The past week for NFFC.

Since I last wrote an article here, much has happened at The City Ground. We've had trialists fly in from the middle east, we've appointed a new manager, signed a great player and perhaps most importantly of all, we beat Alfreton in a friendly...

Firstly with the trialists, our neighbours over the A5-2 (never gets old) seem to be quite intent on rubbishing these lads as 'useless' and implying that we're just desperate. Well I do feel the need to remind them of former trialist Radi Majewski smashing one in from 30 yards, that silenced them a bit. Give them a chance, if the owners are true to their word and the manager has the final say then what have we got to lose? Asamoah Gyan proved a star at Sunderland after being found in the depths of African football, and Zinedine Zidane himself was found playing in Algeria! Now i'm by no means saying ours are on that level, but you never know.

Now the appointment of the new manager is something that has delighted me. The Al-Hasawi's have appointed a man in Sean O'Driscoll who knows the lower leagues inside out, plays good football and is already popular with the players. They've avoided the mistake that I think a lot of new owners make in appointing a big name with little or no Championship experience, we all know how that works out (McClaren). Sean will know the players in the lower leagues, a trick we've missed as some of the more successful players in the top leagues are found at the likes of Gillingham and Stevenage.

Now the one that caused widespread joy amongst Reds fans, on facebook and twitter at least. Mr Fawaz Al-Hasawi announced on his official twitter page that we have signed Adlene Guedioura on a 3 year deal, subject to him passing his medical. This is nothing short of great news, he made an incredible impression in his 4 months on trent side, and is the signing most fans wanted. Although it is down at undisclosed I have heard rumours of £2.2 million, which if they are true this shows the new owners mean serious business. Talk about a statement of intent!

Adlene Guedioura is welcomed back to The City Ground by Sean O'Driscoll (left) and cousin Omar,  one of 3 owners.

So far so very good in my opinion. Ignoring the rubbish in the national newspapers about the owners, you cannot fault the start they've made. The increased communication is a breath of fresh air, and personally I can't wait for the next week to unfold, it's going to be one hell of a ride.

Danny O'Donnell. @ChubbyAsian

Potential new manager...

Glenn Hoddle (1/2 - Skybet)
Positives
- He still remains a big name in the footballing world, could attract high calibre players? Although we heard all that with McClaren..
- Fully understands the history and legacy of the club, will try and play good football.
Negatives 
- Lack of championship experience, something I believe is required to be successful in this league.
- Possibly out of touch with modern game? Been a good 7/8 years since his last managerial job.
My view 
Personally I wouldn't oppose to Hoddle as manager. I think he fully understands football and therefore could do good things at Forest, wouldn't be my first choice though.

Darren Ferguson (5/1 - Skybet)
Positives
- Has championship experience so therefore knows and understands the demands of the league.
- May have link to Man Utd youth team players, but again with McClaren we know that links don't always pay off.
- Is well regarded at Posh.
Negatives 
- Had a torrid time at Preston after deserting Posh.
- See song "your dad's a twat, and so are you"
My view
Could do worse, but would by no means by a primary choice, don't really like the guy from what I've heard about him and don't actually think he's a great manager.

Roy Keane (6/1 - Skybet)
Positives
- Ex Forest man, knows a lot about the club and it's history.
- Wouldn't take any prisoners from owners.
- Has good Championship experience with Sunderland which shouldn't be forgotten.
Negatives
- Don't like him as a person, rude and depressing (my opinion)
- Had a poor time at Ipswich.
My view
Not the man for us, would be very disappointed to see him return. Don't like him as a person, have respect for him but not his biggest fan as a manager. I think we can appoint better.

Billy Davies (8/1 - Skybet)
Positives
- Is adored by the vast majority of supporters. Appointment would be met with joy amongst them.
- Had a great time here and was successful, with 2 play off campaigns in 2 full seasons.
- Had the reds playing top quality passing football (at home) which is a must with our fan base.
- Not afraid to say what he feels (can be negative).
- Tactically faultless, I firmly believe he's one of the best managers without a job.
Negatives
- Well documented fiery relationship with the hierarchy at all his clubs, do we really want all that again?
- Had a lot of money to spend, a lot more than some people realise.
- Made some poor signings, McGoldrick and Adebola to name 2.
- Could be seen as taking a step backwards?
My view
Deep down I suppose I would love to see Billy back. Had a great time here and made the fans fall completely in love with the club again, was very unfortunate to be dismissed and despite a few issues with his personality I would more than welcome his return to trent side.

Gordon Strachan (10/1 - Skybet)
Positives
- Has had success in the managerial game.
- Very well respected amongst fellow managers, must tell something.
Negatives
- Lack of recent Championship experience.
- Never really rated him as a manager.
- As a pundit on ITV for Euro 2012 I thought he talked a lot of rubbish (opinion)
- Doesn't seem the nicest of blokes.
My view
No. Quite simply do not want him as manager, don't think he's a great manager and certainly don't think he'd do a great job here. Maybe we should stay away from the ginger route? McClaren, Megson? Who knows...

Alex McLeish (20/1 - Skybet)
Positives
- Won the Carling Cup with Birmingham.
- Has success in the championship before.
- Will have a lot of contacts in the game.
- Knows the league inside out.
Negatives
- Ultimately was relegated with a decent Birmingham side.
- Was a complete and utter flop at Villa.
- Fans don't want him in the first place, will be extremely difficult to change their mind (like it proved at Villa)
- Hardly inspires in post match interviews.
My view
Not for me. I do rate him as a manager but don't think he's right for Forest at the moment. Was never his biggest fan at Birmingham and even less now after the mess he made at Villa. If we're going to appoint a manager like this we may as well have kept Steve Cotteril in my opinion.

Overall, it's got to be Billy for me. I know it seems like a step back, but wow we had some good times! Second choice right now (realistically) would be Fergie, the idea of him being our manager is growing on me slightly.

Sacking Steve Cotteril, good or bad?

The news was broken on Thursday morning that Steve Cotteril had been relieved of his duties as Forest manager. Again there was a great mixture of emotions amongst fans, with some excitement but also a tinge of sadness over his sudden departure. A lot of fans believed he deserved a chance with money, whereas some didn't think he was the right man to lead us into the new era. Fresh start and all that cliché rubbish.

During his time as Forest manager Cotteril did what was asked of him, to keep the reds in the Championship. It seemed a difficult task when he started his reign, and it proved to be just that as Forest struggled throughout the season, going a whole month in December without scoring a goal being one low of a   pretty awful campaign.

It was (with the help of O'Driscoll) the loan signings that Cotteril brought in that kept us in the league, there can be no question of that. The addition of solidarity in Scott Wooton from Man Utd, fan favourite George Elikobi from Wolves and ex ram Danny Higgingbotham from Stoke certainly helped sure up a weak and futile defence. While signing of largely unknown Adlene Guedioura (also from Wolves) to the midfield made a huge difference, the Algerian creating a long lasting impression as one of the best loan players for many years! Also it shouldn't be forgotten that another two men who were key to survival in Andy Reid and Garath McCleary were both given a chance under Cotteril, and didn't disappoint with top performances during the back end of the season.

He did make mistakes, ridiculous comments such as "the fans were too loud for the players to hear me" after a 2-1 defeat at Middlesbrough. I was there, I've been to louder funeral's. Also deciding to spend his post match interview criticising the team profusely, after an incredible 7-3 victory at Elland Road didn't really help his cause. It was also clear he wasn't really a great tactician, leaving a solid Higgingbotham on the bench while instead playing an uninterested captain  in Luke Chambers mystifying me personally.

He did though do the job he was asked to do as i said earlier in the article, steering the reds to another season in the Championship in a hugely difficult time in the clubs history.

I think personally he could have been given a chance under a new regime, to finally not have to work on such a shoe string budget. The loan signings he brought in were incredibly effective and who knows what he could have done with money behind him, if his eye for a great player is as true as it was finding Guedioura.

I do also agree though that a new dawn brings a new era, and if the new owners want to bring in a new manager and have a completely clean slate to work with then i can see the benefits, so while i'm left feeling desperately sorry for Cotteril, I do understand why his contract was terminated and will be interested to see who the new manager is, as long as its not McCleish. Or Strachan for that matter.

Thanks for everything Steve.

Takeover - my general thoughts!

On Tuesday 10th July, it was announced on twitter that Fawaz Al-Hasawi, along with his brother Abdulaziz and cousin Omar had completed the takeover of Forest. 

The news was greeted with the presumed jubilation and a certain degree of concern, quite justified in my opinion after the events that occurred at Meadow Lane. The younger generation such as myself met the news with great delight, seeing it as new era and new dawn for the club, after all we seemed to be entering somewhat of a demise since the sad passing of Nigel Doughty, with this news certainly being the most positive to come out of NG2 in the past 12 months. You hear about the great success stories regarding foreign investment, look no further than Sheik Mansour at Manchester City, delivering the premier league title! Our new owners can not be put on the same level as men such as Mansour and Abramovich, but investment of any kind is a great relief to Forest fans far and wide.

A problem that has always been present at Forest, and is sure to be prominent over the next few seasons is the matter of expectation, and the prompt rise in them. It may be worth noting that the Al-Hasawi's do not appear in the top 1,000 in this years Forbes rich list. This is all the proof you need to show they are not in the same league as some fans seem to believe. Fans like myself must remain grounded, at least until it becomes clear what level of investment there will be. 

The first job is obviously to find a new manager after the abrupt departure of Steve Cotteril (another post will discuss my opinions on that). Once a new manager is in place we need a lot of signings very quickly, just to form a half decent squad going into our opener with Bristol City on August 18th. Perhaps the intent of the Al-Hasawi's will become clear once we see the calibre of these signings and how many there are! 

It could potentially be very exciting times, but for the mean time let's trust the new men in charge, keep our feet firmly grounded and get behind whoever the new manager is. Like the Hasawi's have said, running a football club is a marathon not a sprint! You never know, it could all be worth it in the end. You reds!