The Craziest Soap Opera Of Them All...

There are some of those outlandish soap opera plot lines, the ones where the long lost brother who was dead reveals it was him all along he infiltrated whatever. Basically that sort of tat TV seems more believable than what has happened in NG2 over the previously weekend. All of which I will break down more in further blogs too. This is all too big for just one.

If we go back 7 days all this looked somewhat improbable and impossible. We'd just won for a start. Going into a winnable away game with Burnley and a home game. It almost looked like things were looking up.

7 days later and the whole world has changed in ways beyond ever most of our wildest imaginations. McClaren resigning, well OK,this was always possible I guess, rumoured at least twice before, it has been a doomed relationship. The photos which will feature in time will be his lonely position he took up in the stands at Vicarage Road. And that was in a win.

The Doughty situation I don't think any of us saw coming, probably even the angry mob of protesters. The irony is of course most were anti Arthur and probably not Doughty, one remains and the other doesn't. And not as intended. I am sure100% of the protest would have taken Arthur resigning and not Doughty, certainly not in reverse. The irony is now too I have seen the protesters think they can get Davies in and will let Arthur stay. Like you get a choice. This is the funny part, one success and they think they are a focus group.

Doughtsy announcement he is to resign at the end of the season shocked me. Initially worried this meant he had decided enoughs enough, you pump a vast amount of your fortune into a club only for people one evolutionary rung on the ladder above a neanderthal to essentially hound you out. I am being unfair somewhat,Doughty has been hounded out per se. I think he is ashamed by this whole affair and so bares all the blame himself and so will bow out to avoid further embarrassment.

There is no embarrassment per se, he has always acted with the best interests at heart. Any line of business sees mistakes and you learn from those. It takes a big man to admit he got it wrong, and therefore I applaud him for that.I think its somewhat misguided,and he will essentially have final say so being the owner. The worry is that the clamour to replace him,might see us bring in a worser animal. Someone who makes bad decisions. Someone who doesn't differ opinion, a Mike Ashley figure, a figure of ridicule. Who merely makes problems worse.

What now? Well the fact that at least 4 people have been bookies favourites speaks volumes. There is no clear favourite. Names are just being bandied about willy nilly. We do have to get this right though.

The move to have Billy reinstated is ridiculous though. Never go back is one the main things said in football. Secondly every single bridge was burnt in this relationship. Finally I am sure it would be more poisonous than before. He wanted to go, and the only reason he has offered to come back is merely to prove a point, and he knows that won't happen.

As I say though, there will be more to come, focusing on Doughty and his reign, McClaren and his doomed tenure. And where do we go from here. Stay tuned.

Protests and Social Networking

Yes, there is an irony here that to market the site I use Facebook and Twitter, and yet I am about to lambast those very same tools for their role in what is become somewhat of a farce.

See I say farce because of the planned protests. I do not deny your right to protest, hell we live in a free country, but I am yet to see one salient united point for this. A series of gripes, which are either protesting against all the board, some about saying its about Mark Arthur, some saying Doughty out, others saying about McClaren, and one scamp about the price of a halftime bovril.

Social Networking is playing a key role in rallying the troops. Just today I got an invite (from someone I don't know) on Facebook inviting me to a protest. It didn't say what about, it just vaguely specified a location and time. Nothing about its aims, its techniques, its methods or any of that kind of valuable information.

That speaks volumes about the lack of coordination.

Social Networking is key to this as you can easily invite a vast array of people to single events. Whether that's by an event on Facebook, or by hash tags on Twitter. The problem then becomes partly in who is organising what, or the fact that a complex game of Chinese whispers goes off till the point is lost amongst the thousands who have seen passed it on.

I don't know if that invite was from an organiser, or just some chancer on Facebook trying to take credit for organising things, because lets face it, on Facebook there is a lot of people hiding behind certain identities currying discord without actually stepping forward. Pretending to be a player or the manager, they know thousands of people have added that player, because they like that player so it can show on their timeline. Not to have some kid fire a million status updates and ridiculous questions at people to the point of annoyance ( i do concede not all them do this)

In fact that these enablers, I say enablers purely from some kind of social studies context, as they (perhaps unknowingly) influence people into a certain belief. Hell I saw Lee Camps Facebook profile, which is definitely not Lee Camp despite what the kid used to try and make out, start commenting on national politics. Is that what you "like" a player to see. Some 14 years old views on matters he clearly didn't understand. These accounts curry feelings by one person being able to present his views to many, often presenting his views as facts, and as I say hiding behind anonymity, instead of actually putting their views out there as their own

Anyone who has used Social Networking sites knows how misinformation or suchlike can spread like wildfire. People see a status or a group and angrily react too.You end up with lots of people believing something that might not be true because one person somewhere set something up.

Its like with the recent riots, being able to send mass messages quickly to people you might never meet, and that message then being forwarded and proliferating till you get a mass movement of people, who may or may not know what the initial aim was. Things get lost in translation. Maybe the first people to want a protest did have a salient end point. It's not what I am seeing or hearing though.

Yes, something is wrong, but the very fact that there is very little common consensus what is wrong suggests something. It isn't clear what. So to start acting like this and wanting wholesale change is some what kneejerk. Some want Doughty to sell up, well we covered this before, who exactly do they expect in? I always get the same response to this question. Someone will buy us, someone out there will. Well, no I don't believe there will be. Last season Mike Ashley was on every street corner in the world hawking Newcastle to people. This is a club with a lot better financial record than we have. More appeal, more fans, fervent support. More income. And no body bought them. Why do people insist on saying someone will us? Everton are a bigger club with more going for them, again no buyers. We lose a lot of money per annum, so why would someone buy into that? People say the clubs being run badly, but if someone came in and balanced the books, those same fans would be angry that prices were raised, players sold and cheaper alternatives bought in, because "running the club better" would see that occur. And what with Financial Fair Play coming in, it would also be impossible.

The simple truth is the football fan is never happy. Just look at the big clubs, who cry foul when they finish second. Second!!!?? We'd kill for that.,

I've also seen today people moaning about lack of communication from Doughty, and this was on Twitter. This is the same site of course Nigel Doughty came on to communicate with fans, and was hounded off by keyboard warriors,hiding behind their monitors or on their phone, feeling the big man. Maybe they think they are like an Internet Simon Bolivar or Che Guevera, bringing down the big men with their action, rather than pimply faced cowards. Same people who probably tweeted Robin Chipperfield their anger that they thought Radio Nottingham pandered to the club. You simply can't win with some people, who I seethe anonymity of the Internet as their chance to rant and rave in a way they would never do face to face

So by all means protest. At least know what your protesting about, rather than a vague notion of knowing your unhappy, but not sure why.

Rows, Sackings and the Green Scarf Brigade – The Aftermath of Forest vs Derby

I’m pretty sure we’re all aware that Saturday’s defeat has left the bitterest of aftertastes in every Forest fans mouth.

The fan reaction to this game is perhaps one of the worst I’ve experienced as a Forest fan.

A section of fans seem to be happy to scapegoat anyone for this season’s poor start.

In fact they’ll blame anyone who is prepared to listen. From McClaren and the board to, laughably, Radio Nottingham and even Doughty’s son.

Maybe Forest 24-7 is perhaps next on the ‘people to blame’ list.

I suppose we all expected a backlash after we whimpered to defeat against 10 man Derby. Many fans made their feelings known during the game. Saturday was the first time ‘Doughty/Arthur out!’ chants were aired. The usual ‘we want our Billy back!’ shortly followed.

A ‘Mark Arthur Out!’ banner reared its face in the B Block – why they always go for his head is laughable, considering he is nothing more than Doughty’s well paid puppet.

I left Saturday’s match in a state of shock. An abysmal performance combined with massively unhappy fans, confirmed we were on the road to being a club in turmoil…again.

If afternoons like that become a common theme this season, we may well be relegated. It’s as simple as that whether you are prepared to admit it or not.

The frustrations hit a nerve with some players.

Two of our biggest characters in Wes and Campy, had to be separated from each after the game following a row. Most seem happy with the passion they’re showing. I’m inclined to agree. Every changing room is bound to have a clash every now and again; I just hope it doesn’t become a weekly occurrence.

The fan frustration also got to McClaren. Anyone who saw his post-match interview, saw a man visibly upset and at the end of his tether with the current failings. His apology to the fans has at least received some acknowledgement.

I still question Steve though. How can the likes of Chambers and Camp lose their passion and drive in the space of a few short months? Can they really lose all desire to wear the shirt overnight? Why sub Greening for Findley? Greening was holding everything together and Derbyshire should have been sacrificed instead. I guess he has his reasons.

Steve was so upset and frustrated, Rob Kelly ended up conducting the post-match team talk. Steve just sat in changing room, staring at the floor in deafening silence.

As Saturday came to a close, Sunday did little to raise the faith.

While the players were called into a ‘crisis’ training session, news broke that Kenny Burns had been sacked from his hospitality role at the club.

The majority were left thinking this was linked to him criticising the board in his Evening Post column. The real reason was even closer to home than some realised.

I’m sure some of the people on our Facebook page, will remember the uproar Kenny caused when accusing someone of grooming young girls last week. Due to the chance of this being untrue, Forest was left with no choice but to relive him of his duties. Not a very smart move but a sad way for a club legend to go.

Either way, Doughty lost a few more friends over this decision.  

Sunday was also the day people turned on Radio Nottingham’s, Robin Chipperfield. Chippers was being barraged with such abuse, he ended up saying he’s giving twitter a break because of it!

I was embarrassed in all honesty. How can our fans now start blaming local media reporters for the way the club is ran, performances on pitch and his interview techniques? They must know themselves they’re talking garbage, unless Chippers and Fray are now registered players.

Such negativity has since led to the birth of the green scarf brigade – basically the same as Man United wearing Norwich City scarves.

“A green scarf until the club is sold”

Sadly the majority of our young support is easily led, and will gladly wear a green scarf with this season’s replica home shirt – a great way to prove you aren’t putting any money into the club.

They’ll also spread the word considering the majority run them god awful player pages on Facebook – more on that in another article. Put it this way, it’s just young idiots preaching to other young idiots.

Some of our more mature fans have perfectly valid reasons why they want a change; I fully respect that. 

The young supporters want them out as it’s the ‘in’ thing to do, and frankly I haven’t got the time of day for them.

For now, we have to fight on and bounce back with a win tomorrow.

A few wins will have some fans back on side and the ‘Doughty Out!’ stuff will die out as quickly as it started…until the next defeat anyways.

Keep the faith because this club has seen far, far worst days.

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