Through the seasons before us..

First things first, I’ve excitingly become a temporary columnist for the excellent Nottingham portal Left Lion on all matters Forest whilst the incumbent journalist goes on a round the world tour, you can check out my first column here, and keep an eye out for subsequent ones – and check out the rest of the site, whilst you’re at it.  A nice bite-sized monthly bulletin of all things Forest with a significantly more manageable word-count than this expansive monologue, with a few random extra observations thrown in!

Well here we are, we’re 24 hours into the transfer window and we’ve not signed anyone yet – what on earth is Smoulders playing at? (sic).  I’ve heard whisperings that Neil Harris is off to Millwall imminently, which is probably a good move for all concerned given the grief he gets from sections of the Forest support, and I’ve heard that long-linked Luke Chambers should be a Forest player by the weekend – but nowt has been confirmed anywhere I’d deem trustworthy just yet, so we shall see.

The early stages of the transfer window are more infuriating for would-be rumour hunters such as myself than the time before the window opens – there’s just so much chaff to hunt through on forums and news sites.  Martin Ling has said that other potential target Matt Lockwood isn’t going anywhere – which of course, doesn’t mean anything at all!  Some fans called for us to get Williamson from Rotherham, well Barnsley have had a £200k for him rebuffed, and apparently there are better offers on the table.

In the world of Forest forums and websites there’s notable dissent against Smoulders, from the irrational and childish “he’s just like Megson!” type comments, to the more rationally frustrated fans who witness poor performances but hear Smoulds defend the players in post-match interviews.  Let’s think about this again, what gain does he get from castigating players in the press?  So long as he’s dispensing the hairdryer treatment in the dressing room then I don’t see why we should be turning on him just yet, but it’s a big big month for him to prove his credentials, that’s for sure.

I’ll leave you with something else to be cheerful about – we definitely won’t be signing Ade Akinbiyi as he’s joined Burnley from Sheffield United for a spectacularly over-priced £750k!  If I could be arsed I’d research how much has been spent on him in transfer fees over the years – he must be up there with Emile Heskey in the expensive donkey stakes!  Oh, and Carlos Edwards has joined Sunderland for £1.5m – so there’s another (very unlikely) linked player gone elsewhere.

Filed under: Thoughts