January 2014 Transfer Window Roundup

It’s been a glorious transfer window for Forest, used to maybe one insipid free transfer or a loan; we have strengthened with 5 new players coming in.

This is more than what we had targeted and coupled with keeping the existing squad together it has to be deemed a success. The only departure saw Miller return to Yeovil but he was peripheral at best anyway.

So what do we know about the new recruits and what will they bring? Here’s a round up

Hobbs

Jack Hobbs
In what was on-going on off saga we finally at the death got our man in Jack Hobbs. The central defender had been an ever present before he got injured, and was then recalled by Hull in an obvious attempt to force our hand to dip into the pockets and sign him. Under pressure from Reading, Wigan and Leicester Hobbs always said he was our favoured choice of destination.
We know of course that Hobbs is a strong central defender and this was somewhat illustrated versus Watford on Thursday night. We know exactly what we got with Jack, and that’s a quality central defender.

David Vaughan
We also know what we are getting with Vaughan, who completely changed our midfield for the better when he arrived. The interplay and balance provided by the 3 of him, Lansbury and Reid started a lot of what has been good lately. He made the deep lying midfielder role his own and shone for his initial loan period with the club. His signing will be vital for the promotion bid.

Danny Fox
Considering we have been after him at left back for a while signals our intent here. With Cohen injured and Harding form intermittent getting in a quality recognised left back with top level experience at Celtic is a major coup and will be help us no end defensively, and hopefully attacking wise too, with interchange down the left.

Djebbour

Rafik Djebbour
An interesting signing and rare one for a club to buying in relatively older players from abroad. Djebbour has come in for a cut price from what we were going to pay in the summer. He offers another option up front and must be an upgrade at least from the likes of Tudgay, Derbyshire and Henderson are aren’t players to push you to the Premier League. Apart from that I don’t want to base opinions on YouTube videos as I could make vids that make me look good. Be interesting to see how quickly he adapts

Gomis

Kevin Gomis
Being a loan it feels relatively pressure free. If he succeeds we can hopefully make it permanent like with Hobbs, if he fails, then it’s not financially cost us much (though what it could cost on a pitch is only one the future can answer) Gomis has top level experience in Ligue 1. Apart rom that I know nothing.

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.

al-Rashidi Leaving in January

It’s been barely reported save for a few tweets from Middle Eastern based fans, but it looks like the Kuwaiti player experiment is over, putting to bed once and for all the insane garble from the likes of the Daily Mail.

Based on his tweets, and a few dodgy translates it looks roughly like he can’t finalise anything yet or formally announce but other tweeters have, that the Kuwaiti keeper will be going to Al Salmiya for around £500k.

Al-Rashidi hasn’t played for Forest and t be honest never looked like he would. More of a token signing for the Reds, he has always been down the pecking order, and when de Vries arrived in the summer to take the back up spot, he looked even more unlikely to figure.

It looks like he will remain with the club till the January window and then depart. As I say there is formal announcement by the club as yet. The supposed £500k will be nice though.

I’d say it’s a shame but I’d have no idea if it is or not...

Guedi Gone

Well save for editing the last post which I put out there suggesting that if Guedioura is still a Forest player we should cut him a little slack, the basic sentiment remains around the Algerians decision.

Because it has been confirmed he has left the Reds for Crystal palace for £2.5m, which is a tidy profit all told, on a player signed a year ago, and who is 28 years old.

But as I said, you can't overly criticise a player for wanting to play at top level. The sentiments of what I wrote when unsure if he was still ours remain. I don't bare any ill feelings for this.

Where Does de Vries Signing Leave Darlow?

I guess we should firstly welcome Dorus de Vries to Nottingham Forest. He has a rich pedigree in getting teams promoted what with his period at Swansea (let's just leave that Wolves period alone) and welcome the Dutchman to the club. De Vries joins a successful band of Dutch forest players, from Pierre van Hooijdonk, Bryan Roy and Johnny Metgod through to previous Dutch keepers Hans van Breukelen (who after leaving us had huge success at PSV and with Holland) and Hans Segers (who was involved in match fixing scandals at Wimbledon).


This adds an experienced keeper to our trio of relatively inexperienced keepers. Darlow has a half a season at best, al-Rashidi has never played in a top league and Evtimov is still completely untried. Therefore for no fee it’s not a bad signing.

Where the debate and contention comes in is what will his role will be. There was a Twitter rumour from a relatively obscure source who claimed de Vries was demanding to be the no. 1. This would relegate the very popular Darlow to the bench you’d suspect. But as I said in the rumour round up, Darlow is a young keeper, young keepers often go through a dodgy spell, and do we really want to try al-Rashidi in a potential keeping crisis? All well and good trialling in the Carling Cup, but blooding him potentially in a tough run of fixtures? Very risky.

Now if Darlow does remain number 1, we have a very capable stand in who we know can be trusted. And vice versa if de Vries is number 1, we know Darlow can be trusted, but its where this put Darlow. What will he personally feel? Hurt? Betrayed? Unloved? Maybe all three, but I’m sure Billy if this is the case will have told him he sees him as the long term heir apparent, and to learn from de Vries in the mean time.

Because for a young keeper advice and education will be key, he has had half a season in the first team, which will stand him in good stead, but maybe a short while watching and learning again might be good. There is no better education though than practice and experience, and at 22 it’s the age he should be establishing himself. That’s where my next point comes in.

Darlow has settled in the first team, he made the no. 1 jersey his own. And there was little real competition. Maybe he needs someone to push him on, to make sure he keeps improving and retains that shirt. We all saw what complacency did with Camp, and anyone in football needs to know his place is not assured so that they don’t get lazy, and stay driven. This could be a clever way from Davies of making sure Darlow remains driven, and pushes him harder.

Davies is usually quite clever with youngsters breaking through, that he keeps them believing they haven’t made it. He got the best of McGugan, it was him that ironed out most of Wes Morgan’s creases in his game (remember how mistake prone he was under Megson etc) and how he took faltering Premiership youngsters Gunter and Anderson and got them firing in our first team.

So all in all however this works out it could be good for Darlow, either as something to keep him on his toes, or a challenge to up his game further. I hope he doesn’t take the Kieron freeman approach of simply seeing a challenge for his position as insult and turning on his heels and running to a smaller club for regular football. If Darlow see’s this like that, then it won’t be good for all parties, but I’m sure Forest will have assured him this will be good for his ongoing development.

Welcome Jamie Paterson

I’ll open this piece by admitting I next to nothing about this guy, most on Twitter seem to think they are already experts on him, which they have Youtube to thank for. What I have read and what people who seem to know what they are on about have said though excites me. He exactly the sort of player we need.

New Signing Paterson playing for Walsall

A young up and coming hungry player, and a winger to boot. This is exactly what we need, and continue to need and I’ll write more on this later. But he seems to be an exciting talent.

What is most promising is we beat off a host of other clubs supposedly to land his signature. Middlesbrough were also heavily linked amongst a number of Championship clubs. This means not only are an appealing prospect, but also that we are able to compete financially with supposedly big hitters.

Furthermore maybe it signifies a change in focus on where we recruit from, previously looking at Premiership reserves, to looking at players on the rise with a lot to prove. Even if that means there is a raft of fans who complain they never heard of him and aren’t happy because they seem to think we should only sign big named players

The fee is undisclosed. It was believed to be somewhere in the £500k to £1mill bracket depending on who you believe and what’s paid up front and what exists in add ons.

al-Rashidi Signs, But Some Aren't Happy

I would very much like to start this piece by reinforcing my support of the al-Hasawi regime. I am firmly behind what they are trying to do, and without them.... well that doesn’t bare thinking about.

And yet some of our supporters are just never happy. I am have repeatedly called for fans to have patience. Today for me seems to be s turning point in some regards. Perhaps for the worse.

Khalid al Rashidi has been granted his work permit and as such is signing for Forest. This is a keeper we know little about, but has international experience and spent time on trial in he summer with Reds. But the way some fans have reacted to the tweeted news was as if we were signing a 12 year kid who has never seen a ball never mind played in net.

I have just read a tweet that read “when can we sign some good real players, rather than loans and your Kuwaiti mates.” This last week would have been targeted at Fawaz of course who has announced he is scaling back from Twitter. 2 years ago we had a chairman on Twitter. He too was forced to scale back and remove himself from there. Which led to a reduction of financial support before Nigel Doughty’s untimely death.

Now we have a similar situation where after begging for more interaction and information from board level, when what we do get we don’t like, a minority, but a very vocal minority immediately feel the need to illustrate their feelings. Varying from just a moan, to directing their tweet at either the player or board member or relatives in relation to their gripe.

The news that Fawaz won’t be as active on Twitter is a great shame. It’s been pleasant hearing the news first hand of signings and his excitement. Now because for some fans what they hear isn’t good enough its forced him to come away. The problem is with this vocal minority is that they will see this a weakness and a lack of willingness to connect with them. Not the actual truth that's there little or no point connecting with people who are never happy with what you do.

This club may well not exist with Fawaz, and if it did it wouldn’t be in the position we are. But fans want the moon on a stick. We make a signing, they wanted one who was better. We sign a potential rough diamond, they wanted a polished diamond. The problem is, and I’m going to say it, these people are basically stupid. They don’t understand bigger pictures. They see things as black and white and incredibly simple. Why sign this player when we could have that player, without even thinking is it possible, would they come, what the wage situation is, would they fit in systems, would they upset morale.

A lot of people seem to question why trade in camp for an untried entity. Well Camp wasn’t going to sign a new deal, he wanted to be off. Get used to that. So for that reason he was jettisoned from the club. Simply put, McLeish seems to run the club along the lines of if you don’t want to be here, then get gone. And I support that mentality. I think for too long we have had players treating us another stop on their career and not somewhere to build and make something, for lack of a better cliché, beautiful.

Basically who are we to argue if they people bankrolling us want to bring some Kuwaiti players along for the ride. If it starts to hamper us then and only then can you really grumble. But this guy hasn’t even signed. Who the hell are you to question it? What do you know about al-Rashidi that makes you so certain he will fail? It’s like no-one has ever come from a league that hasn’t produced a star before. Look around, the game is global, this will happen that players come from places that were previously footballing back waters.

Fawaz powering in an effort at the Trent End

Back to the al-Hasawis, increasingly I see people openly question them. People bemoaning the number of loans and no permanent signings. Well again, that's the nature of the beat I’m afraid. We are in flux, attempting to try and build from essentially nothing. Futhermore in flux because we're trying to get promoted and don’t want to be saddlled with Championship players in the Premier League. Furthermore it’s a means to an end. These players we want and need might not be available for a permanent deal in January. Clubs don;t want to sell in January because it's harder to replace and often more expensive. There's an old adage that you can;t get value in the January window and often that is true. So to complain we have too many loans is short sighted and looking for any reason to moan.And thats all people seem to want to do

Jermaine Jenas - To Sign or Not to Sign

So as January starts looming into view on the horizon I think it’s time to start looking at what business we may or may not be doing. I shall be concentrating on the loan signings we currently have and whether we could look at longer deals, or permanent deals.

Jenas back at Forest

Starting with Jermaine Jenas is as good a place as any seeing as he is fairly high profile in terms of our signings.

Initially on a month and then extended his return to the Reds has been blighted by injuries. Or “injuries” if some are to be believed with their conspiracy theories.

The main problem with Jenas and questioning a permanent deal is the very fact we were amazed to get him. He is a Premiership player, and whether he would take a big step in making his stay at this level a permanent one instead of a brief fitness & form seeking trip.

Another huge stumbling block would be the wage issue. Believed to be on £45k a week at Spurs, of which we are (again rumoured) paying £15k a week, this would be too much for a club on a Championship budget. Ok, we still aren’t sure how deep the al-Hasawi pockets go, but it would be as big a statement of intent if we did make it a new signing. However, imagine the dismay in the dressing room this would cause whereby we’d have a player, who’s prone to be injured and potentially not playing on a great deal more than those playing week in week out.

But personally I feel it was a nice little piece of nostalgia. But we need to look forward to long term fixes. Jenas although a good player will no doubt have an eye on trying to keep his Premier Career going maybe at least another 2-3 years. To look at a long term deal might not be best. With the potential signing of these Irish wingers from Derry City, it would mean less scope for strength in depth in the middle of midfield. Therefore less chances.

Also does Jenas want to come back permanently? I mean he’s said he’s happy to be back and enjoying his time, BUT, he is saying that knowing its short term. His mindset might be entirely different in a long term deal. He might begrudge having to drop down a division.

All in all, i wouldn’t rule it our nor would I say no, but neither would I want the club to particularly chase this signing.

Hutton Signing Adds Quality

As soon as we signed Alan Hutton yesterday Twitter lit up amongst Forest fans with a mixture of views. On the whole positive with a number of detractors. And a few errant Derby fans suggesting a man who cost £9mill a few years ago isn’t fit for any Championship team, which is an interesting standpoint to take.

Ok the guy has had a questionable disciplinary record in the past, but then that shows a grit and determination. I’ve seen him play on Sky a few times and he’s a nasty player, just whole hearted. Let’s be honest here, Chris Gunter could be a right snide dirty bugger, so if this Hutton’s game, then fine.

There was a point in the game against Wednesday last week, where Brendan Moloney got absolutely skinned, it wasn’t the first or last time, but it showed two things, one that he can be easily be beaten, and 2 that unfortunately, he isn’t good enough. Like Gregor Robertson before him, we can wish him to come through all we like, but when a young full back is getting skinned all game, it’s dangerous and unpleasant to watch. Moloney also seems to have no confidence to try and get past a player. Many a time on Saturday he got up the field to a good position only to check back, rather than try and get past his man. He did supply a great cross at one point, but it showed to me a lack of confidence.

Hutton doesn’t lack that, and he won’t in stepping down a level. So if he can also get to those positions and provide some additional width then we will be all the better for it. His bookings and red cards come from when in the Premiership he goes in recklessly on a pacey tricky winger, which are considerably trickier in the Premier League, so he shouldn’t have to resort to that side of his game down here, touch wood.

Also he has a point to prove, and is putting himself in the shop window. Hutton is surplus to requirements at Villa so for the next month, he will do all he can to get form and show he still has it so that another Prem team might take a chance. Therefore if he has any sense, and let’s hope he does, he will play out of his skin. I’m not sure when his Villa contract expires so he might even be playing for a new deal.

One assumes what with his high previous fees and Premier League experience his wages would be too high for us, besides, someone like Stoke or Norwich might always take a punt on him rather than coming down to us, but for now, we have an international Premier League player with multi million pound transfer behind him in our midst. These are good times people.

Greening Exiled to Barnsley

I say exile, as Barnsley is rapidly being where Forest players are going to be sent to seed. Harewood, Tudgay and now Greening are all there now. Remnants of last year’s failed season congregating in south Yorkshire for a second chance.

I am perhaps being unfair but Greening became synonymous with last season’s failures. Harewood too, bought in to get goals, in a team failing. Neither succeeded. Tudgay of course has been here longer and at least experienced some of the good days. But as Forest has evolved he has slipped further and further down the pecking order.

Now of course for both its good to be getting match practice, and let’s be honest whatever, if anything Barnsley is paying toward wages will also mean less financial burden. Even if that’s no longer the worry it was, it’s still good to have these players off the bill rather than not. For one it may create animosity in the dressing room, people unhappy people playing less than them earn more. If they aren’t there, it’s not a factor.

Also if they are getting match practice, it means they will be more match sharp should we need to call upon on them in a crisis. More so Tudgay than Greening, but his loan is with a view to a permanent move. Greening is in a position so laden with players he could have the greatest few games of his life and it’s unlikely he’d get back in our team.

Good luck to them though.

Welcome Home JJ

I will start this on a sour note and build up to the crux of this article. The last midfielder and player from that golden generation to return was Prutton, remember how that ended up eh?

Ok, let’s get past that, as Prutton although quality wasn’t the same class or type of player as Jenas, who looks extremely likely to be returning. I have blinked before in one these and gone with an article before official, and was wrong with Al-Mutawa’s work permit, but hey ho.

So now we have simply the greatest midfield assembled in the last ooooh, 15 years at this club? Yeah since 1999 at very least. So 4 or 5 from the following, Gillette, Jenas, Lansbury, McGugan, Coppinger, Guedioura, Reid, Majewski, Moussi, Cohen and errr Greening. Ok 3 can be discounted. Greening’s Forest career is now all but officially over. I expect to see him shipped out somewhere, just to get him away. Cohen is still going to be away from full fitness. Moussi, well Moussi has always split fans, but SoD doesn’t seem to fancy him very much.

It’s still a wealth of options in the middle, and a welcome boost ahead of the Derby game. People have attempted to discredit Jenas but the fact remains he has international experience, and has played at the top flight for a long while. You don’t do that without having ability. And without any first team chances he will be hungry to prove he still has it and secure a January move to another Premier club probably. If we can help him, and therefore he helps us in that time, perfect.

I never really saw Jenas in his first spell, I was away at University and only got glimpses on the TV, or on odd occasions I was home for a game. So this should be a learning curve for me too.

But where does this leave us? We already had a crowded midfield, with options galore. Lansbury and Cohen coming back into the fold looked like we were already top heavy, but now we have added this heavyweight name.

Whether this means a return to 4-2-3-1 in some games is unsure, I expect to see Lansbury move to the right wing to take a slot in the team there, with Coppinger seemingly there as back up and experience.

So welcome home JJ, just the kind of figure head signing we need.

Oh can I just say I called it first months ago. When the al-Hasawi family took over, one of the things I said they should and could do was sign a strong ex NFFC player, and recommended Jenas. Just saying folks.

Bader Work Permit Approved

The strong rumour is that Bader al-Mutawa is the only one of the Kuwaiti's to get his work permit approved. The thers applied for have been turned down, including keeper Khalid al-Rashidi.

Although not official yet, it always seemed the most likely with his excellent record for club and country.

So we welcome Bader al-Mutawa to the City Ground. Lets see what he can do in our league and how much of a chance gets.

Commiserations to the other guys.

Transfer Activity Round Up

Basically I’ve not been on the ball so to speak this last week, the Olympics have distracted me from keeping on the pulse transfers wise, as they wind down, so too do I start stop neglecting this.

We reported previously on the signings of Collins and Guedioura, so in essence I need not comment, however in the wider context of what we have done I shall evaluate them further.

Let’s start with Guedioura, or Guedi as I shorten it to save me time and squinting at the screen making sure I spelt it right. Really a must after last season’s starring role, he’s a box to box midfielder, and next to Gillett can provide the energy and enthusiasm, and that sht. He isn’t a lair player, like McGugan or Majewski, and I’d hate to see him pushed out wide to accommodate who I regard o be luxuries of Lewis and Radi. His role will be integral this season.

Collins, at the time we needed any centre half, but now having seen further business it’s easier to see the roles here. Collins is the physical ball winner, good in the air, strong, and not afraid to shirk a tackle. The balance of Ayala alongside means Ayala is the cultured ball playing defender, mopping up Collins interceptions and challenges. This isn’t to say Collis has no culture, but he is there as a Chris Morgan, a Steve Bould, he does the ugly. I am unsure still on either ones pace, so I can’t really comment there.

Next to him will likely be Daniel Ayala, on loan for a season from Norwich, highly thought of there hence only a loan. He first to England to Liverpool and had loan spell at hull. More a ball player central defender it clearly shows O’Driscolls intention for passing game lead from the back, rather than the Chambers/Morgan esque punts up field. Perhaps more in the Wilson guise. Norwich fans were quite animated at the thought of losing him so this bodes well this move.

Greg Halford is a direct Gunter replacement at right back, but he can play in the centre due to his height. My brother is a Sheffield United fan and he speaks very highly of Halford. He has an almighty throw which is an extra weapon. He can play all down the right so hopefully this means some marauding runs, which would mean we need a right winger who is more defensively minded than McCleary was to cover for these, that maybe Moussa, it maybe Coppinger. He is somewhat a journeyman, which speaks that he struggles to settle, perhaps age and maturity might let him do that here.

Harding is the new left back and I admittedly don’t know a great deal about him. Having seen the Villa game though he looked good, and again is a full back that goes for runs and can get in round the back, perhaps good as Reid doesn’t have the greatest mobility down the left and he can be used for link up play. He has a legacy of promotion with Southampton so he knows the division and knows how to win.

Simon Gillett in the midfield is another I know little about, but having seen his play he seems very Paul McKenna like. Dropping deep, collecting the ball and seeking to start build up play, often a role many don’t understand as it’s never one with gets glory and often leads to side of back passes as he seeks to create space. Many fans don’t like this, people round me for instance seem to insist that the ball should always go forward, these people are invariably morons who don’t understand the nuances of the game, and like crazed loons who kick players up in the air more than a cultured midfielder. Gillett can get stuck in though by the looks.

What remains to be bought in is unclear as I spoke about earlier we need a right winger; we need maybe a little extra cover at centre half. Whether al-Rashidi comes in as more experienced cover for Camp than Darlow, which I’d hope means Darlow goes out on loan, and to higher class than Newport County I don’t know.

We may see more departure but I reckon more short term loan deals for the likes of Derbyshire, McGoldrick and Findley. Emergency loans to struggling championship teams as many others couldn’t pay the requisite wages.

But in summary the transfers, though seemingly slow to those who wanted all business done in a week bodes well. We have waited for the right players, not panic bought and have looked to build a team. Last season we tried to chuck too many players together in a cobbled fashion. Derbyshire was signed because he was available, nothing more.

Welcome, Welcome

Well that’s two signings in, and yes I'm a bit tardy with both, but I hardly claim this to be a cutting edge news site always breaking the latest news.
The signings of Guedioura and Collins have indicated that, far from what the Mail reckoned we are throwing a bit of weight around with some signings that are a) costing money, and b) aren’t from the Middle East, both of which the Mail reckoned were key factors. Mail fail.

So now we have a defender too, that’s one more piece in the jigsaw and will be followed up in the next few days with further signings apparently (more on this later). Slowly it all starts to come together.

But mainly welcome to the club Danny Collins and welcome home Adlene Guedioura, who spoke of the fans love on Twitter being a huge factor. He obviously already loves the club and bares all the hallmarks of a future legend, even if Derby fans try to make out he’s a reserve from another championship club, that maybe so, but we aren’t being turned down by Crewe defenders

Gunter goes as the managerial search continues...

Chris Gunter has today completed a £2.3m move to newly promoted Reading.

Gunter, who made over 150 appearances in his 3 years at the club, is of course a massive loss and it's disappointing to see such a great young talent depart.

Few can complain about this move despite some twitter folk are calling him a judas - as McCleary has said, do people even know what the word means nowadays?

As I've said before on here, he is an international player who will have ambitions to get back into the Premier League. Fair play to him for wanting to see out the rest of last season and keep us up before departing, where I'm sure he'll be a success.

In manager news, more theories have surfaced about why Mick has said no, Hoddle had ruled himself out - although rumour has it he met with them today, Ferguson wants to stay at Peterborough - hooray - and Paul Ince and Roy Keane have expressed their interest. Billy Davies' odds have also gone from 40/1 to 4/1 to be the next boss.

I did have an epiphany on my drive into work this morning and thought Paulo Sousa would be worth a crack at the job. Experienced at this level, young and despite his Leicester flop, has done ok as a manager. He's better than Darren Ferguson and some of the other names I've seen anyways.

Either way, we are as we were yesterday...managerless.

Follow me on twitter @benando_torres

Departure of Lynch and Chambers

So Chambers has gone and Lynch looks to be joining him, is this such a bad thing?

Well yes and no. On the hand you like a stable defence that knows each other. A team’s success depends on its back 4 being stable and resolute. Teams who have failed have invariably been down o a defence that is chopped and changed. Arsenals weak points in the season came when the defence wasn’t stable. Manchester United failings came when it was tinkered with. Chelsea’s season nearly was disastrous as the defence was in flux. Manchester City, well they usually kept to a solid defence, and only struggled when that was in disarray. So you live and die by your defence.

That said it may be time to form new partnerships and a new team. OK Chambers flattered to deceive a lot, but Lynch mostly had a solid season after a couple of years of being deployed at Left back, finally het got his chance in the middle, and grasped it. Our season settled when the defence settled. Gunter, Chambers, Lynch and Cunningham. Now we have one of those. On the hand this gives an excellent opportunity for Lascelles to stake his claim for the team.

It is also a chance to bring in quality defenders. Chambers needed to move on in my opinion, after being installed as captain and having a shaky season; it was always going to be difficult to retain that status quo. More so after his attack on the fans. Chambers had a mixed history with Forest, with many fans never really forgetting his haphazard early displays. Cunningham was a difficult example, settling into a strange struggling team as a young left back was always going to be a struggle. He eventually settled but you don’t need eventually, you need immediately.

So a chance with new funding to form a new back 4 may well work out. I’d argue we need an experience head back there for sure, and Danny Higginbotham would be a great example or even Clint Hill, however I fear their wages may be too high even with the potential new funds. Lascelles would need an old head next to him. Like Walker with Dawson, and Breckin with Morgan, an old fashioned aerial centre half. Lascelles can have the pace. Someone like, but obviously not Chris Morgan. Physical. Determined. Uncompromising.

Left back spot just needs filling permanently, no stop gaps. Just someone whose job that is. Freeman can cover if and when needed for odd games; increase his match time in the Championship after lower league learning curves. Elokobi would be perfect, he has experience at this level, now knows the club and the fans took to him well. He would be popular

In News We Already Knew... G-Mac Joins Reading

I think we all knew this was happening last week, so this is barely a shock, but hey its official now.

Good luck to you G-Mac. You perhaps didn't always get the chance here before this year, and you got a contract with a big club on the strength of half a season.

McCleary is a Thames Valley lad so he's returning to his neck of the woods he's from.

Luke Varney to sign?

Reports suggest Luke Varney is on course to sign for Forest on loan until the end of the season from fellow strugglers Portsmouth.

Varney is a 29 year old, experienced Championship striker, who most of us remember for his brilliance at Blackpool in the early part of last season.

Throughout his career, Varney has primarily been a hardworking striker with a touch of pace and an ability to pull something out of the bag. His downfall is his general lack of confidence, which saw him fail at both Derby and Charlton in particular.

Varney does however tend to make immediate impacts at new clubs and hopefully the confidence issue will not be a problem with Cotterill - someone who has admired Varney from afar and actually signed for Pompey.

Maybe he could have a McCleary style impact on Varney?

Now I know what you are all thinking, what do we need another striker for?

I suppose the answer is simple. We need goals and more options other than Tudgay and Blackstock.

Tudgay and Blackstock can not be solely relied upon to produce week in, week out at the moment due to the fixture pile up we have between now and Easter.

While we have Findley, McGoldrick, Miller, Harewood and Derbyshire as reserves, it is safe to assume 3 of them will never play for us again, one is too injury prone to pin hopes on and the other does not have goals in his locker and should be used as a winger.

In all honesty, if we need to sign 23 strikers to scores goals to keep us up this season, so be it.

Hopefully Varney's historic track record of making immediate impacts will get us 3 or 4 more crucial points on the board.

Where the money for this deal is coming from though is another question entirely.

We will see what the next day or so brings.

Follow us on twitter for the latest transfer news: @benando_torres or @forest247blog

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.

Follow me on twitter @benando_torres

Follow the blog on twitter @forest247blog

Two Left Backs

So after so long of having no left backs, now comes along another one in the shape,(and its a large shape) of George Elokobi from Wolves.

The man is a man mountain. Not someone to mess with and adds to our options in the traditionally thin position of left back.

Elokobi is one of those players who seems to divide fans as I have seen very differing views from Wolves fans.

Some say he is useless and some love him, as he is a somewhat cult favourite. It also seems that he really isn't Premiership quality, but might do a job for is, if not in place of Cunningham but also in terms of temporary filling in for him whilst he is injured.

It also takes our loanee's to five, and with that pretty much our quotient for the moment.

So welcome to the City Ground George.