A mixed summer so far going into preseason. Matt Mills and Jamie Ward have come in, which with our restrictions are signings I'd have been pleased with even if we wasn't in an embargo. It's looking like we may also be adding Nicky Maynard to the squad following his trial, and will likely switch our focus onto loans going into August. Nick Powell and Jonny Williams are names being branded around for potential loanees; I would love us to get Williams as he played magnificent against us last season when he was on loan at Ipswich. Outgoing wise, we've got rid of the four players out of contract and shipped out Mackie to QPR and Veldiwjk on loan. We are hoping to clear off big wages and contracts in Majewski and Abdoun, but the reality is few want the rubbish in your squad. If we can get them out, it gives us two extra places to play with in the 24 man established squad rule - I think we currently have a squad of 22. The biggest test is if we can hold on to Antonio. Fawaz and Dougie both claiming we won't be selling any of our star players, but Fawaz's track record says otherwise considering he's sold one key player every summer since he's been here. WBA were testing us with a £5m but and if they get close to £7m, I think we'll cash in (we'd be daft not to, however good he was last season). It's gonna be a long month to keep him in August, as I'm sure WBA will come back - especially if another club makes a move. Pre season wise, we were slow burning in Sweden only picking up a draw from 3 games, but last week at Stevenage we were totally dominant securing a 3-0 victory. We've got 3 more games to go in Doncaster, Swansea and Villa. Going to Doncaster tomorrow, although sad to see there are no Yorkshire wraps on their concourse menu anymore! In terms of hopes for the season, I think it'll be a struggle. A long over due promotion would be superb - especially in our 150th year - but with how things went in the last 9 games of last season, I think we'll be really up against it as there seemed to be little effort or care from the squad, as well as DF getting the tactics hopelessly wrong. But enough doom and gloom, the squad is clearly talented albeit injury prone and I'd be ecstatic I'm proved completely wrong.
Dougie has my support but my worry is that he will try to play one up front and it will put far too much pressure on the midfield. I'm also worried about the DM role. When he plays there, Mancienne plays it like a centre half, sitting far too deep and not closing down. He also dives in way too much. We need another solution there. I hope Tesche can provide some much needed help. Here's hoping our walking wounded are back soon and we can move forward. COYR
Unfortunately the 4-5-1 is here to stay, and when asked about it his reasoning is most teams play that way these days. The 4-5-1 is great with a player like Blackstock - it worked a treat with him as lone striker in Davies' first spell at the club - Fryatt and to some extent Assombalonga when the distribution isn't constant long balls from the back. But playing it with young kids such as Walker and Akpom, during his loan, as a lone striker effectively shuts them out of games as they do not possess the strength or experience to outgun two vastly experienced Championship CBs. It can work but only with the right striker. The Mancienne point is on the money. There's a respected blogger about Forest who highlighted how ineffective it is playing Mancienne at DM. http://forestboffin.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/forest-1-leeds-1.html With the signing of Mills however, I'd like to think he'll fight for a CB place. With Lascelles gone, we no longer have three defenders of a similar type in Mancienne, Wilson and Lascelles. Hopefully Mills and Hobbs will fight for one spot, whilst Wilson and Mancienne fight for the other as that mix will complement each other. In preseason though it's been Mills and Hobbs at CB with a Mancienne in front of them Tesche is a talented individual but isn't the DM solution we are after. He has a good eye for a pass and is effectively a play maker, but sadly drifts in and out of games far too much to have an effective stamp on the team. Birmingham were in for him but it seems like we've told them that due to the transfer embargo he's ours - a 180 by Dougie as when he came in, he was told he could leave. I'm like you however, the DM role worries me. Lots of effort has been put into finding another GK - a position I think we are OK with as we have the experience of De Vries and a highly rated prospect in Evtimov. If De Vries gets injured, yes we will be relying on Evtimov to perform but it's no different to when Darlow stepped up when Camp left. A DM is a key signing for me anyways. Too many times, especially towards the end of last season, teams strolled through our midfield and were in on goal - Afobe's goal for Wolves is a highlight of this. We've been linked with Jonny Williams, who was superb for Ipswich last season. He's not your classic DM but he passes and keeps possession of the ball so well he's nicknamed Joniesta!
I am tired of these two options: 1) Good, but can't quite make the play-off positions, due to ravaged by injuries. 2) Make play-0ffs, crash out in first round.
Agree with what you said about 4-5-1 working if service isn't hoofballs. I'm amazed Britt scored 15 last year with the ball being hoofed to him. He needs the ball on the deck. With Tesche in the DM role, I was just wishing out loud and hoping beyond hope . Jonathon Williams would be a great signing. Ran rings around us at the City Ground.
Sadly option 2 seems off the mark because of the injuries and we have gone backwards every season since Fawaz has come in. 1-1 draw at Doncaster last night. Standard run of the mill game although Chris Burke scored a corker. Defence was a bit sloppy but we are clearly trying new things - one being Roger Riera at RB whilst a trialist in Daniel Pinillos, formerly of Córdoba, took a role at LB. Mills was as solid as you'd expect. Stand out performers on the night were Burke, trialist Paul Taylor and Paterson, who I'd say was the best player on the pitch - which will be handy as DF said he's a replacement if Antonio should get 'injured'. Unfortunately Osborn went off injured - I couldn't work out what he'd done as I thought he was caught in the face. They bought the stretcher out but he managed to walk off - I guess extent of injury will come out in coming days.
http://www.nottinghampost.com/playe...ngham-Forest/story-27466462-detail/story.html Freedman preaching some absolute truths about some of our players. None more so epitomise what he's about than Abdoun. £35k a week for a substandard performer who is happy to cause trouble and sponge off that wage until his contract expires next summer. As he says though, we need the space in our 24 man squad, so the sooner we ship out the better. As is always the case, no club wants your crap.
So since midday, Lansbury to Burnley is looking pretty much nailed on. Burnley submitted a derisory initial bid - Dougie said it was so bad it wasn't even worth talking about as they thought they could get him in cheap with our FFP sanctions. Since then a much bigger bid has submitted as Burnley are going all out armed with the Shackell money. Lansbury likely to sit out tomorrow's friendly vs Swansea, and we are holding out for Lukas Jutkiewicz to be included as part of the deal - smart considering we can't use money from the sale to buy players. It's an obvious loss if he goes and I'd have held out until better loans become available in August so we aren't left with a gaping hole in the team, but this is tricky if the money's gone. More news to follow.
I really like the way DF is not afraid to say it like it is. If he's to change the club culture to cultivate a winning mentality he made a big statement in that interview.
Ben Hamer signed on loan from Leicester. Will become our first choice GK, a great addition. Lansbury starts today against Swansea - a strong message being sent to potential suitors ie Burnley! Also a snippet in the Sun that we may be releasing Abdoun and Majewski to free up space to sign Maynard, Taylor and/or Pinillos
So just like buses, we've signed one and another is close by. Pinillos deal very close to completion with talks going well. This will pretty much solve any gaps in our defence - Riera or Mancienne will cover Lichaj at RB. This signing will also fill our 24 man squad quota, for now at least. Extra efforts will be put in to free up spaces for loanees and maybe a Maynard/Taylor. Don't know if any of you guys are on Twitter but @reluctantnicko is usually on the money with incomings at Forest and most other championship sides.
Yeah, I follow nicko. He seems to get a lot right. I've heard we may send Evtimov out on loan to free up another roster spot. We need to get a deal done with Southend for McLaughlin to free up another. Villa, according to rumour, have offered 500,000 for Ollie Burke. They can piss off. As for our roster, I've got us at 24 right now. Evtimov, De Vries, Hamer, Mills, Lichaj, Mancienne, Wilson, Fox, Hobbs, Cohen, Lansbury, Reid, Antonio, Pato, Vaughan, C Burke, McLaughlin, Tesche, Abdoun, Majewski, Ward, Fryatt, Assombalonga, Blackstock. This doesn't include O Burke, Grant, Osborn & Walker who are under 21 and Veldwijk who is on a season-long loan to Zwolle. Don't know if we can release Abdoun & Radi per ffp, but if we can, we should. I'm not sure why we're having so much trouble moving McLaughlin. Southend seem very keen on him. Oh well, this could prove to be an interesting week.
Forgot you mentioned Pinillos. We've done some good business so far and this would be another great addition.
I think that my count should be at 23 instead of 24 because Evtimov doesn't have 5 starts for us. I beleieve the 2 categories for counting on our ffp roster are: a.) must be over 21 and b.) have 5 or more first team starts.
Yep it's 23 but Pinillos will take it to 24 - so space is then needed. Another good article from Dougie this morning. http://m.nottinghampost.com/Notting...star-players/story-27487784-detail/story.html Topline: Club under no pressure to sell any star players this summer. Sale of Mackie to QPR alone means we are within FFP restrictions and will allow us to have our embargo lifted. Abdoun and Majewski close to departing, we just have to prepare a settlement on the rest of their contract to move them out to their new clubs.
Majewski has all but gone back to Poland - taking our 24 man squad places to 22. Pinillos will obvious fill one of these when the deal is wrapped up once and for all. Maynard is being let go after his trial, as we are potentially on course to land a mystery striker. Rumour has it we've exploited a hole in FFP where we can take him on loan for a year with a view to a £3m permanent next summer. Hooper from Norwich created a buzz on the #NFFC timeline after a fake account was made of a local commentator. This rumour was quickly killed but it hasn't stopped folk putting money on it.
So new contracts signed by 3 youngsters: Joe Worrall, Dimi Evtimov and Ollie Burke. Also, Pinillos signs 2 year deal, Radi and Abdoun officially gone as of today. Waiting on mystery striker. I doubt DF will get credit for it, but we've done some really good business this window, especially considering the constraints of ffp. That's 22 of 24 on our official ffp roster with McLaughlin probably moving soon.
At this moment in time, slim. Sherwood is a big fan of Gardner so unlikely to let him go, plus he's picked up an injury in pre season that's put him out for a few months. With Delph gone, it's perfect chance to break into the Villa team but if they splash out on replacements with the Benteke and Delph money, opportunity to get him back would obviously arise.
Such a poor performance from us yesterday. The goal was coming and I'm surprised the flood gates didn't open up after they got their first. Lichaj and Fox were poor, seemingly bought into every trick the Brighton wingers decided to play. Mancienne isn't an effective DM either. Would rather play 5 at the back than stick him there. Mills made a strong start, Walker I thought was best Forest player on pitch when he came on. He's very smart and I think he'll be getting way more chances than initially envisaged. Deservedly so. How Dexter missed his chance, only he will know. It was on a plate and though sliding in, someone with his experience should've done much better. De Vries had a good game too. When Hamer eventually comes back however, I think he'll be back on the bench which is a shame as he was one of few who did alright. Long ball doesn't suit this team at all. I don't know when DF will realise that and stop deploying it. Pressure will be right on him already if we don't beat Walsall, Rotherham or Charlton. They're games I'd expect us to win, and coupled in with how poor we was in last 9 games, DF will have no cover if we maintain that run. Tesche broken his foot anyways. Kayal was wreckless and should've been booked. A decent DM is desperately needed though. Gardner return has gone from slim to almost nailed on when he's fit again. Can't come soon enough!
If you can score 2 or more goals against us (that shouldn't be to difficult if we defend like we did against MK) you should pick up 3 points. I have a feeling we won't be so generous on Saturday though.. *prays*