Transfer Deadline Confusion

I was going to try and update the Live blog on the deadline day yesterday at 11pm with a round up. That proved impossible. I think we all know why.

And the current word is that Adlene Guedioura remains a Forest player. This morning word was confirmation was being sought.

So where are we?

Well let’s confirm that Stephen McLaughlin has gone on loan to Bristol City. That much we do know. Guy Moussi and his move to Sheffield Wednesday didn’t happen. Any of the mooted departures for the “deadwood” of Greening, Gillett, Derbyshire and Miller didn’t materialise.

Then there was Adlene. Guedioura as any Forest fan not living under a rock for the last 24 hours knows had been to Crystal palace to talk through a move. It is said that terms were struck, and that all that which entails a transfer went through, save for the actual confirmation in time. Leaving Guedioura as a Forest player.

Now for the minute details. Guedioura “requested” a transfer. That much is true, but that doesn’t mean he tried to force though the deal in a desperate attempt to leave Forest. That merely means he would waive his bonuses and pay offs and any other smaller parts of his contractual arrangement should he be sold by Forest. It basically could have sped things up.

Does this mean Guedi wants out? Well, I’m certain the prospect of Premiership football and one assumes a pay increase appealed to Guedioura. He is 28. He is not getting younger. There is no guarantee we would go up. So he may see this as a last chance to “make it” at the top flight. And even more so in a World Cup year. Not that Algeria are there for sure, not that his place is under threat, he starts for Algeria, but it all adds up in a footballers mind. If he’s succeeding at the top level then his place would be assured. Should Algeria come through the remainder of their qualifying programme he will have a chance to shine in Brazil in a year’s time? Paying in the Premier League would not hinder his chances.

Guedioura as much as he loves Forest, and I think he genuinely does love our fans, wants to play at the top level as said, I am certain that pretty much any of our other players in the same situation would go through the same thought process. A year of Championship football with a good chance of Premiership football, or a move now with guaranteed Premiership football and higher wages. Furthermore the arguments that Palace are definitely down and in a year’s time the roles reverse argument isn’t as great as the kids (and its mainly kids) making it think. If you went there, and excelled and starred, and then Palace are relegated, but you proved yourself, then you’d score a move. Like Charlie Adam with Blackpool, Andros Townsend proved to Spurs he has what it takes despite being in a relegated side, and Taarabt scored a Premiership move too. Just because the sides relegated doesn’t mean they may stay. It’s a chance to prove yourself.

Additionally some people were criticsing Fawaz and Billy for selling a fans favourite, but I heard fee's in excess of £2.5mill suggested. If a club offers above what you believe a players value is, I'm sorry but you snap their hands off.

So for these reasons I won’t lambast Guedi. I won’t criticise. Yes he may have sought to move, but if he agitated for it (and the suggestion is he didn’t) then I’d think Ok, move him on. But an offer was made, it was put to him does he want to negotiate and he did. It just didn’t work out in time. I won’t boo him. I’ll still cheer his role with the team, and neither would I see him rot in the reserves. The territorialism of this makes me laugh, that the fact he entertained a notion of leaving Forest people think he is a Judas. Yet how many of these people have thought of moving up the career ladders. It bothers me with Football fans this idea that you can’t play for anyone else.
But, if, and it’s still if for me, Guedioura is a Forest player. Then support him. Don’t get on his back as then you give him a reason to leave, and ruins what’s been a beautiful relationship. I support anyone wearing the shirt, hell I’d even get behind Commons back in a Forest shirt. It’s the team that matters. Not the individual.

Transfer Deadline Day : LIVE (ish) (UPDATED 20.30)

Ok so not live blogging or update upon update, but when I can and where I can I will try to follow the latest news going on with the deadline day madness, seeing as we’re still meant to be in for people.

Will Sako, Holt, Leadbitter, Vaz Te, or Morgan sign. Who will depart. We will follow the news today

9am: So here we go first update... David Nugent is being linked, as is Liam Bridcutt at Brighton. Some wag is suggesting Benteke might be coming, forgetting he has a new contract and frankly would be as likely as signing Messi or Ronaldo. There is nothing concrete in either direction yet. No departures really being rumoured, though Blackstocks name is being bandied around


10.30 Update
Well, the usual names are being chucked around, Nugent and Sako are getting the most tweets and the most likely sounding also. Few others being thrown in for good measure include Aaron Wilbraham, Luciano Becchio, and Josh McEachran. I can’t see any of those 3 being likely.

Still nothing concrete, still just guesswork.

As for outs, nothing there either. For all of how breathless I thought this might be, it’s all rather... well. Quiet. It’s not going to be one of those deadline days again is it?


12 Noon.
And it looks like Guy Moussi could be out the door. Rumoured to be £500k for the Frenchman, which would be a profit and not a bad bit of business. Sheffield Wednesday looks like his destination. Say what you like, on his day the man is a machine and will be missed, if not only for the behind the scenes stories. There isn;t anything official yet though.

Adlene Guedioura is now being linked with Crystal Palace according to Sky. Not a huge surprise because Davies has been rumoured to be unsure on the Algerian. However at the same time he was influential in bringing in Abdoun, and was being used to market the club in Kuwait. It may be he is used to finance a deal for the the type of ball carrying defensive midfielder Davies clearly wants. However the rumour is Palace are in talks about the possibility. It might have been a very short conversation.

Again nothing official.

On the subject of in’s no further updates or news has sprung up. Unless you count what certainly looks unlikely in a loan bid for Obi Mikel from Chelsea.


1330 Update
No updates on Moussi to Wednesday and Guedioura to Palace. They both remain seemingly on. Although apparently Bannan going to Palace might see their Guedioura interest ended, there is also apparent chatter Palace aren’t alone in terms of Premiership clubs eyeing Adlene.

On any players at the start of the day being mentioned as departures, well no news on Miller, Derbyshire, Blackstock, or Gillett being off.

It’s all rather quiet, save for spurts of conjecture with no real basis.

This is all going to be rather anti climatic isn’t it?

Oh and if I see one more bloody eye joke I might scream.


1600 Update
In an attempt to at least have something salient, I tried leaving it an extra hour. Remember what I said about periods of quiet punctuated with a flurry of mental activity, well....

Liam Bridcutt has started to be wildly linked after a passing mention on Twitter this morning, this has either started to spread like wildfire with little basis, or there is some substance to this. Paul Taylor felt the need to mention on it, that in the absence of a Leadbitter deal it may be plan B. A plan B which would likely be expensive, and I really can’t see one of last seasons top teams selling a vital player. That said, you never know. Brighton have supposedly said he isn't for sale.

Adlene is still being linked with Palace, though after a few hours now the furore has settled. It also doesn’t seem to have moved on anywhere. So it’s still a little unclear. I’d argue the longer these go on without something more concrete that they might have been sheer speculation, but a lot of these rumours slow burn all day and if he was en route to Croydon, well that’s not an quick and easy journey to make.

Stephen McLaughlin is going out on loan to Bristol city, where he joins up with ex Forest boss Sean O’Driscoll. The exposure to regular first team football will surely show whether he will be able to make the step up, and have a huge impact on his future so he has a lot to prove. A lot of hopefully motivating factors for the Irishman.

And now Matty Fryatt is being strongly linked by Sky. Forest apparently with a loan move for the striker. The average reaction on twitter is one of indifference bordering on disappointment. This is before a player is even signed and pulls on a shirt. These same people also usually say trust in Fawaz or Trust in Billy, yet now are complete armchair managers. Anyway, he looks like being the latest solution to the striker issue.


20.30 Update
All very quiet. Doesn't look like anything happening. Not even confirmation of the supposed Moussi and McLaughlin deals. Same old Deadline Day Forest.Thing is we really don't need much anyway. What we have is good enough to be up there.

Potential Forest Departures

With Billy now getting a transfer window to tackle his squad, there might be just as many heading out of doors as coming in them. Partially to free up wages, clear out some dead wood and just to get rid of players Billy simply doesn’t fancy.

Potential outs

Dan Harding
Ok so our recognised left back, but the fact simply looks like he’s not good enough, and Billy doesn’t rate him. Whether that means sticking with ever reliable Chris Cohen, or shifting him back to midfield and getting a specialized left back in isn’t fully clear. However you would think anyone with any sense would bring in a proper left back and get Cohen back to where he is effective. Harding didn’t have the greatest of seasons, and should there be much interest I could see him being moved on.

Gillett

Simon Gillett
Genuinely thought he might be a Billy type player, very much in that McKenna mould, but again, Billy tends to want his own men in roles he see’s vital, and he doesn’t much seem to like Gillett. He flattered to deceive in the second half of the season, and O’Driscoll may come a knocking again for his erstwhile side kick. Don’t imagine we’d demand much of a fee either.

Matt Derbyshire
Please god someone take this waste of resources off us. He didn’t do much on either loan, and just seems to be content taking vast wedges of cash for his wife to splurge in the cinema. Really hope he gets shipped on. The only nagging doubt I have is that Billy likes a poacher, he might see Derbyshire as one of those, but I think also board pressure would want to see players like Derbyshire out the club.

Collins

Danny Collins
Might be slightly controversial this one, but Billy didn’t initially seem to like the Welshman. Additionally, the captaincy was removed from him. In that regard he might well get told he’s not seen as first choice and his age he may decide he’s prefer to look elsewhere for action. A lot of fans don’t rate Collins, I don’t mind him, but he is cumbersome at times. I don’t imagine his wages are cheap either.





Stephen McLaughlin
It’s funny we all this focus on a winger when we have rough and ready one in reserve, admittedly on Reidy’s side, but we don’t much about the Irishman. Now I base this all purely on the McCleary evidence but Billy never gave him his chance, he only blossomed under Cotterill. Is there something about these unpolished diamonds Billy doesn’t like? He does tend to focus on players who are the finished article, not having the patience to see someone develop fully. Might see him go or at least loaned out for 6 months.

Miller

Ishmael Miller
Hardly set the world alight with Boro but could quite easily be on his way. Expensive and not getting the returns on the investment it might be best to cut losses, or just simply take what we can and accept the loss. Some have said Billy could get him playing, but I think the ship sailed a long time ago on Miller. Just get him off the wage bill. Him and Derbyshire alone are taking up the pay we could get 4/5 very good players for. Hungry players. m There has been a number on Twitter saying we should give him a chance. These people clearly only saw him for West Brom







Dexter Blackstock
Yeah he has only just signed a deal, but there have been numerous occasions there has been chatter he could be off. If we did sign Carlton Cole I’d expect to see Dexter go, and lets be honest his form last season was pretty bad. It’s also one player we could get a fee to reinvest from.

Guy Moussi
Moussi is not first XI by any stretch and is so inconsistent. After his contract negotiations the other season i don’t suppose he is cheap either. He’s the type of player we might look to recoup some money on, and Billy doesn’t seem to like him as much as he did before.

Jonathan Greening
Like Derbyshire and Miller on a lot of money for no real returns. Offloading him, for free probably, considering age and poor performance, and we could ease off that £12 k from the wage bill he is swallowing up. Nobody will miss him, he seems to only serve the purpose of keeping the dressing room entertained these days.



All of this would maybe free up some cash on the wages front, that we now have to consider FFP wise. Consider that supposedly Derbyshire, Miller and Greening between them are on over £40k a week, which s a little over £2mill a year of our turnover we have to pay out to crap. We can’t let that continue. Players sitting on fat long term contracts has to end.

Transfer Rumour Madness Roundup

Well with a new manager, and with the apparent abundant signings about to pour in, and because the transfer window is about to reopen, it’s time to evaluate my usual crazy sources on the net of rumoured transfers, from the sensible and believable, to the outright ridiculous. Here we go.

Given

Shay Given

As much to do with the act he is out of favour at Villa, and McLeish last job was Villa comes the clever association that we are signing Shay Given. Rumours differ on whether its loan or permanent, but I’d be guessing Villa want people off their books so it’d be permanent. Now Given isn’t the force he was, and may well be looking for a last challenge in his career. Whether he sees that as competing with Lee Camp is unclear. Camp hasn’t been bad lately, but fans still seem to not forgive him seeking a move 18 months ago. This though is believable. Managers like to have a keeper they know and trust.

N'Zogbia

Charles N’Zogbia

Again a Villa connection, people seem to have decided that because he hasn’t been in the team he must be out of favour and we are going to look to sign. This completely overlooks his recent injury problems where he has missed around 2 months with a knee injury. Also N’Zogbia is fairly well regarded by many a manager, has high opinion of himself, he really isn’t going to drop to the Championship. Not happening

McKay

Billy McKay
Inverness striker who has been bang in form this season.  Whether this is needed with our relatively decent striker options it’s unsure but it would potentially be a good signing for a not so high fee.  Hal the Championship has been linked with the Northern Ireland striker, so why not Forest too. And why not link us because we have money. Believable, but  needed?

McLaughlin

 Stephen McLaughlin

Speaking of Northern Irish players, it’s still unclear what status this transfer got to before the managerial change. McLeish did say that he will discuss targets with the existing back room staff that have a list of players. McLaughlin may feature. He may not.

Burke

Chris Burke
The right winger has been linked before and there are quite a number of people citing this rumour. It may well be true and it would be a handy signing, as I’ve always thought he’s a handy winger. A number of people seem to be confusing who signed him for Birmingham, he signed for them in June 2011. This was exactly the time McLeish was leaving the club via email. He may have been the one who set the ball rolling on it though.

McFadden

 James McFadden

Was always going to be linked due to past McLeish connections. He also has a short term contract with Sunderland that’s going to expire shortly so that would also tie in with him coming to the club. He may be a little similar to Reid though for this to work. Would be a good signing though.

Scott Sinclair
Not going to happen. People saying because he is not in first team that he is looking at a loan. Yes maybe he is, but it would be a 6 month loan to another Premiership team.

Some mentions to for players who simply not going to happen but I saw people on Twitter mention Ryan Bertrand, Wilfred Zaha, Joleon Lescott, Joe Cole

An Odd Weekend of News

So I was busy for most of Sunday or all of yester not giving me a chance to contribute to the debate and gossip about the chairmanship. And now that all seems to have settled down I don’t really have much new to add to the equation.

The al-Hasawi's

But with Fawaz becoming the main man after the recent financial scandals, it does make you wonder what the actual reasons behind the moves were. There is mixed debate on this subject. Fawaz was embarrassed by the mishandling of accounts and bills being paid and wants to take direct control.

Or the other that this move was always planned for the New Year, with Omar having more expertise in the British world of business, and therefore business law etc, it would be better for a bedding in period before Fawaz took full control of what is essentially his baby.

I have no qualms with either reasoning. It isn’t to have the club splashed across the papers for being stranded without a working club credit card. Or for that matter the rumours of unpaid wages and agent fee’s, which on the surface looks appalling, but is actually quite common practice in most business for a lot of bills to have gone unpaid for a while (well everyone I’ve ever worked for anyway) But it makes good copy, especially for owners we still know relatively little about. We still aren’t sure just how wealthy they are after all.

Anyway, in the midst of all this, Fawaz announced when 24-7 had already speculated about the new big screens coming to the ground. It was a badly kept secret that these would be in for Boxing Day, all but confirmed anyway when the seats were missing in the Bridgford End last week, and pictures of cabling reading to be connected up.

This and the unconfirmed gossip about the fact we are now aiming for promotion not next season or the year after but immediately this campaign. Not sure why the change of focus. It could be they see the division as wide open and this is a good chance as any. Or it could be the much worse fact that yes, they aren’t as wealthy as we thought and it’s do or die now. If we don’t get up, we’re doomed. Which the doom merchants on Twitter love as a theory. Which is true? I don’t know. Good old conjecture though, never stops the Forest Twitter timeline churning; I don’t know the answer, let's make something up and treat it as gospel.

Stephen McLaughlin - apparently about to sign

And after all this comes the news of a signing near enough tied up. Derry City winger Stephen McLaughlin has all but been agreed it seems. The 20 year old was James McClean at Sunderland’s replacement, and he was at times a revelation last year. If this guy can do anywhere near that we may be laughing (even if McCleans form has dropped considerably) we need natural width, and if he comes it may well spell the end of Coppinger. He could, and I stress could, be our new McCleary. And by that I also mean he might take a while to bed in and get up to speed.

On that note, Coppinger, after his comments (I wanted to put outburst but it really wasn’t) that he is not enjoying his stay as he has always played 40 games a season. Well newsflash James, you just made a step up, and in terms of that you have to expect to maybe not always play. If you want to lack ambition and play every week at a lesser club then go on. Go back to Donny.

Matt Derbyshire has also said he wants to leave, which isn’t a shock in the slightest. The proof in the pudding will be if he does, where he goes. As surely it would mean a hefty drop in wages. Those trips to the Cinema don’t pay for themselves. Neither does his wife’s endless shopping trips.

There is a bit of talk around David McGoldrick too, seeing as McGoaldrought has found his scoring boots again, and is firing them in for Coventry. Another 2 this weekend, and in perfect time foe the transfer window. Surely a player isn’t improving in time for the shop window? How very cynical. If he does go, we can probably sneak a fee now as before I assumed he’d leave on a free this January. Again taking a pay cut maybe an issue, but goal shy Championship clubs might now be sniffing around. Barnsley love our ex players, why not them?

Oh and actual news where it matters, on the pitch, we drew 0-0 with Brighton. Good result on the face of it. Although apparently he performance was lacking somewhat