Exciting ins and a worrying possible out

I confess. Very much in touch with my inner child, I still play football games and management sims on the Playstation and pc. I find it strangely relaxing to put on some vintage Queen records (yesterday’s anniversary of Freddie’s death prompted a genuine marathon!) and try to restore Forest to their old glory of the same period, be it in a digital, parallel universe. And restore them I have. FA Cups, Champions Leagues, Premierships, we have won them all. In a childish way it feels great every time. One thing that strikes me about these games is how accurate they have become when it comes to assessing player qualities. When you have a really promising player in real life, his digital counterpart usually reflects that. I have often bought promising players in those games who later really came through the ranks in real life. I remember buying Andrea Pirlo, Samuel Eto'o and Matthew Etherington for Forest before I knew the actual players. (OK, the virtual Etherington worked out a lot better than the real one, but you get the general picture.) Certainly with Lewis McGugan, EA’s Fifa09 were spot on, starting Lewis off at a pretty good rating but making sure he quickly grew in stature because of his “elite” label. In the game I am currently playing, I have had offers for Lewis of well over £20M.

And look at Lewis now. Possibly the most exciting player in the Championship at the moment. Nine goals now this season, from midfield. And nearly all of them absolute belters. He shows vision, ability and skill worthy of the Premier League. And the Premier League seems to have taken note, with rumours recently that he is on the radar at Fulham, West Brom and Aston Villa. Now I honestly think Forest will not sell Lewis at this time. He is simply too important for us and the fans would go mental if he was sold. The good thing is, Forest do not have to sell and, in my opinion, will only do so if really silly money is offered. The rumoured 3M from Aston Villa certainly is not enough, especially when Gerrard Houllier has just said that Ashley Young is worth a staggering 80M to him. Surely that makes Lewis 20M at least…

I hope young Lewis doesn’t let the promise of big money and the Premiership turn his head. The best thing for him to do is to stay at Forest until he cannot develop any further here. He can help take Forest back to the Premier League in the form he is in. And if he stays, he can become an absolute Forest great if that form holds. He is a real hero at the City Ground right now and at a new club, he would merely be the new guy. It isn’t hard to figure out which status should appeal most to a young man of his age. But it all depends on the common sense of the player and his entourage. In Belgium we recently saw the fantastic (but sadly very exceptional) example of Romelu Lukaku of Anderlecht. The highly rated youngster is on everybody’s wish list but in August there was actual talk of a move to Real Madrid. Romelu’s dad earned my everlasting respect when he merely said: “That is all very nice, but Romelu has to finish school first.” Too many players have gone to waste by signing for a big club to early in their career. So please, Lewis, think long and hard.

Meanwhile, we will be missing Dexter Blackstock for a very long time after his knee gave out in Cardiff. It looked horrible when it happened and the news so far isn’t good. We wish Dexter courage and a speedy recovery. To compensate for Dexter’s absence, Forest have dipped into the loan market and come up with Marcus Tudgay of Sheffield Wednesday and, impressively, Aaron Ramsey of Arsenal. While we know that ex-D**by people generally do well at the City Ground and I am sure Marcus will be no exception, it is Ramsey who is the more exciting prospect. One of the most talented young players in the Premiership right now, Ramsey is sure to give the City Ground a buzz. It is a shrewd move by both Forest and Arsenal to get him in the Garibaldi for a month. Forest have six games in that period, in which they will want to hold on to the excellent home form and confirm away after the excellent win in Cardiff. But for Arsène Wenger as well, the move has huge benefits. At Forest, his player will get a lot more competitive football under his belt on his way to recovery. And with Chris Gunter and Robert Earnshaw, he will have some familiar faces around him from the Wales squad, so he can settle in quite easily. It is a perfect short term deal. It would be great to see a longer deal develop after this first month finishes, but we mustn’t be greedy. Still, getting Aaron Ramsey in, even if it’s only a month long loan, seems like a message of intent. We may well be on our way to a very interesting transfer window…