Firstly the good news: skipper Paul “Kenna” McKenna’s injury does not require surgery and so there is a glimmer of hope that he may return before the season ends (which would be especially useful if we end up in the dreaded play-offs).
In the meantime, the sponsorship deal with Victor Chandler has been extended by two more years (with Victor himself rather relieved that Newcastle’s form means that Forest are unlikely to win the league).
Now the bad, if not entirely unexpected news: after the scuffles at Pride Park, both Forest and Derby have been fined £45,000 by the FA (mysteriously no sanctions against Jay McEveley, who was at the centre of affairs both times). Mark Arthur is “surprised at the severity of the fine”.
So as not to end on a sour note, here is some footage of new boy Georgie Boyd strutting his stuff:
New boy George Boyd (reminds me of “what are the scores, George Daws?”) had a very decent first half and a reasonable second period on Saturday, but has been told that he must work harder by Billy Davies.
In the meantime the manager is scouting for possible replacements for injured skipper Paul “Kenna” McKenna, with Wolves’ Andrew Surman allegedly on the list (perhaps to play left-back with Chrissy back in the centre of the park?). Billy also comments on the importance of the unsung heroes supplementing the efforts of the “sexy players” (whatever he means by that), while stand-in skipper Lee Camp says that he is not a Derby fan and has “no interest” in Robbie Savage.
Finally, the Freekicks Foundation (from whom we got the picture of Georgie Boyd above), are walking from Peterborough’s London Road to the City Ground this week. The Foundation aim to provide football-related activities for ill, bereaved and deserving children. If you would like to donate then please do so via their Justgiving page.
Finally for today, somewhat unsurprisingly, Leicester’s Jack Hobbs wants revenge on Saturday after we spanked the Foxes in December. In the meantime, Chris Gunter has noticed that our away form has slipped a little recently, and has suggested that we try and start winning these matches again. Good idea, young man!
I was just about to post some thoughts on the match, but got sidetracked by Billy accusing Nigel Clough of assaulting him during Saturday’s match:
“I told him I wouldn’t have minded him doing it to my face but to do it when my back was turned was cowardly,” an incensed Davies said. “That’s why I never shook his hand at the end. I said to him on the touchline he was out of order because when I was in the middle of that scrum he came from behind and kneed me in the back of the leg. I felt the blow on the back of my right leg and it was deliberate.
“He tried to claim it was an accident but he knows, as well as I know, that it was no accident. He was trying to be clever and he did exactly what he was trying to do, but to do it behind my back was a bit cowardly and that was my disappointment.”
The FA are to investigate, and Nigel has refused to comment. Amazing stuff…
On the match itself, I was otherwise engaged so couldn’t even listen in, but I am going to be honest and agree with Rahoul; I had a gut feeling that this might have been the one that got away. Put simply, I think it meant more to Derby this time, they needed a result to boost morale, and when you are having a disappointing time, you naturally focus upon games like this.
That’s not to say that I don’t mind losing to Derby, of course I do, and I am terribly disappointed that the Reds never really got going on the day. However, if this is the pinnacle of Derby’s season (as Robbie Savage’s comments and the DVD release suggest), and they only end up scraping safety (or worse), then more fool them. But I won’t be crying over this one if we end up in the top two, or in the play-offs (even if we don’t go up).
I certainly hope that the noises from the dressing room about learning from the experience hold true (we were always going to get complacent at some stage), and I found it interesting that Billy said (in the audio link) that he picked the wrong team (whether that is an admission of culpability or trying to protect the players is another matter).
Let’s look at the bigger picture, we have been THE best team in the country recently, and it would take a dramatic loss of form for us not to be one of the top three or four teams in the division over the course of the season. I was Mr Cynical for a long time, but it is hard not to be so confident when you have watched this team over the last few months…
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In other news, it comes as no surprise that we haven’t signed Victor Moses, who has gone to Wigan; unfortunately there are rumours that Nicky Shorey will also be staying in the Premier League, with Fulham keen to take him on loan.
With the news confirmed that Matt Thornhill has left for an initial month’s loan (possibly to be extended) at Cheltenham Town, Vital Forest report that combative-and-mardy-but-kind-of-likeable forgotten man Joe Garner could also be leaving the City Ground on loan, to either Carlisle or Millwall.
In the meantime, Colin Neil Warnock has said that Forest have not bid for Victor Moses (despite reports elsewhere suggesting that he could be a Red by next Tuesday), and Messrs Hughton and Calderwood still hope to prise James Perch away from Forest (with Chris Hughton refuting Billy Davies’ earlier claims that Newcastle were playing dirty tricks by publicising the bid).
Other Reds in the news include Lee Camp confirming that he thinks talk of an England call-up is ridiculous (in case you are interested I would pick Hart, Green and Robinson in that order – let Campo play in the Premier League first), and Chris Cohen waxing lyrical about Billy’s touchline antics and tactical nous. The comments on the latter article show just how popular a player young Chrissy has become, and deservedly so!
Some bloke called Stuart Pearce who says that he used to play for us is now saying that we are going to win the league as we have “spent a few bob in the summer”.
As we are planning on spending, not selling, Forest have rejected a “derisory” offer from Newcastle for James Perch, with Billy Davies not holding back (that makes a change for him) on his disappointment at the story being leaked. I say quite right too, and unless we can retain Shorey, we will need Perchio even more.
Speaking of Nicky Shorey, it has been confirmed that he will miss a single game following his red card against his old club. Unfortunately that is the last scheduled game of his loan period, but interestingly there is no comment such as “Shorey is likely to have played his last game for the club”.
Billy Davies is making a case that his signings have proven excellent value for money, and it is hard to argue if Campo really cost £250k; my Dad was also suggesting that £250k for Ando is proving to be a bargain. In fact, out of the players that Billy has signed, only Joel Lynch has not made a real impact this year (although he played well at centre-half during the early season injury crisis, and is potentially one for the future), and Goldie has been the only one who has looked overpriced at times (although he has made excellent contributions at others).
It is with a sense of inevitability that Arron Davies has left the club, although with a little more surprise that the powers-that-be have also decided to release Joe Heath, Aaron Mitchell and James Reid. Good luck to you all (especially Heathy – he looked OK I thought).
Finally, this little gem from the Championship Manager website: “Radoslaw Majewski is too good for the Championship”!
Transfer rumours abound, with Ipswich interested in Dele Adebola, and Billy Davies quashing rumours about Victor Moses, while reflecting on our cup exit to Birmingham. In the meantime, Billy also says that we should “make the most” of Nicky Shorey before his likely return to Aston Villa.
Elsewhere, not-actually-Irish former striker Tony Cascarino is so impressed by the Reds’ form that he suggests that we are going up, while Lee Camp is keen for a promotion push. There is an excellent appraisal of our current situation on LTLF, showing that there is much to learn from our defeat the other night, that might help maintain our imperious form in the league.
In other news, James Perch is delighted to be back ahead of schedule, whilst poor old Paul Hart is looking for a job again after just five games in charge at QPR.
Finally, I am not sure that I will ever get bored of this goal from last week
Posted December 18th, 2009by Rahoul Baruah1 Comment »
We will be facing Chelsea in the fourth round of the FA Youth Cup.
Billy Davies is looking to win against his former club Preston North End this weekend (I won’t be there so no match report I’m afraid). And more importantly, Billy’s not had any contact from any other clubs about his availability.
As I’m sure you’re all now aware, one of the two linked clubs, Queen Park Rangers, have instead opted for ex-Forest grump and diamond-afficianado Paul Hart, with some speculation that James Perchio could be on his way there.
Another of Harty’s team (in my opinion, the most important member of that side), Riccy Scimeca has been forced to retire.
Meanwhile, Billy Davies is still pursuing Gareth Bale (and I’m sure it’s not for nothing that Nicky Shorey has been given the number 3 shirt). And lastly, Billy may be going back to Liverpool to bring in another of their youngsters, Nathan Eccleston, on loan.
Posted December 15th, 2009by Rahoul Baruah1 Comment »
Paul Anderson reckons that Swansea fans are just jealous because we are a bigger club.
Meanwhile Chris Cohen says the big change is that we have learnt to win away. I would say that the big change is that we are ruthless.
Preston North End are looking to kick-start their season against their former manager on Saturday. Unfortunately there will be no podcast at the weekend as we are both busy – it is nearly Christmas you know.
Dark forces mobilise against former Forest and friend of the Garibaldi, Gary Megson.
Meanwhile Billy Davies has had his request for a Scottish scouting network turned down. Megson’s lot are interested in one of the first potential targets of that non-existent network – James McArthur who plies his trade at Hamilton.
UPDATE: Hans Backe is reportedly leaving Notts. Sven to leave next?
Posted December 14th, 2009by Rahoul Baruah1 Comment »
Forest Player wasn’t working for me on Saturday so I didn’t really listen to the match. But looking at the highlights, it looked pretty one-sided. And we still came away with three points (and only two behind the Baggies, who play tonight)!
Paul Anderson was a key man for us and he came in for some stick during the game, given that he had earlier helped Swansea to promotion. Lee Camp also did sterling work, as he did earlier in the week away at Sheffield United. And Paulo Sousa doesn’t reckon it was a fair result. To which I would say that it’s always nice to grind out three points away from home.
Elsewhere, Forest old-boy Brian Laws leaves the cursed Hillsborough hot-seat “by mutual consent” (and Wednesday chairman, Lee Strafford, no longer accepts comments on his Facebook page, which is a shame as it was fantastic to see the fans communicate so closely with the chairman of a club). And sunny delight Paul Hart looks set to rejoin Harry Redknapp at Tottenham, taking over youth team duties there.
