George Boateng to Walsall - off!

Forest 24-7 can confirm George Boateng will not be signing for Walsall.

News breaking in the past 30 minutes suggest the move has been discussed but will not be pursued any further.

Despite being a popular figure around the club, Boateng has made just 7 appearances for Forest this season, with only 2 of them being under Cotterill.

I would have liked this move to go through in all honesty.

While he is not a high earner, we are hardly in a position to be wasting money. Even if Walsall were to part fund his wages it would be a saving - same for any potential suitors for McGoldrick, Derbyshire and Majewski.

I guess we are stuck with him until the Summer.

It is worth just adding another potential League 1 loan as a footnote to this article. Reports are suggesting Robert Earnshaw could be about to go on loan to Sheffield Wednesday for the rest of the season.

I think we can all agree what a fantastic signing that is for them, particularly as I think he could come back here and do a job for us.

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Latest Transfer Rumours

Ok so as we near the reopening of the January transfer window, and as Cotterill has had an excellent opportunity to survey his squad, the transfer rumours are starting to creep out the wood work again.


And unsurprisingly, those start at the club Cotterill recently departed. And even more unsurprisingly they start with Liam Lawrence. Lawrence is of course a local; he was born in Retford, and as a youngster was on the Forest books. I have heard in the past, though I have nothing to corroborate this, is that he was always resentful to Forest for this, and as a consequence doesn't like the club. As I Say, I do not know if this is true. He however would not be cheap, and for that I raise severe question marks over this potential deal. It just feels like lazy journalism

Equally is the vague rumour connecting Erik Huseklepp, a Cotterill signing for Portsmouth in the summer. That alone suggests to me it is unlikely, as does the fact Pompey paid a princely £1.5mill for him, and Forest recently announced we do not have much cash.


Chris Martin, not the one in Coldplay, but the Norwich striker has also been linked, and with a host of other Championship clubs too. Maybe more likely, but we don’t exactly have a dearth of strikers at the club (what with Blackstock impending return) Palace look to be the front runners to sign him on loan. Martin has a checkered past, being barred from many bars in Suffolk after a fight in a pub in Beccles.

There are strong rumours suggesting that George Boateng will be let go in January. These have appeared on numerous sites, and may have credence with that Boateng really was a McClaren man in the Forest camp.

Finally, there are very non-committal rumours about there having to be departures in January to fund any arrivals. The names mentioned are unsurprisingly Lewis McGugan and Lee Camp. It remains to be seen how much truth there is in this.

Forest Look-a-likes 4

So we are bringing this back with the new players and new look-a-likes we now have. If you have a good lookalike you know of, then please post them on the forum. The link is as follows. http://www.soccer24-7.com/forum/showthread.php?t=185376

George Boateng and Djimon Hounsou (of Gladiator and Blood Diamond)



Chris Robinson (of the Black Crowes)and Jonathan Greening



David McGoldrick and Turk from Scrubs (Donald Faison)



James Perch and a Peperami



All nominations welcome but we are especially looking for Steve McClaren ones

Boateng Signs

Sky Sports,Sporting Life, and George Boateng himself on Twitter have revealed the Dutch midfielder has signed for the Reds on a one year deal.

Boateng is 35 and has been playing in Greece with Skoda Xanthi last year following Hulls relegation. However he had a high pedigree in his career with time at Coventry, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough. He moved for sizeable fees on more than one occasion.

It seems he will be signed as cover I'd assume. Many times last year we were left without cover for the deep lying midfielder, having to employ Cohen, or McGugan in the role. Now we have 3 people who play this role on the books, and at times this was the one position that cost us big time.

He may rival Greening for taking on the club captain role, although maybe not captain on the pitch, in that style that is so popular these days.

I have seen many say that he will be perfect to chuck on when holding on to a tight lead away from home. The kind of mature level head to come on and mop up the game, that we sadly missed.

Now all we need is another striker and a left back, and maybe more central defensive cover and we should be laughing.