Double Injury KO For Reds

The news last night that Henri Lansbury would be out with 3 months with a horrendous sounding fractured lower back. It is understood he sustained the injury in the game versus Yeovil. It had me racking my brain thinking of exactly what and when he did. I can recall an early nasty looking coming together with their full back McAllister but this was right at the start of the game.

But that’s beside the point; the main thing is the huge loss that this represents as Lansbury has been integral to so much of what we have done right. The combination of him, Reid and Vaughan for me started to turn this season around, and without them, we may lack that bit of extra quality that could see us go up automatically. Considering we are already seeing fixture pile up. Extra pressure on those players remaining who may have seen rotation and resting could bring about a breaking point.

What it represents is extra pressure on the existing players, and also Billy and Fawaz to try and secure a player to fill in for the prolonged period of absence for Vaughan and Lansbury. Dorrans name has already appeared, as has Guedioura's. A few are even touting Jonathan Williams also from palace name around as they have announced they are looking into a loan for him as he won't get much playing time with Ledley's arrival at palace. Wes Hoolahan who has completely fallen out at Norwich and has promotion experience is another obvious potential target that said he's potentially in temperamental mood, but that does mean he has something to prove. He would be a player to get forward, and might not fir that deeper role, but at times like this in this injury crisis you have to look at what the best available options out there. Is he better than the alternatives already in place?

Moussi has shone again recently, and one has to think he will be stepping up to play more after looking earlier this year like his Forest career was all but over. Majewski will surely have a strong chance to claim a spot and see Reid drop deeper out of necessity. Any regular reader knows that I get extremely frustrated by Majewski, his lack of consistency being a major bugbear. Greening was on the bench against Preston and this might well occur a few more times. Whether it could mean playing time for a youngster coming through from the ranks is also a possibility. Osborne has appeared on the bench, but he's more of an attacking midfielder, David Morgan who always looked likeliest to break through for the past few years is on loan at Tamworth, and only making their bench. Jack Blake is a name mentioned before and he had a period with Mansfield on loan in October. So it makes the loan market look far more likely.

Lansbury will be back. In time for maybe the playoffs, as will Vaughan (and maybe Cohen) so it's not as if their seasons are over. It will take time for them to reintegrate and get back form when they do return. I'll be honest, both Vaughan and Lansbury's injuries are new ones to me, I have no idea of the long term impacts of whether they will be prone to such injuries again, or if it could have an impact on other areas of the body. With any injury for a period of time there is always risk of it flaring up in some other way. For now though, we just have to get through these next months without a major talisman for the team.

 

F.A. Cup Glory

Well we all by now know the result and if you don't what rock were you hiding beneath for the last 24 hours, but a glorious televised 5-0 for Forest versus an admittedly under strength West Ham saw Forest sail through the Fourth Round.

Paterson

Forest saw the return of Moussi to the line up for Vaughan and Paterson of course in the team on the other flank to Abdoun for Mackie. Save for that the team was pretty much the same as played over Christmas. 

To say things started well is an understatement and from the off we looked the better team. We took a relatively early lead when Paterson was fouled in the area and Abdoun snatched the ball to take the penalty ahead of the likes of Reid and Lansbury who had scored penalties before this season.

Well I said to my friends when he stepped up that I was worried he'd try something stupid. He of course did. One assumes the keeper hadnt been aware of Abdoun or he might have guessed he'd try a "Panenka" penalty. It was almost predictable. Had it been saved he'd have looked monumentally stupid, instead he pulled it off and was acclaimed by some on the net as a genius.

The rest of the half was pretty much us having more of the ball and creating half chances, but the best other chance of the half fell to Ravel Morrison for West Ham whose free kick was well flicked over the bar by the hand of Darlow.

In the second half we overcame a dodgy period to go and complete the rout of West Ham. Jamie Paterson came of age on a Forest shirt with a hat trick of quality and a little bit of luck. His first was a low drilled shot into the corner from a Halford knock down, the second was deflected in from a defender into the bottom right corner, and his third and final goal he collected the ball out wide, ran across the edge of the area and finished into the corner again fora glorious hat trick.

Andy Reid finished the rout with a goal after a cut back from Abdoun and finished into the top of the net. This didn't flatter us at all. It was deserved and I felt sorry for the West Ham fans who must have started so early in the day to come up and watch something so abject. This lasted a short while. I know that when the tables are turned the sympathy is so slow in coming apart from the mocking. 

The attention is all more about Allardyce in today's media, will he hang on to his job after this? What does it mean for their transfer activity? It is less about what it means for Forest, or how good we are, but that's what gets the attention. Not the smaller club, but the Premiership sides travails.. That's the way of the world I guess.

Derbyshire Wonder Strike Seals Deserved Win

It was harder to obtain that it really should have been as we bossed the game, but Nottingham Forest have an unlikely hero to thank for scoring the winner against Leeds yesterday in a game that should have been long tied up.

Step forward the much maligned Matt Derbyshire, so much of the periphery of not just the Forest squad but even this game when he was introduced for Abdoun. And i heartily mean that, when we brought Cox on for Mackie we had wanted them to bring Derbyshire back off, as the touches he had made in the 15 mins or so previously could probably be counted on one hand.

But no, that means nothing and what do I know. He was saving it all up to crush Leeds hearts and give Forest that deserved win. He got the ball around 30 yards out, went forward a few yards and from around 20 or so yards lashed home a strike Paddy Kenny had no hope of stopping.

One minute previously Forest fans were in the proverbial dumps. Leeds had equalised, and they looked like getting something out of a game they deserved nothing from. The goal itself perfectly illustrated it, a scrappy ugly goal, after Byram squared and Lascelles managed to get there first, but cleared straight at Darlow who deflected the ball straight to McCormack who scored the goal. It was almost a comedy of errors. Lascelles did everything right getting back and clearing, he was concentrating on the ball, and of course Darlow would would also try and help, but between them the highly rated youngsters inadvertently set up McCormack. Leeds levelled for a minute.

Previously of course we'd bossed it, from Halfords goal early on from a Reid free kick, and a word on Reid, whom everything went through in the team. So much of a fulcrum for the team that Leeds in typical fashion get trying to nobble him to take out or creative outlet. Everything went through the Irishman, and he dictated the play beautifully. Reid's free kick bent to the back post and Halford rose highest and nodded home past stricken Kenny, who was carrying a knock from early on (and if we as first thought was faking it, it was an elaborate long term act)

Reid also should have had a goal, when his range effort shortly before Leeds goal hit the outside of the post. We had other good efforts from Majewski and Abdoun at various moments.

Reid dictated play, but him and Lansbury ran midfield, with Mackie chasing anything and everything, and Abdoun putting in another performance (even if there were a few silly errors again) with the central defenders being towering. A good all round team performance and deserving of the 3 points.

Glorious Boxing Day Win

Forest got their first home win since September against QPR on Boxing Day with a spectacular and deserved win.

It could and should have been more than the 2-0 win we did have but I think every single Forest fan will no have no complaints about this game having won easily.

QPR it has to be said were not as good as you'd expect, and with a cavalier attacking midfield that offered nothing in defence, I felt it underlined the need for a deeper midfield that we play. Phillips often looked dangerous, but Zamora offered nothing, Kranjcar looked dangerous as he has obvious talent, but his ranged efforts were either wide or saved.

The goals, well to start on that is to overlook the renaissance of Abdoun. I have been critical of him in recent weeks as anyone who follows the Forest 24-7 twitter account will surely testify. But this game he was wonderful. So to describe the goal is to describe a wonderful piece of work from Abdoun. A well whipped cross after scaring the QPR right back and Halford headed in at the back post. It's the Abdoun we hoped for when we first signed him.

The second goal was also an Abdoun assist, and this is where the controversy comes. He played the long ball, and it bypassed Halford, however he didn't touch the ball and therefore didn't assist so Reid wasn't offside. The QPR players saw the flag and stopped, but as there was no whistle, Reid carried on and after a brief conversation the goal counted and QPR went in a rage. Pointlessly. You don't stop without the whistle, it was a basic taught to me as a 6 year old playing at school. Play to the whistle. And to see top professionals claiming otherwise points out how far removed many of these guys are from what we play. It also points out their complete knowledge they knew they were culpable and do not get to make decisions.

Even Joy Barton, suspended and presumably watching at home piped up on Twitter to support them saying their players stopped when the flag was raised. But again Joey, that's not the roles. Flags don't stop play. Whistles do.

And the QPR fans and players citing this as unfair need to remember we battered them. We had many many other gilt edged chances. Halford had a great opportunity, Hobbs had one stopped on the line. And that's just two, there were several others I have since forgotten.

It was great to see, and at home with a good crowd. I wonder what Leeds will bring tomorrow. We often have humdingers against them. Bring them on.

Two 2-2's

I’d like to say the lack of reports for either the last games has been down to me being busy, and although partially true, that isn’t the case. I’ve just largely been lazy.

That said Forest have managed to have back to back draws, both of which 2-2 and both of which saw us falling behind.

Against Middlesbrough, the game was marked more by Phil Dowd than much more else. That’s how it will be largely remembered save for a good come back when we looked dead and buried. Davies took a risk and stuck Reid and Lansbury in a deeper role. The whole structure of the side changed, moving from the more 4-1-3-2 formation we’d used to a 4-2-3-1 formation. It didn’t work.

For a start the midfielders in those 2 deeper roles are not players used to that role. Reid and Lansbury are not defensive players. Further forward it accommodated Majewski in a central role behind the front man, with Mackie going wide right and Abdoun playing on the left. The defence was untouched.

However that defence would need reshuffling not long into the game with the injury of Kelvin Wilson. His role at the back coordinating is vital, always was when he was here before and it’s arguable he bought the best out of Wes Morgan. Halford replaced him and he isn’t as good as marshalling the defence. It soon showed.

The main problem was the lack of the shielding midfielder who knew what he was doing. Moussi had done a mixed job against Barnsley, but due to him giving away the fouls which contributed Barnsley’s gals Davies removed him from that role. And a huge glaring gap opened up between defence and midfield which caused problems you could drive a bus through.

The first goal was simply Halford being turned easily, the ball getting centred and Boro taking the lead. The second was again just rank bad defending, standing off (which is to the point where the defence might do ordinarily) but without that shielding midfielder offering support, inviting Boro on and giving a lot of space. George Friend gladly lashed home the second, and finished well.

We looked dead and buried. I tweeted as much, saying that the change of structure hasn’t worked and we got it wrong. But then Davies redeemed himself. Derbyshire and Henderson both came on, and both scored, with close in finishes from crosses and we could have had more. Of course Reid had missed a penalty in first half and we should have had second half penalty for when Henderson was felled and then booked for diving, wrongly. I wanted t deliver a long vicious diatribe about Phil Dowd on Wednesday morning but bit my tongue.

So this weekend we came up against Doncaster and a lot of fans seemed to be assuming the win had already been decided before we kicked a ball. Donny away is always a tricky little customer of a fixture.
Macheda fresh from Manchester United would be our main tormentor in chief, scoring both the goals. Between these Chris Cohen had lashed in an equaliser, and after Reid scored.

Halford came in for Wilson and Chalobah the new signing made his bow for Forest, wearing Guedioura’s 7 shirt. It will take longer than 2 days for him to get to know us and blend in, but that’s all he had for this game.

To be honest a few people have said that this is a horrible result but that’s taking a game by itself and looking at it based on a resource and league position basis. That’s far too simplistic to judge an opponent, forgetting form, spirit and the basic fact that we struggle at the Keepmoat, which psychologically plays it part. To be fair getting a late equaliser is a good result in my book, we won’t be the only top team to lose points there this season, and so it’s nothing be ashamed of. I just tend to think a lot of our fans get far to built up on the idea of teams we will own and destroy, rather than realise some times you will struggle against perceived weaker opposition.

What it does, and forgetting the League Cup game, is set us up for the Derby game, whereby we aren’t on the best form, and yet here we are scoring a lot of goals. We don’t fail to net, but defensively looking like we are shaky. But that’s going to happen when you lose someone of Wilson’s calibre.

This season isn’t based on 3 games in September. It feels like some think it is. There are both plenty of positives as well as negatives to take from these games. Onward Forest, onward.

King Darius Rises For Late Win

It isn’t very often in life I refer to an ancient Persian King in a title of a Nottingham Forest blog article, but there we go, that’s the beauty of this. Forest left it late against Barnsley on Saturday to seal the 3 points, with a win that was more than deserved. After all we hit the woodwork 3 times in this game additionally to the goals.
That maybe unfair on a decent Barnsley side that look better than last year’s model. Although their own goals were from dead ball situations they did occasionally look dangerous on the attack.

The main element of pre match conversation would be who replaced Guedioura, the Frenchman Moussi getting that nod. Some had thought we may go to a flatter 4 in midfield with Abdoun and Paterson wide with Reid and Lansbury pulling deeper than usual. But now, the narrow diamond remained, with Moussi at its base, Majewski spearheading it, with Reid and Lansbury making up the rest. Cohen remained at left back, and Cox replaced the auxiliary striker that was Halford up front.

We had the better early chances, Mackie getting in clear behind the defence seeing the veteran Pollitt save his effort, and Cox hitting the post from a lovely little move involving Lansbury and Mackie, which may also have been a save from Pollitt.

And then Reid from a free kick in nearly a copy of the Wigan goal curled it high into the corner, but that just little bit too close to the post, seeing it come back off and ricochet around before being cleared.

When we did take the lead it had been a good build up. Mackie gain getting that yard or two of space to shoot, and seeing his effort saved by Pollitt. The only person chasing up though was Simon Cox to give the Reds the lead. Pollitt was angry no defending was following in to tidy up, and his defence seemed to suggest he should have parried it the other way, but that’s neither here nor there as far as I am concerned, Cox showed instinct and quick reactions to follow the ball in and to finish, and put the Reds in front.

Barnsley to be fair didn’t cower though, and their reaction was quick. Perkins who had played well made a run into the box, and pushed the ball past Moussi who clumsily blocked his run and gave away a penalty. O’Grady netted the equaliser, and the lead was already squandered. At this juncture around me there were tuts and noises of derisions aimed squarely at Moussi who most saw already as a liability in that role. He had just proved us correct again.

A word on Moussi, he had his usual type of display where you’re not entirely convinced his arms and legs are reacting to the same brain waves, often careering into trouble and then back out of it. He wasn’t as bad as some will make out, but against a good team he would be found wanting badly, someone like Wigan would have had a field day with him against them.

We took the lead again with the last action of the first half. A free kick Barnsley weren’t happy about being give and Reid, with his usual great delivery caused Etuhu to put past his own keeper. Reid free kicks must be a nightmare to defend, as never sure if dipping in or someone ghosting at the back, defenders feel the need to flail something at the ball to clear it, and as in this case that can result in it going in their own goal.

Barnsley’s second half equaliser was a screamer. Unstoppable, and applauded by a good many Forest fans. It was one of those goals you just have to accept that was destined to go in from the moment Cywka swung his boot. A rocket from 30-35 yards, it was f course given away by Moussi for a free kick in the first place.

And so we toiled for a subsequent winner, and by changing our approach by bringing on Paterson and Abdoun the match was swung. Abdoun excites the crowds, many having seen his Youtube vids (that said I’m sure you could make Jason lee look ace from video highlights) These two started playing a bit more directly and the inter play down the left wing was exciting.

Paterson would hit the post, our third time with an effort from around 20 yards, at first I thought a pass better option but it wet so close. Then Cox had an effort that Pollitt spilled and it went narrowly wide.
And then came the introduction of Darius, fresh from his court acquittal the big man looked hungry and ready. Darius differs from our previous big physical presences in that he can play on the ground too, but his goal was pure aerial threat. A corner coming in he bulleted a header in low to give us a win. Barnsley’s defenders looked frustrated having let the one biggest threat from corners get a relatively free header 10 yards from goal.

It was a deserved win, that there is no doubt, but we were made to work for it. The happy change is now there are different types of options if things don’t go our way. Instead of last year, where we’d have done a relatively like for like change of McGugan for Majewski, this year we have a different type of player to bring on. As I said the interplay down the left filled me with a lot of hope about potential options down there. Abdoun Reid and Cohen seemed to reach a quick knowledge of how to use each other.

All in all a creditable result. It keeps us right in there after the Wigan defeat, and with Middlesbrough up next we look a hard challenge to beat at the City Ground, if we just sort out that DM slot.

Contractual Situations

The Trio Whose Contracts Are Up

Usually for Forest this isn’t a tale of half a dozen key contracts being up for renewal, but for once just 3 really. Aside from the loan players of course.

We have three main players out of contract and one of those has spent the majority of the season unavailable or out on loan in the guise of Marcus Tudgay. Contrary to rumours elsewhere Chris Cohen is not out of contract, a quick search reveals he signed a new deal in October (evidenced here). Other contracts that were expiring in Dexter Blackstock and Radi Majewski have been renewed.

Which leaves Andy Reid, who signed a 2 year deal when he signed, erm, 2 years ago, and Lewis McGugan.

Now I don’t know the ins and outs of whether we have offered deals, and in the past this kind of news has lead to conjecture about players futures. A number all blindly believed Dexter had joined Leeds, and a strange Polish press release seemed to indicate Majewski couldn’t agree terms, but these were both in the early days of negotiations and seem to be a counter ploy by agents to get the required deals.

I say it’s all conjecture because you never know the truth in these matters. Reid and McGugan on the surface appear to be have not offered deals yet. This would surprise me as Reid has played regularly this season and is a big part of how we play, and McGugan is dangerous and would have sell on value.

Our new found wealth would also mean that any potential stumbling blocks over Reid’s wages (believed to be around £12k a week) would now be averted, as had this been last year there isn’t a cat in hells chance of agreeing anything similar.

Unless it is that is a problem. That the club don’t want such high wages when we aren’t sure where we will be next season. However I do assume that the new deals signed this season were all of a higher end of any pay scale, and the fact Reid is 30 might be stumbling blocks too. Stick him on a 2 year deal and we’d be stuck with it. 30 year attacking midfielders aren’t the most valued commodity even if they have the quality Reid does, and with his pay deal and being saddled with that in the Championship? Well Chairman get itchy about that.

There is every chance deals are in the pipeline, but they may have been earmarked as players to monitor in relation to our league position and where we end up. The likes of McGugan would probably want a good deal, and he could maybe step up, but here’s a catch. Is McGugans bright form because of that very reason? He’s playing for a deal? We’ve seen it time and time again.

I can honestly see Tudgay being released. I think the club want to see where they are before seeing what to do with Reid and McGugan, and maybe they both want to see where the club are before they start negotiating. We seem to have been locking down players we want to keep. The fact these 2 deals are expiring I find interesting.

Settled Midfield Reaps Benefits

At the start of this season we signed a glut of midfielders. Considering we were already quite blessed in this position it seemed a strange one. Already in possession of Majewski, McGugan, Moussi, Greening, Reid and Cohen in the midfield we added Gillett, Coppinger, Lansbury, Guedioura, and since the summer McLaughlin.

Lansbury has been able to settle in team under Davies

It led some wags to choose a XI of just midfielders. But what it also led to was a lot of chopping and changing, some of it enforced, some of it for the sake of it to use them all. This led to a very unbalanced side and players badly out of form. Guedioura looked a shell of the player he was last year, Lansbury never settled, McGugan and Majewski seemed peripheral and unneeded.

Fast forward to now and a lots changed there. Instead of the tinkering, there is consistency, and as a result the team is winning.

We started the season with an element of consistency. The same midfield 4 was frequently used right up till we lost a couple against Leeds and some lot called Derby. We went with Gillett, Guedioura, McGugan and Reid. This consistency as I say was partially enforced, Lansbury and Cohen both injured at this stage. The last game of this run of the midfield saw Guedioura get sent off against Palace and so the chopping and changing began, and the form faltered.

If you look from the end of November up to and including the Watford game, a run which many wanted SoD to be sacked during, the form was inconsistent, with horrible defeats, but also quite good results it would look now (0-0 at Brighton doesn’t look bad) Gillett started in that run, but didn’t finish, Moussi taking over, Guedioura and Cohen were used in a majority of games but would be dropped (and sometimes bought on at half time) and Lansbury and McGugan switched in and out the team. Coppinger played a couple of times. In fact the prevalence of early substitutions does smack a little of a manager trying to tinker to get things right, and although now we look fondly back at O’Driscoll period on charge, there were glaring inconsistencies. I for one think we would have got it right, but it was a case of trying to juggle too many balls.

Radi blossoming in new role

The problem is there no –one gets a consistent run of form and it told. When McLeish came in he had a midfield which was largely out of form, he didn’t know his best side, and besides, a midfield is superfluous in a McLeish team as the ball gets humped over them (I again implore you to seek out Aliaksander Hleb’s quotes on this from his spell at Birmingham)

So how was it Billy was instantly able to galvanise this midfield into one that is a constant, in form, and above all free scoring. Well he seemed to decide on a different set of personnel and although in the familiar 1-3 layout, with one deep the other attacking, gave a certain artistic license to Majewski, who revels in such a role. Lansbury gets to be the box to box midfielder, and Guedioura gets treated more a quarter back to control the play. Gillett played this role before but with the quarter back element. Instead of long balls forward, he was more like a rugby scrum half, getting the ball and passing sideways. Guedioura's range of passing far outstrips Gillett’s, and though both don’t shirk the physical side of the game, Guedi is bigger and stronger, and can shrug off challenges.

We have also now settled on a formation. O’Driscoll by and large used the 4-1-3-2 at home but was prone to adjusting to a 4-2-3-1 formation, which didn’t work. Indeed when we altered to this against Wolves for a while we struggled to control the game. The sole forward with less support struggles to maintain possession. Additionally, having the 2 men sitting deeper means we don’t attack in the same force. I am also acutely aware I supported this formation saying many modern teams play it. They do, but that’s in the Premier League.

Whether it was a case of SoD trying to keep people fresh, and that he did have knocks to contend with we will never properly know. But we were doing better before he kept trying to adjust the midfield, and the formation. Billy has faithfully stuck to his 4-1-3-2 and it’s paying dividends. He hasn’t tried to evolve the game to involve more width; he sees what we have and is making the best of it. Players like greening and Moussi are kept involved, but are not integral. The only usual change is to see McGugan come into the fray for whoever looks like they need removing. And he is a great foil to be able to bring on.

I guess the challenge becomes when a result or two goes against us, and maybe then chopping and changing might be seen. When you’re in a great run you don’t makes too many changes, except in our case when the strikers just aren’t firing. I keep seeing people suggest involving more width, or that we should change the structure, but why the hell do anything when the team doesn’t changing? People seem to want to tinker for the sake of it, and what we illustrated above shows that doesn’t work. I think as said before that too many people play Football Manager and think because what happens in a fictional cyber world will play out exactly in reality. It doesn’t work like that.

It’d be interesting to see what happens if Guedioura got injured, would Davies favour this system with either Moussi or Gillett, would he reshuffle to a 4-4-2, a flatter formation with Reid wide or Lansbury on the right? All conjecture. Why change what’s working unless we have to? Consistency. It is the watchword of the day for me, and it shows how obviously it is needed.

Guedi the new DM

Where Are They Now? The Class of 2002-03

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This season marks the tenth anniversary of Forest’s first ever venture into the Play-Offs. While it all ended in a now all too familiar flood of tears, we can not forget some of the fantastic games this team treat us to over the course of the season, most notably the 3-0 thumping of Derby County on a cold March night at the City Ground.

While Andy Reid returned for a second stint at the club, playing just as important a role for us now as he did in 2002-03, I wondered what became of everyone else.

Let's start shall we?

Darren Ward

A decent goalkeeper during his time at Forest, Ward remained at the club for the 2003-04 season before losing his place to loanee, Paul Gerrard.

When Gerrard made his loan move permanent in the summer of 2004, Ward was faced with the possibility of spending the final year of his contract on the bench. Fortunately for Ward, newly promoted Norwich City identified him as the perfect candidate to compete with a young Rob Green - in turn giving him his first opportunity of Premier league football.

In his two years at Norwich, Ward only made one appearance for the club and was released at the end of his contract in 2006.

From here, Ward joined Roy Keane’s Sunderland revolution in and established himself as their first choice goalkeeper over the course of the 2006-07 season. Sunderland went on to be promoted as Champions giving Ward another bite at the Premier League cherry.

But Keane splashed £9m on Craig Gordon, forcing Ward to become an understudy once more.

Having rejected the chance to join Glasgow Rangers in 2008, Ward eventually went on loan to Wolves in March 2009. Unfortunately, Ward did not feature and had his loan cut short due to injury.

He was released by Sunderland in the summer of 2009, where he immediately announced his retirement at the age of 35.

A coaching role shortly followed for Ward at Darren Ferguson’s Peterborough before departing in February 2010.

Matthieu Louis Jean

A fantastic full back for Forest in his prime, Louis Jean went on to amass 200 appearances for the club.

Louis Jean stayed with the club until our relegation to league 1 in the 2004-05 season. 

With Louis Jean too good to be stuck in League 1, the time seemed right for him to put an end to his 7 year stint at the club.

From here, Megson agreed a swap deal which saw Louis Jean join Norwich City and Gary Holt coming in the other direction. Nicky Eaden was signed on a bosman to replace Matthieu – I agree, looking back there was so much facepalm surrounding his replacements. 

Matthieu only went on to play twice for Norwich due to injuries and was released in 2007.

Sadly, he never signed for another club and was on the footballing scrap heap aged 31.

Today, Louis Jean is back working at the City Ground as a scout.

Jim Brennan

Following his initial struggle to settle in when he first joined the club in 1999, Brennan was our ever consistent left back during this campaign, playing a key part in our defence.

It was the Play-Off defeat to Sheffield United that would also bring an end to Jim’s 4 year stint at the club, as he joined Norwich on a bosman in the summer of 2003. Yes, it would seem Norwich signed most of our defence in the years after.

Injuries restricted Jim during his first season at Norwich, as he was restricted to just 9 games as they clinched promotion to the Premier League.

Brennan managed to make 10 apperances in his second season and became the Premier Leagues first ever Canadian born outfield player.

During the winter of 2006, Brennan signed for Southampton until the end of the season where he became first choice left back to help keep the Saints in the Championship.

At the end of the season, Brennan returned to Canada to join newly formed Toronto FC. It was here where Brennan became affectionately known as the ‘Iron Man’ and the club he ended his career with in 2010.

Jim remains at Toronto today, currently working as their assistant general manager.

Des Walker

A club legend and captain of the 2002-03 side, who repeated a similar feat to the 1991 cup final in the second leg of the Play-Off game when he put the ball in the back of his own net.

Walker stayed at the club as a player until August 2004, when persistent injuries finally caught up with him at the age of 38.

He became a first team coach at Forest following his retirement before leaving the club completely in January 2005, due to the arrival of Gary Megson.

Des was honoured with a testimonial in the summer of 2005, which sadly ended in shame as Walker was arrested later that evening for being drunk and disorderly.

These days, Des Walker earns a good honest profession as a lorry driver.

Michael Dawson

Dawson established himself as one of the hottest prospects outside the Premiership having formed a watertight partnership with Des Walker during the 2002-03 season.  Sadly, he was sent off in the first leg of the Play-Off clash.

He was hit with glandular fever shortly after the Play-Offs, which did not see him hit the same levels of performance until his departure in January 2005.

Michael joined Spurs for £8m with fellow Red, Andy Reid, where he has been a prominent figure ever since.

Having formed a great partnership with Ledley King during over the years and 'Daws' has firmly established himself as a fans favourite.

His excellent form for Spurs, resulted in Carlos Tevez labeling him as ‘the best English defender I’ve ever played against’ and in 2010, he received his first, long overdue England cap.

Not bad for a product of the Forest academy, eh?

Riccardo Scimeca

An outstanding holding midfielder for the club, who could also operate in defence. I always felt he was never truly replaced until the arrival of Paul McKenna in 2009.

Scimeca joined Leicester, who had just won promotion to the Premier League, in the summer of 2003 having failed to agree a new deal with the club. He only stayed with the Foxes for one season, as he triggered a get out clause in his contract following their swift relegation back to Division One.

He opted to join another newly promoted team in West Brom, to help them in their quest for Premier League survival.

Scimeca stayed with West Brom for two years before settling down in Cardiff in 2006. Scimeca was deemed pivotal to the team by Dave Jones but in his final two seasons at the club, Riccardo became rather prone to injury.

In the December of 2009, a recurring groin injury forced Scimeca to call time on his career at the age of 34.

Scimeca is keen to get back into football as a coach but has had no luck since his retirement.

David Prutton

A product of the Forest academy, Prutton left Forest for Southampton half way through the 2002-03 season. His contribution was significant in establishing us for the first part of that season, while his departure helped fund our most important loan signing, Darren Huckerby.

Prutton’s time at Southampton started brightly as he adapted to life in the top flight with relative ease. Things stayed this way until February 2005, where he shamed himself following a red card against Arsenal. Prutton refused to leave the pitch and threatened the linesman as he was being lead away by his team mates. The moment of madness resulted in a 10 match ban and a fine of £6k.

Southampton was relegated that season and Prutton never returned to being the same player. This saw first team opportunities dry up and in January 2007, David returned for a second spell at Forest – remarkably his time at Southampton was like going through the doors on Stars in their Eyes, when he came back as a Jonathan Greening lookalike.

Sadly, Prutton’s return was far from great and ended in bitter disappointment as he was sent off in the second leg of Forest’s infamous Play-Off shambles against Yeovil Town.

Prutton left Southampton in the summer of 2007 before joining Leeds. Since then he has been a journey man within League One, playing for Colchester, Swindon and Sheffield Wednesday.

Currently, he is currently on loan at lowly Scunthorpe United.

Darren Huckerby

The infamous signing which transformed our season and made the difference in helping us solidify a sixth place finish.

Huckerby was brilliant and every Forest fan was bitterly disappointed we did not make the signing permenant in the summer of 2003.

While we did not offer enough, our loss was Norwich's gain and the rest, as they say, is history.

Norwich was promoted in his first season at the club, with Huckerby quickly becoming a real fans favourite.

In his first four seasons at the club, Darren won two player of the season awards and was runner up on the other two occasions.

His time at Norwich came to an end in 2008, where he joined the San Jose Earthquakes.

In September 2009, Huckerby retired through a persistent hip injury.

These days, Huckerby resides in Norfolk with the Darren Huckerby trust taking a large portion of his time. 

The trust is designed to raise money for local charities and schemes and to give something back to those who supported him during his time at Norwich.

If I remember rightly from a trip to Carrow Road in 2011, Huckerby also has a suite named after him within the ground.

Gareth Williams

Another product of the Forest academy, Williams excellent passing and vision made a big difference to the midfield during 2002-03.

Williams remained with Forest for one more season before leaving on a bosman for Leicester in 2004, under controversial circumstances. Forest managed to pick up £1m from the resulting tribunal but the hole he left in the side was plain for all to see, as we were relegated the following season.

He spent almost two and a half years at the Foxes before moving to Watford in January 2007 to try his hand at Premier League football.

Sadly, Gareth made just three appearances before a training ground accident resulted in cruciate ligament damage. 

Williams went on to never feature for Watford again and despite attempted comebacks, Gareth announced his retirement from the football in 2010.

David Johnson

Johno was our top goalscorer during 2002-03 and to this day remains a firm fans favourite.

Following the play off season, Johno continued his goalscoring exploits in the 2003-04 season before breaking his leg against Sheffield United, an injury which could have ended his career. He returned later in the season and got back to form, scoring an absolute pearler against WBA in the final away game of the season.

Johnson's importance to the club was recognised by Joe Kinnear in the Summer of 2004 when he was handed the captaincy. Sadly, his previous injury caught up with him and his renowned sharpness in front of goal disappeared.

The appointment of Gary Megson in January 2005, saw Johnson placed on the transfer list. Unlike Andy Impey, Marlon King and Alan Rogers, Johno managed to force his way back into Megson’s plans following the clubs relegation but a back problem transpired which eventually forced his retirement in 2007.

Following his retirement, he tried his hands at non-league football with Hucknall Town.

He has also worked for Umbro, managed Dunkirk and tried his hand at scouting for Forest.

Marlon Harewood

The perfect foil to Johnson, Harewood had his best season as a Forest player during 2002-03.

With money tight, Harewood left Forest in November 2003 for West Ham at a cost of £500k. Marlon stayed with West Ham until 2007, departing with many good memories including promotion to the top flight and the winner in an FA Cup semi final.

Harewood joined Aston Villa where he became a super sub for Martin O’Neill. First team chances remained few and far between and by 2009, Marlon had been loaned to both Wolves and Newcastle.

He left Villa at the end of his contract in 2010 before signing for Blackpool. Marlon made an immediate impact on his debut scoring 2 goals as Blackpool thumped Wigan 4-0 in their first ever game in the Premier League. He did not feature much after and found himself on loan at Barnsley before the end of the 2010-11 season.

Harewood left Blackpool and had a small stint at Guangzhou before returning back to Forest for a second spell in December 2011. The return was ill fated with Marlon looking well off the boil and frozen out by the end of January.

He was released at the end of the 2011-12 season before re-joining Barnsley permanently, where he scored his one and only goal against us in our 4-1 win at Oakwell in October.

What Would Be Our Best Midfield?

I’ve talked at length about the various options in midfield without ever really analysing what might be the best options, discussing other peoples various roles and how this set up works. However the win and performance at Wolves has raised some question marks in my mind about which personnel is best.


Quietly I had wondered whether the midfield attacking three we had been using were the best options. I for one have been chomping at the bit to see what Lansbury can offer from the start. I think Cohen is making himself undroppable, and we all know what Guedioura is capable of, despite not hitting those heights this season yet.

I appreciate the role Reid can play, and his guile and technique with the ball cannot be questioned, but I always wonder about his mobility, and how a more mobile midfield three might be better. The lack of pace and drive has sometimes been a real issue in the midfield. With Jenas and Reid out, Guedioura and Lansbury stepped up and completely seized their chance this week.

I would like if possible to see this midfield set up given a couple of games to see how they run. All the requirements are there, set piece delivery, creativity, drive, finesse. Reid offers an ability with set pieces that a wonderful crossing ability, but I would argue so too does Lansbury.

Looks at the ball Lansbury played on Saturday, 40-50 yards over the top ball perfectly to Sharps path and feet to take on and score. Considering he was schooled by Arsenal it was a very un-Arsenal like ball, essentially being long ball, but it was so much more than just a punt up field than long ball and direct implies. It was crafted, judged and dropped into place for the striker to latch on to. Creative but direct. Very Reid like, but with mobility.

If Guedioura is starting to hit last season’s form and I know one swallow doesn’t make a summer but he was looking far better, and maybe the catalyst for this improvement was playing his old team, and as often happens he played out of his skin. If his form is now getting back to last season it makes him undroppable. He just needs to stop getting sent off. I had a feeling as he approached towards their goal on Saturday and let rip that he’d hit something dangerous, and lo and behold it was unsavable down in the corner. We’ve got our Guedi back.

Cohen I have been impressed with this season. I thought his form may suffer with the long layoff but he seems to have come back determined to make up for the year or so out of the game. There are those who are suggest he isn’t he player many others say he is, that’s its all effort and no class but I completely disagree. We are a better team with Cohen it.

We are yet to see anything of Coppinger, and with Majewski injured the other option would be to see McGugan in, but I think we all know that although he has obvious ability his temperament is questionable and this means with the new better options he is essentially unpickable.

Jenas and Reid will have their roles to play, the problem with Jenas is that yes he is quality, but will he be here after January? Is it worth trying to play someone else into form instead? Reid isn’t going to be able to keep playing all season and will need rests. Weeks like this where we have 3 games in 7 days will be too much for his fitness level. The options of rotation should keep players fresh, but you also want the consistency that playing regularly brings. This is what has hampered Guedioura as he has been in and out the team.

It all bodes well though. If an army marches on its stomach, a team’s promotion bid will rely on its midfield. Yes you need the strong defence, and the goal scorers, but the way we play, needs a strong midfield, and thats what we have.

Andy Reid Agrees Terms

In more news that everybody knew already,Andy Reid has agreed terms on a 2 year deal with Forest, subject to a medical, and this fact has brought all the japesters on twitter.

Jokes such as he'll only pass the medical if he puts the KFC bucket down, or christ I hope they don't make it too excessive, have seen him become a top trending topic, along with jokes such as Hooters have now shelved their all you can eat wings deal.

I for one applaud the deal. I have seen some people on facebook(i know,i know, never the bastion of intelligence) suggesting this is a terrible deal...Well how is a free transfer for a player playing in the Premier League a bad deal for a Championship club? I think some people are genuinely only expecting "stellar" signings.

Lets also not forget we had a deal to bring him in on loan last season set up till Mr Davies quashed the move, not wanting the Irish left sided midfielder back at Forest. Well no sooner has he gone, then we bring him back into the fold.

This is a player who has has had a number of big money moves,taking him from here with Michael Dawson to Spurs, from there to Charlton,where he captained the Addicks,to Sunderland and on to Blackpool with a loan at Sheffield United, where nobody in the world was going to succeed.

He has played 286 league games in his career, scoring 35 goals,with 48 assists.

Barnes and Reid

Barnes and Reid sounds like a firm of Accountants, but it is fact the latest transfer gossip to emanate from twitter, facebook and assorted other blogs.

It seems mostly conjecture. Both are clubless, both have Forest links and Forest need players. But these two rumours are proving hard to shake off, so maybe, just maybe,there is something to them.

Both would be interesting, though I do think both also represent risks. Reid still struggles with weight and has hardly done much in the last couple of years, save for move about it and not settle anywhere. It might be his star has faded, and we end up with a make weight in the squad. We all know what he can do, but it's a case of does he want to?

Barnes is still young, and was a former academy kid before heading to Derby. He was brightly tipped a few years ago before injury ravaged his early career. Less of a risk than Reid, he might just prove be a bit of shrewd business for the Reds.

It has been mentioned by some this is a done deal to be announced when the window opens tomorrow, though more reliable channels on Twitter (David Jackson of Matchtalk fame) said they expect any deals to be announced next week if they do come to fruition.