Nigel Clough has denied any wrongdoing following on from the handbags at the end of Saturday’s match, and appears to be asking for leniency as it is a local derby (not sure that this is an argument that will curry any favour with the FA). However, Billy Davies has continued with his claims and made an official complaint (involving lawyers) against Sir Brian’s son. I saw some footage on East Midlands Today, and while it wouldn’t stand up in a court of law, it doesn’t look too clever on Nigel’s part (I have had a look but cannot find the footage online – sorry)…
In the meantime, Garry Birtles has a grumble about Forest not adding any players to the squad (no, not even a left-back), while there are vague rumours circulating that Nigel Doughty may have had enough of January inactivity and will “restructure” the acquisitions panel.
Finally, wee Billy and Chris Cohen are nominated for Manager and Player of the Month for January – results announced on Saturday.
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.
I am happy to admit that I got a couple of things wrong in the podcast: despite it being decidedly foolish of Garath McCleary to pile in on Robbie Savage, the ref did the right thing by producing a yellow card (the TV footage showed Savage falling down rather more easily than you might expect from someone of his height and build, and I am sure that the official took that into account). Amusingly, on the TV, it showed Tys doing his bit to wind up the Afghan Hound, who squared up to him then bottled it, leaving the Forest man laughing out loud! On the subject of Tys, despite it being foolish of him to hold the flag aloft in front of the Derby fans, I was wrong about Dean Leacock, who clearly went to Tys looking for a fight, rather than to try and alleviate the situation.
To concentrate upon the match, well done to the Reds who played really quite badly for most of the second half but Derby still barely managed a shot on goal; occasional commenter The Maradona of the Midlands pointed out to me that their first goal had nothing to do with Miles Addison’s attempt at an overhead kick, as Chrissy Cohen tried to head it out for a corner, except it hit Wes and dribbled in. Livermore was credited with their second goal, but it was clear to me that McKenna’s foot made the crucial intervention. As Rahoul mentioned in the podcast, MOTM goes to Billy Davies for stirring the fans up to get us over the finish line (Campo did his bit too).
Then there was what happened afterwards…
Just like Rahoul, having seen some more evidence and witness testimony from the Reds’ fans, it seems as though Tys was doing a lap of honour, starting at C Block. It was foolish to go in front of the Derby fans but he was not “waving” the flag as some meeja outlets have suggested, and he was beyond the six-yard line, so it is not as though he was just inches away from the Rams’ support.
The pictorial evidence suggests that although the Derby fans were not happy, there wasn’t too much danger of there being any violence. If it hadn’t been for Dean Leacock’s intervention, then Tys would have made it to Victor’s Veranda within a few seconds and been on his way. Instead, Leacock and Teale pushed Tys towards the Derby fans, which meant that the stewards and police had to intervene to prevent fans and playing staff mingling; to Robbie Savage, this action by your own team mates is what would have caused a riot, and I didn’t see you breaking it up.
In fact, not content with that, Savage then proves his hypocrisy and (dare I say it) stupidity:
People might think I have got a big mouth … but I know what is right and wrong. What happened at the end is nothing short of a disgrace. The kid [Tyson] has never even played in the Premier League and he is giving it all that.
Firstly, Robbie, what difference does it make where Tys has played? I don’t remember Premier League status being a prerequisite for celebrating a victory over your team’s local rivals (especially when you have scored the winning goal). Secondly, I seem to remember reports of a certain R Savage inciting the A Block with his scarf waving (in fact, a certain Kristian Commons joined in too, but that wasn’t provocation, was it?); so, Robbie, was that right or was it wrong?
… There were no complaints made by Nottingham Forest about the conduct of any of our players or officials last season, so we find it puzzling that issues regarding those fixtures are being aired now in relation to the events of this weekend.
Well, Mr Glick, as Billy Davies clearly stated immediately after the match:
I remember the last time Derby were here and Robbie Savage was waving a Derby scarf around. There was very little made of that and we hope it will be the same for this. We never complained about it or made a fuss because we understood that Derby should enjoy the victory they had here.
Does that answer your question? We didn’t like it but never made a big fuss about it, our players and fans did not react to the provocation, unlike your players and coaches (and let’s not forget that your coach had already been sent off) who waded in and started a big fight. I would also reasonably point out that it wasn’t particularly clever for Savage to point at his Derby badge and make gestures towards the BC Stand and Trent End after the incident with the G-Man (and others have suggested that he was making gestures during the wam-up). In the meantime, Billy has rather sensibly decided to call for clarity on what is and isn’t acceptable.
Since I started writing this post, I thought I would take another look at the BBC highlights and although the actual match coverage doesn’t give much away, Steve Claridge’s awful, imbalanced and uninformed analysis not only suggests that Tys is doing some kind of corner flag pole dance wearing NFFC underwear in front of the Derby fans, but the pictorial evidence shows that he was not waving the flag, and was barely even glancing at the away end. Some of their other footage clearly shows the Derby players pushing the Reds’ men towards the away end, and also clearly shows Bywater and a mystery Derby player (don’t know who as he was wearing a training top) throwing punches at Dex, who did well not to fight back apart from deflecting the blows.
Just to conclude, it is clear in my mind that there would be little made of this if it wasn’t for the obviously organised violence by “fans” at Upton Park earlier this week – this had NOTHING to do with that sort of disgraceful behaviour. Our blogging colleague nffcblog has come up with his message to the FA on this matter, and is also encouraging Reds’ fans to write to the FA (although I have tried it and they don’t make it easy). In the meantime, I think we should also take a minute to praise the Derby fans, and this well-balanced post accepts the role of possible provocation from both Savage and a handful of Derby fans (I didn’t hear any of the chants to which he refers).
As far as I am concerned, Tys was silly, the Derby players overreacted, but it was a storm in a teacup. Let’s forget it and move on.
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.
Colin Calderwood and Johnny Metgod are on the move – CC may be going to Chesterfield while Metgod is looking to join Nigel down the road.
Sport Billy wants to tie Chris Cohen down to a longer contract.
And he’s reportedly offering £1.5m for Donny defender Matthew Mills – although Brum are apparently going to offer £4m. He better be bloody good for that sort of money.
Dele Adebola has been offered a two year contract with “vast sums of money” to come and join us – which has discouraged our Brian and moneybags QPR from chasing his signature.
And lastly West Brom’s Tony Mowbray joins the Sheep, Dirty Leeds and us in the race for Rob Jones‘ signature (remembering that Mowbray brought Jones to Hibs in the first place).
Posted February 21st, 2009by Rahoul Baruah8 Comments »
A pretty downbeat podcast; following Billy’s interview in midweek we were waiting to see what effect his words had on our young, depleted, squad. And we saw the result today; in a side with two surprise returns, but bereft of confidence and ideas.
Dele Adebola says he is happy at Brizzle City. To which I say “good”. Did we really want Dele Adebola?
Blackpool’s game against us in April has been moved to 12:30 instead of 3 o’clock, following the trouble a couple of years back.
Meanwhile, as Nigel stays quiet and Gary Crosby hails his sheep, I thought I would remind you of one of the greatest goals ever – Crosby versus Andy “Officer” Dibble of Manchester City:
“Give him a ball and a yard of grass, he’ll give you a move with the perfect pass…” So opined The Sultans of Ping FC on their flexidisc single, bundled with the excellent Brian fanzine back in 1992(ish).
I don’t think that many people would question Nigel’s abilities as a player, but it seems as though the Forest board have doubts about his ability as a manager (I presume the whole “experience” thing comes into play, leading to Billy Davies’ appointment). Oliver Kay in The Times (you have to scroll down a bit) reckons that Nigel would have preferred to come here, but it was not considered a viable option by the Forest hierarchy.
Incidentally (and off-topic), the same article suggests that Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t very good at driving, and produces evidence to back it up.
