The Mood

[Berkshire Red]

That initial crazy recruitment drive saw us a laughing stock & bar a few highlights, I don't think we've really shed that tag.

The media have made damn sure we haven't shed that tag. Even on Sunday the commentators were banging on about Nuno brining on ANOTHER new signing. Yes, 'cos THREE was so f***ing many. They didn't seem to mention that we hadn't enough senior players to fill the bench in the previous games.

They're a pathetic bunch of parasites. Feeding off the big clubs, ensuring those same big clubs are made to look good whilst not giving a shit about being accurate when they talk about many of the others. The amount of factually incorrect stuff they spout about Forest, in particular, is amazing.

We come back to how ill prepared we were to go up. Even Luton, yes plucky Luton, had a season or two to prepare. Time to build up a squad and a way of playing that can go beyond your first choice eleven. It's likely that there never will be a worse prepared club gaining promotion. Preparation doesn't get you anywhere if you're not smart about recruitment and have luck in your side. Sheffield United were well prepared but then blew it by selling key players and recruiting insufficient numbers. Luton have been lucky so far, but an injury or two could easily see them fall back towards the bottom. Darren Fletcher is convinced they will suffer at some point.

 

[Ashley]

People keep saying that, it doesn't mean it's true, or that it will happen.

Southampton got relegated and sold Lavia and Livramento for ridiculous sums.

True, Southampton did very well with regards to player sales in the summer. If the worst was to happen and we had to sell then hopefully we can do that well too.

Generally speaking though, you get less money for players as a Championship club than you do as a Premier League one.

 

[Ashley]

The media have made damn sure we haven't shed that tag. Even on Sunday the commentators were banging on about Nuno brining on ANOTHER new signing. Yes, 'cos THREE was so f***ing many. They didn't seem to mention that we hadn't enough senior players to fill the bench in the previous games.

They're a pathetic bunch of parasites. Feeding off the big clubs, ensuring those same big clubs are made to look good whilst not giving a shit about being accurate when they talk about many of the others. The amount of factually incorrect stuff they spout about Forest, in particular, is amazing.

Now this I do agree with. The way the media have spoken about us since we came up has really rubbed me up the wrong way at times.

 

[Mr. Blonde]

It's been a slog, yes, but I'd still rather be slogging it out at Arsenal and Man City than Rotherham and Plymouth

I think some people have short memories

 

[Otis Redding]

I didn't think we would bounce straight back - but come on - we had several opportunities in the early years but sold the good players. Nobody expected what actually happened

Exactly. It feels wrong for me to single him out after what subsequently happened, but nevertheless, Nigel Doughty bottled three decent opportunities to achieve promotion, whilst sadly overseeing the lowest point in our history in the process.

 

[Cloughie1975]

Exactly. It feels wrong for me to single him out after what subsequently happened, but nevertheless, Nigel Doughty bottled three decent opportunities to achieve promotion, whilst sadly overseeing the lowest point in our history in the process.

Yes-but 2 of those opportunities came well after the ‘early years’ following our relegation in 1999-we never
sniffed a chance for over a decade except for 2003 with Paul Hart’s side.Whether selling David Prutton
and replacing him with loan signing Darren Huckerby is ‘bottling it’ is open to debate and opinion.
In my view it was the players themselves that bottled it at Sheffield United in the 2nd leg.
I agree that a bit more ambition could have got us over the line in 2010 and 2011 (particularly
the former).

 

[Otis Redding]

Yes-but 2 of those opportunities came well after the ‘early years’ following our relegation in 1999-we never
sniffed a chance for over a decade except for 2003 with Paul Hart’s side.Whether selling David Prutton
and replacing him with loan signing Darren Huckerby is ‘bottling it’ is open to debate and opinion.
In my view it was the players themselves that bottled it at Sheffield United in the 2nd leg.
I agree that a bit more ambition could have got us over the line in 2010 and 2011 (particularly
the former).

My point was not specifically about the games Cloughie, but about not building on reaching the play-offs, particularly 2003 when keeping the core of that side together, whilst adding just a little more quality (Huckerby?) would potentially have seen us competing for an automatic place the following season. It's not surprising that Hart lost focus after the rug was pulled from under his feet and sought vacant posts at West Ham and Leeds. You'll struggle to convince me that ND had any genuine ambition mate.

 

[Cloughie1975]

My point was not specifically about the games Cloughie, but about not building on reaching the play-offs, particularly 2003 when keeping the core of that side together, whilst adding just a little more quality (Huckerby?) would potentially have seen us competing for an automatic place the following season. It's not surprising that Hart lost focus after the rug was pulled from under his feet and sought vacant posts at West Ham and Leeds. You'll struggle to convince me that ND had genuine ambition mate.

Oh,I agree Otis-Nigel Doughty was undoubtedly a genuine Forest fan but lacked real ambition (although
he couldn’t be blamed for the 2003 play-off defeat).
I feared the worst when I was sitting on the M1 near Sheffield in the pouring rain the morning after that
game.Mark Arthur was the lead story on Radio Nottingham telling Forest fans that the club had to live within its means (effectively saying that players might have to leave).
What transpired was the awful 3 years in League 1-I reckon the decade 1999-2009 was probably the
worst that Forest experienced in the past 60 or so years.

 

[Otis Redding]

Oh,I agree Otis-Nigel Doughty was undoubtedly a genuine Forest fan but lacked real ambition (although
he couldn’t be blamed for the 2003 play-off defeat).
I feared the worst when I was sitting on the M1 near Sheffield in the pouring rain the morning after that
game.Mark Arthur was the lead story on Radio Nottingham telling Forest fans that the club had to live within its means (effectively saying that players might have to leave).
What transpired was the awful 3 years in League 1-I reckon the decade 1999-2009 was probably the
worst that Forest experienced in the past 60 or so years.

No probably about it Cloughie, we sunk to the lowest point in our league history. Employing Arthur to essentially run the club did Nigel no favours in my opinion; a smarmy yes-man who has more recently demonstrated at Yorkhire CCC just what a shameless piece-of-work he is.

 

[Notcher]

I do quite like that third kit

I forgot I've got that somewhere, probably in my mum's loft. There were also training Jackets and jumpers that matched it which I've got. I'm not sure they were available to buy though, I think they were player issue only

 

[Erik]

No probably about it Cloughie, we sunk to the lowest point in our league history. Employing Arthur to essentially run the club did Nigel no favours in my opinion; a smarmy yes-man who has more recently demonstrated at Yorkshire CCC just what a shameless piece-of-work he is.

I'm utterly baffled as to why people still insist on painting Mark f***ing Arthur in a positive light like this.

I thought you had more sense Otis. Disappointing.

 

[Erik]

I think that when we talk about our transfer policy and say we had to buy so many players because the promoted team was full of loans as if that excuses it we are totally ignoring that the reason the promoted team was full of loans was because we couldn't buy anyone due to years of utter incompetence in the transfer market pushing us to FFP limits.

We are totally the architects of our own downfall in that regard due to years of mismanagement, we shouldn't be ignoring or glossing over that.

 

[ColwickReds]

Just a personal observation but to me everything seems a bit meh. Whether it's the FFP stuff, having loads more new players again, all the promotion lads gone (apart from Yatesy), losing the Cooper connection or something else but the atmosphere has been largely poor. Doesn't feel like everyone is in it together anymore.

 

[RedDogChris]

The gulf between the PL and championship has never been wider look at how easy Southampton, Leicester and Leeds are finding it down there. But I agree I'd have no faith in the club making sensible decisions in the event of relegation and we'd somehow mess up having a financial advantage over the rest of the league. We'd probably sell MGW for 40 millionish and do the usual wasting it on bring 15 mercenaries on in deadline day or something. I think we will struggle to realise EM's ambitions even if we stay in the PL with how he runs the club, so I'm thinking what's the point, he might lose interest and look to sell up if we go down so I'm at peace with either outcome.

 

[weejockmcplop]

Just a personal observation but to me everything seems a bit meh. Whether it's the FFP stuff, having loads more new players again, all the promotion lads gone (apart from Yatesy), losing the Cooper connection or something else but the atmosphere has been largely poor. Doesn't feel like everyone is in it together anymore.

Unfortunately you just can't replicate that feeling of the first season back in the Premier League. After so long away, it was special, but it only lasts one season.

 

[congo_red_49]

The gulf between the PL and championship has never been wider look at how easy Southampton, Leicester and Leeds are finding it down there. But I agree I'd have no faith in the club making sensible decisions in the event of relegation and we'd somehow mess up having a financial advantage over the rest of the league.

The only clubs who don't compete after going down are those that are badly managed from the highest level and/or in a financial mess...
...
...
...
so, yeah, you're probably right!

 

[Morpeth]

The gulf between the PL and championship has never been wider look at how easy Southampton, Leicester and Leeds are finding it down there. But I agree I'd have no faith in the club making sensible decisions in the event of relegation and we'd somehow mess up having a financial advantage over the rest of the league. We'd probably sell MGW for 40 millionish and do the usual wasting it on bring 15 mercenaries on in deadline day or something. I think we will struggle to realise EM's ambitions even if we stay in the PL with how he runs the club, so I'm thinking what's the point, he might lose interest and look to sell up if we go down so I'm at peace with either outcome.

I don’t think you’re giving enough credit actually.

Unless we got top whack for people like MGW then they will be staying and we’d have one of the strongest sides in the division.

 

[Redemption]

I don’t think you’re giving enough credit actually.

Unless we got top whack for people like MGW then they will be staying and we’d have one of the strongest sides in the division.

Apart from the ones who have relegation clauses. Obviously.

 

[Alf-engelos Mindminackers]

Just a personal observation but to me everything seems a bit meh. Whether it's the FFP stuff, having loads more new players again, all the promotion lads gone (apart from Yatesy), losing the Cooper connection or something else but the atmosphere has been largely poor. Doesn't feel like everyone is in it together anymore.

The Cooper scenario is just on of many self-destructive ones created by the top brass, alongside those mentioned such as FFP/PSR breeching and wild, disconnected recruitment.

Once Cooper had got us up, no-one at the club made his job easy. From dumping loads of players on him who didn't offer any real type of team balance, to constantly looking to replace him etc, it was a miracle he actually stuck around so long.

That's at least what we can take away from our time in the Prem, a genuine connection with a great manager and some great players under him. I can't see it being replicated any time soon sadly

 

[Captain Sinister]

I would imagine, as a recently promoted team after 23 years in the wilderness, most players who agree to join us, will have insisted on break clauses in their contracts should we be relegated. The ability to retain star players, and the ability to recruit quality replacements will depend upon the owner/management having decent negotiating skills, and the ability to convince players not to exercise their option to break.
My bigger concern is whether NES would stay, or whether he would have a discretionary break clause in his contract.

 

[Morpeth]

Apart from the ones who have relegation clauses. Obviously.

Of course. Not that we know who has them or what they may be. If there’s one thing EM knows how to do, it’s make money.

 

[Redemption]

Of course. Not that we know who has them or what they may be. If there’s one thing EM knows how to do, it’s make money.

Harry Arter loves this post.

 

[Morpeth]

Harry Arter loves this post.

I’m sure, but one swallow does not a summer make.

 

[Cloughie1975]

I would imagine, as a recently promoted team after 23 years in the wilderness, most players who agree to join us, will have insisted on break clauses in their contracts should we be relegated. The ability to retain star players, and the ability to recruit quality replacements will depend upon the owner/management having decent negotiating skills, and the ability to convince players not to exercise their option to break.
My bigger concern is whether NES would stay, or whether he would have a discretionary break clause in his contract.

I pretty sure that if we are relegated then several of our best players will move on-either
through relegation clauses or the need to balance the books.
How we compete in the Championship would then depend on which players are left and
whether we can (cough) get our recruitment right.
As for Nuno-it’s open to debate I think.
We all know at Forest that the Championship isn’t easy.

 

[MaxiRobriguez]

I’m sure, but one swallow does not a summer make.

No just a night.