Stuart Pearce is, quite literally a living legend, for 12 years he
patrolled the left hand side of the City Ground pitch, cajoling the crowd, petrifying
opposition wingers & scoring goals. He brought to his profession desire,
commitment & pride. He will (should he arrive as manager) demand the same
from you.
If you let him down, for the remainder of your career I will dog you, if you
move clubs I will follow you there & boo you relentlessly for 90
minute (not just when you have the ball, but from kick off to final whistle,
even if you're substituted). When you retire if you take up coaching I
will follow you there & relentlessly boo your coaching or managerial career
& if you retire from the game I will find out where your kids play football
& will bloody well boo them!!!.
!!!
On the other hand, you can follow the Psycho example, shed blood for the
cause and give everything you have both physically & emotionally to bring
the success to this football club that means so much to so many.
And do you know what, follow the Stuart Pearce approach to Nottingham
Forest & you may just receive the same adulation for life from the
City Ground fans that he does.
Your choice.
Tuesday 1 April 2014
Thursday 27 March 2014
Psycho Is Our Leader!
It's said you should never go back, it's also said that 99.99% of managers
destiny is to get the sack & there is of course an awful lot of truth in
that, but this isn't Billy Davies coming back, it's not Ian Woan coming back, it's not
even Nigel Clough coming back, on this occasion we're talking about the second
most inspirational man (2nd? Pearce or Sir Brian? It's actually a pretty close
call) to be associated with Nottingham Forest in my lifetime.
I would of course be devastated to one day see Pearce relieved of his duties as the Nottingham Forest manager, but that worry pales into insignificance when compared to the pride I would feel seeing my all time footballing hero walking out of the City Ground tunnel & marching towards the Trent End with his fists clenched & hearing the roar. It fills me with the kind of emotional pride I've not felt since my children were born. That may sound like an over reaction, but it isn't. This is a man who I know feels every bit as strongly about this club as I do, bringing success to Nottingham Forest means as much to him as us.
I've seen his record reported as poor, but his short time at Forest wasn't bad, his Manchester City record was decent & he got the England U21 squad to a European final, something not achieved since the early 80's.
You can find the players Psycho lead to the 2009 final here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_UEFA_European_Under-21_Football_Championship_squads#.C2.A0England
Barring Joe Hart & Theo Walcott it reads as a who's who of players that didn't quite hit the heights at Premiership level, or at the very best a who's who of the bang average.
His managerial career has been at a higher level than Forest currently play at too. He has the credentials.
What he also has, is a legacy that is second to non as far as playing the game is concerned, so with that in mind I ask Fawaz, if you are planning on bring this a literal living legend back to the City Ground you must do everything within your power to make him a success, fans have backed you thought a tumultuous first 18 months at the club & as fans we can see you are trying to bring us success while making us happy at the same time but this time it's not a disgruntled former manager with a grudge & an agenda, this is a man who once sat on the lockers leading the anti-Derby chants prior to local derbies, this is a man who will fight tooth & nail to win here.
This is man who's support amongst Nottingham Forest fans is unshakable. Behind the scenes issues will not see fans turn on this manager, they will see these supporters fight tooth & nail to defend him.
Stuart Pearce is one of us, Psycho Is Our Leader!
I would of course be devastated to one day see Pearce relieved of his duties as the Nottingham Forest manager, but that worry pales into insignificance when compared to the pride I would feel seeing my all time footballing hero walking out of the City Ground tunnel & marching towards the Trent End with his fists clenched & hearing the roar. It fills me with the kind of emotional pride I've not felt since my children were born. That may sound like an over reaction, but it isn't. This is a man who I know feels every bit as strongly about this club as I do, bringing success to Nottingham Forest means as much to him as us.
I've seen his record reported as poor, but his short time at Forest wasn't bad, his Manchester City record was decent & he got the England U21 squad to a European final, something not achieved since the early 80's.
You can find the players Psycho lead to the 2009 final here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_UEFA_European_Under-21_Football_Championship_squads#.C2.A0England
Barring Joe Hart & Theo Walcott it reads as a who's who of players that didn't quite hit the heights at Premiership level, or at the very best a who's who of the bang average.
His managerial career has been at a higher level than Forest currently play at too. He has the credentials.
What he also has, is a legacy that is second to non as far as playing the game is concerned, so with that in mind I ask Fawaz, if you are planning on bring this a literal living legend back to the City Ground you must do everything within your power to make him a success, fans have backed you thought a tumultuous first 18 months at the club & as fans we can see you are trying to bring us success while making us happy at the same time but this time it's not a disgruntled former manager with a grudge & an agenda, this is a man who once sat on the lockers leading the anti-Derby chants prior to local derbies, this is a man who will fight tooth & nail to win here.
This is man who's support amongst Nottingham Forest fans is unshakable. Behind the scenes issues will not see fans turn on this manager, they will see these supporters fight tooth & nail to defend him.
Stuart Pearce is one of us, Psycho Is Our Leader!
Thursday 20 March 2014
#NFFC Fans Handy Guide To: Derby County #DCFCfans
This Saturday sees the mighty Nottingham Forest take on an unheard of local team called Derby County, after checking local web sites to find if Alfreton Town or Burton Albion had changed their name, it turned out DCFC are in fact a team in their own right & a semi-professional one at that. What is more, this fixture isn't a charity fund raiser as I'd first thought, it is in fact a competitive Championship league fixture. Intrigued as i was, i then decided to scour the interweb for some details of this backwater club so that you may amaze your friends down the pub with your in-depth knowledge of our opponents with this handy “Print Out And Keep” guide.
So, here we go then
Derby County we officially formed in 1884 by William Morley when a group of incensed locals rebelled at being charged to see the local Cricket Club, it wasn't though until 1898 that they bought their first player when gate receipt totals had reached 3 & sixpence and they used the lot to buy Dolly who is to this day the clubs record signing, the club badge still depicts his image. Their first competitive game was played in 1885 against Walsall Town in the F.A Cup which Derby lost by a familiar score line of 0 - 7 but they won their first ever league fixture 6 - 3 at Bolton. They ended this 1st season in a disappointing 10th place from 12 teams, the fact there where only 12 professional teams & one league then saved them from relegation, but they wouldn't be able to rely on that for long.
Their most Famous manager is Brian Clough, a name that will sound familiar to many, as we all know he honed his skills in the lower leagues with Brighton & Hartlepools but a much forgotten period of his rise to being the best manager ever saw him take this ickle club to the 1st division championship, on realising he had taken the club as far as he could he then handed in his notice to become a back to back European Champion in Nottingham, he kept his home in Derby though, where property prices were so low he used his big city wages to buy three quarters of the Shire.
Moving to a new stadium under a trio of South American bandits referred to only as the '3 Amigos' their new ground was officially unveiled as the Estadio de Basura due to the site it was built on, ironically losing the name of their previous home the 'baseball ground' just in time to be taken over by American sport tycoon & Disney World enthusiasts GSE. With Tom Glicks love of theme parks it was renamed Ride Park but confusion was rife when the sign was installed in the car park where a big blue P sign comically made it look like PRide Park & the nickname stuck. This is in keeping with their with their tradition of their ground having nothing to do with football with their original home called the Racecourse. Now of course they play at the Ipoo standium, which is much closer to the truth.
Their highest attendance at their new home is 33,378 against Liverpool, something they are rightly proud of, the lowest attendance was for an F.A Cup third round replay against Millwall with just 7,183 but the game is available on DVD for the many who missed it.
Although little information is available on the subject, i did find reference's to this club holding several records, one of which seems to relate to not only holding the record for points taken in a season, but that they hold this record by an impressive margin, although not able to discover that actual points total, i think we can all agree this is an impressive record to hold. They also hold the record for most goals witnessed in a season, which must have been awfully entertaining.
Towards the end of the 19th century Derby entered a golden era in their history reaching 3 F.A Cup finals in 6 years, losing all three to, well, Nottingham Forest actually, but also Sheffield United & the power house of British football that is Bury (when they set a record for the worst ever F.A Cup final defeat of 6 goals to none). They did though win the F.A Cup in 1946 but this was mainly due to the second World War having just ended & the only other team to enter was Charlton Athletic Ladies whom Derby beat in the final.
Derby’s most celebrated former player & all time top goal scorer is Steve Bloomer, he scored 238 goals in 375 appearances in his 1st stint with the club when he was promptly sold to Middlesbrough for a whopping £750 (still a club record transfer fee received) & when to old to continue playing the game at professional level, he returned to Derby & scored a further 53 goals in 98 games.
In the late 1980's the club was taken over by Robert Maxwell & like Mr Maxwell, their hopes & dreams sank like a stone never to be seen again.
So there you are, go & amaze your friends with your now superb knowledge of footballs unheard of minows.
So, here we go then
Derby County we officially formed in 1884 by William Morley when a group of incensed locals rebelled at being charged to see the local Cricket Club, it wasn't though until 1898 that they bought their first player when gate receipt totals had reached 3 & sixpence and they used the lot to buy Dolly who is to this day the clubs record signing, the club badge still depicts his image. Their first competitive game was played in 1885 against Walsall Town in the F.A Cup which Derby lost by a familiar score line of 0 - 7 but they won their first ever league fixture 6 - 3 at Bolton. They ended this 1st season in a disappointing 10th place from 12 teams, the fact there where only 12 professional teams & one league then saved them from relegation, but they wouldn't be able to rely on that for long.
Their most Famous manager is Brian Clough, a name that will sound familiar to many, as we all know he honed his skills in the lower leagues with Brighton & Hartlepools but a much forgotten period of his rise to being the best manager ever saw him take this ickle club to the 1st division championship, on realising he had taken the club as far as he could he then handed in his notice to become a back to back European Champion in Nottingham, he kept his home in Derby though, where property prices were so low he used his big city wages to buy three quarters of the Shire.
Moving to a new stadium under a trio of South American bandits referred to only as the '3 Amigos' their new ground was officially unveiled as the Estadio de Basura due to the site it was built on, ironically losing the name of their previous home the 'baseball ground' just in time to be taken over by American sport tycoon & Disney World enthusiasts GSE. With Tom Glicks love of theme parks it was renamed Ride Park but confusion was rife when the sign was installed in the car park where a big blue P sign comically made it look like PRide Park & the nickname stuck. This is in keeping with their with their tradition of their ground having nothing to do with football with their original home called the Racecourse. Now of course they play at the Ipoo standium, which is much closer to the truth.
Their highest attendance at their new home is 33,378 against Liverpool, something they are rightly proud of, the lowest attendance was for an F.A Cup third round replay against Millwall with just 7,183 but the game is available on DVD for the many who missed it.
Although little information is available on the subject, i did find reference's to this club holding several records, one of which seems to relate to not only holding the record for points taken in a season, but that they hold this record by an impressive margin, although not able to discover that actual points total, i think we can all agree this is an impressive record to hold. They also hold the record for most goals witnessed in a season, which must have been awfully entertaining.
Towards the end of the 19th century Derby entered a golden era in their history reaching 3 F.A Cup finals in 6 years, losing all three to, well, Nottingham Forest actually, but also Sheffield United & the power house of British football that is Bury (when they set a record for the worst ever F.A Cup final defeat of 6 goals to none). They did though win the F.A Cup in 1946 but this was mainly due to the second World War having just ended & the only other team to enter was Charlton Athletic Ladies whom Derby beat in the final.
Derby’s most celebrated former player & all time top goal scorer is Steve Bloomer, he scored 238 goals in 375 appearances in his 1st stint with the club when he was promptly sold to Middlesbrough for a whopping £750 (still a club record transfer fee received) & when to old to continue playing the game at professional level, he returned to Derby & scored a further 53 goals in 98 games.
In the late 1980's the club was taken over by Robert Maxwell & like Mr Maxwell, their hopes & dreams sank like a stone never to be seen again.
So there you are, go & amaze your friends with your now superb knowledge of footballs unheard of minows.
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