Joke Innear is now in charge at the North East Comedy Club. And I have to say, I think he’ll do well.
Mainly because he is only supposed to be there for a few weeks.
You see, when he came to Forest, he was a revelation.
A lot of people forget how poor the football was in the second half of Paul Hart’s reign, how unbalanced the side was, how he refused to communicate with anyone (especially after the board refused him permission to talk his beloved Leeds United).
And then Fat Joe breezed in, talked up our history, gave us his memories about how noisy the Trent End was when he was here as a player. And most importantly, he immediately fixed the problems with the side. A “new” left-back (Greedy Alan Rogers) and a right winger (Andy-Impeys-got-no-neck) gave the side balance, Fat Joe gave the squad belief and any threats of relegation were immediately vanquished.
Things were looking bright. Nigel Doughty and Mark Arthur appeared to have promised Fat Joe a big transfer kitty in the summer, we were going to get some “sexy signings”. Even better, the club was “serious about promotion”.
And then the summer came.
For those that don’t remember, this was the summer of the “Trent End Bond” and the “Tour of America”. The Trent End Bond was some sort of game of financial chicken where the board tried to take on the council over the loan payments for building the Trent End. The board blinked first and our transfer kitty was suddenly gone. The Tour of America was a shambles where our players ended up playing in fields and changing in sheds. Not the sort of thing you’d expect from a professional football club.
And then Joe Kinnear went mad. Not ga-ga, locked up, mad. Just lost the plot, forgot how to do his job mad. The players seemed to have no idea what they were doing. Our creative midfielder left for a local rival and was replaced by sick-notes. Playing Derby was “just another game”. The fans were morons. And the club hit freefall – a freefall that ended with years in League One and Gary Megson having to dismantle the club before Calderwood rebuilt it.
I think that this is all down to the fact that Fat Joe had never managed a big club with high expectations before. After the farce of a summer (for which I hold the board responsible), Kinnear realised that, despite the lack of funds, despite the lack of a pre-season, he was still expected to win promotion. The squad expected it, the board expected it, and we the 27000 regulars (remember those attendances?) demanded it. And he just couldn’t handle the pressure.
Don’t get me wrong – I really liked him when he joined us. I just don’t think he knew how to handle the expectation.
Which is why, I hope for his sake, that Newcastle United is sold quickly and they can appoint a permanent manager.
Because if he thinks the expectations were high at the City Ground, if he thinks we were “morons” for demanding the highest standard, he’s in for a big big shock when he moves to Geordieland.
UPDATE (3/10/8 12:15): I think the pressure is getting to him already.
UPDATE AGAIN (3/10/8 12:45): I’d love it if everyone took the piss.
