The biggest story of the week is the rather unlikely tale of Sven Goran Eriksson becoming Director of Football at Notts County (with the papers quick to play on the myth of “five women to every man in Nottingham” and the close proximity of Hooters to Legoland Meadow Lane). However, while Notts fans will justifiably be excited by this news, I am (along with most Forest fans, I suspect) treating this story with a mixture of mirth and bemusement; cynically, I don’t expect Sven to hang around for the five years on his contract.
Not that it’s been quiet at The City Ground. The week started with confirmation of the signatures of Messrs Gunter and McKenna, progressed yesterday with the capture of Joel Lynch and the (as yet unconfirmed) loan capture of Radoslaw Majewski; and now it seems as though Dexter Blackstock is poised to join them. In the meantime, youngsters Mark Byrne and Matt Thornhill have joined several other fringe players in leaving the club on six month loan deals.
More on the players involved when I get a bit more time, but I certainly cannot remember a summer like this one – when was the last time that we signed nine players in one close-season?
Depending upon who you believe, Chris Gunter will sign for us today, either on loan or on a permanent deal.
The Daily Mail report that the young Welshman will join on a season-long loan, but the Nottingham Evening Post suggest that Gunter will sign permanently for £2m on a four-year contract – good business if we can manage it (although it makes you wonder why Perchio was given the number 2 shirt if Gunter was to sign permanently?).
I would concur with the majority opinion that Gunter did a good job at the end of last season, after a quiet start he became quite influential, especially when playing in his preferred position of right back. He also seemed to know how to wind up opponents, which I am guessing is the kind of thing you learn after playing for Cardiff, then in the Premier League and having international experience. I do hope that Gunter’s capture will not stifle the development of Brendan Moloney, who I think was impressive last year (and who I hope will return to the club after his stint over the river).
Both the Forest and Preston official websites report that a fee of £750k has been agreed for the transfer of Paul McKenna.
If we can sign him then I think it would be a good acquisition – someone who can add some composure and steel to the middle of the park, and the leader that we have been missing for several years (probably since Sir Desmond retired).
Update (16th July, 10.25am): Having just posted above I then found this article on the Lancashire Evening Post website – the comments are very interesting with a curious mix of “gutted he’s leaving”, “his best days are behind him” but a general agreement that Billy Davies is a “poisoned dwarf”. Even if his best days are behind him, I still think he will be useful in helping younger players like Lewis, Cohen and the Moose develop; as for the Billy Davies thing, no comment!
While Nottingham Forest may not be a big name in some parts of Scotland, Lee Westwood seems to think that Tiger Woods is a bit of a fan.
Meanwhile, another Forest fan, Shaun Barker, joins the Sheep, citing Nigel as the major influence. And our search for a defender continues, with us apparently having offered far less than the stated £1.6m for Danny Fox.
And if that wasn’t enough, Notts County’s new executive chairman has us in his sights.
However, it looks like Sport Billy is leaving the strikers and concentrating on the rest of the team.
At the back he’s tabled a “cheeky” bid for Danny Fox (that article really rates our chances this season) and an even cheekier one for Danny Hone. Staying at the back, Davies looks like he may want Luke Chambers to be captain, at least every now and then. Despite his sometimes torrid performances under Calderwood, I don’t have a problem with this – Chambers never was and never will be a right-back, but in the middle, I think he has enough about him to be a decent (if quiet) captain.
And in midfield, it looks like Gary McSheffrey may be on his way out of Birmingham – although is it to us? Billy admits that the Pole, Radoslaw Majewski is on his shopping list, whilst also making another bid for Paul McKenna.
Finally, a quiet revolution is taking place a few miles up the M1. I’ve met Lee Strafford a couple of times (long before he became Wednesday’s chairman) and he’s a really smart, passionate guy who understands how to get things done and more importantly, how to bring people with him. Football needs more people like him.
Following our pre-season one-nil victory over Sporting Lisbon, fitness coach Julian Darby is happy with the run out the players got.
Staying in Europe, Radoslaw Majewski looks like he is coming to us on a season-long loan. Blackburn were prepared to pay £3m for him a couple of years back and he certainly looks pretty decent on Youtube – but the article hints at some personal problems and his move to England is supposed to keep him out of trouble. Let’s hope Billy can keep him in hand.
And finally, it looks like Blackpool are resigned to losing Shaun Barker. However, will he come to us or to the Sheep?
It’s been a while – thanks to Rahoul for holding the fort so ably (his detailed analysis of Lee Camp’s transfer was especially memorable). As usual, he deals with the facts and I am going to write a frothy piece about nothing in particular.
You see, the trouble with being a football fan is that you spend the summer waiting. Little things take on huge importance – take, for example, the revelation that the replica Forest shirts will not now be able to display the sponsor’s logo on child sizes, and it will be optional even on adult shirts. This is apparently because the display of Victor Chandler’s logo can be seen to encourage gambling, which is illegal for minors and immoral for various religious and ethical persuasions (I have shamelessly culled this information from the comments on NFFCBlog).
We also spend the summer looking for clues – this morning the official site continued to describe Perchio as the “Forest skipper“, which I for one was not expecting – well, to tell the truth I was expecting Rob Jones to be the new captain, but his move to Scunny has put paid to that.
Then we get spoon-fed little titbits by the meeja, notably the esteemed Nottingham Evening Post, who proudly informed us of the numbers on the squad’s training kit – McGoldrick wearing 17 (which was his shirt number for Saints), but controversially Dele Adebola with a big number 9 (well not that controversial, as he is a big number 9!), and Smudge wearing 21 (before the signing of Lee Campo). Cue cries from people bored/sad/obsessive speculating whether this meant the end for Tys as a Forest player, and whether this meant a new keeper would be arriving (which duly happened about two days later).
Ignoring (for the moment) the fact that squad numbers probably won’t be officially announced until the team return from Portugal, you can see how this sets a certain type of fan’s mind racing (guilty as charged -not that I get obsessed with trivial details or anything). As it turns out, Tys seems to be wearing number 11, with Ando sporting number 7; Casual Kelv had a number 6 on his chest (does this mean that there won’t be a new centre half?), and I presume Campo would wear number 1. However, where does this leave Captain Perchio? His current number has gone to the young recruit from Liverpool, his previous number has gone to the new recruit from Southampton. There is no number 2 that I could see, so if Perchio is going to fill in at right-back then he might wear that, although I should imagine that the potential signing of Chris Gunter may influence that. If Perchio is to remain skipper then I am sure he would want a number in the first XI!
The most interesting one is that Joe Garner is wearing number 14 – does that mean that Billy is saving number 16 for Preston skipper Paul McKenna?
As I said above, it really isn’t that important unless you are someone like me who attaches unnecessary weight to this kind of thing (and of course the fact that I am a bit bored today doesn’t hurt). However, I find one aspect particularly fascinating: would there have been so much speculation about Tys moving on if Adebola hadn’t worn number 9? It is increasingly apparent that the lazier hacks often fish messageboards for some juicy gossip, regardless if this can be substantiated in fact.
The new season is now less than a month away – in the meantime, according to Marthur, we should hopefully see more new arrivals (Danny Fox?), we will see a new kit (actually it would seem as though they are changing the home and away kits at the same time and possibly going for a more 1980s theme – urgh!), and I am sure that there will be more twists and turns on the way, before a ball is even kicked.
Meanwhile, closer to home, Alan Irvine has to sell but wants to keep hold of Paul McKenna and Lee Camp claims that Sport Billy is the reason he signed. While Billy himself states that Nathan Tyson is going nowhere.
However, as far as the here and now goes, not much to report after last week’s flurry. Donny are looking for £3m (how much?) for Matthew Mills. Paul McKenna looks most likely to be our next acquisition although rumours about Chris Gunther arriving on loan are still going strong. However, could wages be a problem for Dexter Blackstock? And, in the opposite direction, it could be that Nathan Tyson’s on his way to Reading.
