untried entity. Well Camp wasn’t going to sign a new deal, he wanted to be off. Get used to that. So for that reason he was jettisoned from the club. Simply put, McLeish seems to run the club along the lines of if you don’t want to be here, then get gone. And I support that mentality. I think for too long we have had players treating us another stop on their career and not somewhere to build and make something, for lack of a better cliché, beautiful.

Basically who are we to argue if they people bankrolling us want to bring some Kuwaiti players along for the ride. If it starts to hamper us then and only then can you really grumble. But this guy hasn’t even signed. Who the hell are you to question it? What do you know about al-Rashidi that makes you so certain he will fail? It’s like no-one has ever come from a league that hasn’t produced a star before. Look around, the game is global, this will happen that players come from places that were previously footballing back waters.

Fawaz powering in an effort at the Trent End

Back to the al-Hasawis, increasingly I see people openly question them. People bemoaning the number of loans and no permanent signings. Well again, that's the nature of the beat I’m afraid. We are in flux, attempting to try and build from essentially nothing. Futhermore in flux because we're trying to get promoted and don’t want to be saddlled with Championship players in the Premier League. Furthermore it’s a means to an end. These players we want and need might not be available for a permanent deal in January. Clubs don;t want to sell in January because it's harder to replace and often more expensive. There's an old adage that you can;t get value in the January window and often that is true. So to complain we have too many loans is short sighted and looking for any reason to moan.And thats all people seem to want to do

The Radi Contract Situation

It turned out yesterday that Radoslaw Majewski had tuned down a contract offer of a year extension from Forest. This has left a great deal of fans distraught. The cat calls and wails of it’s the usual Forest way of letting players go for free for not sorting out proper deals.


Perhaps it is, and perhaps it isn’t.

Consider we don’t usually get to know the ins and outs of contract negotiations till either a deal is signed like with Gillett, or on other hand that we know they are definitely off and definitely not signed a deal.

A great many point out to last season and the players we lost for free. That’s unfair though. Last season wasn’t normal. For one we were embroiled in a relegation fight, that meant we didn’t want to give new deals to players we wouldn’t be able to afford. Secondly our finances were in such a parlous state that we were in no position to tie people to deals. A third facet is the perceived injustice from longer term players, who were angry the likes of Derbyshire, Greening and Reid were parachuted into the squad on double if not treble their own wages, and wanted either parity, or a deal elsewhere. Hence Morgan left although for a fee, and ultimately Chambers, McCleary and Lynch.

The financial instability has gone, but the ongoing question of where our future lies has not. For if we get to the promised land of the Premier League, do we really want to be saddled down long term by players who won’t be good enough. And let’s face it; Majewski is not a Premiership quality player. A capable and often genius Championship player that transition may not be easy for the Pole. Therefore it seems the club are looking to keep people on short term deals so that we can easily then jettison them in the next year or two. Rather than be saddled with players for ¾ years, who frankly won’t be near the team. I assume this will be the case for virtually all our current team, who although are very competent Championship players, all of them are untried or failed at the top flight level.

Additionally to this is the fact we simply don’t know if this offer was an opening gambit from Forest to test the water. After all this news wasn’t broken by Forest. Radi’s own agent might release this to invite other more lucrative offers. This in turn could be a catalyst for Forest to increase their offer. Remember the Moussi situation, where his agent spun that half the world wanted him, which turned out to be false. Similarly with Tyson. People are so willing to blame the club; they forget the shadowy operations of agents, who would also see a player moving on a Bosman as a cash cow for themselves.

There are two ways this could go, one is Forest improve their offer. Or second and unlikely is that was our only offer. It’s funny how most people seem to base their knowledge of running a club based on Football Manager at times and yet seem to forget this most basic element of the game. Ho really playing that every makes a first offer that is what the player wants. Unless this is the same type of idiot who turns that option off. However, Majewski could be able to be negotiating with foreign clubs as we speak, and make no mistake if a British club was interested they would have sounded out Majewski’s agent. Therefore he will be more than aware what he could get elsewhere. And in the same way we are forcing Birmingham’s hand on a player they will soon lose for free; other clubs might hope the same for Forest.

This is a very murky time of year; clubs in these tough times increasingly will leave negotiations till they know what their future holds. Nobody wants high waged players in a lower division as much as I said about filler players in the Premier League, with the likes of QPR squad inundated with players they collected on their rise but never got shot of.

So it ultimately comes down to the fact we really don’t know the ins and outs, other than press releases in Poland, and that this may have been a simple first offer. We may make a better offer. At the end of the day there was a telling line from Majewski, or more likely his agent. We never got as far as discussing wages. Because after all, like Camp or Blackstock that too might be a stumbling block in negotiations. Like I said with other offers, he may well have a heightened sense of worth. Only the next few weeks will tell.

Lastly, McLeish might not even have him central to his longer term plans. Therefore only a shorter deal offered. As much as you might not like that, he is the manager after all.

But as always, the fact that so many people get so vocal about something ultimately out of their control. We don’t always know the full picture remember. Before you get angry, wait and see what develops

Latest Transfer Gossip - Jan 14th 2012

Most of this is hearsay, gossip, rumours and generally borderline made up stuff on other sites. Occasionally during transfer windows I compile this, so if anyone starts to think this is me suggesting these transfers thin again, what I do thought, is offer my opinion on this transfers.

Adam Larsen Kwarasey

A completely random name it may seem but Norwegian media has linked us with the Stromsgodset keeper. He is a Ghanaian international and is currently in South Africa as part of the Ghana squad for the African Cup of Nations. According to the Norwegian source (http://www.tv2.no/sport/fotball/tippeligaen/-nottingham-forest-med-bud-paa-larsen-kwarasey-3965181.html) an initial offer was made which was far too low. Negotiations are ongoing, but Stromsgodset hope he has a good tournament to increase his value. He is Norwegian born so would be Work Permit exempt. In terms of believability it seems random, but then sometimes the best deals are. It would possibly be a potential if other targets don’t come off. Kwarasey is 25 years old.

George Boyd
Not exactly news or gossip, it’s been all but confirmed by the Peterborough chairman. He did mention us but he does also have a record of misleading the press and public. This could be a ruse to increase Boyd’s worth and start a bidding war. Although he never had a chance in his previous spell at the club I have always thought he seems dangerous. However not exactly pacey I’m not sure he offers an alternative to what we already have. So it might reach a dead end. We aren’t the only club chasing him.

Chris Burke
This year’s rumour that won’t go away. The latest is we have offered £500k and that Birmingham has all but accepted but is desperately holding out for more. We won't pay more, but Brum hopes someone else can come in gazump us. That said other sources say this is a done deal just waiting for i’s to be dotted and t’s to be crossed. Personally I think this one will go through.

Bader al-Mutawa.
Another rumour that won’t die is that we are back in for the Kuwaiti striker and are hoping that this time he can be granted a work permit. The al-Hasawi family are desperate for an Arabian based player to sign for the club to massively increase our profile over there and see their countryman as ideal. Whether this goes though remains to be seen. There was a lot of discussion before that if we were persistent we would get him eventually. I’m not so sure.

Kieren Westwood
Another name amongst a sea of goalkeepers but one I mention as it’s a bit more a potential goer. I have always rated Westwood, at Carlisle and Coventry. I could see him being a good signing. However it was reported a week ago Sunderland have no intention of letting him go as their own cover for Mignolet then would be a youth team keeper. That could be a huge stumbling block.... Unless of course Camp went there, which would be unlikely.

Danny Fox
Southampton left back has been linked. Now although this would-be a good signing there are huge problems. Although he has been kept out of the team by 17 year old Luke Shaw. Shaw is injured at the moment though it isn’t as long term as could have been. Also Southampton may be wary of big money offers for him, despite him signing a new contract. Potential deal though, but as I say there are enough reasons to doubt it. However he is another defender named Daniel or a version of.

McLeish Gets First Win

Forest claimed their first win under Alex McLeish at the weekend with a victory that came via what has been an unusual forum. Set Pieces.

For so long now Forest haven’t scored from corners. In this game we scored two. Indeed even Peterboroughs goal came from corner, after defensive mishaps from Forest.

Forest were of course welcoming Karl Darlow to the first team. Although he has played before it was never in this context and relatively pressure free. Darlow more than rose to the occasion, although he didn’t have a lot to do, what he did he did competently. Even dashing out of the area to make clearances that perhaps Camp might not have. The goal from Posh cannot be pinned on Darlow and for that he can be pleased.

At their end both centre halves scored, and in the post match coverage this was mentioned from a Twitter use. It is rare but sweet when those two both score. Ok Halford goal was slightly contentious, I still can’t be sure due to where I sit if it went in, but the flag went straight up, and the protestations weren’t that strong.

The second goal could have no complaints at all in that regard. It was a powerful headed effort by Elliot Ward on his return. And a word for the central defence partnership who looked strong and solid. Ward made one challenge he missed that he probably should have been booked for, but at the end of the day sometimes you need those decisions to go for you.

As well as the central defenders, the full backs looked good. Harding attacked well, and Jara looked more than good enough on his debut. He attacked well, passed well and did hi defensive work. His first 3 /4 touches maybe went astray and one or two mutters were heard but he soon won people over.

The midfield was more of a diamond than the previous 1-3 formation. It still  looked narrow, but seemed to allow Majewksi to get forward

The one let down and slightly personally for me because I singled him out as a definite star when we signed him was Lansbury. This is a big chance with Reid out the side and I feel he didn’t really take his chance. Ok he got an assist with the first corner, but for me that was all he really did well. 

The attacks had a somewhat quiet game. Sharp had a good header well saved, but apart from that there were slim pickings for them, not really their fault as they rely on what’s set up for them,

Majewski was man of the match despite his two glaring misses. It is a shame that his performance couldn’t be finished off with a goal. Like Lansbury he got an assist from a corner.

Overall it was a pleasing for the Reds. Peterborough aren’t a good side but they have been on better form and it was an absolutely vital win to pick up especially considering the forthcoming Derby game.

Lee Camp's Future and the Question of Who Comes Next?

So what does the future hold for Lee Camp? He has been told he can leave the club for free this January. His contract is up in June and clearly the club have decided to let him go now. Now whether this is because he has flat refused to discuss a new deal, or simply McLeish wants his own man is unclear. Maybe it’s a combination.


Camp has a strange relation with fans at the moment, and the reaction on Twitter was extremely mixed. There was a distinct camp (no pun intended) who wanted him out, and have now become vocal in their dislike of him. The reasons cited are how he sulked when turned down for his move to Swansea under McClaren, and his form has suffered since becoming an International. Almost as if some of the drive in his career had gone and he has plateaue'd. Rather than pushing on and the try and make it at the top, he has realised he is at his level, playing for a nation that have little or no hope of qualifying for a major competition. Basically his drive to prove has gone. And now he is a shell. At this stage in careers usually the big pay day to sit on a bench comes along. It seems that is right on time.

Because essentially that is what he would become. Reading are the main club being linked, and what you could see Camp doing is being one of these capable Championship keepers who keep a Premiership bench warm for a nice cushy pay day. It’s happened before, and it will always happen again.

There are those who would like to see Camp stay, but the problem for this side of the argument is that it’s pointless. He is clearly off so to try and argue the merits of keeping him serves no purpose. However I will say that for me he is a capable keeper. Good at commanding his area and good at shot stopping. Not the biggest keeper in the world, he has more merits than not. But it seems his relations with the club have collapsed to an untenable point.

As well his good performances in the Billy Davies years, it has also been pointed out he was helped a lot by an extremely capable defensive line up, that since the departures of Wilson and latterly Morgan, he has been left looking, depending on whose arguing this point A) looks like he’s worse because he has a worse defence in front so more clear cut and unsavable chances are made. Or b) that the quality defence made his record of clean sheets and reliability look better than it actually ever was. A lot of people really got on Camps back last year for his failure to give quick delivery. This completely overlooks and negates team orders. It was clearly an order to get the ball sent long to the strikers and get forward quickly. But everyone decided this was Camp who was to blame, which I found extremely frustrating.

There have been a number of names suggested as his replacement, and seeing as we have told Camp he can go, we need to move quickly. Can you really imagine having a keeper in net that has care of what happens as he’s off? It’s not worth thinking about (however he does now have something to prove to potential suitors so may “up” his game.) Rob Green, Craig Gordon and Lukasz Fabianski have all been linked. All have Premiership experience. Green everyone knows was England’s first choice at the start of the previous World Cup. Because of a high profile error he is now tagged as being not good enough, which is hilariously misguided. People who aren’t thinking for themselves and have a typical knee jerk reaction are the ones who claim he’s not good enough. He’d be more than good enough. Fabianksi has made errors, but that’s in a top level Premiership team. Craig Gordon was a £9million keeper a few years ago, he’d now be free, but he has been out the game for a while. But all three would be quality additions. You don’t get where they are without quality and ability. Camp has never been a first choice Premiership keeper. That needs to be remembered in this.

But overall it will be a shame to see Campy leave, but then players often out stay welcomes or only last at a place so long. I think Camp needs a new challenge and new surroundings. His has stagnated somewhat. For him his next move is either a huge pay day move for 2-3 years on a Prem bench tripling his wages. Or it’s a fresh new challenge with another Championship club. Either way it’s definitely not here, not now anyway.

A Call For Calm

Things have been getting a bit heated and silly this last couple of days. People making all kinds of self imposed ultimatums that we must do this and that or McLeish needs to go. You don’t get to make that decision. And to be honest that isn’t going to happen. Barring complete collapse he’ll be here till at least the end of the season and as much as many (me included) weren’t happy with his appointment, we need to move beyond it, because a poisonous angry atmosphere helps no-one.


Now I know how people will react. There will be two camps. Those who applaud the sentiment and those who don’t care and to be honest I’m not out to specifically change people’s minds, but just appeal to reason.

Yes the Cup defeat was shockingly poor. Oldham aren’t exactly on form, aren’t exactly setting the world alight. And only really needed to turn up for less than 10 minutes to completely blow us away. It hurts, but really? What cup success could we expect? A cup run is nice, but this now stops any fixture congestion which can hamper promotion campaigns.

And that looks a beautiful notion right now, a promotion campaign; many are suggesting right now that we are more likely to be embroiled in a relegation dog fight. This is a good old knee jerk reaction you see on twitter and Facebook.

A great many people I saw suggest they liked this appointment are now completely flip flapping. Some of them even went as far as when O’Driscoll was sacked to support it. Yes they somewhat have egg on their faces, but we have only played a few games under McLeish.

For some to be saying if we fail to beat Peterborough and Derby then he HAS to go. That isn’t going to happen. And neither do we want to be a club who brandish the axe so readily. It hardly invites a decent calibre of applicant for next time if we are seen to be completely impatient with managers. Furthermore McLeish was clearly the man they always wanted and once he was ready, O’Driscoll was the fall guy. It was just timed badly. When it was said they approached the layers about who they wanted, it was clearly a move to bring in an intermediary, an Interim boss till someone they felt more suited for the al-Hasawi tastes wanted the job.

Don’t get me wrong, this has all left a sour taste in my mouth and I do feel sorry for Sean. His reputation has if anything potentially been enhanced this whole sorry episode to the point he turned down the Barnsley job yesterday. He was also strongly linked with Wolves too. And it’s on this note I address my next point.

Wolves appointment of Dean Saunders speaks volumes to me about certain ex Forest boss. Billy Davies. Now for me maybe Wolves would have been a perfect fit for Billy, so why not even mentioned or linked? It seems to me his name has been poisoned and muddied by his boardroom shenanigans and wars with owners. For this point it seems no one wants to take that risk on him. So when people keep going on about Bringing Billy Back, this to me speaks louder than words. If he is so wonderful... Why has no-one else taken him on?

A lot of people have also been sending, if not abusive, then questionable Tweets towards Fawaz al-Hasawi, I feel if things don’t improve this will in increase in number and volatility. It really isn’t going to help the cause and I get people are frustrate d and angry, but you really think this will create a strong bond? Remember, we were in such parlous financial health we could well having done a Portsmouth if it hadn’t been for them. And people are getting angry? It’s ridiculous. I saw one guy tweet at Fawaz son, that he had a feeling the family were going to destroy Forest and do more harm than good. Really what good is it to be texting the son of our owner something like that? Where in anyone’s psyche does that seem a good idea? Because I’ve seen it before with people tweeting Michael Doughty about his father, and we all know what that brought about.

I think it’s a problem of the age we live in whereby the people who make decisions are available in ways we never saw before, and people seem to think they these people are instantly answerable to them. They aren’t of course. We are merely customers of a particular brand in a market at the end of the day, and although the average football fan, me included, feels more than that, in a truly economic sense that’s all we are. Do I feel Amazon, or Fosters directors should be answerable to me on social media because I don’t like their decisions? It is over simplifying matters but it is the basic crux of it.

I didn’t agree with the appointment of McLeish but neither do I agree with the acidic hate campaign being led against his regime already. As many other shave pointed out Davies wasn’t’ a popular choice amongst fans at the time, so in essence we need to give anyone a chance. I worry when people seemingly want their club to fail just because they don’t like someone involved. I sit near a fairly volatile character in the Trent End who I have mentioned before; I genuinely question why he goes to games as he seems to garner no enjoyment from the experience even when we play well. Something like this atmosphere is festered by these characters. Those who think because they shout loudest their opinion is worth more. He reacts angrily when some other people who sit adjacent to me tell him to stop moaning and support the team, complaining I pay my wages to come here. No-one forces you though. We need to escape this negative mindset that for some reason we can spout what we want, when we want, how we want and to whom we want. Yes you can, but is it right? No. And that’s my point. It’s only going to exacerbate problems.

Where Are They Now? The Team That Beat Man City

Ok, so it’s a mere 4 years since the historic and glorious defeat of the “Richest team in Football” by ourselves. A day that was wonderful for all the right reasons. And although I’m not saying it’s the greatest day we ever had, it’s interesting because in such a short period of time, that team has completely disbanded.

Some of the players we fielded that day, you think how could we ever win such a prestigious match with them in the side, especially as you see how some of their careers have slid into complete obscurity.

Our side that day was this: Smith, Morgan, Breckin, Perch (Wilson 17), Chambers, Anderson, McGugan, Cohen, Thornhill, Tyson (Davies 81), Earnshaw (Garner 73).

Subs Not Used: Richardson, Byrne, Heath, Reid.

Incredible when you look at it. And no wonder we were struggling against relegation. But coupled with a Caretaker Manager and low self confidence, we went there and triumphed 3-0. The goals of course from Tyson, a screamer, Earnshaw and Garner (hilarious) led the travelling band of support that day into glory. We all remember it. I have written specifically about that game before. But as I say, 4 years, where are those players now?


Paul Smith
The very much maligned Paul Smith as well, and at the time he wasn’t even first choice but was playing as Camp was not allowed to play on loan cover. Smith hung around Forest as back up for a few years, with a loan to Middlesbrough where he did quite well. He often never even made the bench which was a bit sad because he was better than the youth keepers we often put on the bench. After being released from Forest he signed for Southend, for whom he still plays


Luke Chambers
Well we all know where he is now. He left the team in the summer for pastures new and to be honest most weren’t sorry to see him go. He wasn’t bad, and had a few games, it’s just he was very prone to shaky games where everything went wrong. Then there was his outburst which ostracised a number of fans from him, but as captain you expect to him to have been vocal on such matters, especially after being voted Player of the Season not long before. I think at times he got a bum deal from fans. Yes he had the good year, but we remember the years before of inconsistency.


Ian Breckin
That season would be Breckin's last at Forest. The veteran centre half had at times looked a little lost in the Championship, after being a fairly successful player for us in League One. Following his departure from the club he signed for Chesterfield, where he played for 2 years


Wes Morgan
Left Forest last year in a somewhat controversial transfer that could arguably have helped us stay up with the money taken from that being reinvested in loan players who helped us a lot. Morgan has since become club captain at Leicester who are flying high. Wes needs little extra explanation about him, we know him all too well.


James Perch
Started this game at full back but went off injured to be replaced by Kelvin Wilson. Perch is possibly the most surprising of all the ex players from this team and what they went on to do by being the one player to make it to the Premier League, when he was bought by Newcastle. We all laughed but he’s a regular started for Newcastle, and yes their form has dipped, but we should accept that a player we were all largely happy to let leave is now laughing at us having a much more successful post forest career than we could ever have expected.


Matt Thornhill
I find it amazing he started this game. Even more so when I reveal where he plays now. Buxton. Yeah, Buxton. His move to Hibs to follow Calderwood never really worked out. For one he was always fairly limited, but an honest player. Seems like Calderwood just wanted a player he knew there with him, and Thornhill was the one. After a year at Hibs that really didn’t work out he was released, and only in November did he get back into football, admittedly at a very low level. Shame really, he did have successful lower league loans whilst at Forest and looked like he may even make it at League One/Two level. Not to be.

Lewis McGugan & Chris Cohen are of course both still with the club.


Paul Anderson
Paul Anderson signed for Bristol city in the summer after a last year at Forest where he largely was disappointing. Chances have been hard to come by even in a struggling side though he has just started his first league games, and even scored a goal. Though Bristol City manager McInnes seems to think he’s a better left winger, which to me is odd “He much prefers to play on the left rather than the right hand side of the pitch and he has had to be patient...”


Nathan Tyson
Ahhh, well here we go. I could throw in words like Judas and scum, but to be honest he liked the area and took a good contract close to where he lived. Which we’d all do, except for stuff like the corner flag thing and being our arch rivals. He has remained largely injured since joining them, which was how he spent his last couple of years with us. I liked Tyson, and for me this goal is one of my highest highlights in going to Forest game. I can still watch it on YouTube today and grin inanely. Any club other than them and we’d have a soft spot for him.


Robert Earnshaw
The cult of Earnie means like Davies people constantly want to bring him back, despite that clearly not being any solution to any question asked. Earnie isn’t what he was, hence spending a few months playing in Israel after falling out of favour at Cardiff. Maybe had he had lower wage demands he might have stayed, but to be honest he got more cash than what we wanted to pay to play for his home town club in a home coming role. That said he is still with a Nottingham girl... But yeah Earnie isn’t what he was, it’d be like Jenas return or Henry back at Arsenal. Nice, but not the same.



Subs


Kelvin Wilson
Kelvin is now at Celtic after his very acrimonious departure. And of course Celtic just qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League. So fair play to him there. Kelvin came on during the first half of this game for the injured Perch, which was probably a good thing as Kelvin was the better defender. It was the season after this one that Kelvin left for free to North of the border. It is arguable we never properly replaced him as a ball playing centre half.

Arron Davies
Davies Forest career was always torrid after harassing us so in the playoffs. He started out injured and never really showed anything in a red shirt like what he did in the playoffs. After a loan to Brighton that didn’t work, he was released alongside a number of kids a year after the Man City win. He ended up back at Yeovil, and then in 2010 ended up at Peterborough. He played 28 times as they got promoted but was then released by Darren Ferguson. Gary Johnson who had signed him for both Yeovil and Peterborough was now at Northampton and saved his ex player by again signing him, but after Johnson lost his job, so to Davies first team chances dried up. He was released in July 2012, and signed for Exeter City, for whom he still plays now.


Joe Garner
Scorer of the third goal Garners career never really got going at Forest and he is starting to find himself as a lower tier journeyman even at the age of 24. He went to Huddersfield on loan 2 seasons ago, a move that was meant to revitalize him, and failed to score once. Then with Scunthorpe fighting relegation he scored a few goals, though ultimately they went down. He then moved permanently to Watford, but was then loaned to Carlisle this season after a less than impressive record. He has scored a few goals for Carlisle, but with the Cumbrians wanting to extend that loan, they have seen Preston sneak in and sign him till the end of the season just yesterday.

The other subs not used, well Barry Richardson was goalkeeping coach anyway, who had signed terms to be able to sit on bench as cover. Mark Byrne is at Barnet; Joe Heath it seems at Hereford and James Reid as far as I can tell is now at Ilkeston.