Pessimism, Forest and Twitter

It’s been an entertaining few days, if you like to subject yourself to the fluctuating moods of the average Forest fan on Twitter. It seems a great many seem to get too involved and can’t bring about any detachment from the on-going situation at the club.

Is this an indicator of a lack of something else to do in some people’s life? Possibly. Is it indicative of today’s world where with on-going 24 hours news and social media we have a great many potential sources of information at our disposal? Yes. And that a great many of the movers and shakers are contactable speaks volumes.

But I have spoken before about this. The nature of new media and its influences on fans expectations and the exchange of ideas and information instantly rather than previous forms mean we always want these answers. Plus we now have transfer windows which drive this kind of activity in a timed frenzy.

But what’s apparent is there is a great deal of pessimism at the core of many fans. And weirdly they seem to revel in it. It’s almost as if some fans can’t wait for a deal to collapse so they can tweet their disappointment or the usual array of told you so’s. There’s no patience and the simple skill of sitting it out and waiting for what happens.

Djebbour

The transfer of Rafik Djebbour has been a typical example since it came to light again this week. Because it’s been on the cards for so long and seems drawn out (international transfers often are) fans instead of waiting for the confirmation immediately start seeing some kind of dark arts at play.

Couple that with that transpired with Hobbs and you have a perfect storm of impatience. Hobbs as well know has left and we had a long piece on here on Friday all about it. The fact we said we’d sorted out a deal for most fans meant it was a done deal forgetting personal terms which it transpired were not agreed. Hobbs realised he could get more money elsewhere, and as any of us would do in our careers held out for more money.

SO it didn’t go through. So because of this example some now hold Fawaz accountable, despite him doing all he could save for smashing the wage structure and then all that involves with possible ramifications with other players inflating their worth.

So instead of seeing the positive that we could be about to sign another player elsewhere in another position, the wailing and the gnashing starts. Because clearly EVERY transfer will go the same way now, despite there not being much evidence. People will cite George Boyd of course but that became obvious there were other games being played there.

Why would Fawaz be “lying” again, would you not think he was chastened by his other experience and only tweet when sure. International clearance can take time (and contrary to other reports Djebbour does not need a work permit, he was born in Grenoble, France) and any smaller details of the deal have to be sorted between Olympiakos and Forest.

Why am I talking about this and pessimism? The following tweets and comments will best illustrate my point.

Olympiakos striker Kostas Mitroglou in talks with Fulham... Will they sell 2 strikers? Can see Djebbour deal falling through. #NFFC
— Lewis Smith (@lsmith_nffc84) January 28, 2014

Reckon Djebbour will be a flop, anyone else get the same feeling? #nffc
— VIVA DAN HARDING (@VivaDanHarding) January 28, 2014

im scared bc the djebbour signing has been officially confirmed yet and I cant trust fawaz' tweets after hobbs
— Charlie (@CharlieAC7) January 28, 2014

Djebbour still not 'signed', clearly not going through completely smooth
— Jake Travers (@traversnffc) January 28, 2014

Just a small sample. And although most of it isn'

t malicious there are seeds of doubt in peoples mind that for some people go from acorns to oaks in record time.

What is apparent is there is a heightened sense of entitlement amongst fans. It's not always healthy. I have no problem with ambition and desire. Where it goes wrong is when fans demand too much.

We will look further at fans demands and what people perceive in regards that in a couple of days.

Fawaz - Damned if he Tweets, Damned if he Doesn't

It is commonly agreed by a range of fans that to have your chairman as a visible presence eon the internet has been a nice bonus. We have talked before about the fact the difference between Forest under the al-Hasawi regime is a different animal to that of under the Doughty days.

Fawaz though has almost created a rod for his back by trying to keep fans included in the various stages of the transfer process. Now there is confusion with some people between what agreeing a deal and concluding a transfer is. Just because we agreed a deal with a club doesn’t mean the signing is completed. There are myriad things to go wrong. How the deal is be paid, what instalments are paid at what tie, the deal with the player and of course the agent.

So when Fawaz said we had agreed a deal for Hobbs there was all that yet to thrashed out. Now it seems as mentioned the other day it was personal terms with the player that was the stumbling block.  So when Fawaz gets accused of lying by some people about this deal, that person is basically showing a complete lack of basic understanding of how things go down.

Now Fawaz has tweeted that we agreed personal terms with Djebbour and mentioned we just need to thrash out deals with his parent club Olympiakos a lot of fans went into a frenzy about how we are announcing deals before the deal is done. Now maybe Fawaz is being a little premature, but it is a sign that we are trying to do business and are out there agreeing deals. The nature of such a deal was that Olympiakos clearly want to sell, as they nearly reached a deal in the summer, so now we agreed a deal with the player and as said before have to sort out the minute details of the transfer insofar as how much we will be paying and when.

This is where the second part of the article comes in. The fact that people seem angry that we are announcing deals before they are done and could collapse and saying it’s unprofessional. The same people up in arms are often the very same moaning about the lack of news or lack of business in the market. It’s because of these types of tweets about the lack of business and those people who think the moment Jan 1^st arrives there should be a revolving door of players coming into the club that moves Fawaz announces these things to keep fans happy, appeased, and buying tickets. It’s an on-going cycle.

But the same pressures can these same problems we experienced, that we announce something about to be done before the ink is dry and everything goes wrong. This then cause fan to accuse the club of a lack of professionalism, and that we need extra help, but if those people weren’t constantly in Fawaz ear he wouldn’t feel this need. Additionally I dread to think of what direct messages on Twitter Fawaz receives from all sorts suggesting deals.

If only fans just let the club get on with doing what they do. There is also an element of everyone believing their opinion has to be heard. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but there’s a lot of who think if they shout loudest their opinion matters most.

Deals will go through when they do. What we don’t need is over the top zealous fans getting on the high horses and creating a bad atmosphere. Fawaz tweets because he genuinely wants to try and keep us informed and appease fan who might be agitated. Don’t them use this as a rope to hang him from when it doesn’t happen.

The Jack Hobbs Debacle

For the whole of January I have restrained from having my say on whats been happening with Hobbs. Following the too and fro about where his future is lying and what or wasn't the deal we had in place for the central defender was.

Until today.

Today it has all reached a head. Hobbs was recalled by Hull, as we all know by now. We also all know that last week Fawaz tweeted he had reached a deal with Hull for the defender. So something in that time has changed or gone wrong.

Here is where the conjecture starts in earnest.

On the one hand there are those who have seen this for what it potentially is. Hull have a defensive cover crisis with the James Chester injury. They have a defender very much in form who they had a right to recall from his loan as there was no permanent deal in place. They have done as much today. They are within their rights, he is their property.

Then there are those who believe there are more sinister forces at work in all of this. That Hull are forcing our hand to go for a deal now instead of all the wrangling that has been going off up till now. They want us to fork out that fee now, rather than the potential arrangements (believed to a be a fee payable once h completes his loan to avoid paying a percentage to Leicester in sell on fees.) Again they are within their rights to do so, but the waters of how morale this get a little murky.

There is also an argument to say that Hobbs stock has risen and when he negotiated with Forest on the deal it wasn't the same terms he had agreed in the summer on the longevity of the deal. Reading were willing to pay more. Hobbs therefore wanted to be paid more (and again rightly so, but then reneging on a gentleman's agreement it seems) And therefore we were not able to finalise a deal meaning he returns to Hull.

All of which must be of interest to Reading. Surely they will make a new move.,

Unless of course this was all a legit move to bring back cover for injuries, in which case it's all academic.

Whats apparent is we should have stopped wrangling and just got a deal in place, but then there's new arguments on trying to get value or just stumping large pots of cash for deals which might not be best value.

Confused? I am. It all makes sense but thinking off all the various permutations and consequences of this just addles to brain.

What is apparent is Hobbs is now no longer at present a Forest player.

A Week of Hysteria

Apologies again folks for the slightly scattergun approach in updating the blog. I have been busy preparing for Christmas and had a number of life changes I am adapting too. This should all settle down.

I would write a review of the Ipswich game but I think that ship has sailed somewhat and would be a bit of a waste of time to write a match report.

That said the failure to beat a side we are usually successful against and the fact it as goalless has whipped up a storm of hysteria again. Now that were are getting deep in the season there are fans who think that because we aren’t in the top 2 yet or that we are yo-yoing in and out the playoffs that this is failure.

May I remind those people that there is always a Johnny come-lately to the playoffs. That nothing is decided in December and that in all reality these people basically change their mind on the state of play with every result.

Last week after winning against Wednesday and being in the top 6 they’d have all been happy. But following a slightly cryptic Billy interview where we assured us all he gets along with Fawaz despite anything thinking the opposite and then the Ipswich draw that suddenly it was all hand to the pump and time to panic.

Some of what has been said on the net this week is utterly laughable and I’ll cover that later. There are some users I could do a Twitter Idiots special on with the pearls of utter nuttishness than fall from their head through their fingers on the keyboard and on to your screen.

This weeks menagerie of weird rumours was that Jim Price has left/ been sacked / walked the plank. Furthermore are the rumours Billy wants out, but wants sacking to get his new shiny four year contract paid off. There are numerous fanciful transfer rumours flying around too.

I think what it illustrates, and I will look into later, is that students are bored. When they break up from Uni many have nothing to do and seems a handful must be happy just making up rumours. In my head I am thinking and it seems this happens every time around school and Uni holidays, so in my head I’m thinking bored kids and teenagers just make up crap for attention of for Lolz or whatever they think they are doing these days, rather than the actual creating frictions and fissures in the fan base.

It’s ridiculous. It’s not even Christmas, we are on the edge of the playoffs with a number of top players returning from injury and people seem to want to make out this is failure. Maybe your retarded standards but those of us in the real world realise teams don't often just sit in the top 6all season. There are peaks and troughs, and to use a Billy phrase. Up s and downs, Twists and turns.

Enjoy the ride

I would also like to finish this piece, which is my first in a while by paying a momentary tribute to Kev Finnegan, from Vital, who passed away. I often disagreed with his views, but he’s been a contributor to the online Forest community for so long and that can’t be forgotten, he will be missed.

Strikers Strikers Everywhere, But Who Will Score Us Goals?

What we need right now.

The usual frenzy of transfer activity is of course focussing right now on strikers. It’s this year’s very in thing. Gone are the days of left backs being wanted, that’s so 2011 fashion.

But yes, this fabled 20+ goals a season striker which we need, and must have is top of everyone’s virtual shopping list. Sylvain Ebanks-Blake has had his name added to that veritable list. Of course what hasn’t helped this clamour is that Sheffield Wednesday just renewed one striker and got another in, and went and scored a bloody good but very overdue win.

With the summer demand for Billy Sharp to be signed (despite only having a 1 in 3 goal scoring ratio) and with him going to Reading, it’s been hard to judge if he’d have been the right man, he’s spent his entire Reading loan career injured just about, so whether he went there and banged them in, it hasn’t happened, but not that it might.

So now we cast that net around for a striker, and the talk was a week or so ago that we are looking wider and further, on the continent for that guy to put the goal in the net. It almost speaks not of desperation but exasperation to me. That we thought there’d be the quality in this country to get, but it’s just not there. Whether through availability or just not having the requisite quality around, or because there’s more value for money there.

A few people chucked around Patrick Bamford's name, after his impressive displays for MK Dons, and the fact to increase his development, Chelsea might see us as a good place for him to go from January. This negates some vital aspects. There is a rumour, and I stress rumour, that Bamford’s departure from Forest was somewhat acrimonious. The club angry that their talent they had nurtured was advised to move away, apparently by family. There is also the fact Chelsea might not be our best friends with the whole Chalobah thing. This forgets that Bamford fell out with the old regime, things have changed.

Of course previously we have seen plenty of other names in the past few months since Raffik Djebbours snub or whatever it was. Some of the names are hilarious (I saw someone suggest Adebayor), but others would seem good targets. Hooper and Austen always looked farfetched. And it seems any time any striker gets a brace now some fans scream he should and could be in our team.

And what I haven’t yet done is mention our current strikers. I have done in other blogs. I do think admittedly Cox is out of form, though the unfair fickle abuse many hand out is wrong. People who don’t understand form just saying we need to get rid when this guy has proved himself at higher stages than us. Tudgay and Henderson are Championship cloggers. Blackstock, well he’s not around now. Derbyshire remains on the fringes and you wonder what it’d take to just give him a bit more of a go, and Ishmael Miller is Ishmael Miller. It does certainly seem like it needs a little reinvigorating.

And it needs to happen soon. The longer the drought goes on the more it rests in the mind. The more it will affect form. Wanted; someone to score goals. When we went up in the past it was always with a bona fide goalscorer. We need one again. Maybe not in Collymore or van Hooijdonk’s class. But someone who knows where the back of the net is.

Calls for the Managers Head

Billy and Fawaz Happy Together

From the outset here let me get my position straight. I don’t agree that the manager should be removed. Not by any stretch of the imagination. We are in the top 6, we are having a mere blip, and we are still in a strong position.
I may not like Billy Davies the man, and when previously here I always thought he’d end up leaving, potentially for a bigger job. But lots changed in that time. He never got that big job, and I think Billy realises there’s a good match at Forest.

I don’t agree with the media management going off, and Billy’s ongoing shenanigans in avoiding actually answering questions and having a smug air of aloofness about him. I do agree with the fact he is by far our most successful manager of the past few years and has done better than a host of other names.

So to see people on the internet discussing the removal of Davies and discussing potential replacements to me is utterly ridiculous.

The culture these days of manager sackings gets a ridiculous degree now where managers get given little time as it is, without the increased supporter pressure. I always want a manager to be given time and patience to achieve their aim. For one, it takes time to turn a team around and yes now the team and squad is nearly virtually Billy to the core and he’s had ample opportunities to mould the squad to where he wanted it.

But it gets tiring every time a club make a signing that then subsequently does well that fans immediately cry why didn’t we sign them. Yes I hark to last weeks article about everyone being an expert but it’s true. There’s one man who this is ultimately up to, and it’s not you. Unless you happen to be Billy Davies, and if so thank you for reading my ramblings.

I digress; we are not in a bad position. Hell if we were here at Easter I’d be pleased with the promise of the playoffs. Too many seemed to put all their eggs in the automatic promotion basket, but in a division with some other big spenders and with an FA Cup winner in there, you have to admit that maybe we aren’t one of the best two teams.

Now again some will suggest that this is down to the managers purchases. The funds were there. But remember we were in for big names like Charlie Austin, just competing with QPR will always be hard to match. Yes we can afford to spend cash but does mean that we should therefore just over spend for the sake of it? Of course not.

There's been a suggestion that when actually given what he wants and when he has the board on side that Billy actually just can’t do it. He relies on creating an us v them attitude, we’re against but we can succeed. Which when he has what he wants doesn’t work.

When he before Billy wanted Shorey to be signed, but we refused to stump up the cash. Now with a chairman seemingly willing to do pay what might be the cost (think what we are possibly spending on Chalobah) he can’t coax the best out of players. Maybe he used potential signings as carrots to dangle in front of what he did have to play better. Prove they didn’t need Shorey. Now he can get those guys.

But all this said. We are in the top 6. It’s not even December. To call for the managers head right now just seems ridiculous. Stability breeds success. Not chopping and changing.

Two Sides to Bakary Story

The Bakary Sako saga has been entertaining as it reached a close today with the new he won’t be leaving. What’s entertaining is the fall out on either side of the debate about this almost transfer.

Forest fans are aghast that a League One club is demanding such high fees for a player. This of course has its merits. It’s not like it'd be for a promising up and coming player either to embellish the fee. No he’s at his best right now. Wolves paid £3mill for him when as a Championship club entertaining notions of promotion to the Premier League, before plummeting through the Championship trap door. They apparently in the summer wanted to make a profit on him, which for me is a strange situation when they aren’t the same club with the same turnover as before. If the situation changes then surely the market rates do? Do I still think a house bought before the banking crisis is worth the same just because I think it is? No the market dictates value.

Wolves’ fans are suggesting we are stupid and mucking around and that if we really want him why not pay the price they are demanding or shut up. Which is a valid point if you just fail to ignore something called common sense.

Say I have an apple. It’ a very nice apple. Apples aren’t in season anymore and we wanted that apple at that time but decided not to pay the price for the apple. Apples have a value as does everything, and sometimes they go for more or less, but generally people what they think that apple is worth. The apple we wanted is now suddenly more expensive and they wanted an Orange in return for it too. Would you buy the apple? No. No-one would. It’s the same apple, nothing’s changed, just now they seem to think it is worth more because... well I’m not sure why.

It’s completely laughable and borderline retarded to say we clearly aren’t that rich if we are unwilling to spend a figure we deem too much for something. If you blindly just go and pay what a vendor demands for a price without first checking whether what you’re buying is worth it your stupid.

Wolves clearly think Sako is key to getting promote. And he must be if we want him, but a League One club valuing a player so highly? We aren’t poor because we refuse to pay too much for something. That’s such a stupid statement. I’m clearly poor because I’d refuse to pay £5 for a can of coke.

And now I get to frankly the most ridiculous part of this whole silly charade. Where each clubs fans start proclaiming each other’s clubs joke. Wolves fans (Wolves are in league One, that’s below the Championship) that they are better placed club for Sako and are a bigger club. That’s a kind of logic you don’t argue with, because the purveyor of it is as stupid as to not bother wasting your time on.

We aren’t blameless here of course. Forest fans have suggested Wolves are holding the player to ransom. Wolves of course don’t have to sell us Sako, as if a Premiership club came in for one of our boys (like with Guedioura) we’d cry foul of any low bids. Sako has a contract with Wolves. And if the boot was on other foot then we’d be demanding the club don’t sell. How it’d signal a lack of ambition.

Also all week when he looked like he was off Wolves fans were laughing, saying Sako is over rated and not worth that much. Now they keeping him, we were miserly and cheap and should go away and leave the best player ever to walk the earth alone.

Now I made the point that we laugh at Wolves fans saying Sako is better off there? I remember some Forest fans (and some who have claimed that comment is stupid) saying exactly the same thing when Guedioura went to Palace. What’s the difference here at the end of the day?

The problem for me is that Wolves fans are saying the player isn’t for sale, yet Wolves were clearly in negotiations with us about the right place. If he isn’t for sale then none of this would have happened. Clearly he is for sale, but bizarrely for a price that’s going up. In August he was available for around £3mill. Now it appears to be £5mill AND Jamie Paterson on loan (ha ha fucking ha) The West Midlands clearly is a hot bed for hilarity if that’s Sako’s worth. It isn’t. Not even slightly. Wolf’s board clearly thought we’d offer them the stupid money and they could run to the bank.

Sako isn’t worth that much. There are other players available for less money. The problem is will Wolves regret not taking this larger offer when they had the chance. It’s happened to us a few times, and you end meekly selling for cheaper later on.

The Guardian Ban and Ongoing Media Relations

Well it’s not new news and I’m sure everyone has seen that this news has been revealed by guardian/Observer correspondent and Forest fan Daniel Taylor. It’s based on the fact that Taylor apparently wanted free tickets to the game on a Press Pass but as he wasn’t reporting on that game wasn’t allowed one.

Now this is where a lot of debate begins, and I didn’t want to wade in, but hey ho, it’s a slow news day. On the one hand I can see some fans view that why should journalists essentially turn up to watch a game for free. Furthermore essentially as a means to watch his own team. Taylor cites that as part of his job and for his profession watching a lot of football is necessary, and that is something I can certainly see.

However, when it’s to watch the team you follow things might seem a bit murky. It’s on the surface an abuse of a perfectly good system. That said I’m sure x amount of other club won’t mind, and at the end of the day you’d want to foster a good spirit between a journalist who supports your team as he will always more inclined to report favourably.

Well yes and no. Taylor hasn’t always reported favourably on Davies, and Jim Price for that matter. He has commented on some of the previous debacles of the Fawaz regime (the Brighton credit card, George Boyd etc) but I regard this as good. If he weren’t a Forest fan these might not get mentioned at all in the national press or if they were handled by some less sympathetic, and although it’s negative it’s still nice to get national attention. Bear in mind that on discussing many a matter at the top levels of football Taylor will frequently refer back to a Forest context, this I have seen on more than one occasion (and I make no apologies for explaining I am, if anything though still rarely, a Guardian/Observer reader.

But then there is how the regime under Price deals with the media, which until now I didn’t see as overly bad, but now is getting silly. When it’s a provincial row between the local rag and the local radio, I didn’t worry, but if you start getting the Nationals attention for you act then this is only going to affect how the whole nation perceives your club.

Now ok, right now some of you are probably thinking “I don’t care” well that’s all well and good, but if we have aspirations of top level football with it will come more attention and scrutiny from the national media. Again you might not care, but think on the pressure that might develop if everyone’s concentrating on crazy Forest and what mad japes they got up to this week, and how that could negatively affect the whole vibe within the club. If the world of football is laughing at you, then if things aren’t going right, then there is ammo to be chucked. The feeling will translate to the stands, to the players, and essentially it affects the whole persona and representation of the club. What I’m trying to say is think Blackburn.

Now, it shouldn’t be that way. We got bad press last season, some of it warranted for various bad decisions and odd ball moments. The whole McLeish era (and era feels an odd word to use for such a brief period) is basically pretty much the period I’m referring to, but also the not very well timed dismissal of O’Driscoll, the culling en masse of back room staff, this wasn’t well handled, and so the media represented it as such.

Now the club seem to be trying to punish the media for publishing negative news. I sort of get the angle they may have taken, that they think well top stop all this negative attention we’ll just cut off the head of the snake to avoid it. But that is so incredibly naive and short sighted as to be ridiculous. What the hell do they think the media will do instead, go meekly into the night with their tails between their legs? Of course not, it will in fact create a worse impression and create worse press. This is from a Forest fan in Daniel Taylor, what if he wasn’t a fan of the club, think of the negativity then? Ok Taylor had good links with the past regime which were largely culled, but he still would want the best for the club. He can’t enjoy painting us in a bad light as much as some Twitter trolls would have you believe otherwise.

I’m not going to quite go on a Vital-esque crusade of “truth” against Jim Price. I find that angle frankly ridiculous and unhealthy. I just want the club to realise the path it’s chosen in alienating and shunning the media is a ridiculously bad decision. A lot of people are saying well we can control that now with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, we can put our own content out and not worry about the national media, it’s obsolete, but that’s again ridiculously short sighted. We don’t want some kind of nightmare world where only good press is published. Does this mean that us bloggers have to worry about having season tickets removed for writing bad things? How far would it go to an Orwellian nightmare? That’s a long stretch to go to, but it almost does feel like Price and Davies have the “Thought Police” out, and will ban anyone who dare publish anything anti club.

Again, I’m not anti Davies and Price, I’m just disappointed with the methods being taken by them in handling media affairs. What they have done has turned this club round into challengers, with Fawaz’s cash, and with Davies managing, Price clearly has done well in the transfer market, so I can’t criticise that side, but what I don’t like is trying to control a media profile of the club through careful manipulation of who it allows in. It’s a dangerous game. And one that doesn’t need playing at all. It just seems they think they are being immensely clever whilst actually very stupid.

5 Things We Learnt This Summer

1. The Chris Gunter money goes a long way
the old fallacy that all the money that the al-Hasawi’s were using was simply the remnants of the Chris Gunter loan money and a lot of creative accounting seems to have finally been smashed. This summer we made largely actual signings, and the one long term is a means to an end on a permanent deal, but avoiding paying a fee.

2. Players are not always honest
A little bit harsh as Guedioura wasn’t ever really lying, as no-on ever asked the question, but after all the palaver about #nffcfamily and how he loves Forest the first sign of a Premiership club sniffing round him and he was in his car faster than you can say, well, Guedioura. So for me all the love he proffered feels a little cheapened, but I’ll still always have a high regard, at least he went for a higher level of football and not a sideways move.

3. Billy Davies is as cantankerous as ever
And that’s not a criticism by any stretch, but his time off hasn’t dimmed his ways. The media blackout, though maybe not solely his call, must have had his say in there somewhere, his recent reprimand by the FA for confronting the ref post Wigan match. These things point to the fact he is still a fiery little bugger.

4. Transfer Window Closures Under the al-Hasawi's are Eventful.
If it’s not George Boyd and his eyes, it will he won’t he Guedioura transfers and the 3 offers in place for people. In the past Forest fans could put their feet up on deadline day and rest at the rest of football as they all scrambled, in the knowledge we’d be doing no business, nor would we look like it. At least now when we do no business it’s dramatic and gets us talking.

5. If all else fails, sponsor yourself.
An ingenious approach to life by Fawaz after not getting sponsorship in the summer was simply deciding that he’d put his own Air Conditioning company on the front of the shirt. A company so well known and loved that before the announcement, its Facebook page had 200 odd likes. Hardly a super power of business. It is admittedly only up to 343 likes on Facebook, but that’s an increase in Facebook traffic of nearly 60%. So imagine for the corporate website! Fawaz is clearly a genius, rather than simply using a means to get round FFP by using his own company to sponsor his own football team.

The Ongoing Media Feud Escalates

Radio Nottingham, after nearly not getting their coverage renewed have this morning turned their course and fired shots at Forest. An “investigative” piece into Jim price, the General manager f the club, it merely seems to have inflamed opinions and annoyed people.

The timing I find to be ridiculous. The club have started well, so spirits are high, the station just agreed a new deal, and would you’d hope try and build some bridges. But no, it seems now their feet are back under the table they can start doing as they please.

Already pretty much shunned by the club save for matchday coverage, it just seems to be the last vestiges of respect between station and cub will have been used up now, in a piece going out earlier on today. One has to question what the motives are.

Anyone who has ever Googled Jim price could easily find out what about what happened at Ross Brown. The Law firm from Glasgow where he was a Senior Partner was forcibly closed by the Scottish Law Society (essentially) for financial irregularities. The accounts didn’t match up with the legal aid it had received basically.

Now Radio Nottingham have decided to rake this muck up for no other reason than the shunning of the radio seems to come from a similar time to Price’s arrival at the club. We all remember Billy bringing up his lawyer all the time in Radio Nottingham interviews, well that’s Jim Price.

So now the Radio feel the need to question his role and who he is, forgetting that many many people have shadier pasts in football, and ones that aren’t always Google-able. It’s not as if Forest haven’t had their fair share in the past, Wray and Scholar and all that went on then, Maurice Rowarth and his offences. Hell just a months ago there was a high level clear out at Forest, that is allegedly to do with embezzlement and financial mishandling of the clubs former employees. No-one ever questioned that, because I guess they were on Radio Nottinghams side, they weren’t throwing up barriers to them, or forcing their hand commercially.

But because Price has, Radio Nottingham feel a need to do this piece, which is also extremely notable in its timing. As if it’d been prepared for a while but held off till the ink dried on the contract. The fact they précis it by saying many fans have questioned his role, which I have only ever seen a few people do, and in passing, not to do Panorama-lite and claim to be all investigative, whilst probably all from the comfort of a desk with Google open.

I just read a blog piece that kind of implies its not all Ross Browns fault anyway, not they weren’t without guilt, just that they were a prominent fish to catch in a pond of many. As I say I’m not saying all is above board, it’s just that the BBC hwere seem to be trying to claw attention and expose someone who doesn’t need exposing just because they don’t happen to get along.

What will be apparent is that media – club relations will suffer again. There have been plenty of other fall outs (Rob Dorsett) so you potentially see why they are starting to cherry pick the journalists they do like and give them the stories, rather than see people with axes to grind report negative stories. It’s no worse than many other big businesses would do. I don’t want to blindly defend the club, and regular readers will know I question plenty of what goes on there, but this time it just seems a desperate ploy by the BBC to point score.

It makes you just want to bang their heads together and tell them just kiss and make up, but I feel we are far beyond that. As long as the current regime stays in place, relations won’t mend. The club will just boycott any Radio Nottingham contact and that ultimately shoots the Radio in the foot.

The result is now many fans see Radio Nottingham as trying to rock the boat for the sake of a gripe, and it’s angered many. If this all because of a childish gripe then its ridiculous. We should be talking about the great start the clubs made (as I did Monday) instead of this pointless petty squabble.

The Radio Nottingham Situation

I have largely ignored the whole Radio Nottingham debate so far, merely guessing that something would surely get sorted at some stage, and that it was just a simple game of Football Radio Coverage Chicken.

However, we are now on the Tuesday before the game and nothing has been confirmed. Might it be Saturdays are longer spent listening to Colin Frays coverage?

Now this had led some fans to go into a mini melt down on what they are to do without their usual regime, how the drive to the game, or drive home post game will be ruined, as if Radio Nottingham wouldn’t be able to even talk about the game before hand or present some post match summarising (it would merely jeopardise live match coverage)

No, a great many have simply decided the whole match day experience is going to be ruined. And I for one would lament the loss of local radio coverage.

But it wouldn’t mean there is no options. This is the day and age of football being a business and with FFP any source of cash is going to be used. If that means making sure people get Forest Player and having an in house service, then if it pays better than the radio, then Forest are well within their rights to look at it.

This isn’t me justifying it I hasten to add, just that this is the day and age we live in.

The benefit of an in house service financially begin to become clear. Advertising. And lots of it. Not just “this commentary is brought to you by” but anything and everything could be sold. This means not only might Forest sell the rights to commentary, but also the rights to advertise before, after and during half time, maybe even during the game (and player X is booked, and if you’re ever in trouble get yourself down to Y & Y Lawyers”) Again this is me taking things to an extreme and there’s no guarantee it would happen. Just could.

I think for so long we have been so spoiled with local coverage that this very idea is so alien as to appear more scary than what it might be. There were the days remember of cutting away from the match for County and Stags updates and perhaps missing something vital.

Now maybe this is Forest playing hard ball. Pushing Radio Nottingham into a corner so far as to crumble to club demands (and the fear mongering spread about Davies relationship with local radio based on nothing more than ignoring it) and almost become a club spokesman themselves.

Additionally in these trying times the BBC looking to cut corners may have cut back budget to spend on local football coverage, they may have a maximum price they can go to that Forest are deeming too low.

It is a dangerous game. Not having free to air Forest coverage on the radio risks jeopardising a future generation of fans unable to stay tuned to games, and not become so attached. That said, if we do get the supposed deal to broadcast every game on Kuwaiti TV, then most games would be available to stream for anyone with the simply tech savvy to know how.

I think the regime misunderstand the good will carrying on a contract with radio Nottingham even for a loss would bring. You can weight up financials or maybe a falling out all you want, but a lot of fans especially on away days count on this service for providing them with the coverage to follow the club the al-Hasawi’s own. That support is needed to sell tickets, shirts, etc. Distancing a set of fans from being able to follow on weeks they can’t attend in person might be a dangerous game, and it might over estimate what lengths people will go to. Everyone has a radio, but does everyone have easy access to streaming commentary, what about those who are driving for a start?

But now we have the extreme angle where people are tweeting at Radio Nottingham, the BBC in general, Fawaz, Jim Price, Forest Official, and Robin Chipperfield demanding answers, when the reason you aren’t getting one is that right now, there is no answer.

I can foresee a situation where if not in the day or so before hand, but in the 2 weeks between the first home game and the next games a compromise being reached. It just seems a case of obstinance for the sake of it, and although I can understand why the club would seek new revenue, it risks alienating a whole branch of fans.

Is It Worth Splashing the Cash?

There are those who are saying we should fly in the face of the new FFP rules and splash the cash on players and ignore the consequences in chasing promotion. Whilst on the surface that seems a beautiful dream it has extreme perils too.


Much of what I say will be based on previous teams and previous attempts to do this, and that just chucking money at the promotion issue isn’t always the great solution it seems. However, there are as many if not more occasions where it has resulted in success.

You could argue that the recent presence of QPR and Wigan, and the ongoing presence of Fulham owe more to wholesale financial investment rather than actual quality. Remember Fulham were in the doldrums football wise before al-Fayed took them up the leagues, before selling up this season. Although now cemented the size of their ground and relative size to neighbours means they are always going to overspend. Likewise Wigan, who flew up the leagues due to heavy investment, and QPR till their relegation looked the same? So investment reaps rewards!??

No, not quite. Leeds United will always be that classic case of spending to achieve success and when that success fails, not being able to pay those bills. Now we have the rich benefactor that is Fawaz but it still means these players are club employees with wages and all that goes with it. Fawaz insists he is here for the long term, but Forest fans can be all too aware the very worst can happen. I’m not quite killing Fawaz off, but the point remains, you have to plan frugally to avoid any potential long term disaster. In a similar vein, Fawaz sources of income could easily be hit hard and in those situations you cut off your main siphons of cash. That’d be Forest.

So moving back to Leeds, loading up on expensive players doesn’t mean they achieve that success, and when they don’t that bill to foot is hard. Because often everything in future budgets is related to where you think you will be. Leeds borrowed and budgeted against Champions League finances and when it didn’t happen the bubble burst.

Nowhere more illustrated than with Portsmouth, who will be ploughing their trade at such low ebb after chasing a dream they could never really afford. That’s a potential result of doing what we’re doing. I trust the al-Hasawi's have the best interests at heart, but you have to hope their heads match their hearts for that sake.

Anything in financial terms has a bubble where prices can inflate till it explodes. Football is no exception. So yes we could go out and spend the relatively modest to Premier League fees of £10 million on players, but in the Championship, that’s a gigantic figure. Clubs who spend anything above £2.5 million overall these days have splashed it around a little bit. So much of the division is made up of clubs who roughly cope financially, breaking even is a success. Further relegations are painful financially, and thats before potential sanctions should we fall into administration.

Another aspect of just going out and trying to buy success is that it just doesn’t always work. Yes you have quality players, but without the right blend it doesn’t work. Here we look at Leicester. They have spent big sums in the last few years, but they just don’t get the blend right, and have failed to achieve what they set out for. Comparing that to someone like Palace who were finacially in danger a few years ago and changed their entire structure and they achieved success.

It’s that Palace model which I think more clubs should aspire to. But the lure and promise of top flight football and the riches it brings forces the hand of club owners to chase the impossible dream. Not only is investment needed, but sound management.

So in essence should we spend those huge sums we are linked with spending? It’s a risk maybe worth taking, but it’s one that frankly scares me as the possibilities if we fail are being left with expensive players on huge wages. Is it a risk worth taking? Perhaps

The rules on FFP are quite clear though now, but the periods of reprimand have somewhat changed. Based on the football leagues website should we be promoted this year we would be sanctioned, BUT would avoid the transfer embargo placed had we done it any later? The fine would vary from 1% for £100,000 over spend to 100% for £10,000,000 or above (then shared amongst the clubs) Baring in mind we were running at apparently around £5-7mill deficit depending on your source for the period before this spate of spending, it makes you wonder if the al-Hasawi's have decided to risk it. There is a maximum loss of £8mill allowed, £3 if the chairman doesn’t inject equity. That or we are indeed about to announce a bumper sponsorship deal. This would offset the costs. Now at higher levels this is something they are aware of and have legislated for (there is a policy of setting market values on stadium sponsorship and suchlike) but what the exact rules are I’m unsure. Bear in mind the multi millions deals done for stadium sponsorship, we could certainly look at that revenue stream to justify a large spend and get round FFP.

That would certainly explain any splurges, I have seen said by others if there is an Algerian or Arabic connection, taking Guedioura to Kuwait, and the targeting of Algerian players (or perhaps Pep just recommended them, or has been used as a lure) Either way, it seems that the club have decided to spend. As a fan this excites me, naturally I want quality, but the realist is worried what the implications could be if we don’t go up. Although firmly in support of the al-Hasawi’s we have before looked at why they own us, wondering the motives. Hopefully the spin is right, Fawaz does love Forest, but there remain question marks. Namely they turned Everton down before taking over Forest. So what’s the aim? How many care as long as we succeed on the way?

How the Sponsorship Deal Could Have Wider Ramifications

This is largely based on a bit of rumour and intrigue, and the fact that we don’t have a sponsor for the shirt yet. The gossip, and that’s gossip founded on good reliable sources on Twitter rather any #itk account which, if you have to specify and say you’re in the know, probably means you’re not, but according to these usually Kuwaiti sources there is a major stumbling block for the hopes of selling the shirts.

Fawaz would like to get a large Kuwaiti deal on side, deeming that this could be lucrative than what you’d get paid in the UK. This could have one or two ramifications, which when you look deeper and wider could have potential commercial and playing aspects to the deal.

A lot of that as I say in conjecture, a bit of guesswork, but still worthwhile maybe sketching out what might be play. I freely admit this is by no means correct. However it is also completely feasible.
Any Kuwaiti deal however would rely on securing rights to every Forest game in Kuwait, beaming live to their domestic broadcasters. Rightly, in a commercial aspect, and future commercial partner would want maximum visibility for the brand / product, and wouldn’t want to invest cash in something that would be seldom seen in their market. It’d be like Boots sponsoring a Kuwaiti team otherwise, largely pointless.
Now, That’s all well and good, but in an attempt to make this deal more palatable to big time cash, could it jeopardise things like the playing staff. I.e. would it mean Khalid al-Rashidi getting increased exposure, or more likelihood f trying for Bader al-Motawa again. Because either of those in a Forest shirt is going to have greater appeal to Kuwaiti audiences than Henri Lansbury or Simon Cox. Would there be a pressure to play commercially viable players for revenue? Again we don’t know. I couldn’t see Billy agreeing to that though, but it happens. Think of the potential shirt sales in Kuwait!!

And thus taking that idea further would it mean an effect on crowds. Let me put it like this. If the games were shown in Kuwait, that would no doubt then be streamed. If fans knew a reliable stream was always going to be there, that would surely see some more fringe fans stay away from games, or not make long Tuesday night trips to some hell hole.

The core subject wouldn’t waver, but there is a floating band of fans who you feel would just in tune into the stream every week and save on the increasingly expensive match day experience,
Ergo you have potentially hit on match day revenue. Which makes a very difficult standoff? Make no mistake, if they do have any business acumen or business savvy, this will have been considered from the get goes. So any sponsorship revenue may have to offset this cash flow too.

Now maybe this is a flights of fancy, but it all make sense in a joined up linear way. These aren’t silo ideas standing alone, but there are zero guarantees any of these dominoes would fall in order for all to happen. Just something to potentially consider when you wonder why negotiations on a sponsor are drawn out.

If of course the sponsor turns out to be something else, all of this is largely instantly thrown out.

The Top 10 Reasons why Djebbour Deal Collapsed

We all know the official line. He refused to take a medical. And maybe, just maybe it’s the truth. But that hasn’t stopped numerous tweeters, Facebook pages and forums from wildly speculating on a “real” reason.
By the way, I don’t believe any of this, I just thought it interesting to collate.

Rafik Djebbour

1. Forest tried to offer reduced wages
Forest have form apparently for this under the previous regime, with the infamous Mark Arthur and Wayne Routledge rumour. But this is one rumour doing the rounds, one of the stronger ones being retweeted. It’s feasible I guess, but sounds convenient.

2. Djebbour didn’t want to take medical as he knew he’d fail (1)
Apparently he knew he’d fail a strenuous medical. Quite how the hell anyone knows this beyond me. Someone cited previous knee injuries. Sounds bollocks.

3. Djebbour didn’t want to take medical as he knew he’d fail (2)
Apart from this being highly libellous I’m not saying this is true, merely relaying retardedness. It’s been claimed he’d fail because in almost a Rio style, he knew any sample would come up as negative drugs wise. Pure conjecture.

4. Something vague to do with Ramadan
He’s Muslim, Fawaz is Muslim. Must be something Muslim right? And Ramadan just started!!! That’s where this guys understanding of anything ends. (This guy is always off the scale stupid on Twitter, but I’ll protect him on this one)

5. Forest Backed Out
Like the George Boyd, we got itchy feet and pulled out at last minute citing something vague like this as excuse.

6. Djebbour got a better offer so refused to finish medical knowing it would collapse deal
Probably a winner. The word is thanks to all the Twitter blather other clubs got wind so contacted his agent with an offer gazumping us and sending Raffik on his way.

7. Broadmarsh Centre put him off
Purely in jest but the Broadmarsh is a shit-hole and it could scare someone off. Well its clearly not true, but slightly funny.

8. The Eyes, The Eyes
People can't resists a 20/20jibe can they, basically the old Boyd excuse rehashed.

9. He was never going to sign and used as leverage
In an attempt to lure other clubs out of the woodwork he stalled and took time on the medical, in almost the way Blackadder tried to stall the firing squad

10. There never was a deal
In the weirdest suggestion of the day it was suggested there was never a deal, he was never there and this is all rubbish. This also isn’t Dallas, and this wasn’t all a dream.

Twitter and the Rise of the ITK

Some of you, I am aware, may not be on Twitter or forums, and may not therefore know what an ITK is. Basically it’s someone claiming to be In the Know. If someone needs to claim to ITK, chances are they aren’t. Much like most things in life, those that protest too much are often doing so for a reason.

There is a proliferation of accounts pertaining to be a journalist, or a Consultant to a Sports Management company, or even agents, such wonderfully vague descriptions. The journalists claim to work for a website which will be no more than a trumped up blog site. I could easily therefore claim myself to be a journalist, but that would be silly, I am far from it. But an out of work 21 year old with nothing better to do, well yeah he might claim it, to give himself a little self worth. A Consultant for a Sports Management company is such a wonderfully vague and hard to corroborate title that they might be. They might have been consulted once, many months ago, about something else, so it adds credence to the title. And as for football agent, well yeah, there’s a reason they never say who they are, as that info can be checked on UEFA’s approved list.

So already there we have this rise of accounts claiming to be spilling amazing cutting edge knowledge no-one else does. That’s because they chuck that much crap at a wall, some of it is bound to stick. If I speculate enough that a “striker” is signing and that mention he scored x goals in a European division, it sounds wonderfully cryptic and that I am giving you enough info to guess. Instead it’s enough rope to hang yourself, as it’s just so none specific as to be ridiculous. When something does happen they point to the fact “Well I got that right.”

If you look at any vague none specific prediction you might look right. Astrologers have made careers out of it, Nostradamus is famous for it, but if you actually looked closely at strike rates it’ll be low, until you start moulding that information to suit the means end.

So the news yesterday that we were after 3 players sent these accounts into an orgy of speculation. This then fuels the more hot headed on Twitter and forums into wildly speculating if so and so are the signing. This is the reason these guys do it. Attention. It’s a sad world we live in where by these people are so craving attention and followers that they have to lie. Last year it would be fake accounts, or parody’s. Apart from very clever ones these got tired quickly and are seldom seen (not that it’s currently stopping some) S now it’s all about appearing to have knowledge,
But we have reached a point I believe now where we have become drained and bored of these that even their time is passing. The first few were believed, the next few were taken with a pinch of salt, and the current crop are scorned and disliked. Seen for the ridiculousness of their very enterprise.
That’s the nature of the transfer window though. It breeds such a quick fire burst of activity that it launches everyone into wild speculation. The immediacy of news these days and the rise of 24 hour Sky Sports News means we are so desperate to have our appetites for this sort of thing to be filled. Coupled with at Forest the presence of Fawaz and family and advisers on Twitter it fosters a whole host of new speculation. It’s a frenzy we never saw under Doughty.

But it’s almost unhealthy. Those who are gullible are then laughed at and it creates hostility. Then there are fans that get angry we haven’t signed someone we were rumoured to be in for. But it was only a rumour. People can’t seem to see the distinction between a rumour and the truth. “Why haven’t we signed x player yet” some may ask... Well the truth might be we were never in for them, or that they couldn’t agree a deal.

I like Twitter as a medium for finding the news and interacting, but by gods it can be a frustrating place in transfer windows. I will never understand fans tweeting at a player asking if he’s going to sign (as if that would ever happen) or demanding the chairman sign his suggestion. People then get angry we might sign someone from a Champions League qualified team, and not Billy Sharp. It’s not your bloody choice pal. It’s down to Fawaz and Billy. Leave them be to get on with business. You’re not helping.

One Year in What Have the al-Hasawi’s Achieved?

I’m almost certain I won’t be the only one writing a piece like this today, especially with the recent explosion in the number of blog sites about Forest (when I started 3 years ago there were about 3 others, now there’s many many more). And it’s that proliferation of sites that I think indicates one thing above all with the Kuwaiti’s owning Forest. There’s plenty to talk about.

A year ago we were financially in ruin, and we’d lost a number of top players (for the purpose of this article only I will recognise Luke Chambers as a top player.) We were rudderless ship, listing helplessly. Then came in the al-Hasawi’s.

Now turbulent doesn’t quite cut the first year of their charge, and I say their, because for a while it was more a team effort with Cousin Omar running the show at first. That’s just one of the stories.
Managers have come and gone, Cotterill instantly dismissed, O’Driscoll brought in, looked ok, but dismissed. McLeish came and went in a blink and then Billy Davies came riding back into town to almost save the day.

I think the playoff push is indicative of the year as much as anything, so close, yet just lacking a little something else. We really should never been in the hunt considering where McLeish left us, but in the hunt we were, and in the end we meekly surrendered our spot to Leicester. And that’s what the whole year felt like, bravado, spirit, but just lacking a certain something.

I’m not sure which will be the longest in the memory, my anger at O’Driscoll being sacked, or the disbelief at the whole sorry George Boyd scenario. Ah yes, the anger and vitriol from people at not signing a player lots of people didn’t want. Yes the manner we did it was shoddy, but at the end of the day, what happened isn’t important. It’s only real result was McLeish agreeing to go, but to me that was on the cards anyway.

The biggest event of the season for me was the cull of many behind the scenes staff from Mark Arthur down. Fawaz had clearly decided enough was enough and dispensed of a lot of people he saw as being negative influences. There is also the rumoured suggestion of embezzlement, and certain staff being in cahoots with this.

Enough of a soap opera yet? Well how about the ongoing question of wealth (for me this doesn’t matter how much money he has as long as there is some funding) and the fact bills haven’t been paid. Journalists getting upset with Fawaz because he doesn’t play ball like the old guard did. These journalists have certainly been quiet since all the kerfuffle in January and February. Rob Dorsett all but suggested Fawaz was destroying Forest.

But has he? Far from it, the academy has been strengthened, and with links with an academy in Kuwait, which may or may not produce a star of the future, it shows intent. Fawaz has shown he listens to fans in the whole Bridgford End away fans saga which resulted in no change whatsoever. There has been increased transparency at board level, and the commercial side of the club seems to actually have been woken up and kicked into action.

I almost forgot we now have big screens, and a promise to spruce the ground up a bit, which is more than needed. Just seems before that money was only put where absolutely necessary and the supporter experience wasn’t included in that.

And then there’s signings. Ok a lot of people point out often on short deals and on loan, but they still have got bought in. New contracts handed to Majewski, Blackstock and Cohen meant key players were tied down, rather than like in the past letting them go for nothing (even if McGugan followed that tradition later)

All in all it’s been turbulent, but you know I don’t think I’d regret anything if I was Fawaz. When they took over were looked primed for a struggle. Many pundits tipped us to be in the bottom half, so to have missed narrowly out on the playoffs from where we were a year ago is wonderful. For this reason alone I thank Fawaz, another season of struggle would have been horrific. And the rollercoaster ride merely means I have a lot more to write about for the blog, and it keeps u in the papers. Gone are the rumours we’d have a squad of Middle Eastern players. That was a false rumour. The Venky comparisons have all but disappeared again now, people just seemed desperate for us to fail.

We had a short time to build a squad and we do have the old guard of staff to thank for some of those. But these players aren’t ones to lead us up. And now the challenge is to flesh this squad out to a promotion capable one. That’s Year Two’s challenge for Fawaz. I think he’s up for it.

The Window is Open and It's the Same Old Madness

Every year now since the transfer window we seem to getting whipped up into a frenzy of excitement of having to assemble as good a squad together in 2 months as is humanly possible before August 31st. Forgetting of course that usually it only gets exciting in the last few days.


Now people suggest we should try and sort it sooner, to assemble a crack squad early and let them gel in training, but that’s living in some kind of utopian dream world and forgets how much of this works.

Clubs (and for that matter free agents) will be holding out for as good a deal as they can early on. As the drastic realisation that the window is about to shut looms, then those terms for a deal will be reduced. It’s like buying anything. When you rush out straight away, you pay a premium, if you bide your time, bargains can be had, and yeah your first choice may have gone already, but what’s out there is still good enough.

MyOnlyForest blog just did a wonderful piece where they round up how some fans (usually the highly excitable or just young and stupid) demand millions be spent straight away. Fans dementedly tweeting Fawaz he should sign this and that player (ignoring that surely you’d want Billy to be choosing signings rather than Fawaz cherry picking randomly tweeted suggestions) and then getting upset that their killer tip (taken from Football Manager) hasn’t been signed.

The madness that develops when another club signs a player we saw as a target and the anger that we must not be offering enough which means a) we haven money!! Or b) that player is greedy!! Rather than the simplicity we put one value on him, and another club just valued him more or were simply more desperate. This madness is only rivalled by when an ex player who is any good becomes available, and we all go nuts that they weren’t snapped up.

My favourite facet of a transfer rumour is when a player is linked, someone finds said players Twitter account and tweets him asking if it’s true he is signing for the club. Yes of course he will give everything away to some random 15 year old kid that he is indeed spurning signing for one club for Forest instead. The very fact is continues to happens baffles me.

When we do sign someone, people then moan they don’t think he’s good enough. This happens all too often. Never mind the fact that there is a whole history of players not succeeding or doing well at one club moving to another and flourishing. Plus also again as MyOnlyForest pointed out people seem to think only players from the Premier League are worth signing, and a young upcoming kid from down the league isn’t worth even looking at. (Which ignores some of our best recent deals, Chris Cohen, Garath McLeary, Luke Chambers, etc)

So the madness truly begins today. There’s been some names bandied about which just seem ridiculous. If we did sign them, it’s a statement of intent, but at the end of the day splurging a lot of money on players isn’t a guarantee of success. Just ask Leicester. And it took Cardiff years of trying this to finally succeed.

No, building steadily, being patient and targeting the right players for the team is the solution. Not randomly chasing every half decent player who becomes available. That approach achieves nothing other than an overpriced unbalanced squad. Which is what McClaren tried. See how that worked for us?

Embargo?

Well today I have been quite surprised to read of the latest gossip surrounding the City Ground. We can't go a few days without bad news, or some kind of gossip doing the rounds.

The latest rumour is that of a transfer embargo being placed on the club. This is where any kind of clarity ends. Quite what the details of any such embargo if there is one are completely unknown right now.

The rumour has come about due to John Percy ad his never ending campaign of hatred against Fawaz tweeting that there would be bad news ahead for Forest of what he had heard was correct.

But another source on Twitter has been suggesting it may be in an in house embargo placed by Fawaz whilst some investigations are carried out. It seems that some in the "previous management structure" was fiddling the books and was on the take, taking some kind of commission on transfers and that Fawaz has imposed a strict ban on Transfers for the time being whilst this is looked at. This what bought about all the sackings before. 

This again is all conjecture and comes from one person. If it was a higher level FA style embargo then you’d think that something would have been in the news about it by now as these are usually fairly well published. And it’s not as if it you can sign players under these arrangements but with expressed permission. Like Watford and Portsmouth before.

Furthermore as has been pointed out, the news from last week about the new improved status for the Academy of now being second tier status, this would not be achieved if the club were in financial peril as their finances of the club are also considered in this process.

All in all it’s led to a lot of guesswork by people, and it may be like many of the rumours before that go round that have zero grounding whatsoever. Maybe Natalie Jackson just fancies some Gulf sun and is hoping to go interview Fawaz and his cars again in Kuwait. Or may be its all bitter ex employees leaking information to rock the boat. And many journo's lap up that information because they don’t get a lot from Fawaz. It just seems people still want this regime to fail, and are delighted when any news comes out about the club that’s bad news, I mean look at the Bridgford End saga.

No it is all still unclear what’s happening, but it leads a lot speculation and chatter on Twitter. People like a good gossip. 

The Art of Good Rumour Mongering

The announcement by Forest we had agreed a deal for a player who would sign in the next 14 days has set minds flying with who it could be. What it starts is a wave of people “in the know”, who claim that they have sources or suchlike and know all the precise dealings of the club. And now with the transfer window cranking into life it’s started all of this cycle off in earnest. There are many rumours that have been out there in the last few days and in previous transfer windows so are frankly so ridiculous as to be pointless.

Let me give you an example. 7-8 years ago in a previous incarnation of this site, me and a co writer decided we needed an attention grabbing article. This is before the days where I regarded quality as way above quantity. We scoured the few forum and rumour sites that existed back then, and went with a plausible rumour. Marcus Bent, we needed a striker, he was out of favour, and it looked possible. So we suggested it was. It went crazy. We got more than hits than ever for anything, the rumour started doing the rounds of more reputable sites and the club even issued a disclaimer stating that it was false. This is before Twitter, before Facebook, we relied on NewsNow, but it clearly got onto forums. The thing is there was never any truth to it. So that’s how easy it is to something out there as “news.” Now we have social media to fan these flames.

At Christmas time or so we were oddly linked with Joe Cole on a loan deal before he re joined West Ham. People genuinely believed this could happen, and it starts because a wave of people of people on Twitter or Facebook blindly believe whatever they are told from any old source without questioning it.

Then there are the people who try to qualify their rumours by claiming to have a friend or relative who works at the club and “knows.” I am unsure why they think shop staff or ticket shop staff knows the entire transfer dealings of the club. For a start a lot of business these days is done out of Wilford Lane rather than the club itself.

I do enjoy the folk who say I’ve just been in West Bridgford Tesco and saw X player in there; he must be signing for the club. This one’s always bizarre. Or their estate agent friend has a new client who turns out to be so and so player. The type of rumour that can’t be qualified by anyone at all.

These are lazy attempts. They usually try and qualify it by putting “#fact” after it or suchlike like them putting that at the end almost makes it unquestionable. It’s an adult equivalent of writing I.D.S.T. (if you don’t know what it means I pity your childhood) on a pencil case at school about some spurious rumour or teenage love affair.

And why people decide that they have to know now bothers me. This never happened in the pre- Social media era, we’d have to sit and wait, and be glad when Ceefax or Teletext told you in the news we’d signed someone. Or phoning up the Teamtalk or Clubcall Premium rate numbers for inane gossip.

Because it’s easier to put a rumour out there and to a vast source of people it gets people starved of attention to start getting that attention. People just chuck any old name out there and someone will believe it. This gets worse from July, as the season approaches people are excited, but then also the kids are off school, and have nothing better it seems than to spend all day on twitter blathering on about how we should have been in for player Y who went to a Premiership club, or that they really rate player Z as he is good on FIFA, not seeing the blurs between reality and fiction, and not also guessing that this player really actually doesn’t fit with the managers plans, never mind would want to come to the club in the first place.

A breed of rumour monger just seems to be getting lazier, and just links us with any player being released in the Premier League, or hell even a player transfer listed, never mind if its top bracket club, so therefore would move down the Premiership if not abroad, and would also want a very level of wage. It is just sloppiness in the extreme. (This week I saw Denilson of Arsenal mentioned)

The current name doing the rounds is Raheem Sterling. This kid was starting games for one of the top Premiership clubs last season. He would be ripe for a long loan to a lower Premiership club, a Fulham, Norwich, Southampton. Not Forest. There is just a complete leap between faith and reality where common sense is missed out. Does it seem too good to be true? Well therefore it probably is.

I tend to stick to linking to a collection of linked names and comment on what I feel the validity of these stories are. I think if we did a roundup of those transfer round ups less than 10% of those names actually ever sign because the vast majority are fairly out the blue.

Also people suggesting we should sign this or that player should remember contrary to what they think they don’t in fact know more than Billy, or the scouting staff. They will know that player already, but will either know he’s not right for the club, not available, not suited or suchlike. So you thinking you’ve unearthed a diamond and can’t understand the clubs lack of action is ridiculous.

The #ITK accounts are tiresome though. As if a football agent will sit there tweeting football deals going down. He’ll be actually doing deals, or trying to scupper deals. Anyone who has read the Secret Footballer will have a better idea of the vagaries of this art. An agent being overt in suggesting deals are going ahead isn’t going to be very successful, so ergo is unreliable as a source of gossip.

Anyone who claims to have an inside source is lying, as the club would have long identified likely sources of rumours. Remember these could well scupper a deal, letting others know a deal is being done or that the player in question might be open to claiming to the club.

So in essence, whatever you see out there as fact, unless from a recognised national paper reporting on us, it’s all lies. Even then with the likes of John Percy it’s probably still lies. As many now say on Twitter. Don’t believe it till Fawaz tweets it.

Righteous Indignation in The Bridgford Stand

I’ll make it clear from the start, I sit in the Trent End, so all the cling and clatter about the Bridgford End I find both interesting yet also quite bizarre.


The club revealed at the back end of the last season that after consultation and what with Billy’s wishes that they wanted to move home fans into the Lower Bridgford and move the away fans. A lot of people cheered when Billy said as much in his speech.

We have been assured that this was down to supporter pressure that this is what fans want, and most people seem to agree it’s a good idea.

However like most ideas it’s only good if it doesn’t adversely affect me. It’s nimbyism in the football ground. “I’d love to move the away fans, but can’t you put them somewhere else” seems to the sentiment.

I understand that people attachments to where they sit, I have sat in the same seat now for 8 seasons, after previously sitting in the same seat for 5 seasons, so I get the attachment. What puzzles me is that people seem to think they have entitlement and ownership of that place.

I was going to read my season ticket from last season to back this up, but I’m pretty sure any small print will discuss that the club has the right to move peoples seats around should the need arise. I can’t be sure, but I bet something along those lines is on it or in the small print when you buy it. After all it’s the club who own your seat, your just paying for a reserved spot every week to sit there. Just so happens to be the same reserved spot for ease or organisation.

People just don’t like change. Whether it be necessary or not. I’m sure there are those who rallied against the building of all seater stands, but sometimes needs overrides desire.

I do however think that this will make no difference. People discuss it maybe bringing us extra points, but I don’t see it. It does however seem that we will reduce away allocations as a result, which could mean loss of match day revenues for big games. Some fans have supported reducing their numbers, which is all well and good, but some of these always moan about the allocations given to us by other clubs. The fact is we rarely sold out the ground last season so reducing the numbers that might come to games is naive.

It seems that after all the PR disasters last season the regime wanted to bring more fans on side, prove they are listening, whilst at the same time not consulting with those directly affected. This would have been so much easier had they not sold tickets in that tier already and people who thought they knew they were sitting there might now not. Then they wouldn’t have a leg to stand on in any argument, and would just quietly chunter away.

There are usual suspects on Twitter who would moan about this regardless. I think we all know the people who just seem to moan for moanings sake. They are the ones constantly retweeting petitions and claiming the club have no right (they do) to do what they are doing. Righteous Indignation.

All this said, this might not even go ahead. There is a consultancy phase to go through and it might be rejected as just not doable. It has been pointed out having away fans above the home fans might not be a god idea as they could easily shower us with various missiles and liquids all game. Those mentioning this clearly have guilty consciences and this is precisely what some did to the away fans.

Additionally this is really the only place it can happen as the Brian Clough stand has no chance of being used. It has limited entrance and exits. It doesn’t have the chance to partition sections. It’s just not versatile.

Of course away fans always used to be in that corner on the terrace. My first game memories were standing on the Bridgford in 1988-1992 era often near to the away fans. SO for people to feign surprise are either young or forgetful that this where we thought to put them. History is on the clubs side.

The price factor has also been mentioned, which I guess is a far more valid point than any. But if people are concerned at price then come on over to the Trent End Upper dark side my friends. We might even get that stand jumping again.

It seems with Forest at times, as with any decisions, whether it be sacking managers, setting ticket prices, signing players, that you’re damned if you and damned if you don’t. The fans won’t be happy with either decision, but you know what? It’s not ours to make
.