The Devil's Advocate

Might take a bit of getting used to…

2011-09-06T01:39:00.000-07:00

It’s a rotten job but somebody has to do it. That just about sums up what it is like to be a Forest fan. Arguably, it also describes pretty accurately what it means to be Forest manager. The season has hardly begun but already our new manager is rumoured to want to jump ship. I would be surprised if he did; I am sure Mr McLaren has much more steel in him than that, but it is sad that this is the main topic of the day, this early in the season. And even more sad is the fact that, if there is any truth in this, it is again caused by transfers not materialising and the blame for that being thrown around the club. It is only September, but already the fans are divided. There is a large proportion who want to get rid of the chairman, saying he has never done anything for NFFC. Then there is the “other side” who thank Mr Doughty for everything he has done for the club, for the fact even that they still have a club to support. The first group right now are quite vocal in their opinion that the sacking of Billy Davies was a disgrace. The second think he had it coming and that no employee at no company would get away with constantly rubbing the bosses the wrong way as Billy did.

As you can probably guess from earlier blogs, I am in the second camp. I liked Billy Davies. I called him King Billy now and again. Why? Because he gave us something to be proud of, now and again. In his first full season, there was the incredible away form early on. In his second, it was home form. Both were amazing, featuring massive unbeaten runs. But that was offset by points lost elsewhere. The City Ground wasn’t exactly a fortress in that first season and then last season we were horrific away. Also, twice we were in a great position around February, March, only for it to go completely off the rails for some reason, with the manager unable to get it going again and Forest twice just scraping into the play-offs. There was a depressing run last season where we couldn’t seem to win a game to save our lives. And then there was Billy’s mouth. Always moaning, about transfers, about lack of support and loyalty. At the same time, he openly flirted with other clubs, most famously with Celtic, even saying he would consider any offer from any bigger club. Choosing to live in Glasgow and travel up and down didn’t help, even if I will not judge him for that, as we will never know his reasons. But a lack of loyalty toward your employers, coupled with up and down results, is not going to cement your position. So after another bust-up, it was: “Bye bye Billy.” I wasn’t surprised, I even thought it was overdue.

But now here we go again, apparently. Now Steve McLaren is said to be frustrated at the lack of signings and it is reported that he is thinking about leaving the City Ground already. It’s hard to say how much of this is true. We don’t know what is said inside the City Ground offices. We’re not there so we can only guess. Steve has said that the transfer period was a frustrating time. But whereas – with Billy Davies in mind – many choose to see that as unveiled criticism of the way Forest go about transfers, I think he isn’t just talking about himself. I think he means it has been frustrating for all concerned: for him as a manager, for the board, for the players and the fans, it has been frustrating looking at good players and some big signings not happening, for different reasons.

Let’s look at these big targets, then. There is frustration on the fora over the non-signing of Wayne Routledge. A Newcastle United player who did well on loan at QPR last season, he was a fantastic target and it looked quite good for a while until Routledge decided he would go to Premier League new boys Swansea instead. You cannot blame anyone for that apart from maybe the FA and UEFA. The gap between countries and, within countries, the gap between divisions has become so big that we cannot possibly compete with the pull of any Premier League club. Also, Swansea played some amazing football last season. Then there was the fantastic prospect of Wesley Verhoek, whom Forest wanted to sign for around 2M. Big one, that. Very good and exciting player, he was going to boost Forest in a big way. Everything was settled, Verhoek was in the Midlands for a medical and to sign a contract but then decided against it. Not something anyone said, not a lack of wages, nothing of the sort. He just got cold feet and decided he didn’t want to leave his home country. Massive bummer but fair play to him. Ashkan Dejagah, a winger from Steve McLaren’s old club Wolfsburg, was another target. He chose to stay in the Bundesliga, which we will all agree is a much bigger (and wealthier) league than the Championship. I’d rather play Hamburger SV and Bayern Munich than West Ham and Southampton. And Max Gradel of Leeds went to the old green giants of Saint-Etienne, a club which I incidentally see as possibly my second love in football. Nowhere near the passion I have for Forest but I always keep an eye on them and would love to catch a game once. I can’t blame Gradel for picking a top flight club in the South of France, with a massive stadium, fiery support and regional derbies with Olympique Lyon to look forward to.

Looking at all those, it is very hard to see how the board or the much-maligned Transfer Acquisition Pannel can be faulted. Routledge, Gradel and Dejagah went to or stayed at top flight clubs, Verhoek got home-sick and did the same. There is nothing anyone can change about that, unless the club employ a Luca Brazzi-like enforcer, to make the transfer targets offers they can’t refuse or they’ll sleep with the fishes. Sadly, it doesn’t work that way. More money, a bigger league, those are the things that we can’t compete with. The moment a player has to choose between a top flight club in England, France, Germany, even Holland, and Nottingham Forest, we lose out. We are not a big club anymore, sadly. We don’t pull. But for those names to even be mentioned in relation to Forest, shows ambition on behalf of our club. We were after four players who all went to or stayed in big leagues in the end. And that is exactly what many fans are saying the club doesn’t have: ambition. They should learn that ambition is in trying, not in succeeding. It was NFFC’s ambition to sign those players and I applaud it, even if it is frustrating when they go elsewhere.

But look at the players we have got in. Ishmael Miller, Matt Derbyshire, George Boateng, Jonathan Greening and Andy Reid are all very good signings. We’ll be OK. Steve will stay. I’m sure he has more backbone than to walk out when he doesn’t get his way. He’s not at a Premier League club that gets what and who they want. He will soon get used to that. He will get used to having to win over a number of fans who are still hoping that somehow the previous manager will come back. Those fans will get used to having Steve instead of Billy. The players will get used to him and each other. And we will see Forest in the play-off places at the end of the season. Just as we have been getting used to.

Exciting ins and a worrying possible out

2010-11-26T03:46:00.000-08:00

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…

Yes Billy, but...

2010-11-10T04:30:00.000-08:00

Here we go again. Billy Davies has lashed out at the board once more regarding the lack of signings in the last two transfer windows. Davies said his job had been put on the line because of other people’s decisions and that Forest does not at present have a squad capable of a top six finish. Comparing our situation to Liverpool FC, King Billy added that a club needs “stellar signings” to get into the top six. Liverpool have not made any and look where they are, is the gist of Billy’s argument.

The thing is, that comparison doesn’t cut any wood. First of all, contrary to Liverpool, we have at no point in this campaign been in the actual drop zone. Second, we are not the subject of a massive sale or no sale situation which hangs over the club like a black cloud, with undoubted effect on team performances. (Also, Liverpool have just won a number of games on the trot and beaten the league leaders. If that is what Billy intends to do, I’m all for it, obviously…) Sure, some “stellar signings” would be fantastic. A good signing lifts a club, from squad to coffee lady. But the list of players recently targeted goes a long way towards explaining the problem. Billy aims high and rightly so. And the club have tried their best to get his targets to come to the City Ground. Pratley, Whittingham, Moses, Shorey, name them. But two preferred to play Premier League football, which you cannot fault them for. And the other two were not allowed to leave at their respective clubs, which is fair enough as well. We wouldn’t let Lewis McGugan go to a direct rival either. So unless you have some other options, a plan B, a compromise signing or whatever you want to call it, you can’t really blame the board for any of those. If the 10/10 players are out of our reach, try to sign some 8/10 ones. And stop being so stubborn about loanees. Just look at the number of goals scored in our division by players on loan from the Premier League. A decent extra striker on loan right now could make a massive difference. Oh, and by the way, Billy, we did get Majewski, who is a more than decent player.

Then there is the top six thing. The current squad (minus Bertrand) took us to third last season. And they have taken us to within a single point of the top six, so quite clearly they should be capable of finishing within that top six again, given that we have more than half a season to go. It’s only a matter of sorting out our away form. Because, dear Billy Davies, THAT is the real problem at this time. While you moan every time you show your face at the City Ground (which appears to be not very often), you should be trying to do something about that. One win in the last 22 away games or something in that region. That is nothing short of pathetic. And I cannot for the life of me imagine that it has to do with anything other than confidence. By now, the players must be shaking in their boots for every trip away from Nottingham. And it is a manager’s job to do something about that. If you can win nearly all your home games, surely you should be able to get some more points away. If we had got only three extra points from the away games this season (which is not a lot to ask given some of the opposition, with respect) we would be comfortably in the play-offs positions. Hey, if we had got some more points out of last season’s away games after January, we’d have been promoted.

I still have nothing against Billy Davies as a manager per se. I must really point that out. After all he did give us a fantastic season last year and got us as close to the top tier as we have been for some time. You have to love him for that. And I don’t even mind the fact that he speaks his mind. I am very much the same sort of person in that respect. But Billy has to open his eyes to a couple of key factors. First of all, he is an employee of the club and should at least try to act like one, rather than constantly attacking everybody around him in what seems like a nifty way to cover up his own shortcomings. Second, Nottingham Forest FC does not currently have the cash or the pulling power to attract the top players, not even in this division. They either want to play at a higher level or are not allowed to leave, as we have seen again and again. And the third thing? Timing. I mentioned a black cloud earlier. All this surely can’t help the dressing room atmosphere. With the next transfer window coming up, would it not be wiser and more constructive to sit down with the people he shouts at, and try to see what is what for January, rather than rake up their past disagreements and maintain and fortify the stand-off? Maybe it’s just me…

Why Winona cold-shouldered me and went for Johnny instead...

2010-09-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

Ambition. Strange thing. It can be interpreted in so many ways. I used to be said to lack ambition because I never aspired to any managerial positions with big corporations. Instead my ambition lay in music. I wanted to make a living out of the only thing I really knew anything about. Not for me the company Audi or BMW, laptop or flashy and preferably long-legged assistant. I lived the dream for as long as I could. And yes, I can now see it was merely a dream but it was my own, personal ambition at that time. Just depends on where you’re coming from. I certainly had a lot of fun, but that is a completely different story.

Much in the same way, I and my FFF’s dream of the Premier League. Wouldn’t it be grand to be back among the big boys, fighting it out at the highest level, pushing for Europe? Would it not be fabulous to straddle the top flight and scare the living daylights out of Europe’s biggest clubs the way Chelsea and Man Utd can? Oh, yes. Clough, that would be brilliant. Right back where we belong… Who sang that again? But the question we have to ask ourselves is: do we actually still belong there? Right now, we don’t, in my opinion. We simply lack the budget required to have any chance up there. Nigel Doughty has put a lot of money into our club and he is a wealthy man, but he is no Roman Abramovic or Al Mubarak.

Now some FFF’s blame our chairman for being too careful with his and the club’s money. They say it is his fault that Billy Davies fails to get the players he wants to join the club. In my honest opinion, they are mistaken. Let us look at four recent, high profile NFFC transfer targets. First there was Nicky Shorey, on loan with us at left back for the first half of last season. Billy (and us fans) would have loved for him to stay. Problem was, there was also an offer for him to join Fulham on loan. Given the choice between staying at the City Ground and the chance of playing on one of the biggest stages in the world and showing himself to a possible new club, Shorey did what we would all have done (if we weren’t avid Forest fans) and went to Fulham. Billy Davies (followed by many FFF’s) decided to blame the board and the acquisition panel, creating a negative atmosphere that was partly responsible for the spectacular drop in form in the second half of the season.

But let us look at that a little closer. First of all, can you really blame that sudden poor form on one player leaving? We have to be honest. Billy Davies has to be honest. At least part of the blame for a club dramatically dropping in form has to go to the manager. The buck always stops with him, after all. He cannot hide behind the fact that one player left the club. One player who only played in nine games, I must add. And did Billy himself not say recently that Shorey’s replacement, Chris Cohen, was much better at left back than in midfield? Surely he must have been an adequate stand-in for Shorey then, because we all know how good Cohen is in midfield.

But I mentioned four transfer targets. There was also talk, last season, of signing Victor Moses, then of Crystal Palace. Now first of all, Forest were far from the only club after Victor, who had just had an impressive run of eight games with five goals and was hot as proverbial faeces. Moses in the end went to Wigan for 2,5 million Pounds. Not only is that not the sort of money Forest easily pay, but even if we did have that kind of budget, Victor Moses would have been left with the choice between Forest in the Championship or Wigan in the Premier League. Bigger stage, bigger wages. No brainer.

This summer, Billy was at it again, blaming the board for not being ambitious in their transfer policy. Apart from the fact that he should not say those things in public, Billy was wrong. The fact that NFFC actually TRIED to sign his targets, shows ambition. They had the ambition to sign them. But… The two main targets, Darren Pratley and Peter Whittingham, were key players for their respective clubs, Swansea and Cardiff. Forest tried hard to pry them away from their clubs but failed. It was not disclosed how much was actually offered but some reasons could be pointed out why Cardiff and Swansea refused to let their men go. First, as mentioned, they are key players for their clubs. Second, it would be really bad business to let such key players move to a direct competitor for promotion, which Forest are viewed as. How would Forest fans feel if, say, Lee Camp was sold to Swansea or Cardiff? The only way to change the situation would have been to offer “silly money,” a practice which NFFC and Nigel Doughty refuse to get into, and rightly so.

And there lies the problem of perception we currently face. Many fans see the chairman's careful budgeting as a lack of ambition. In their opinion, the club should take what is seen as a considered gamble and splash out on some of the best players to get us into the Premier League. But that is exactly what Leeds United did about a decade ago, isn’t it? Gamble and throw money at getting to the next level? It proved to be a very expensive gamble, which at one point had Leeds on the brink of disappearing altogether. Now I, for one, don’t want the club I love to be put in danger like that.

I prefer another season in the second tier as a healthy club to a promotion bought with money we don’t actually have and the possibility of it all going horribly wrong. It’s not like we have a divine right to be in the top flight of English football. Nobody has. Our first ambition should be to confirm last season's performance. If we can get into the play-offs again, I'll be a happy Forest fan. Rome wasn't built in a day and all that.

The whole debate made me think of Winona Ryder. Strange? Bear with me. When I was about 17-18, I wrote a song for Winona. I had a massive crush on her. I recorded the song on a cassette and sent it to her through MGM. Lo and behold, I got a signed photograph back, with a little note saying she loved the song and thanks a million. Seventh heaven. Next thing I knew, she hooked up with Johnny Depp. Well, we can easily translate that to the sort of players Billy Davies and the club want to sign. We all want Winona Ryder. But her current boyfriend will probably not be keen on letting her go. And if she was single and had the choice, then the Premier League would be Johnny Depp and the Championship would be little, scruffy old me. It’s a simple as that, really…

Play-offs...

2010-04-19T05:12:00.000-07:00

Play-offs. Again.

At the start of the season, I said I would be very happy with fifth place and play-offs, not even expecting Forest to actually get anything out of them. Still in a way it is disappointing after the way Forest played up until January. If they had kept that form going, especially away, automatic promotion would have been a real possibility. Hey, even winning it all together wouldn’t have been a crazy notion. But something went wrong. After not losing away at all for the whole season, Forest only got one point away from home in nine games since January. Staggeringly poor form. This is made all the more frustrating by the fact that they won 12 home games back to back. If the away form had been only half as good as the home form, it would have meant, say, 15 extra points from three wins and six draws, putting Forest in second a point ahead of West Brom. Ifs and buts, of course, but frustrating nonetheless.

It is impossible to say what went wrong. Some blame the exit of our loanee left back, Nicky Shorey. I refuse to agree that a drop in form this spectacular can be down to losing one single player. Shorey was class and a massive addition to the squad, but one player does not a good team make. Paul Anderson hasn’t been playing for a number of games after picking up an injury. He has been of great value this season. But losing Paul McKenna to a knee injury in my opinion is a bigger blow. Having seen him run the midfield this season, it is easy to understand how the team can miss him. His energy and work rate have been phenomenal and he has been a real captain and inspiration to his team mates. Guy Moussi has only recently been able to begin to make up for McKenna’s absence. Incidentally, Radoslaw Majevski’s form has also been patchy recently. Forest have in this way lost a number of players who have been incredibly important earlier in the season.

The fact Forest have a small squad has also been mentioned. While George Boyd was an excellent acquisition - even if he seems to need some time to find his best form - many FFF’s have been frustrated at the lack of further transfer activity. Billy Davies was quick to follow with several comments about the lack of transfer activity, commenting that the system at Forest doesn’t work. I have to say, apart from a left back and possibly an all-round midfielder, there were no really pressing needs in the transfer department. The squad is not the largest in the division but it does provide cover for most positions. There have been comments that the players have had to play too many games but I cannot possibly agree with this. These are all young men playing the game they always loved to play and getting paid handsomely for it. And even then, Forest only played 20 games this year up to Easter Monday. That is 20 games in 95 days, with only 6 midweek fixtures. Surely a bunch of able young men should manage that? If not, they should stop being referred to as men. Brian Clough went through what can only be described as a very successful 1978-1979 season using only 16 players. That included the maximum amount of European Cup games in midweek, winning the League Cup and going to the fifth round of the FA Cup. That is a lot of games, a lot more than 20 in 95 days. Sure, those were different times but my point remains the same. My point remains that Billy Davies makes too many excuses. The transfer system at Forest does work, very well even. The players brought in over the last couple of seasons are proof of this. The targets are usually ambitious so it is only normal that not all end up actually getting signed. But then not even Real Madrid always get their man. Just one example: Victor Moses. Great target and it would have been a signing for the future. But when faced with the choice between Forest and Premier League club Wigan, he was always going to the top flight. Fair play to him and well done to the transfer panel for trying.

Billy Davies also has a strange knack of saying the wrong things. He was at it again some weeks ago, commenting on Paul McKenna’s injury. With a young team expected to make up for the absentees, Billy Davies’ comment when it transpired that McKenna would not be back this season, was clumsy to say the least. “I think we could have afforded to lose any other player in the side this season, apart from McKenna,” Billy said. While probably meant as an accolade for our esteemed captain, it is nearly impossible to not read it as a statement of utter lack of confidence in or support for any other player in the squad. They could all be excused for thinking: “Come again? You mean you wouldn’t notice if I wasn’t playing? Well, thanks, gaffer!” It is not the sort of comment that will instill energy and confidence in a young squad like ours. Sure, criticise a player when necessary, but this comment was uncalled for, labeling the whole squad as mere hangers-on if you want to make the worst possible interpretation. Not the best way to go into the play-offs, if you ask me. I have nothing but love and respect for Billy Davies but he has a knack of making excuses for himself at the expense of even his own players. Not good.

So, play-offs. While I am known to be very much an optimist when it comes to Forest, I must say that I am not certain they can do better than the last two times. More heartbreak could well be around the corner. That away form just isn’t good enough to say Cardiff, Swansea and Leicester - currently the “other three” - will be easily disposed off. Especially the sort of form Leicester have hit lately is a major worry. Whoever Forest are coupled with for the play-offs, an away game will need to be won. Failing that, the home leg will need to be won by a decent margin. Forest need to hold on to third place in order to have home advantage for the second leg. It somehow feels safer that way. Even if many first team players were rested, the Blackpool game again showed how vulnerable we are away from home. Having controlled the game in the first thirty minutes, it all crumbled when Blackpool went 1-0 up. If that happens in a play-off game, we face another year in the Championship. You need to get into the play-offs high on confidence. The most worrying thing is, if we reach the final, this will have to be played away from home, at Wembley. Exciting, but nervous times…

Be good!

Jermaine

2010-01-28T06:41:00.000-08:00

From hero to zero. It seems the most accurate way to sum up the career of Jermaine Jenas since he left Nottingham Forest for Newcastle in 2002. Jenas made a big impression as a youngster at Forest before the club had to sell him in order to get some much needed cash in the coffers. His form since has apparently been up and down. If reports and comments on football websites are to be believed, he had good spells when he was new at Newcastle and later at Spurs, but then slumped to anywhere between lacklustre and downright invisible. His managers did maintain belief in him, though, and he never played less than 34 games in any of his Premier League seasons, scoring a total of 37 goals in 303 games. For a midfielder, that doesn’t seem too horrible, even if it isn’t great. Fabio Capello even capped him for his first game in charge, against Switserland. Jermaine promptly scored.

In terms of fan perception, though, something seems to have gone wrong. While Spurs are enjoying something of a renaissance, currently lying fourth in the Premier League, comfortably ahead of Aston Villa and Liverpool, with Jermaine playing 17 and scoring one so far, he does not seem to have many admirers left. For the last year or so, comments from Spurs fans have been seething, calling him a waste of space and wondering what is the point of Jermaine Jenas. In today’s transfer news section, football365.com wrote the following in relation to Spurs’ and Birmingham’s negotiations about the transfer of Russian star Pavlyuchenko: “An amusing aside from that Pavlyuchenko story in the Mirror is what apparently also came up in the negotiations. The paper reports that: 'As part of Birmingham's negotiations with Tottenham they have also been offered midfielder Jermaine Jenas.' It's a bit like someone coming round to buy a bookcase, then being offered that vase that just sits there in the corner not doing much.”

While this is, of course, hilarious, it is also very painful, both for a player who was regarded as a massive prospect, and for us Forest fans who know what Jermaine “JJ” Jenas is capable of and were (or still are) sad he had to go. We used to love JJ and wouldn’t mind seeing him back at the City Ground, where he belongs, or so we feel. Now, aside from the transfer bid Forest have put in for striker Victor Moses (what a name!), there was talk about an interest in a “big name” player. Is JJ considered a big name player? You could argue that he is in Nottingham. Could we afford him? Would he want to come back? Could Billy Davies get him back to playing the sort of football we know he can play? I personally think he would be a great addition to an already strong squad; a versatile, creative midfield player. And surely, when he looks at the way Forest are playing, he must sometimes think about being back home? If football management sims are anything to go by, it would be a great move. As Forest manager, I always get Jermaine back as soon as I can and he invariably does very well, indeed…

Be good!

Margaret Leyden

2010-01-07T00:14:00.000-08:00

It is strange sometimes how the passing away of a person can touch you, even if you never really knew them. I remember being very sad when George Harrison died and utterly depressed when Freddie Mercury was taken away so young. It is probably because of what those people share with us that we feel connected to them, almost as if we knew them. Through their songs, words, opinions, we get a clear picture of who they are or who they are in the image we form of them in our head.

Yesterday morning, the sad news reached us that Margaret Leyden had passed away. Margaret was by far the oldest member of our Nottingham Forest mailing list and one of its most frequent posters. Her mails were knowledgeable and on the ball, even if we didn’t always agree on everything. Now and again, Margaret would drop in little stories of the old days. That really means the old days; she had been watching Forest since long before I was even born. She must have been at hundreds of football grounds. Her accounts of away matches at ill-equipped stadiums with no facilities for the elderly and handicapped were real eye-openers at times. It is amazing how such stadiums still exist. Still, she told her stories of freezing cold, torrential rain and lack of hospitality with real wit and a good touch of irony, never once complaining as far as I can remember. And she kept going.

When our first son, Thomas, was born, Margaret wanted to know our mail address. She had designed a Forest badge which she sent off for every newborn on the list. That was just who she was. Forest through and through and sharing that passion. I would have loved to have met Margaret and was hoping to do so this year. It felt as if I was planning to see an old great-aunt. Through her posts, I and perhaps many more on our list felt like we knew Margaret. That is probably why, when the news came in of her passing away, I felt like we had lost someone dear to us, even if many of us never actually met her.

Margaret will have died a happy Reds fan, with our run of unbeaten games and the way we threaten to get back into the Premier League. It’s a shame she can’t be there to celebrate with the rest of us when or if it happens, but I feel Forest now have an obligation to clinch it. Mrs Devil said yesterday that Margaret may be up there with her own grandfather, who passed away not too long ago and was an avid football fan himself. His favourite club is currently doing very well in Belgium. We pictured both of them watching the WBA game on Channel Heaven 17 or whatever they have up there, commenting expertly on the game.

Rest in peace, Margaret Leyden, and say hello to Cloughie for us!

Arséne calling Mick black...

2009-12-22T04:01:00.000-08:00

There was some commotion over the past couple of days about the squad put out by Wolves manager Mick McCarthy to face Manchester United in the midweek Premier League game. Deeming next Saturday’s game against Burnley more important than the away game at Old Trafford, McCarthy chose make ten changes to the team used in the last game and field a side that looked like a reserves one. Outrage! The Premier League wants to speak to Mick about this and Arsène Wenger is fuming.

It’s all a bit daft. Wolves are not the first club to do this. In fact, all the big clubs have done it, both in the Premier League and the Champions League group phase. Not that long ago, Manchester Utd even pulled out of the FA Cup altogether, to play in the World Club Championship. It would be incredibly unjust of the football authorities to issue any punishment at all in this particular instance. That would simply prove what some are already saying about the big clubs: that there is one rule for them and another for the rest.

I can, of course, see the point of the travelling Wolves fans; they have paid for a (probably expensive) ticket, travelled to Manchester and dedicated their evening to watching their team take on one of their biggest opponents of the season. Big day. Then they get to watch a reserves team roll over and play dead while Man Utd stroll to an easy 3-0 win. I can perfectly imagine being incredibly cheesed off if Forest pulled a stunt like that. McCarthy has put himself in a difficult position as well. Wolves are now under immense pressure to win the game against Burnley. If they don’t, the manager will have thrown two games and six points away. In case Wolves are relegated at the end of the season, this may be looked as a decisive moment. Then again, if they stay up, McCarthy may be called a genius for thinking this up.

I can also see the point of those who say that this sort of thing kills any real competition, that Man Utd now play 37 games rather than 38. But then some perspective should be applied. Even with the injuries in the United camp, what are the odds that Wolves were going to beat them at Old Trafford? How many teams go there and come away with anything?

I cannot, however, agree with Arsène Wenger’s comments. I have a lot of respect for the man. Apart from King Billy, he is top of the list for me at the moment. What he does at Arsenal is impressive. But for him to have a go at Mick McCarthy is hypocrisy. Only three days earlier, Arsenal did exactly what Wolves did at Man Utd. Silvestre and Walcott were the only players in the squad for that game with any first team regular credentials. Predictably, Olympiacos won 1-0. This made the other game in the group irrelevant. With an Arsenal win, Standard de Liège from Belgium could still have progressed if they beat their Dutch opponents AZ. They were playing well but you could actually see in this game when Olympiakos scored. Thanks, Arsene. Thanks very much. This could have been really good for Belgian football. But still, fair enough, Arsenal have a right to do this. But they should also have the balls to accept the same tactics when they’re on the receiving end of them. Very disappointing from such a great man…

Be good
Red Devil

(Written 17/12/09, forgot to publish. Meanwhile Wolves did comfortably win their game against Burnley, thus lifting themselves out of the drop zone. Well done Mick McCarthy, then, for showing the "big four" that two can play that game.)

Sir Paul and King Billy

2009-12-14T07:48:00.000-08:00

I went to see Paul McCartney in Holland last week. A mind-blowing concert. I saw a fantastic musician, singer and songwriter. I saw know-how, to use a bit of horrible business terminology. I saw great passion still to play those old songs. They sounded fresh, almost new, even if we knew them well enough to sing along to nearly every word, all 30,000 of us. Careful as I am when I have a ticket to see a legend of this magnitude, I had said to myself that this may very well be a case of old glory, that it would never live up to my massive expectations. But it wasn’t, and it did. It was phenomenal. Easily the best concert I have ever seen. Nothing about it suggested any “former.” It was all glory. Paul played and sang for nearly three hours. Didn’t miss a note. The man is 67. To think he once wondered if we would still need him when he’d be 64! Younger bands should watch a show like this once a year, to get some perspective. That is you, Chris Martin. And you, Bono. You’re not fit to polish Macca’s guitar. I went home a happy man. I had spent nearly three hours a mere 12 metres away from a Beatle. Cloud Nine! Even if that is a George album. I have been playing Beatles, Wings and Macca albums ever since. I just can’t bring myself to put anything else on.

I have the same feeling about Forest at the moment. While the past eight to ten years often felt like we were supporting a team whose greatness was very much in the past, this season it seems much more about the here and now and even the future. Of course first hand I can only judge by the footage I can see on the BBC League Football show, but my opinion is largely backed by the reports I read, the forums I check and the mailing list that I am part of. We are playing some great football at times. Flowing, passing football that is a joy to watch. Robert Earnshaw’s first goal against Leicester was a prime example. The attack had everything. Pace, speed, vision, a dummy, a shimmy, and a fantastic finish to boot. It was almost like watching Arsenal. And at the back, we hardly give anything away, either. It’s been 13 games now since we last lost. I can’t possibly say how long we’ve had to wait for a run like this.

At first, we protected ourselves from euphoria by saying that it was only smaller teams that we were beating or getting points off. But then we beat Newcastle and drew Middlesbrough and Cardiff, both actual competitors for promotion, both away. Then followed a 4-1 demolition of Doncaster. They are a fair bit lower in terms of league position, true, but 4-1 is a big result. And it got even better last week. When number four plays number three, you can reasonably expect a tense affair, with not too much in it. But Forest brushed Leicester aside like they were playing the reserves team! 5-1 was not the result anyone expected. The bookies would have looked at you like you were a raving madman if you’d put a fiver on that one. We’re so good right now that the 0-0 in Sheffield against the Blades felt almost like a let-down, even if a point away at Bramall Lane is a more than decent result. We didn’t play well, some even said we were a bit rubbish, but we still got that away point. And if we needed proof that we don’t need to play our best football to win games, this duly came last Saturday, when a single David McGoldrick goal dispensed with Swansea at their place. We soaked up a lot of pressure and, admittedly, Swansea were unlucky and a bit careless in finishing, but again: job done. Another massive result that got us to within two points of the automatic promotion places. Where our away form was a big problem over the past seasons, it is now simply impeccable. We haven’t lost away. All season.

Talk on the mailing lists and forums is no longer about impending doom in the form of relegation. We now talk about what will happen if we make it into the Premier League. Are we ready or not? Would it be better to stay in the Championship for another season and keep building gradually? Or would the money be good and in any case, we would get the parachute payment if we went back down? It’s a whole different mind set. And it feels a lot better.

Just like Paul McCartney managed to ignite all those old songs with a spark and make them sound brand new, Billy Davies seems to have instilled a new energy, a new sense of purpose in Nottingham Forest FC. I was a bit cynical when he first came to the club, mainly due to his record in the Premier League with our neighbours The Unmentionables, and a nagging little voice in the back of my head still says we can’t be sure he can manage in that top flight, but right here, right now, King Billy is the man for the job and I doff my hat to him. I cannot remember feeling this good about our club since the last promotion season out of this same division, then still called, inanely, the First Division, which it blatantly was not. Proud, always, but it had become a sort of blind pride, against better judgment at times. But this feels utterly, utterly great. The same sort of great as standing a small pub’s length away from Paul McCartney. Long may it last.

Be good.
Red Devil

Thierry Henry: the new God?

2009-11-19T05:38:00.001-08:00

Ever been up against someone or something and felt that it wasn’t a fair battle because the other party was bigger, richer, more powerful or had more influence where it mattered? It can be extremely frustrating. I have just been in that situation after I accidentally rode the bus in Antwerp without a valid ticket. It was a mistake, a administrative mix-up on my part. I explained as much and went to get a new three month season ticket the same evening. I have been a loyal, paying customer for ages now, in spite of severe lack of service now and again. Still in the end I had to pay €76.60 in charges, which equals a three months season ticket. Anything I said in my defence was swept under the mat. Sometimes you can try as hard as you want but you can’t win because the opposing forces are too powerful. “It is not fair,” a little black duck once famously said, “they are big and I is small.” That little duck was, of course, Calimero. And most of Ireland will feel exactly like him this morning.

I feel very, very sorry for Irish football fans. After their country’s national side played a fantastic qualifying group, then a great play-off game against France, to go out to such a controversial goal must be incredibly hard to take. Maybe the ref failed to see it, but his assistant should and must have. I don’t want to say the ref intentionally ignored the facts, but he may well have bottled a big dicision. In cases like this, you can easily forgive football fans to think there is a bigger picture. Belgium fans have felt this way only too often. But this time it all actually started a number of months before the game actually took place. FIFA’s sudden decision that the play-offs for the last four World Cup tickets would be subject to seeding, was a very strange one, to say the least. But then a look at the tables at that point was revealing. Apart from France, Portugal and Russia, two other big countries could have ended up in the play-offs. Both Italy and Germany still had everything to play for at that time. Suppose they had drawn each other and France would have played Portugal. That would have meant the loss of two massive names for the World Cup, and all the publicity, which equals money, connected to them. You can easily forgive the Irish fans for thinking that this was the only reason for the seeding. I even think they are spot on. I am not a fan of seeding in football in any case. It spoils the game and it is utterly unfair. But I will not get into that now.

Thierry Henry, meanwhile, has admitted to having handled the ball. In a way you can’t blame him. Who is to say that an Irish player in the same position would not have done so? I have always admired Henry, he is an incredibly skillful player and overall a very fair one. I came very close, even, to buying an Arsenal shirt with his name and squad number when Arsenal had that fabulous burgundy and gold shirt. (There are only two other players who almost made me buy non-Forest shirts. Both Juventus. Pavel Nedved - although I may have gone for that marvelous red Czech away shirt - and Alessandro Del Piero.) Thierry Henry is God. We now have conclusive proof of that. But joking aside, I hope he will not now be branded a cheat for the rest of his life. The other “hand of God” deserved no better. He had shown himself as a dirty player and a cheat before that goal and did so again on many following occasions. In fact he used his other hand in the following World Cup, palming away a flick-on from which the USSR would almost certainly have scored. God is ambidextrous. Henry is not that sort of player. The actual handball will possibly go into history as one of the worst moments in football. An act of blatant cheating that secured a ticket for what should be the greatest celebration of the sport. But hopefully the incident can be seen separately from the player in this instance. Henry does not deserve to carry the reputation of a cheat for the rest of his career.

To the Irish: chin up. And well done for giving both Italy and France a good run for their money.

Be good.

Red Devil

Discipline!

2009-11-19T03:27:00.000-08:00

Mrs Devil and I were in France last weekend, visiting the Great War battlefields. Both of us have ancestors buried in various military cemeteries along the Flanders front, a fact that has resulted in a shared keen interest in the history of this horrific time. We saw Loos, Vimy, Thiepval, Hamel. It was rather quiet, which added to the experience. Impressive, poignant. And something has changed compared to ten, fifteen years ago. We saw German number plates at Vimy and an English bus at the German cemetery in Neuville-St-Vaast. Finally. The whole region is dotted with military cemeteries, often holding over a thousand casualties. Generals on both sides sent many young men from all over the world to their deaths in France and Belgium. Some of the offensives were utter madness, and they seemed to have a knack of forgetting factors from which they should have been drawing conclusions and learning lessons. But why did the soldiers and officers obey to these sometimes insane orders, knowing they would again be mowed down by artillery and machine guns?

Discipline.

It is something I can only admit to having a complete lack of, sadly. I loved to learn, but hated studying. I love performing music live, but hate the constraints of studio work. I loved to play football when I had two good knees, but hated training. Likewise, I love the fact that webmaster Steve offered me a chance to vent my thoughts about Forest and football in general, but I seem to lack the discipline, once again, to write regularly. For this, I apologise most humbly.

It is not even that nothing has happened in the past six or seven months. Forest managed to stay up after a not so good start to last season. And there was much rejoicing. Belgium sacked their manager and replaced him with the esteemed Dick Advocaat. His first game in charge saw a 2-0 win over Turkey. And there was much rejoicing. England qualified easily for the World Championship, a league above the competition in their group, including Croatia and Ukraine. And there was much rejoicing. BBC started a Football League Show, meaning I can finally see Forest highlights in Belgium. And there…

In this new season, our manager Billy Davies seems to have found his footing. He has turned Nottingham Forest into a feared side. Another slippery start, agreed, but now we have not lost in what seems like ages. We were even on the Beeb the other day, live. And we look good. There is some great passing going on all over the pitch, good running up front. We look lively, we look fluent, we look dangerous. The game against Cardiff was so good I kept thinking that I had seen many reports on Match of the Day that showed far less accomplished football and less excitement from Premier League clubs. We really, truly look good out there.

And of course it is too soon to think about automatic promotion spots, the Premier League, Europe, Munich, Madrid. But things look a lot better than they did two or three years ago. We have Colin Calderwood to thank for part of that. We have Nigel Doughty to thank for another part. Billy Davis for another. The players, who seem to finally realize that they have to put some effort in it. And the fans, who may be called fickle but seem relentless in their support. An average attendance of 20000+ in the old third division is proof of that.

Like Forest, I will try to change. I will try to be more consistent, to score more points. To think less about football, but write more. I have written this before, I admit with my head hung in shame. I’m serious this time. In part a result of a weekend in France that has made a big impression. Discipline.

Be good.
Red Devil

The season starts now!

2009-08-29T03:41:00.000-07:00

A very quick one before I have to dash off to my sister in law's birthday bash. Not only will I not be in Nottingham for the derby today, I may not even be able to follow it at all. Fingers crossed that I can get a pc somewhere that I can have a peek at now and again.

Up and down season, so far. Well, more down than up, obviously, especially in the league. 2 points out of 4 games is not good, not by any standard. Not with the squad we have. Then again, we've progressed further in the League Cup than we have in ages, so there are some positives. And judging by the last game, we should be able to turn the corner. Coming from behind to beat Boro is not something many clubs will do this season. Of course we needed extra time, but it still means that in a regular game, we would get a point out of it. Which isn't bad, considering they are among the favourites to win the Championship.

So I suggest we forget about the league so far. The season starts now. And it looks like a perfect day to slaughter some sheep...

Thomas and I will both be wearing our home kits, so we're there, in a way.

COME ON YOU REDS!

Be good!

Told you so!

2009-08-08T05:57:00.000-07:00

Strange title for a pre-season post! I know. But it is what I hope to be able to say at the end of this season. I have been able to say it twice in a row now and it would be great to get to three. Halfway the 07-08 season, many FF's doubted if Colin Calderwood could get us up out of League One. I was always sure, upto even eight games from the end, when we needed a massive run-in to get there. We did it, winning 19 points out of 21 to finish second after Swansea. I was in the car for the last game, on our way back home from Provence, with my mate Bones texting me about our own game and those of Doncaster and Carlisle. We made it somehow. I'll never forget the excitement. The relief. The pride. The justification. The feeling of: "Told you so!"

Last season was no less dramatic, with Forest in the drop zone or at least in view of it upto the second last game. We got a life saving point away at Blackpool to secure survival in the Championship and beat Saints 3-1 on the final day, just to make sure we ended on a high note. A lovely feeling. Again, I had said at the beginning of the season that we would stay up. A change of manager and some important long-term injuries in spite, we did it. Again: "Told you so."

So, to the 2009-2010 season. We have a new manager in place. Billy Davies was not my first choice when Colin Calderwood had to go. My first choice was always for Calderwood to stay, but he had lost most of the fans. Long-term thinking is not for modern football, so when the results were bad for a spell, he had to go, even if at that very point, we seemed to be getting better, be it very slowly. An admittedly horrible result at home against Doncaster did it. Straw, camel, back. In came Billy Davies. He didn't convince me at first, seemingly alienating some young players and mouthing off at the board from the first weeks. The results weren't good either. We lost twice against D**by in three weeks' time, going out of the cup in a 3-2 replay at home and the losing 3-1 in the league as well.

But the way Billy handled the crisis made me change my mind. He brought in some very good loan signings. And even if our form was shifty, he did enough to keep us up. He impressed every one with the signings he has made in the summer. Nigel Doughty has opened up his wallet to bring some very good players in. Forest look like a very tough proposition this season. We nearly have two good players for every position, so even if we did get the same bad luck with injuries we did last season, it wouldn't have as much of an impact. Only in defence we could do with a little more cover. I have heard Sol Campbell is available on a free. Many FFF's wouldn't agree, but I really think his experience, vision and passion for winning games would work perfectly in a mix with the young players we have at the club. Get him in for a season, make him captain and he'll have them fighting for every ball.

Then there is a dream transfer that will never happen. Anthony Vanden Borre. Belgian international, ex-Anderlecht, now property of Fiorentina. But he doesn't know yet where he will be next season and wants to get out of Italy after a bad experience at the club he played for last season, Genoa. He wouldn't be cheap, but it would be fantastic if he could be convinced to come to a club who have a program for the future. And he would certainly help our bid for promotion. He can play right wing, right midfield, right back and as a holding player. His passing is incredible, he is fast, strong and has brilliant control. Like I said, just dreaming out loud. Oh, and he's used to playing in Red, too!

There were some predictions going around recently. I'll go for anything between 3rd and 6th at the end of the season. That's all I'll say. The play-offs are too unpredictable. 5th and play-offs would be brilliant. Anything else is a bonus. I think Boro and WBA or Newcastle will go up through the automatic places. Then us in the chasing pack. Hope to say I told you so. Again.

It all starts in half an hour...

Be good!

Red Devil

Goodbye Sir Bobby

2009-08-04T01:26:00.000-07:00

It was with great sadness that I learned on Saturday that the great Sir Bobby Robson had passed away. It's not that I was shocked, as Sir Bobby's long battle against illness was well documented. One could even say we were all waiting for the inevitable news to come one day. Still it hit me with a dull thud to the stomach and brought tears to my eyes.

My first real memories of Sir Bobby are mixed. Italy 1990. The Stadio Renato Dall'Ara on the 26th June. 119 minutes of superior football, with England clinging on for dear life in a game that Belgium could have, possibly should have won. There had been two Belgian efforts off the woodwork, one Enzo Scifo screamer that would easily have made Goal of the Tournament had it gone in. England had a valid goal disallowed for off side as well. It was a brilliant game of football, played between a Belgian side as strong as I have ever seen, and an England side that should really have gone on to win the World Cup. A fair game, too, with hardly any bookings. Just good, attacking football from both sides. Then, from a Paul Gascoigne free kick, came David Platt's moment. Many Forest fans would learn to hate him later, but he was England's hero of the day. And he is still possibly the most hated football player in our country, which surprised him no end, as he explained in a documentary about "that" game on Belgian television. He was just a player doing a job, he said. A player subbed in by Bobby Robson because he thought maybe the then young player of the season might give the team some extra options. If ever a substitution came off...

Bobby Robson's reaction after the game was what made me sit up and notice. A true gentleman, Robson said that this game should not have had a losing side, that he understood how cruel it was to the Belgian team and their fans. Our national manager cried, according to aforementioned documentary. So did most of Belgium, myself included. My passion for English football, however, made me follow England for the rest of that tournament, and I cried again when Chris Waddle missed that last penalty against Germany. England should have won that game and the tournament, because surely the Argentina of that edition would have been no match for Bobby's team in the final.

It would have made Bobby Robson immortal, even more of a legend than he is now, and probably a Sir long before his knighthood eventually came around. How he must have felt when Andreas Brehme converted that cheated penalty in the final to win the World Cup, we can only imagine. I sure know how I felt. That should have been England lifting that world cup. Arguably the best team in two successive world cups, cheated out in 1986, then out on penalties in 1990. Twice against the eventual world champions. Did England have the best players? No, but Bobby Robson moulded them into a superb, winning team.

Bobby went on to successes with Sporting Portugal, Porto, Barcelona and PSV before ending up at Newcastle. After three seasons of good results, mostly finishing just outside the "big four" places, with some decent runs in Europe, Sir Bobby was ousted at St-James' Park in a manner which I remember finding incredibly rude and lacking in any respect for the institution that Robson had by then become.

Things went rather quiet after that. And now the great Sir Bobby Robson is no more, leaving us with a lot of memories, and leaving the world of football orphaned. There will certainly be a minute's silence around the country at the start of the new season, just like there was at PSV's first game on Saturday. A minute that will chill me to the bone and may well bring a tear to my eye.

Rest in peace, Sir Bobby. Thanks for the memories, even "that" one.

Our season of ifs and buts

2009-03-09T08:02:00.000-07:00

It's a strange season we're having. We've lost and drawn many games we could very easily have drawn or won, respectively. Not only is this frustrating (enough so to lead to the sacking of the manager who I personally felt was our best and most promising since God himself), it has also left us in a dubious position in the league. We have hovered just above the drop zone since October, occasionally dipping into it. It's a season of "yes, but" and "what if?"

Just look at the table today. Fifth from bottom. Better than where we were when the year began. After a perfect start with four league wins on the trot, and that massive win over Man City, FF's could be excused for thinking: "Right, we'll have the Sheep in the cup now, storm up the league and maybe challenge for a play-off spot. Good riddance to CC, long live BD." But then came the QPR game, in which our opponents were allowed to score straight after we got in front, 3 minutes into injury time in the first half. We went behind soon after the break but managed to scrape a 2-2 draw. Good point, but should have been three. Then came Birmingham and Ipswich away and the Sheep at home. Fixtures we should have got four points from but which we lost all three, with a dismal 3-1 loss to Derby at home. Depressing stuff.

Luckily Billy Davies then brought in some good loan signings in Osbourne and McSheffrey, and Guy Moussi finally came back from his long injury lay-off. This has changed the team so much I think it is forgivable to think back to the results under Colin Calderwood and how different things could have been without that injury. Most of the games we lost were lost by one goal and looking back at reports, mostly due to a lack of presence in midfield. Presence that is brought, very obviously, by The Moose. Just look at all the 1-0, 1-1, 2-1 and 0-0 results in that period and think what a difference Moussi could have made. That injury, and the transfer window system, are what caused our current predicament. Just think that if we had scored only 6 more goals in that period, three in games lost, three in draws. That would have meant 12 more points!

Back to reality. We're March now, and we've gone two places up. Better than we were in December. Yes, but. Barnsley are 2 points behind us and have three games in hand. It is not inconceivable that they get 2 or more points out of those three games, which would see us drop back down to fourth from bottom, with a resurgent Southampton breathing down our necks, four points away but also with a game in hand. Scary.

Then again, if you look at tomorrow's fixtures, there could be some really good results there, if we get our own stuff right. Getting our own stuff right means beating Watford and gaining a place in the table, leapfrogging our opponents of the day. Barnsley play Birmingham away so we can safely assume they won't get any points at all, meaning we'll peel away from them nicely. Blackpool, currently just ahead of us, are away to Sheffield. Not an easy task, so I don't count on them winning. Even if they manage a draw, we'll still go over them. Up two places. And if we get really lucky, Swansea beat Plymouth at home and we slip into 17th position, cosily behind our old rivals.

But of course, we may again stumble with a late equaliser. Or the ref gives Watford a dodgy penalty. Or something else goes wrong and we'll find ourselves again thinking what if and yes but. It's that sort of season, I've said it before. I can't even write a decent blog about it...

Be Good

The Damned United

2009-03-04T06:41:00.001-08:00

I have seen a lot of discussion on the Forest fora about a film being made of the book "The Damned United." I haven't read the book yet, but I have ordered it and it is on my "to read asap" list. I have read many comments and reviews, though, nearly all saying it is a fantastic read. In the book, writer David Peace uses the setting of Brian Clough's early years, specifically his time at Leeds Utd, as a backdrop for a tale of corruption, drink and paranoia. Now of course the rumours of bung payments and drink are still in the headlines today. As for paranoia, well, that often comes with drink abuse, so it isn't even unreasonable to assume that Brian Clough may have suffered from a light form of paranoia. These darker sides of a personality are the things that make a character interesting. The squeeky clean Glenn Hoddle is not likely to ever have a book written about him, but a film about Paul Gascoigne is not at all unthinkable. Peace does not represent his fictional version of Brian Clough as a very pleasant person and some fans seem to have a problem with that.

While I can see that it is hard to see one of your heroes (and Brian "God" Clough is exactly that to generations of Forest - and, for that matter, Derby - fans) described as a paranoid, corrupted drunk, it must be kept in mind that this is a work of fiction, which uses a real setting and a number of real people to hang up a story. This is not new. A great many works of fiction use real characters and happenings to build a story. And we can be assured that not all those real characters come out smelling of daisies. (The same works the other way round. Think of the outrage when Bruno Ganz portrayed Adolf Hitler as an actual human being in Der Untergang...) The book is not meant to be a biography of Sir Brian, so we shouldn't be upset when the picture painted by Peace is not exactly the same as how we have all known Cloughie. Of course there was a lot more humour to the man than comes out of the book. Of course he was never as bad and one-dimensional a person as his fictional counterpart apparently is ("apparently" as, again, I have not read it yet, so I am going by what I have read about it), but that's why it's called a fiction. This characterisation is probably needed to make the book work. And let's be honest. Brian Clough could be a right pain in the buttocks when he wanted to and he was first to admit that and even used that side of his character as almost a marketing tool. Don't we all lovingly call him "Ol' Big 'Ead?" Having a big head isn't usually likely to generate love, admiration and devotion the likes of which were bestowed upon Cloughie. But he used those traits to his advantage. I am sure that, with the humour and mischief that was in him, he would have thought this was all a good laugh.

This is why I have to admit to being slightly puzzled by the reaction of Brian's family, who are, if what I have read is correct, not at all happy with the way the book portays our great former manager. Brian's family and fans should realise at all time that this is a fiction. It is not as Mr Peace is "out to get" Brian Clough through his book. People, mostly Forest and Derby fans, have commented that Brian Clough didn't have any opportunity to react to the book, which is seen as tarnishing his great reputation, but then that goes for thousands of people. Clough has become almost public property, every bit as likely to pop up in a novel or film as Winston Churchill, of whom we have seen all sorts of portrayal, from flattering to downright demonising. We have a saying in Dutch that says, litterally, "high trees catch a lot of wind." I am not sure if this is an English expression as well but its meaning is pretty obvious. The bigger your status, the more likely people are to have an opinion about you, talk about you, write about you. Brian Clough is a legend, so him being in a book or film was bound to happen sooner or later. This book or film cannot, can never tarnish the reputation of this great, great man, nor was it intended to. Brian Clough's achievements have generated a love from millions of people that can and will never fade. No book, no film can ever change the way we think of him at the City Ground or at Pride Park. Or in Deurne, Belgium. Or anywhere around the globe.

So let's just watch the film or read the book and remember what it is. A work of fiction, featuring a fictional representation of the greatest manager ever to work in England, our hero, our God. I think as Forest fans, we should all read the book and watch the film, even if it's about the Leeds period. The memory of late Sir Brian Clough has become very much like the statues that have been erected in his honour. When a bird has the audacity to drop anything on Sir Brian, it is swiftly washed off and Brian restored to his former, shining glory.

Be good.

Welcome!

2009-03-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

A win. I didn't really expect much from the Reading game, but we somehow got three points out of it. Three much needed points, in terms of steering clear of relegation. And a much needed win, in terms of giving our young team something to be proud of, something to lift their heads. After the recent run of results, the last thing they needed was their manager telling the press they weren't really good enough. That could have had a devastating effect. (I have been writing more extensively about this, expect a long-ish post soon...) But I think there was a salvaging factor, a deus ex machina. A comeback that, had it occurred sooner, I am sure would have seen Colin Calderwood still in charge as Forest manager.

Guy Moussi is back. And the impact was instant, judging from all the match reports. From what I read, The Moose bossed the midfield and Forest were able to convert from defence to attack in seconds. This ability, vision and sheer physical presence is something we have missed since Moussi was injured in October. He has rapidly become one of our most important players, it seems. I have repeatedly compared his impact to what happened when Patrick Viera arrived at Arsenal. He soon became a talisman for them. We can never be sure but I do think that a prolonged absense would have affected Arsenal as much as Moussi's lay-off did Forest. Even if it's only one player, some players are missed more than others.

It was good to read Billy Davies' comment in Monday's Guardian about his little (perceived) spat with the club. He has taken time to point out that there is no major rift between him and the powers that be, that he is still committed to getting Forest up the table. And as if out to prove he really does mean business, we have signed a promising young midfielder on loan from Aston Villa. Apparently Martin O'Neill says he's useful. If Martin says so, I am happy to believe him. Just look at Villa...

So welcome to the City Ground, Isaiah "Ozzy" Osbourne. And welcome back Guy "The Moose!" Moussi. Onwards and upwards!

Be good.

Why Forest? Why "Red Devil?"

2009-02-24T06:39:00.001-08:00

I fell in love twice when I was ten. My parents took me on my first trip to England and I loved it all. I loved being on the boat, making fun of my sisters, who weren't feeling too well, seeing the famous cliffs, driving on what was obviously the wrong side of the road. England just felt... right. It still does. That holiday caused me to become an incredible anglophile. I just love everything about England, the language, the history, the country, the landscapes, even the cars, the football and the food. I can't help myself when it comes to England. I sometimes feel out of place here in Belgium. Coming back from England never feels like coming home. That may sound slightly pathetic to some, but like I said, I can't help it. It's my dad's fault. He shouldn't have taken me there in the first place.

Forest? Also my dad's fault. And believe me, I have frequently cursed him over the last decade and a half. But on that fatefull day in July, 1980, he made a choice for me. We'd rented a cottage in the little town of Templecombe, Somerset. My parents had gone shopping for supplies and had been as infinitely good as to get me the one thing a ten year-old cannot do without, especially in a cottage with a massive garden. A football. On the football were printed the crests of all the clubs which then made out the English top flight. I remember liking the one with the two birds and I guess I may have been very close to becoming, of all things, a Spurs fan, but then my dad drew my attention to a lovely looking crest with a red tree. He said that they were the best club in the whole world, which we were of course, as incredible as that sounds now. The mind of a ten year-old is simple. The best? I'll support them, then. Easy decision.

But I have stuck with Forest since. (And have been stuck with them as well, so it has felt at times.) Through thick and thin. Through good and bad. Through Cpt Psycho and Cpt Plank, so to speak. Forest are as much a part of me as anything. Even if I can't make it to the City Ground very often, it does matter incredibly. Saturday afternoons are spent in front of the pc, listening to the live match report through the World site, when it's working. Forest books, Forest shirts, Forest dvd's. And of course I "am" red in any board or other game that has red available. There's no escape.

Then there is the Red Devil thing. When I first came out with that name on the Forest mailing list I joined some 10 years ago, some people told me off for chosing Man Utd's nickname. However, our Belgian national side are also called the Red Devils. Hence.

I will be back soon with actual Forest stuff. I have a lot on my mind.

Be good.

Red Devil, an introduction

2009-02-24T05:50:00.000-08:00

Only a couple of days ago, a fellow Forest fan (let's refer to those as FFF's henceforth) asked me if I would at all be interested in having a blog on the mighty u-reds.com. Since the site has a highly unflattering mug shot of yours truly, thus ruining any reputation I may or may not have had, I had nothing to lose so after a short think I agreed. So here it is, the Devil's own little corner. I shall be getting it all off my chest here. The good, the bad. And some of the ugly too, probably. You may sometimes agree with me, but I'm sure you'll just as often vehemently disagree and call me an ignorant this and that or an opiniated so and so.

I'm looking forward to sharing my thoughts with you through this great website. It's probably my favourite non-official Forest site. I still love how, every time you open it, you hear that great chant. And I love all the personal content, the match reviews, the little sheep in the table etc.

Good to be here.