Through the seasons before us..

This article on the Times website made me chuckle a great deal – I have cherished memories of seeing Laws and Pearce comprise our uncompromising fullbacks, and in these days where team spirit seems to involve going into Nottingham to get arseholed and lairy it’s refreshing to read about the kind of shenanigans the players I grew up watching used to get up to.  Laws words make the best reading, here they are:

“Stuart’s like a hand grenade,” Laws, who roomed with Pearce during his playing days, said. “He pulls the pin out and then walks off. He seems to set everything up — a joke, a wind-up — but never finishes them off.

“We had a great team spirit at Forest. We used to socialise together, go go-karting, airballooning, you name it. He’d get me to do the organising because he knew I’d do it thoroughly and get people involved. He also made sure I got held responsible if anything went wrong.

“Unbeknown to the gaffer, we went paint-balling against Notts County once and Nigel Clough came back with a twisted ankle after falling out of a tree. To this day, Nigel doesn’t know who shot him. I know Stuart Pearce was holding the gun — but has yet to take the blame. I got absolutely caned by Brian Clough because it was me who organised the event.”

Cracking stuff – it’s nice to know that there was a more wholesome time when the players went off and did wholesome things behind the manager’s back!  He went on to say nicer things about Pearce; which I’ll end with – it’s so nice to read comments from these two as they were up there as two of my all time favourite Forest players.

“You could tell he had the credentials for management and he’s done a fantastic job at Man City. It’s not so long ago he was being talked of as the next England manager; not long after, he was being talked of as the next for the sack. But he relishes every moment,”

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