By now you’ve all heard that the club has announced that Fawaz al-Hasawi and his family have now entered an exclusive due diligence phase prior to purchasing the club. There’s no denying that an end to the current uncertainty is a good thing; let’s hope the al-Hasawi’s will prove to be successful owners.

However, this is just the due diligence phase – where they look through the books and the Football League decide whether they are “fit and proper”. Meaning it could all fall through at any moment.

If the takeover goes through then the rumoured future chairman will be Gianni Paladini – ex-chairman of Queens Park Rangers and also the reason that Dexter Blackstock is a Forest player. Mr Paladini is somewhat controversial (although I’ve not seen the infamous Four Year Plan documentary) and has been causing a stir already with an alleged approach for Peterborough’s Darren Ferguson. Which has upset the Posh. It also offers an insight into the al-Hasawi’s plans – chuck a bit of money at us, get us up and then get out and take the profit.

All this must look pretty unsettling to Steve Cotterill and his increasingly unbalanced squad – and the ever-swirling speculation doesn’t help things (as none of the parties involved should be speaking to anyone in case it jeopardises the deal). But of all the opinions on the web – the only you really should read is this one: http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Proposed-Forest-takeover-music-ears-fans/story-16475001-detail/story.html.