Through the seasons before us..

Given that today we were confounded by a Continental ‘keeper - perhaps the strange timing of signing Dimitrios Konstantopoulos isn’t so strange!  We’ve apparently signed - or are about to - sign the Coventry goalie on loan until the end of the season, with him having dropped out of first team reckoning for the Sky Blues since the arrival of Coleman at the Ricoh Arena.

It’s true that a decent competitior to Smithy has been a longstanding gap in our squad - with the 87 year old (sic) coach Barry Richardson standing in on numerous occasions as substitute goalkeeper, and with a likely torrid run in to the end of the season, culminating in the inevitable stress-fest that is the playoffs, having a backup incase of injury to Smith is a pretty sensible step to take.

It still seems a strange move though, and hints at perhaps contingency planning should we lose Smith in the summer upon failing to go up again.  It’s just typical of Forest though to have lost a striker and gained a reserve goalkeeper in the space of a week - just when we’re struggling to score goals but seem okay at preventing the conceding of them…

… and not, as you may have first thought, to work on the beach alongside the other donkeys - he’s actually gone to play football there ’til the end of the season on loan.

Okay, so the inevitable Blackpool donkey jokes are out the way, it’s been a difficult time for Holt under Smoulderwood.  He attempted to sell him to Brizzle, he dropped him randomly when he was scoring goals, and this season he’s been playing him as a winger - clearly a fairly solid way of either saying “I don’t understand football”, or “I don’t like you very much.”

Grant has compounded this with not particularly inspiring performances when he has made it onto the pitch, and of course the infamous “shop window” comment he made when the possibility of playing Liverpool in the cup was on the media’s lips earlier in the season.  Coupled with rumours of fall-outs with the manager (including some attributing the black eye Smoulds was sporting recently to him), it was inevitable he’d be off sooner or later.

So it’s a bittersweet farewell, really - for the best, certainly, for us and him - as for whatever reason it wasn’t working for him here.  There was a time I thought very highly of him, an ‘old fashioned’ centre-forward with an eye for goal, but we’ve seen little evidence of that recently - whether it be through lack of effort or form, or Smoulders’ baffling tactical deployment of him.

No doubt he’ll slot into a strikers berth at Blackpool and start scoring again, as players generally do upon leaving us - that said, I do think his level is around about where we are now, so he might struggle up in the Championship where Blackpool currently nestle in the middle of the table.  So farewell, Grant - I wish you neither fortune nor malice.

I found myself really biting my tongue before posting this, because you have to be wary of the comments Forest make in the media about signings these days.  However, the Evening Post is suggesting that the former-Rotherham hitman has agreed a loan deal to join us, with the option to buy come summer, as the striker finds himself out of favour at Watford after joining them in a joint deal with Lee Williamson.

Also mentioned are Matty Fryatt, Billy Sharp and Freddie Eastwood - so, basically, every striker we coveted last season who had opted to move elsewhere rather than Forest.  So double the reason to be dubious, we’ve not exactly been brimming with luck when it comes to chasing players who we’ve failed to sign in the past already.  I guess basically I’m saying that I’ll believe it when I see it, I can’t bring myself to be excited by anything now after the January saga!

Assuming a deal is all but done, when the loan window opens on thursday that should mean we can conclude quickly and have the player available for the Millwall match at home.  Certainly I can understand Forest’s panic, after the reaction of the supporters at Bournemouth they will be keen to bolster the squad and try to appease increasingly irate fans rather than face their wrath at the City Ground - particularly if a Bournemouth-like performance is forthcoming on saturday.

At the end of the article Smoulderwood does offer typical words of caution, that we won’t rush into the transfer market (no shit!), and that our ‘heart and spirit’ is okay - well that’s alright then, if you think the heart and spirit of our abject showing last weekend is okay, Smoulds, then you have a serious blind-spot!  So keep an eye on the news, you never know, we might… just might… maybe… actually sign a striker!

I kinda thought he’d be off, but after a late appearance against Swansea wondered if perhaps he would see out the season - but today Neil Lennon has gone to Wycombe Wanderers on a free transfer.  Smoulders spoke of wanting the midfielder to stick around, but was understanding - and hardly reassuring - of his desire for regular first team football.

So it seems that Lenny was a bit of an expensive mistake, in terms of wages.  He has been a bit like Marmite to Forest fans, I ‘get’ what he brings to a side, and I defy anyone to argue that we looked more composed with him on the field than without him.  So I’m disappointed to see him go, and frankly, since he played in exactly the way I expected him to - why on Earth did we sign him in the first place if that wasn’t what was wanted?

Lennon now links up with former team-mate Paul Lambert at Wycombe, and personally I wish him luck and am disappointed to see him leave.  Could it be that once again we are set to see out a January transfer window without any incomings, and a significant outgoing (not withstanding the lad from Bromley) - or is this news launched with plans for another announcement to quell unrest?  Who knows.

I guess if Lennon really wasn’t part of Smoulderwood’s plans, then given the wages he’s likely to be on it makes sense to get rid - that said, I can’t think Wycombe are matching our wages to him so presumably he goes with a likely payoff from us as well.  So farewell, Neil - thanks for your efforts and sorry it didn’t work out.

Iain Dowie’s brash talk seems to have taken a backward step of late on the Leon Best saga.  His recommendations of denying his transfer request were a pretty transparent mechanism to inflate our bid for him, or lure other clubs into some kind of bidding war for the services of the young striker.  Only Ipswich came forward, and whilst arguably a better opportunity in league placing, it was bound to be geographically prohibitive for Best who is reportedly keen on a move back to his home town.

Now, whether of course that translates to a transfer actually being agreed remains to be seen, but the fact that Forest have today allowed Scott Dobie to depart - despite his clear lack of favour - is suggestive that they’re reasonably confident of another striker coming in this month.  At least I would hope so - I made similar assumptions last January when Forest allowed Southall to return to Gillingham, so there isn’t any chicken-counting going on just yet for me!

There still remains the tricky subject of Forest’s latest bid (reported to be £1.1m in some quarters - I suspect it is considerably less) being short of Coventry’s valuation - but if they are indeed accepting defeat in convincing the wantaway player to stay, then I would hope we can move quickly to secure his services.  All of this is assuming there isn’t a third party waiting in the wings to throw a spanner in the works.

Dowie’s comments are below, he seems to attempt to mitigate for the fact he has backtracked quite dramatically in a matter of days, but sod it, he’s only acting presumably in what he sees as Coventry’s best interests, and I don’t suppose we can blame him for that:

“I have put my view to the board and at the end of the day the lad wants to go and play for his home town club and that’s understandable, he’s a young boy who has done very well for us in patches and is one we brought in for the future, but he has got his views and we will see how we go between now and the end of the window.  Certainly at the level they are talking about, there is not a deal to be done.

“I am not a great believer in keeping people here against their wishes but, in the end, it has got to be right for us.  The good thing is we would get a good profit on him but that’s not what we are about and certainly not what me and Ray (Ranson) are about in terms of planning for the long term.”

“I have a valuation which we will keep to ourselves.  At the end of the day that’s where it is.  That doesn’t mean he’s a bad lad because he cares about things and any other club might not have turned his head.  But it has, although I don’t think it has been handled very pleasingly from a Forest point of view.  I don’t think there is any other motive other than he wants to play for his home town club.  He says he really enjoys it here and Nottingham is only 45 minutes away, so a commutable distance.”

He also confirms that whilst he’s had conversations with Ipswich Town about Best, there has been no bid lodged - by the way he speaks of Best’s eagerness to join up with Forest it sounds like it’s a no-goer anyway.  So, assuming (big assumption I know!) that Forest are able to agree terms with the Sky Blues it would appear their patience in landing their man has paid off - so some credit is due there.  If it comes off, of course.

Gosh, what a busy news day!  I’m off to listen to the match now - come on the Reds!

Dale Roberts has been sent out on loan to Rushden and Diamonds, given he was our substitute keeper and Paddy Gamble is also out on loan, the remaining goalkeeper I know of on our books is Shane Redmond - who doesn’t appear to have a squad number.  There was talk from Smoulds pre-January about cover for Paul Smith being one of the gaps in our squad he was looking at.

Which leads neatly on to a rumour I heard much earlier in the month that around the Northampton Town dressing room it’s apparently common knowledge that Mark Bunn - who’s played at least one blinder against us - has pretty much sorted a deal to join us already.  Of course, rumours such as these fly around from all manner of ’sources’ during a transfer window so it remains to be seen whether there’s any legs in it.

If our youngsters aren’t considered credible long-term cover for Smithy though, then it does make sense to get ‘em some league experience through the loan system - so hopefully Dale will get plenty of games for Rushden to bolster his confidence in dealing with the step up to league football from primarily youth and reserve team levels.  So good luck, Dale!

I feel sorry for Scott Dobie.  In his time at Forest he basically became the punchline of any joke about ineffective or perpetually injured strikers - admittedly, not without just cause - and I quite frequently made jokes along those lines too.  It’s fair to say his time at Forest was never really covered in glory since Megson signed him.

It transpires that, despite our striker shortage, he is not in the plans of Smoulderwood - not even meriting a place on the bench when we’ve been desperately thin on the ground in his position.  Oddly it’s a promotion rival in Carlisle - his home town - who have given him a way out of Forest limbo - a nominal fee has been agreed between the clubs, and the move will go ahead subject to personal terms and (the scary bit) a medical.

So I find it mean to say nasty things about him, when he has featured for the side he’s been a tryer - but for whatever reasons, injuries and others, things just haven’t worked out for him here.  Hopefully they work out elsewhere, albeit given Carlisle’s status as potential promotion rivals, perhaps we shouldn’t wish him too much luck!  I do hope that part of the transfer conditions were that he can’t play against us - although I’m not sure you can do that when it’s a permanent transfer rather than a loan.

The other thought underpinning this move is that given our shortage of strikers (assuming that yesterday’s signing isn’t going to come straight into first team reckoning), this transfer surely indicates that Forest are hopeful (I would say certain, but given their January track record I can’t quite bring myself to) of securing the services of a striker who will be in a position to compete for a first team place.

It’s not Leon Best, though.  It’s hitherto unheard of, and misspelled first name waiting to happen, Garath McCleary from Bromley FC.  There’s confirmation of the move on their website.  From the limited amount of research I’ve been able to undertake on the player, he’s described as a ‘livewire’ as well as suffering with injury last season - but has been impressive - and presumably carried this through to the trial he apparently had with us (they kept that quiet!).

I’m all for attempting to pick up hungry players keen to prove themselves, but it remains to be seen whether Garath will be immediately ready to bolster our strikeforce or whether he’ll need work in training to develop either his abilities or fitness.  But it’s great to report that we’ve actually signed a player, although I’d be very surprised to see him featuring in the first team in the immediate next few games, and I sincerely hope this is not the sum total of our business in the transfer window.

But welcome to the fold, Garath, let’s hope you can dazzle us and fire in a few much needed goals.  The fee for the player is undisclosed, but does include a sell-on percentage, as well as a preseason friendly with Bromley at the start of next season.

Oh, and Neil Danns has signed for Palace, so we can stop going on about him until at least the next transfer window!

According to the Nottingham Evening Posts - with quotes from Smoulderwood and everything - Forest are likely to sign Vauxhall Motors striker Paul Taylor next week.  The striker is playing in a cup tie against Burton today, and will travel back to Nottingham on Sunday where presumably all the details will be sorted out.  It would seem strange to come out with comments such as these to the local paper, if you weren’t sure about it:

“We like him, we want to bring him back to the club, he is scheduled to join up with us again on Sunday, because Vauxhall play Burton in the FA Trophy today.

“He gave a good performance for the reserves, he looked as though he could calmly score goals - as he did in the first minute.

“He is a goal scorer and plenty of clubs have taken people from obscurity before and suddenly they look good. He has aggression, he has a bit of pace about him. He is not quite as good as some people think, but he is certainly a prospect.

“The way he scored his goal raised a few eyebrows in the stadium at Kidderminster, straight away people were asking who he was.  He gave a nice performance but ran out of legs a bit. The question is what he would be like after a pre-season and a bit of full-time training - but that is the exciting prospect. There would be a fee involved in bringing him here.”

So all positive stuff, with a veiled warning about perhaps the players fitness levels, which isn’t surprising.  Although given increasing a bid for Leon Best, it would seem that Smoulders doesn’t think that Taylor could be the sole answer to our problems up front, and indeed, I agree with him.  But at least we are seeing something approximating news of an incoming transfer!  Vauxhall’s manager was quite magnanimous about the whole thing:

“I hope he goes this month for his sake - although not for mine, his future is not here at Motors. He should be playing in the Football League and sooner rather than later. He did really well at Forest and I hope he can get sorted soon.”

So all that remains is, do we trust the Evening Post?… Hmm…

In an uncharacteristic drive for efficiency, Forest have taken a young striker on trial from non-league Vauxhall Motors.  His name is Paul Taylor, and he’s been banging in the goals in the Blue Square North league this season.  He featured for our reserves tonight at West Brom, and took a mere 2 minutes to get on the scoresheet, before going on to setup another goal.  We won 5-1 in the end!

Chester City were eyeing him up recently, and had a £50,000 bid rejected for him recently - from the limited amount of information I can find out him on the internet, he’s described as a quick and intelligent striker.  He was released by Manchester City as a youngster, and is known not only for his goalscoring exploits, but his ability to create goals too.

Taking a punt on a non-league player is certainly a gamble, but a relatively cheap one and potentially for large rewards.  Given we released Shaun Wright-Phillips as a youngster and he went on to achieve a huge transfer fee with Manchester City - it would be neat irony if we managed to reverse the situation with this lad.  Of course, it’s more likely not to work out - but I think it’s a gamble worth taking.

Who can think of the last non-league player we gambled on?  I’m struggling to think of anyone more recent than Woany from Runcorn.  So perhaps it’s time we had another bash at it!