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.
Sunday, 15 September 2013
Forest, The Media & The #NFFC Timeline
I attended a rather entertaining game of football yesterday, a 3 - 2 home win that saw Forest take the lead 3 times. Not exactly an end to end game, it saw Barnsley equalise though a soft penalty & a Worldy of a free kick, but it was one of the most one sided 5 goal thrillers I've ever seen that was won by the odd goal & it maintained our 100% home record while seeing us move up the third place in the table.
All is good, or so I thought. I woke expecting to see jubilant messages of delighted fans, but no, once again the clubs beef with the media has taken centre stage & another good weekend of football has been overshadowed by negative reporting in the press, this time from Daniel Taylor of the Guardian/Observer (a journalist & Forest fan I have to say I have a lot of time for)
The story (Curious case of being banned for going to a game) can be found here (2nd article down) http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/sep/14/roy-hodgson-england
It contains a complaint about not being access to the press box for a game last season that he had no intention of writing about & the story gets more mentions in relating to Brian Clough than our good start to the season, with the latter being to the power of zero, zip, nada, not a word.
Reading through Daniels piece, it's easy to see why the club are taking umbrage at the treatment by the press, though there may be a chicken & egg situation in place, if those within power at Nottingham Forest feel they are being reported in a negative light then the issue is hardly going to resolved by yet another media article pointing out that a man who isn't a director of Forest would fail a directors test he doesn't have to take because of a technicality over a defunct Scottish law firms demise from which no charges have been brought & there doesn't seem to be any indication there actually ever will be.
While the final paragraph relating to Jim Price referring to a fan on twitter as 'babe' may well show a certain lack of professionalism, it's largely irrelevant & just comes across as a cheap shot, more or less showing the club are right & that the negative is being sought out over the positive. At no point does he mention the dozens & dozens of fans who have been invited via twitter to meet Billy at the club for signed photos & such like, cheap publicity for the club of course, but positive news stories coming from twitter that are being ignored by the media in favour of reporting a minor negative.
The whole article in my opinion reads as Mr Taylor closing the journalistic ranks & putting the boot in to defend his mates, the media equivalent of getting your big brother to beat up the bully. Not that I blame Daniel for sticking up for his mates, I suppose it shows a certain kind of quaint loyalty you have to respect, but this kind of kicking only goes to highlight the battle the club are fighting.
The club of course will now be every bit as childish & will probably ban another journalist from the City Ground, probably one of Daniels friends too, just for extra impact. I don't for one moment think the club are blameless in all this, their spat with the media is both childish & frustrating for fans, all we want to do is enjoy the game, hear our managers post match thoughts, open the paper in the morning to read glowing match reports & natter on twitter with each other about the positive future ahead of our great club. Things most fans take for granted, but which this loyal fan base that has stuck by the club through some disastrous recent times are now being refused because grown men are too self absorbed to see past their own bitter agendas.
Whole lot of them need their heads banging together to be honest.
All is good, or so I thought. I woke expecting to see jubilant messages of delighted fans, but no, once again the clubs beef with the media has taken centre stage & another good weekend of football has been overshadowed by negative reporting in the press, this time from Daniel Taylor of the Guardian/Observer (a journalist & Forest fan I have to say I have a lot of time for)
The story (Curious case of being banned for going to a game) can be found here (2nd article down) http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/sep/14/roy-hodgson-england
It contains a complaint about not being access to the press box for a game last season that he had no intention of writing about & the story gets more mentions in relating to Brian Clough than our good start to the season, with the latter being to the power of zero, zip, nada, not a word.
Reading through Daniels piece, it's easy to see why the club are taking umbrage at the treatment by the press, though there may be a chicken & egg situation in place, if those within power at Nottingham Forest feel they are being reported in a negative light then the issue is hardly going to resolved by yet another media article pointing out that a man who isn't a director of Forest would fail a directors test he doesn't have to take because of a technicality over a defunct Scottish law firms demise from which no charges have been brought & there doesn't seem to be any indication there actually ever will be.
While the final paragraph relating to Jim Price referring to a fan on twitter as 'babe' may well show a certain lack of professionalism, it's largely irrelevant & just comes across as a cheap shot, more or less showing the club are right & that the negative is being sought out over the positive. At no point does he mention the dozens & dozens of fans who have been invited via twitter to meet Billy at the club for signed photos & such like, cheap publicity for the club of course, but positive news stories coming from twitter that are being ignored by the media in favour of reporting a minor negative.
The whole article in my opinion reads as Mr Taylor closing the journalistic ranks & putting the boot in to defend his mates, the media equivalent of getting your big brother to beat up the bully. Not that I blame Daniel for sticking up for his mates, I suppose it shows a certain kind of quaint loyalty you have to respect, but this kind of kicking only goes to highlight the battle the club are fighting.
The club of course will now be every bit as childish & will probably ban another journalist from the City Ground, probably one of Daniels friends too, just for extra impact. I don't for one moment think the club are blameless in all this, their spat with the media is both childish & frustrating for fans, all we want to do is enjoy the game, hear our managers post match thoughts, open the paper in the morning to read glowing match reports & natter on twitter with each other about the positive future ahead of our great club. Things most fans take for granted, but which this loyal fan base that has stuck by the club through some disastrous recent times are now being refused because grown men are too self absorbed to see past their own bitter agendas.
Whole lot of them need their heads banging together to be honest.
Sunday, 3 February 2013
Nottingham Forest Mistakes Can Be Rectified
When our new owners arrived, many of us (if not all) were very optimistic for the future of the club. We didn't know how they were going to approach running the club, but fans were fairly unanimous in expecting it to be considerably better than the previous regime. Yet here we are, 6 month later on with the usual post January negativity engulfing the club.
Serious questions need to be asked, by everyone associated with the club.
Firstly, is it us, the fans. The question has to be asked because we have new owners, a new manager & many new players, yet the negativity is still there amongst us. If we are the common denominator, are we cause of much of the unrest? While it's fair to say Forest fans have a reputation for negativity, I don't accept we are to blame. We could always support a little better, but the current issues are solely behind the scenes. While there were the usual rumblings of discontent late in 2012, the entire fan base was shocked at the dismissal of Sean O'Driscoll & what has followed since has seen Nottingham Forest thrown into internal turmoil. We can't be held responsible, but some of us should probably take a long hard look at ourselves, because we're far from perfect.
Could the previous regime be to blame? Well they certainly left an enormous mess behind to resolve, but when the Al-Hasawi family took over they made very short work of rectifying those mistakes, so it's another no there.
Should we blame Mark Arthur, I'm tempted to say yes to that, just for the hell of it, but the truth is he isn't & never was the problem at Forest, unpleasant as he may have been, he stayed in his job for as long as he did because under the previous regime he carried out his duties to the letter. It would seem he had little actual input under the new owners. So while it's always nice to throw a little blame towards 'He who shall not be serious about promotion' it's just looking for a scapegoat. Entertaining target that he may be, he's already received his bullet.
Sean O'Driscoll then maybe? Well he took over a struggling squad from the previous season, rebuilt it & got that team to within a point of the play offs, so it's hard to be too critical of him. He made some strange choices towards the end of his reign here, but it's perhaps fair to say the job was a little too big for him. He likes a long term project does Sean. Doncaster prior to us & now Bristol City will be glad to have him, where a long term plan of slow progression is the order of the day, but I believe his talk of being a 'process man' rather than a results man was the reason he was relieved of his duties. While the owners may have a 3 - 5 year business plan, any business plans success is determined by results, While the new owners should be congratulated for hiring him in the first place because at face value he fitted in with what fans & players wanted, when looked at in a wider context, his short reign shouldn't really have been met with the surprise it was at the time. It was an easy choice with a limited shelf life, though we should all wish him well. A nice man.
How about Alex McLeish? When he was first appointed you were hard pushed to find a fan that had him down as first choice. He has a reputation for negative football, he hasn't seen a great deal of success in English football & doesn't seem to fit in with a Forest ethos. Harsh to blame him though for such a short period of time & after all, it wasn't him that sacked O'Driscoll, sacked Frank Clark, Mark Arthur & Keith Burt. He's still here & for as long as he is he will get my full support, but having said that I don't believe he'll be getting my full support for long. It may not even last until the next game. Alex though was just the wrong man in the wrong job at the wrong time. Not to blame, but won't be missed should he choose to walk.
So that leaves us with the owners. New to English football, they've signed 18 players so far and have put an awful lot of money into the club. They appeared to give Steve Cotterill their backing the day before they sacked him. They sacked O'Driscoll after a 4 - 2 home win that left us a single point outside the play offs, replaced him with a long ball specialist & sacked club legend Frank Clark by post. All of which was followed by a January transfer window that ended in controversy.
Doesn't look good for them does it? Lets be fair here though. They have little knowledge of the workings within English football, yet came in and rebuilt an entire squad that had recently been decimated at considerable expense. They hired a manager that on face value had all the attributes the fans could ever want & they hired him with the ringing endorsement of the players. Sacking O'Driscoll was probably a mistake, but I believe his approach wasn't 'urgent' enough for the Al-Hasawi family & if it is true their first choice in the summer was McLeish who wasn't prepared to take the job at the time but was happy to return to the game in January it's hardly surprising they made the change.
That brings us to January, it went badly, there can be no hiding from that. Maybe George Boyd has a degenerative eye condition that could render him retired after single header, maybe they didn't want the deal & found a way out of it, truth is we'll probably never know & even if it is the former, it doesn't excuse the lack of strengthening in other areas, specifically with a right winger, but again it has to be pointed out these people who have spent an enormous amount of money already have been running an English football club for half a year, this is their first experience of the maniacal January transfer window, their first experience of player valuations trebling the second you pick up the phone. The last 6 months have been a giant learning curve. This half year has not only been a giant learning curve though, it's been an awfully expensive learning curve & one they are receiving quite a lot of criticism for.
No, while the search for someone to blame rages on, the fact of the matter is that mistakes have been made, but have been made with the best of intentions by people trying their best. Sacking O'Driscoll was a mistake, hiring McLeish will probably turn out to be a mistake, not getting business done early in January was mistake & sacking Frank Clark by post was certainly a mistake, but only really the latter should result in any criticism towards Fawaz Al-Hasawi, the rest can be resigned to history & put down to learning their way around English football.
So, now is the time to consign these mistakes to the dustbin of history, accept they were made with the best of intentions & look forward to a bright future.
Serious questions need to be asked, by everyone associated with the club.
Firstly, is it us, the fans. The question has to be asked because we have new owners, a new manager & many new players, yet the negativity is still there amongst us. If we are the common denominator, are we cause of much of the unrest? While it's fair to say Forest fans have a reputation for negativity, I don't accept we are to blame. We could always support a little better, but the current issues are solely behind the scenes. While there were the usual rumblings of discontent late in 2012, the entire fan base was shocked at the dismissal of Sean O'Driscoll & what has followed since has seen Nottingham Forest thrown into internal turmoil. We can't be held responsible, but some of us should probably take a long hard look at ourselves, because we're far from perfect.
Could the previous regime be to blame? Well they certainly left an enormous mess behind to resolve, but when the Al-Hasawi family took over they made very short work of rectifying those mistakes, so it's another no there.
Should we blame Mark Arthur, I'm tempted to say yes to that, just for the hell of it, but the truth is he isn't & never was the problem at Forest, unpleasant as he may have been, he stayed in his job for as long as he did because under the previous regime he carried out his duties to the letter. It would seem he had little actual input under the new owners. So while it's always nice to throw a little blame towards 'He who shall not be serious about promotion' it's just looking for a scapegoat. Entertaining target that he may be, he's already received his bullet.
Sean O'Driscoll then maybe? Well he took over a struggling squad from the previous season, rebuilt it & got that team to within a point of the play offs, so it's hard to be too critical of him. He made some strange choices towards the end of his reign here, but it's perhaps fair to say the job was a little too big for him. He likes a long term project does Sean. Doncaster prior to us & now Bristol City will be glad to have him, where a long term plan of slow progression is the order of the day, but I believe his talk of being a 'process man' rather than a results man was the reason he was relieved of his duties. While the owners may have a 3 - 5 year business plan, any business plans success is determined by results, While the new owners should be congratulated for hiring him in the first place because at face value he fitted in with what fans & players wanted, when looked at in a wider context, his short reign shouldn't really have been met with the surprise it was at the time. It was an easy choice with a limited shelf life, though we should all wish him well. A nice man.
How about Alex McLeish? When he was first appointed you were hard pushed to find a fan that had him down as first choice. He has a reputation for negative football, he hasn't seen a great deal of success in English football & doesn't seem to fit in with a Forest ethos. Harsh to blame him though for such a short period of time & after all, it wasn't him that sacked O'Driscoll, sacked Frank Clark, Mark Arthur & Keith Burt. He's still here & for as long as he is he will get my full support, but having said that I don't believe he'll be getting my full support for long. It may not even last until the next game. Alex though was just the wrong man in the wrong job at the wrong time. Not to blame, but won't be missed should he choose to walk.
So that leaves us with the owners. New to English football, they've signed 18 players so far and have put an awful lot of money into the club. They appeared to give Steve Cotterill their backing the day before they sacked him. They sacked O'Driscoll after a 4 - 2 home win that left us a single point outside the play offs, replaced him with a long ball specialist & sacked club legend Frank Clark by post. All of which was followed by a January transfer window that ended in controversy.
Doesn't look good for them does it? Lets be fair here though. They have little knowledge of the workings within English football, yet came in and rebuilt an entire squad that had recently been decimated at considerable expense. They hired a manager that on face value had all the attributes the fans could ever want & they hired him with the ringing endorsement of the players. Sacking O'Driscoll was probably a mistake, but I believe his approach wasn't 'urgent' enough for the Al-Hasawi family & if it is true their first choice in the summer was McLeish who wasn't prepared to take the job at the time but was happy to return to the game in January it's hardly surprising they made the change.
That brings us to January, it went badly, there can be no hiding from that. Maybe George Boyd has a degenerative eye condition that could render him retired after single header, maybe they didn't want the deal & found a way out of it, truth is we'll probably never know & even if it is the former, it doesn't excuse the lack of strengthening in other areas, specifically with a right winger, but again it has to be pointed out these people who have spent an enormous amount of money already have been running an English football club for half a year, this is their first experience of the maniacal January transfer window, their first experience of player valuations trebling the second you pick up the phone. The last 6 months have been a giant learning curve. This half year has not only been a giant learning curve though, it's been an awfully expensive learning curve & one they are receiving quite a lot of criticism for.
No, while the search for someone to blame rages on, the fact of the matter is that mistakes have been made, but have been made with the best of intentions by people trying their best. Sacking O'Driscoll was a mistake, hiring McLeish will probably turn out to be a mistake, not getting business done early in January was mistake & sacking Frank Clark by post was certainly a mistake, but only really the latter should result in any criticism towards Fawaz Al-Hasawi, the rest can be resigned to history & put down to learning their way around English football.
So, now is the time to consign these mistakes to the dustbin of history, accept they were made with the best of intentions & look forward to a bright future.
Sunday, 1 July 2012
Rip It Up & Start Again
This could be our greatest (if not only) chance to restart the numerous relationships that surround Nottingham Forest, to build bridges & rescind the negativity that has been suffocating everyone that loves this great club.
There are currently broken relationships wherever you look at Forest. The fans distrust the board, have little faith in the efforts on many players & feel the local journalists have let them down. The board seemed to have little (if any) respect for the fans after the complaints & protests of last season (if they ever had any at all, which seems doubtful) & there have been personal attacks on social media sites on some of our local journalists who have probably received as little communication from the club as the fans have, virtually none, giving them little to report unless the club wanted publicity.
So, with a new regime taking control of running of the club, a new season for the players & team management to show their willingness to fight for our cause, a new approach to media relations & a (hopefully) tragedy free season for the fans to support, is this not the blank canvas we should all have been praying for?
Without doubt the negativity that surrounded the club over the last few years has been throttling the life out of all involved. Nobody has been happy with the activities at the club over the last 12 months, we need to build again.
It is these thoughts that suggest the early signs of the Al-Hasawi family will be a great match with Forest. While fans were panicking because the takeover wasn't moving fast enough, Mr Hasawi (or more specifically his wife) posted a photo of his own daughter in a Forest shirt on a social media site. This act most certainly helped ease the fans fears. Someone was out there trying to lead our club forward. Significantly the recently released statements on the Forest website are intended to calm nerves. From the Al-Hasawi family it stated quite clearly they want the fans on side & want to build a bright future (while you could argue 'what else could they say' the simply reply is they could have said nothing. I'm sure many, including the previous regime, would have said nothing.) The fact they said anything at all implies a much more open future between hierarchy & fans.
It was also interesting to see a note from the club warning to ignore any following media speculation.
Very little is known of Fawaz Al-Hasawi so an expectation of big money being spent is perhaps a little hopeful. What we do know is this, he has spent the last decade as president of his local club Qadsia, he has put money into that club to finance a push for success & he has been rewarded with trophies for doing so.
Make no mistake, here we seem to have a man who not only knows how to communicate with fans of a football clubs, he also knows how to reward those fans with successful on the field.
Moving on to the local press, it's fair to say [I believe] that the local press haven't had much in the name of 'breaking news' in recent years. I said recently the last Forest related story I remember being broken on a local media outlet was Darren Huckerby signing on loan a long long time ago. This of course isn't down to the journalists themselves & I'm sure there have been a few stories I've missed, but although they obviously want the big news first, the previous regime at Nottingham Forest were so often on media lockdown there was little for them to report. A 'no comment' is incredibly difficult to expand on without simply making things up. It would seem that is about to change too meaning the relationship between local media and fans can possibly reach a happy medium too.
Last season we had a manager with his hands tied, players under immense pressure, frustrated fans & a new chairman trying to operate a business under circumstances he couldn't possibly of imagined when he arrived in October.
Some of the staff may well leave of course, but whoever remains will be in exactly the same positions as us fans, enjoying a fresh start. The future looks bright, lets embrace it.
There are currently broken relationships wherever you look at Forest. The fans distrust the board, have little faith in the efforts on many players & feel the local journalists have let them down. The board seemed to have little (if any) respect for the fans after the complaints & protests of last season (if they ever had any at all, which seems doubtful) & there have been personal attacks on social media sites on some of our local journalists who have probably received as little communication from the club as the fans have, virtually none, giving them little to report unless the club wanted publicity.
So, with a new regime taking control of running of the club, a new season for the players & team management to show their willingness to fight for our cause, a new approach to media relations & a (hopefully) tragedy free season for the fans to support, is this not the blank canvas we should all have been praying for?
Without doubt the negativity that surrounded the club over the last few years has been throttling the life out of all involved. Nobody has been happy with the activities at the club over the last 12 months, we need to build again.
It is these thoughts that suggest the early signs of the Al-Hasawi family will be a great match with Forest. While fans were panicking because the takeover wasn't moving fast enough, Mr Hasawi (or more specifically his wife) posted a photo of his own daughter in a Forest shirt on a social media site. This act most certainly helped ease the fans fears. Someone was out there trying to lead our club forward. Significantly the recently released statements on the Forest website are intended to calm nerves. From the Al-Hasawi family it stated quite clearly they want the fans on side & want to build a bright future (while you could argue 'what else could they say' the simply reply is they could have said nothing. I'm sure many, including the previous regime, would have said nothing.) The fact they said anything at all implies a much more open future between hierarchy & fans.
It was also interesting to see a note from the club warning to ignore any following media speculation.
Very little is known of Fawaz Al-Hasawi so an expectation of big money being spent is perhaps a little hopeful. What we do know is this, he has spent the last decade as president of his local club Qadsia, he has put money into that club to finance a push for success & he has been rewarded with trophies for doing so.
Make no mistake, here we seem to have a man who not only knows how to communicate with fans of a football clubs, he also knows how to reward those fans with successful on the field.
Moving on to the local press, it's fair to say [I believe] that the local press haven't had much in the name of 'breaking news' in recent years. I said recently the last Forest related story I remember being broken on a local media outlet was Darren Huckerby signing on loan a long long time ago. This of course isn't down to the journalists themselves & I'm sure there have been a few stories I've missed, but although they obviously want the big news first, the previous regime at Nottingham Forest were so often on media lockdown there was little for them to report. A 'no comment' is incredibly difficult to expand on without simply making things up. It would seem that is about to change too meaning the relationship between local media and fans can possibly reach a happy medium too.
Last season we had a manager with his hands tied, players under immense pressure, frustrated fans & a new chairman trying to operate a business under circumstances he couldn't possibly of imagined when he arrived in October.
Some of the staff may well leave of course, but whoever remains will be in exactly the same positions as us fans, enjoying a fresh start. The future looks bright, lets embrace it.
Friday, 22 June 2012
Strap Yourself In, The Roller Coaster Is Starting Again
When you look at the recent history of Nottingham Forest, there barely ever seems time to catch your breath before the next crisis takes hold or the next exciting opportunity presents itself. Over the last 6 summers we've had to get over 3 play off failures, 3 managerial appointments (one of which lasted only weeks before a forth manager arrived) & a turnover in players that sees only Lewis McGugan survive from the squad that started the 2006/07 League One campaign.
If ever a club was screaming out for a period of stability it is Nottingham Forest.
You can't suspect for a minute we're going to get it though. A takeover of the clubs seems to be edging closer by the day, a new owner often indicates a change in team management & our squad is so unbalanced that a monumental overhaul of playing staff is unavoidable. So it would seem it's going to be all change once more & our season will probably start with optimism and despair in equal measure around the City Ground. The only constant being a set of supporters who are loyal in the extreme clinging onto a hope.
The front runner in the takeover seems to be a Mr Fawaz Al Hasawi of Kuwait, although he could only be part of a consortium and if we're honest it wouldn't come as a shock if a new name comes right out of left-field minutes before being named as the new owner of Nottingham Forest.
Whoever the new owners of our great club turn out to be, one thing they can be sure of is an excessively loyal (if occasionally demanding) fan base & if there is one thing that loyal fan base can be certain of it's that you better have your safety harness locked down & fastened tightly because the NFFC Roller Coaster is about to reach another seasons apex.
So raise your hands, brace yourself for the excitement & be prepared for another loop the loopy season in the life of a Forest supporter. Scream if you wanna go faster, because supporting Forest is for adrenaline junkies only.
A Brief History Of Nottingham Forest Terror
2002/03 Play Off Defeat
2003/04 Survived With 1 Game To Spare (though quite comfortably in the end)
2004/05 Relegated With One Game Remaining
2005/06 Missed Out On Play Off Place On Final Day
2006/07 Play Off Defeat
2007/08 Final Day Automatic Promotion
2008/09 Survived with 1 game to spare
2009/10 Play Off Defeat
2010/11 Play Off Defeat
2011/12 Survived with 2 games to spare
2012/13 ?
It's been over a decade since Forest fans had a stress free season, but I don't see that changing any time soon, do you?
If ever a club was screaming out for a period of stability it is Nottingham Forest.
You can't suspect for a minute we're going to get it though. A takeover of the clubs seems to be edging closer by the day, a new owner often indicates a change in team management & our squad is so unbalanced that a monumental overhaul of playing staff is unavoidable. So it would seem it's going to be all change once more & our season will probably start with optimism and despair in equal measure around the City Ground. The only constant being a set of supporters who are loyal in the extreme clinging onto a hope.
The front runner in the takeover seems to be a Mr Fawaz Al Hasawi of Kuwait, although he could only be part of a consortium and if we're honest it wouldn't come as a shock if a new name comes right out of left-field minutes before being named as the new owner of Nottingham Forest.
Whoever the new owners of our great club turn out to be, one thing they can be sure of is an excessively loyal (if occasionally demanding) fan base & if there is one thing that loyal fan base can be certain of it's that you better have your safety harness locked down & fastened tightly because the NFFC Roller Coaster is about to reach another seasons apex.
So raise your hands, brace yourself for the excitement & be prepared for another loop the loopy season in the life of a Forest supporter. Scream if you wanna go faster, because supporting Forest is for adrenaline junkies only.
A Brief History Of Nottingham Forest Terror
2002/03 Play Off Defeat
2003/04 Survived With 1 Game To Spare (though quite comfortably in the end)
2004/05 Relegated With One Game Remaining
2005/06 Missed Out On Play Off Place On Final Day
2006/07 Play Off Defeat
2007/08 Final Day Automatic Promotion
2008/09 Survived with 1 game to spare
2009/10 Play Off Defeat
2010/11 Play Off Defeat
2011/12 Survived with 2 games to spare
2012/13 ?
It's been over a decade since Forest fans had a stress free season, but I don't see that changing any time soon, do you?
Tuesday, 1 May 2012
The Way Forward Is Linked To Our Great History
I grew up watching Forest play a certain way, it wasn't the beautiful sent from heaven Gods own football style many seem to remember it as, but it was quick passing counter attacking football on the floor, it was easy on the eye & entertaining to watch. While I'd love to see a return to that kind of football at Forest (& Steve Cotterill has been delivering a more aesthetically pleasing variety over the last few months) it's not everything.
Since the tragic death of our owner Nigel Doughty, there seems to have been much soul searching going on amongst fans over the way the club should move forwards into an uncertain financial future that will now be based around Financial Fair Play in the Championship. When Mr Doughty first arrived as sole owner, he preached a great deal about making this football club self sufficient, sadly his love for the club seemed to blind him from his initial intentions & he pumped a massive amount of cash into the club to try & achieve his aim of returning his passion to the Premiership. It was sadly an ambition he never realised, & from a man used to getting what he wants that must have hurt a great deal. Mark Arthur recently quoted Mr Doughty as asking "Am I killing the club with kindness?" & looking back over some of the money spent & the manner in which that money was lost, you have to say he probably was. I believe Mr Doughty to have been a decent & honest man who loved Nottingham Forest as passionately as any fan, but was misguided by his ability fund the club. I believe he lost his way.
A look back at my early days supporting Forest shows the way forward in these economically uncertain times. My first ever game was January 1989, it was a Wednesday night and a league cup tie at home to QPR. I was only 15 & not allowed to go to the football because my family were County fans, So a saved up my paper round money and went on my own. The point of this story is to show you some of the players from that day.
Steve Sutton (apprentice)
Brian Laws (£120,000 from Middlesbrough)
Stuart Pearce (part of a double deal £300,000 from Coventry)
Steve Chettle (apprentice)
Terry Wilson (apprentice)
Steve Hodge (apprentice)
Franz Carr (£25,000 from Blackburn)
Neil Webb (£250,000 from Portsmouth)
Garry Parker (£260,000 from Hull)
Nigel Clough (apprentice)
Lee Chapman (£100,000 from Chamois Niortais)
I know football lived in a different economic stratosphere in those days, but that was an entire League Cup winning team team that finished 3rd in what is now the Premiership for just over a million quid (Forest sold those players on for a total of £3,250,000 by the way) , with players signed mostly from lower league clubs along with a smattering of developed youth players and local boys.
When I look back on those days, it's not the trophies that make me proud (though it would be churlish of me to claim it irrelevant) but the manner in which we built that success. Nottingham Forest, at their best, develop their own players along with buying young talented lower league players & then build teams that play attractive football. If Forest are to ever return to the top flight, I feel a return to our routes is the way forward.
We may have been the first club to pay a million pound fee for a player, but both our greatest historical moments & our best chance of a bright future will come from our ability to coach, develop & scout talented players that we can make great.
So, less of the Gary Holts, Nicky Eadens, Matt Derbyshires & Danny Sonners and more of the McClearys please.
Since the tragic death of our owner Nigel Doughty, there seems to have been much soul searching going on amongst fans over the way the club should move forwards into an uncertain financial future that will now be based around Financial Fair Play in the Championship. When Mr Doughty first arrived as sole owner, he preached a great deal about making this football club self sufficient, sadly his love for the club seemed to blind him from his initial intentions & he pumped a massive amount of cash into the club to try & achieve his aim of returning his passion to the Premiership. It was sadly an ambition he never realised, & from a man used to getting what he wants that must have hurt a great deal. Mark Arthur recently quoted Mr Doughty as asking "Am I killing the club with kindness?" & looking back over some of the money spent & the manner in which that money was lost, you have to say he probably was. I believe Mr Doughty to have been a decent & honest man who loved Nottingham Forest as passionately as any fan, but was misguided by his ability fund the club. I believe he lost his way.
A look back at my early days supporting Forest shows the way forward in these economically uncertain times. My first ever game was January 1989, it was a Wednesday night and a league cup tie at home to QPR. I was only 15 & not allowed to go to the football because my family were County fans, So a saved up my paper round money and went on my own. The point of this story is to show you some of the players from that day.
Steve Sutton (apprentice)
Brian Laws (£120,000 from Middlesbrough)
Stuart Pearce (part of a double deal £300,000 from Coventry)
Steve Chettle (apprentice)
Terry Wilson (apprentice)
Steve Hodge (apprentice)
Franz Carr (£25,000 from Blackburn)
Neil Webb (£250,000 from Portsmouth)
Garry Parker (£260,000 from Hull)
Nigel Clough (apprentice)
Lee Chapman (£100,000 from Chamois Niortais)
I know football lived in a different economic stratosphere in those days, but that was an entire League Cup winning team team that finished 3rd in what is now the Premiership for just over a million quid (Forest sold those players on for a total of £3,250,000 by the way) , with players signed mostly from lower league clubs along with a smattering of developed youth players and local boys.
When I look back on those days, it's not the trophies that make me proud (though it would be churlish of me to claim it irrelevant) but the manner in which we built that success. Nottingham Forest, at their best, develop their own players along with buying young talented lower league players & then build teams that play attractive football. If Forest are to ever return to the top flight, I feel a return to our routes is the way forward.
We may have been the first club to pay a million pound fee for a player, but both our greatest historical moments & our best chance of a bright future will come from our ability to coach, develop & scout talented players that we can make great.
So, less of the Gary Holts, Nicky Eadens, Matt Derbyshires & Danny Sonners and more of the McClearys please.
Sunday, 8 April 2012
The Big If They Do That & We Do This Blog
With just five games to go & the Easter weekend almost over, I would suggest It's time to take a look at who is in the mix at the bottom of the table & take a look at what we can hope/expect to see.
Lets start with the bottom two Doncaster & Portsmouth. They are both already relegated in all but name, sorry but they are. Job done, lets move on.
If we take a quick look at the three teams directly above Forest we have Millwall, Barnsley & Peterborough. The latter two are probably already safe being 7 & 8 points clear of relegation respectively & with Bristol City & Coventry playing each other on Monday it would take automatic promotion form for the losing side in that fixture to overtake them. Millwall aren't quite so certain of safety yet but being 5 points clear at the moment they probably only need one more win to be assured of safety. They should pick that up with three of their remaining 5 games being away at Portsmouth, Ipswich, & Coventry.
So, one final relegation place left realistically & 3 teams fighting to avoid it.
Lets start with the team with most to do.
Coventry currently on 39 pts
Remaining fixtures: Bristol city (A), Birmingham (A), Millwall (H), Doncaster (H) & Southampton (A)
There are obviously two very tough fixtures in there & you would expect a return of zero points from the Brum & Southampton away games. A 4 - 6 point haul from the two home fixtures seems more than plausible as their home form isn't actually too bad (it's their single away win that has seen them down at the bottom). I'll leave the Bristol City game for the next set of fixtures we'll look at.
Bristol City currently on 40pts
Remaining fixtures: Coventry (H), Birmingham (A), West Ham (H), Barnsley (H) & Burnley (A).
Again there are two very tough games in there having to face Birmingham and West Ham & you would say a return of zero points from those is the only sensible prediction while similarly to Coventry there are also two fixtures that could quite plausibly see a return of between 4 and 6 points as I see the home tie v Barnsley as perfectly winnable & the final day fixture away at Burnley would depend very much on whether the Burnley heads are on the pitch or the beech, I suspect the latter.
So that leaves the Bristol City v Coventry City fixture. Having seen both teams at the City Ground recently, I would have to say that despite Forest losing to the Robins & beating the Sky Blues, that Cov were the better side, Bristol City were truly woeful, possibly the worst team I've seen this season. When All said & done, when you look at the recent form, home advantage & team confidence though, I can only come up with a home win. This would give Bristol City 9 points & Coventry 6 by the end of the season.
From there, the maths are simple. Forest are 4 points clear of Coventry at the moment, the teams below picking up 9 (Bristol) & 6 (Coventry) points would leave Forest needing just 3 points for safety.
Nottingham Forest currently on 43 pts
Remaining Fixtures: Peterborough (A), Blackpool (H), Reading (A), Hull (A) & Portsmouth (H)
Again, there are two very tough fixtures in there & you would expect given the form guide & relative positions of the teams, the Blackpool & Reading games look like defeats. Peterborough looks winnable but a draw more likely & so the away fixture at Hull probably offers our best chance of three points ahead of a final day show down with Pompey. Hull have lost all of the last 5 games including defeats to Coventry, Millwall & Portsmouth. It seems the Tigers have given up on their season well in advance of everyone else.
That would have give us the points we need to secure safety by my predictions ahead of our 46th league game at home to Portsmouth. I sincerely hope we have secured safety by then because this game worries me immensely. They will be relegated by then & they could be in the position of knowing had it not been for the 10 point deduction they would have been safe & like the wounded beast that knows it's time has come I expect them to take one final nasty bite. If they 'could' send us down with a win, I expect them to give just a little more to the cause & try to take us down with them.
My final league table for the bottom 5
20: Bristol City 49
21: Forest 47
---------------------
22: Coventry City 45
23: Portsmouth 41
24: Doncaster 36
Far closer than we'd all like, but I think we'll survive by a single point
Lets start with the bottom two Doncaster & Portsmouth. They are both already relegated in all but name, sorry but they are. Job done, lets move on.
If we take a quick look at the three teams directly above Forest we have Millwall, Barnsley & Peterborough. The latter two are probably already safe being 7 & 8 points clear of relegation respectively & with Bristol City & Coventry playing each other on Monday it would take automatic promotion form for the losing side in that fixture to overtake them. Millwall aren't quite so certain of safety yet but being 5 points clear at the moment they probably only need one more win to be assured of safety. They should pick that up with three of their remaining 5 games being away at Portsmouth, Ipswich, & Coventry.
So, one final relegation place left realistically & 3 teams fighting to avoid it.
Lets start with the team with most to do.
Coventry currently on 39 pts
Remaining fixtures: Bristol city (A), Birmingham (A), Millwall (H), Doncaster (H) & Southampton (A)
There are obviously two very tough fixtures in there & you would expect a return of zero points from the Brum & Southampton away games. A 4 - 6 point haul from the two home fixtures seems more than plausible as their home form isn't actually too bad (it's their single away win that has seen them down at the bottom). I'll leave the Bristol City game for the next set of fixtures we'll look at.
Bristol City currently on 40pts
Remaining fixtures: Coventry (H), Birmingham (A), West Ham (H), Barnsley (H) & Burnley (A).
Again there are two very tough games in there having to face Birmingham and West Ham & you would say a return of zero points from those is the only sensible prediction while similarly to Coventry there are also two fixtures that could quite plausibly see a return of between 4 and 6 points as I see the home tie v Barnsley as perfectly winnable & the final day fixture away at Burnley would depend very much on whether the Burnley heads are on the pitch or the beech, I suspect the latter.
So that leaves the Bristol City v Coventry City fixture. Having seen both teams at the City Ground recently, I would have to say that despite Forest losing to the Robins & beating the Sky Blues, that Cov were the better side, Bristol City were truly woeful, possibly the worst team I've seen this season. When All said & done, when you look at the recent form, home advantage & team confidence though, I can only come up with a home win. This would give Bristol City 9 points & Coventry 6 by the end of the season.
From there, the maths are simple. Forest are 4 points clear of Coventry at the moment, the teams below picking up 9 (Bristol) & 6 (Coventry) points would leave Forest needing just 3 points for safety.
Nottingham Forest currently on 43 pts
Remaining Fixtures: Peterborough (A), Blackpool (H), Reading (A), Hull (A) & Portsmouth (H)
Again, there are two very tough fixtures in there & you would expect given the form guide & relative positions of the teams, the Blackpool & Reading games look like defeats. Peterborough looks winnable but a draw more likely & so the away fixture at Hull probably offers our best chance of three points ahead of a final day show down with Pompey. Hull have lost all of the last 5 games including defeats to Coventry, Millwall & Portsmouth. It seems the Tigers have given up on their season well in advance of everyone else.
That would have give us the points we need to secure safety by my predictions ahead of our 46th league game at home to Portsmouth. I sincerely hope we have secured safety by then because this game worries me immensely. They will be relegated by then & they could be in the position of knowing had it not been for the 10 point deduction they would have been safe & like the wounded beast that knows it's time has come I expect them to take one final nasty bite. If they 'could' send us down with a win, I expect them to give just a little more to the cause & try to take us down with them.
My final league table for the bottom 5
20: Bristol City 49
21: Forest 47
---------------------
22: Coventry City 45
23: Portsmouth 41
24: Doncaster 36
Far closer than we'd all like, but I think we'll survive by a single point
Wednesday, 4 April 2012
We Wont Get A Better Chance Than This
As we head into Easter schedule of games, we face a double header against two other bottom half teams, one of which hasn't won at the City Ground in a league game in my life time & an away fixture against a team that has only ever beaten us once, although that was this season.
Bristol City Preview
City haven't won away from home this year, including an FA Cup defeat to league 2 Crawley. They have only scored 1 goal away from home this year & picked up just 2 points on the road in 2012. Forest haven't won back to back games often this season (just twice) & we won't get a better chance than this to do it again.
In 65 league games between the two teams, Forest have a astounding record of 28 wins & 24 draws with Bristol recording just 13 victories. Forest have also outscored Bristol comfortably by 102 goals to 68.
Peterborough United Preview
This one is a very different prospect though, where Bristol are struggling for goals, it's the one thing you're guaranteed at The Posh, they don't draw many at home (won 10 & lost 8) and Peterborough games this season have seen 124 goals in total. Add to that they haven't been involved in a goalless draw all season (how about that for the kiss of death) & you have a great chance of taking points, especially when you consider IF Forest take the points from Bristol City the Posh could well be safe.
This is only the 5th league meeting between the two with Forest winning 4 & Peterborough taking the odd win, Forest have also scored eight of the 12 goals this fixture has produced
The Future
What we're faced with here, is the potential for the Easter period to leave us all with a very loud, pronounced & sincere sigh of relief. We could, by 16:50 on Monday afternoon be waving goodbye to the season from hell, when anything that could go wrong did, we could exit this season no worse off as a football club.
Should we pull it off & should the take over rumours be true, we could be beckoning forward the 2012/13 season with a new found optimism.
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