Through the seasons before us..

Carlisle are the latest team to throw their hat in the ring in the battle to court Grant Holt; whilst on paper that would be a silly move for him - given that he’s already turned down Bristol City, and has stated his desire to stay at Forest and fight for his place, there’s likely to be a pull for him as Carlisle is his home town.  Whilst currently settled in Nottingham with his missus and a child on the way, wider family being close by particularly with a new young ‘un around will undoubtedly prove tempting.

How much first team action Grant gets between now and January I think will prove pivotal to this; presumably Carlisle - whose manager, Neil McDonald, has already confirmed is in the market for a striker in January - will be aware that we accepted a bid of around £300k for Holt, and if opinions at the City Ground haven’t changed, would accept similar from the northerners for our top scorer. 

Carlisle United’s captain, Kevin Gray, has even commented to the press that he’d love to see Holt join them in January, so I can see a bid definitely coming in - I really hope that whatever issues lead to a transfer bid being accepted in the first place have been resolved by January, as I’ve not really been convinced by either Holt or Smoulderwood’s subsequent comments to the press about it - but I don’t want to see Holt leave, I think he’s a valuable asset and is a different kind of striker to the others we have in the squad.

It’s probably all just rumour and conjecture, but I can’t help but think that Grant wouldn’t dismiss a move back to his hometown as quickly as he did a move to almost-Wales a few weeks back.

Smoulderwood is almost certain not to risk Junior Agogo and Danny Cullip, both of whom pulled up with hamstring injuries in the weekend victory over Millwall.  The seriousness of the injuries is as yet unclear, but frankly if there’s any small risk then it isn’t worth it.  I imagine he may also decide to rest Paul Smith and give Rune Pedersen a run out, although depending on the complicated ”must field six players who’ve played in the majority of league games” rule, Colin may choose to rest other key players.

Nathan Tyson must be a reasonable bet for a starting place, and I’m sure Grant Holt will also fancy his chances of making the starting eleven.  So far it’s a competition that Smoulders has taken seriously, fielding often more than the required six players - and Bristol City are definitely the biggest challenge we have faced yet in the tournament, indeed, I would suggest they’re the strongest team left in it aside from Forest.  So get these out the way and - so long as we avoid complacency - then reaching the final isn’t a realistic aim.

We have met Bristol City not all that long ago, of course, when a Nicky Southall freekick was enough to secure a 1-0 victory for the mighty Reds in a hotly contested battle with the carrot-crunchers.  That game took place in a firey atmosphere, with just the Main Stand open and a few hundred (if that) fans from Bristol nestled in the away end, I can’t see that being quite so prevalent this time around - I imagine the proprietors of Amici’s on Radcliffe Road will be relieved!

Gary Johnson, the Bristol manager, recently said the league was far from over - shrewd bloke, isn’t he? Coming out with that in November!  Of course, he’s right - but a decent win in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy over who I still consider to be our main league rivals would be no bad thing; it would keep our unbeaten run alive, and put a sizable dent in their confidence.  Ultimately, we’ve proven we can beat them once - we can do it again, but it wasn’t exactly a comfortable win in the league - so we need to have our wits about us.

Colin Calderwood has picked up the football award in the East Midlands sporting awards - the smouldering one netted the gong for both his work in getting Northampton Town promoted, and of course the work he’s begun with a subject much dearer to our hearts; taking the mighty Nottingham Forest to a commanding position in League One - a nice early Christmas present for the Forest boss, who accepted the award in person.

On accepting the award he spoke of the Forest job as an opportunity to potentially manage at the highest level - hopefully he means with Forest and not as a stepping stone to greater things! (That’s certainly how it came across - so fear not!).  It does just go to show that to step straight from a successful campaign with the Cobblers and begin what looks like becoming another with the Reds is no mean achievement - well done Smoulders, may it be only the next in a long line of awards! 

A few times Forest players have made the League One team of the week, which The Football League announce to recognise those who’ve made notable contributions to their sides fortunes in a particular week.  And you would expect that, given that we top the table so clearly have in our ranks a number of players who would be the envy of our peers in League One, in fact, if anything I would expect our players to feature more often than they do!

This time it’s Nicky Southall who’s made it - now, don’t get me wrong, I like Nicky Southall - but if this award is based on the Millwall game then why would it be Trigger that was picked out?  He was marked out of the game in the first half, and whilst didn’t play badly in the second half by any stretch, wasn’t the standout player for me.

In the past Julian Bennett raised eyebrows by being included in this award earlier in the season - it seems as though they get stuck on a particular position in the team and think “Oh, Forest got another good result, let’s stick their right winger in there”, rather than actually creating a ‘team of the week’ based on the actual players who made outstanding contributions.  Either that or they are operating on a serious time delay and Nicky Southall’s goal glut from few weeks back netted him this award.

So well done Nicky, but I’m increasingly failing to see the point of this award as it seems a little too random for my liking - if I had to pick a Forest player for inclusion then Wes Morgan was exceptional on saturday, as was Sammy Clingan and Junior Agogo - but Trigger was steady but unspectacular, particularly given his recent goalscoring exploits!

The statue fund is edging ever closer to the target with a £1,400 boost from the latest eBay auction - thanks to buyers as far flung as Australia and the United States.  This takes the fund to almost £54,000, ever closer to the target of raising £60,000 to create a lasting monument to the great man in Nottingham’s city centre. 

The largest lot was £510 - for one of the gigantic banners that adorned the Council House during Brian Clough’s civic tribute in Nottingham, with other notable unique items such as an ‘Old Big ‘Ead’ sweater signed by Nigel Clough, Martin O’Neill and John Robertson, a football designed by fashionista Paul Smith, and a football signed by none other than Brazilian legend Pele.

A Forest shirt signed by the current squad will be winging its merry way down under - bought by an Australian bidder for £171, and perhaps bizarrely a programme signed by Kris Commons will be jet-setting it over the Atlantic to a new American home; who would’ve thought Kris would have such global appeal?

Rich Fisher from the statue fund said he was delighted with how much had been raised. “It’s another big step towards our target,” he said. “The auction had some rare items and bidding for the banner was hotting-up right until the deadline. We’re planning to have another internet auction soon to help us get nearer the £60,000 and we’re hoping that the ‘Clough Aid’ event will raise more money too.”

Tickets are still on sale for ‘Clough Aid’, a music event in aid of the statue fund. Several bands are playing a gig at the Rescue Rooms on Friday 15th December. The event is being organised by Nottingham-based band The Fakers. Other bands so far confirmed are Mint Ive and Delta Red. They’ve all been challenged to perfom a song made famous by Frank Sinatra - one of Cloughie’s favourite singers.

Tickets for Clough Aid, priced at £5, are available to buy from two different places in Nottingham city centre - the Rock City box office on Talbot Street, and Selectadisc Records on Market Street. Alternatively, they can be booked online with a debit or credit card, by visiting www.ltlf.co.uk/clough

The Fakers have set up a special webpage to help promote Clough Aid, where fans can listen to music recorded by the bands set to appear at the gig. This can be viewed at www.myspace.com/briancloughaid

Plans are afoot to add further bands and special guests to the line-up in the coming weeks - while the night will also feature DJs until 3am after the live music finishes.

The statue fund was set-up in June last year by a group of fans who are determined to see a lasting tribute to Brian Clough in Nottingham city centre. As well having the backing of Brian Clough’s family, the fund has the support of the city council, Nottingham Forest and the supporters club.

For the latest information on the statue fund and how to donate on-line, visit the non-profit making tribute website www.brianclough.com

People are still being encouraged to send donations. Cheques should be made payable to: ‘Nottingham City Council - Brian Clough Statue Fund’ and sent C/O Paul J. Ellis, PKF, Accountants & Business Advisers, Regent House, Clinton Avenue, Nottingham, NG5 1AZ.

The magic of the FA Cup compelled crazy Salisbury fans to  queue up for tickets for their forthcoming game against Forest at 5am yesterday - over the course of the day they sold just under 1,200 tickets.  The reason I consider them crazy for this early morning activity is because they still have more tickets to sell - starting this morning at 9:30am for supporters with vouchers from Salisbury City’s last game against Enfield.

If there are any tickets remaining after tomorrow, then they go on general sale to non-Enfield voucher holders; with the proviso that they can provide identification to prove they are infact a citizen of Salisbury.  I imagine they will have sold out pretty much before then anyway, such is the lure of the Smoulderwood bandwagon rolling into town!  Arf.  I shouldn’t joke really, it’s a big deal for a team like Salisbury, and an opportunity for Forest to make a real arse of themselves on national telly.

But the best news of the day from Wiltshire is… wait for it… they have manufactured commemorative “City-Forest souvenir scarves” as well as the obligatory t-shirts - it’s not on a par with the Weymouth-Forest souvenir sausages; but I suppose it will just have to do - it tickles me anyway, I’m probably just bitter that I couldn’t get a ticket!

Click here for an update from the Wiltshire press

I’m getting irritated by the things I continue to hear and read about Neil Harris; this post is partially inspired by Baz’s excellent match report on a different blog, and by Liverpool fans (urgh!) chanting about Traore some time ago… it goes to the tune of ‘Blame it on the Boogie’ by the Jackson Five.

Don’t blame it on the back-pass
Don’t blame it on the tactics
Don’t blame it on the bad start
Blame it on Neil Harris

Don’t blame it on the Millwall
Don’t blame it on their good start
Don’t blame it on defending
Blame it on Neil Harris

I just can’t
I just can’t
I just can’t control my rage
I just can’t
I just can’t
I just can’t control my rage

Don’t blame it on the three points
Don’t blame it on the great run
Don’t blame it on the first place
Blame it on Neil Harris

Don’t blame it on two dropped points (in six games )
Don’t blame it on six clear
Don’t blame it on Calder-wood
Blame it on Neil Harris

I just can’t
I just can’t
I just can’t control my rage
I just can’t
I just can’t
I just can’t control my rage.

Dropped points…
Six clear…
League place…
Harris…

I’m starting to sound as much of a broken record as some of the detractors; whilst I can see merit in their desire to see Grant Holt or Nathan Tyson in Neil’s place in the team, I wish that people would remember that as long as Neil Harris is on that pitch he deserves our support - to call him a passenger, lazy or useless is stupidity in itself.

Constructive criticism is no problem at all; but once the game is underway, if you were one of those people in Capital One Corner singing “We all agree, Grant Holt is better than Harris”, you really need to have a good think about the bile you come out with. It might be true, but there’s a time and a place, and during the game is not it.

Nottingham Forest - 3
Millwall FC - 1

Forest today registered their first win over Millwall at the City Ground for some 16 years - I hadn’t realised they were quite as much of a bogey team as they apparently are. They are one of very few teams, like Leicester, who I think the world would be better without them existing - as we watched the fans gather in the Lower Bridgford stand, the proportion of male fans of 25 and upwards that follow Millwall was quite phenominal. Perhaps it isn’t surprising, given their well-earned reputation.

The stewards however, seemed more interested in ejected home supporters - a lad behind us was removed, as was his family, because apparently he commited the heinous act of getting a bit carried away at Millmoor last week and spilled onto the pitch in a touch of youthful exuberance. Meanwhile the knuckle-draggers from Saaf Landan below us seemingly could do no wrong, as they piled into the away section which didn’t seem prepared to deal with the number who turned up on the day.

It wasn’t long before the southerners were celebrating; some still queuing on the steps trying to get in, when Danny Cullip oddly allowed Ben May to win the ball from him, and so have a clear run at Paul Smith in the Forest goal - who he beat to put the Lions one nil up. Forest looked reasonable going forward, although Lenny Pidgeley - Millwall’s unconventional keeper - seemed able to confound any efforts we had - including bizarrely winning a freekick when Wes Morgan didn’t touch him.

All in all though, Forest were not particularly effective, and Millwall were good for their lead when half time arrived - they’d hit the bar from a corner, and generally had our defence looking uncharacteristically shaky. Danny Cullip in particular was noticeably off the pace, a player who we’ve relied on for his consistency - he was anything but consistent today. We did have chances though, Commons just missed from range, Agogo was through and had an effort just wide, and particularly toward the end of the half Forest showed vague signs of improving.

I’m sure if you look around match reports, the phrase “game of two halves” will be used on more than one occasion, and this certainly was one of those. Forest came out of the blocks much better in the second half, with a Harris attempt blocked, and Perch’s effort on the rebound put out for a corner. A brilliant block by Wes Morgan prevented Darren Byfield doubling Millwall’s lead, and it was shortly after this that Cullip pulled up with what looked like a hamstring injury.

Nathan Tyson was to enter the fray - and it speaks volumes for our formation that we can take off a centreback for a striker and not really change our shape. Harris was pushed back into Curtis’s midfield slot, and Curtis back into defence. Forest continued to press but it was starting to look a frustrating afternoon, until finally the breakthrough came when Agogo burst through the centre, and controlled a difficult bobbling ball to put it past Pidgeley to give Forest the equaliser they had worked so hard for.

With Millwall still on the ropes, Commons crossed into a crowded area where James Perch was on hand to put it in with his knee! Despite an attempted goal-line clearance, the City Ground was relieved to see the linesman flag for a goal and duly erupted in noise, enjoying the obvious discomfort of the meat-heads in the away end. With 15 minutes left on the clock Grant Holt was introduced for Kris Commons, and was given a raucous round of applause from Forest fans still bemused by us almost selling him to Bristol City.

By this point the Forest fans were mimicking the Millwall fans’ “Joey” chant (as we called it), which basically involves them yelling moronically in a continuous drone - or, as my neighbour put it, “they sound like a thousand retarded Blakey’s from On The Buses!” - which is about the best way I can think of to describe it! It was quite entertaining, but then it was also strangely hypnotic, and I think it might be part of the reason that Millwall has such a large moron-quotient amongst their followers.

The game was put beyond a doubt with around 8 minutes remaining, a Southall corner whipped in with pace was flicked by Breckin whose header looped in just off the post to make it three one - Breckin had at that point had an effort saved, and cleared off the line - so he will certainly be relieved to have finally breached the Millwall goal! From this point on we were in complete control, and were unlucky not to add to our lead as Millwall went all out to attack, rather badly! Agogo burst through and where a square ball to an in-the-clear Grant might’ve been better, he went on and appears to have injured himself as a result.

Agogo was off and with us using all our subs - Gary Holt coming on for Neil Harris earlier - so we finished the game with 10 men, and frankly, it’s all we needed - whilst Millwall had started the game well, this was more down to our bad performance I think - I can see why they’re struggling in the league! Half the away end had long since emptied by this point, presumably to go and look for like-minded (or lack-of-minded) people to ruck with, but heading back to the car there was no sign of any trouble, although a wait down at the Lady Bay Bridge steps whilst the police escorted a tribe of leering Neanderthals back to the station.

So we’re still six points clear of Scunthorpe, we’re still top of the league, and we’re still having a laugh! And we’ve broken a 16 year hoodoo, back in January 1990 we beat them 3-1 - with Laws, Hodge and Clough on the scoresheet. That season, of course, we won some silverware (the league cup), and Millwall were relegated… here’s hoping there will be further elements of little pieces of history repeating themselves!

In a week of mixed messages, Calderwood has finally broken the Forest silence on the whole Grant Holt issue.  He’s basically said that he’s delighted he’s still here, and reiterated his lack of desperation to see any of our squad move on (presumably with the exception of Padula type players ).  It’s interesting, because the way he phrases it is different to how it’s been previously reported.

Rather than suggest that Bristol made an offer, which we accepted - he suggests Grant asked to be informed of any firm offers made for him (Colin doesn’t mention whether or not we accepted it), and decided himself to visit Bristol to see what was on offer (Grant suggested in interviews he went out of courtesy due to an offer being accepted - not that he actually wanted to go).

So rather than clear things up, Colin’s latest comments confuse me all the more - did we want to sell Grant, did Grant want to consider moves because of his lack of first team opportunities?  Who knows.  What is pleasing to read is that Colin has said Grant has applied himself in training and is very much ‘back in the fold’ - whoa! whoa! Super Grant Holt! Super Grant Holt!

Click here to read the full piece on the official Forest website.

The Daily Mirror is reporting today that Dean Windass is a £500k target for Forest in January; now whilst I obviously enjoy a dig at a player who’s been a thorn in our side over the years, he is a talented player without a doubt, and his nine goals so far this season are testiment to his continued effectiveness infront of goal.

However - he’s 37 - and half a million quid for someone who will last half a season at best (in my opinion) seems folly, particularly since if it were true, then presumably Grant Holt would be the player we’d sacrifice to fund part of the move.  Now I would say Windass is the more talented of the two, however, Grant is younger and can actually run - he’s only scored one less than Windass too, in fewer games.

I find it tough to believe we’d be after him, he’s been loyal to Bradford City before when Wigan were after him; he’s too old - and the price mentioned is ludicrous.  A chap on the LTLF forum made me smile with his appraisal of the situation:

When a large Ginsters truck arrives outside the City Ground, start worrying.

Nothing can happen now until after Christmas, at which time Mr Windass will be so fat he’ll require his own dressing room.

So keep an eye out for pie and pasty trucks at the City Ground - it could be that we’re signing Windass - or Rogers is coming back!