I wanted to write my first story about my Nottingham Forest because they once were, under Brian Clough, a top European club, and with a fairly new ownership that is able to pump money into the club to return to the top flight, they’ve been underachieving. The title comes basically based on my goal of repeating that era, and the fact that I'm Chilean.
Unfortunately, I started this save some time ago, and my first season is over, and so, the promotion objective was completed. However, I’ll tell you what happened then.
http://www.myfootballfacts.com/Nottingham_Forest_logo.gif
When I arrived, Billy Davies had left, under pressure for underachieving in the 2012/13 season, I knew I had a big challenge given the trigger-happy attitude of the owner. Also, I had to bring new players and get rid of the deadwood.
I was tasked with challenging for a promotion place, and so I was given a more than enough 15 million euro transfer budget. With that money, I brought in central defender Mark O’Hara from Kilmarnock, central midfielder Rhys McCabe from Sheffield Wednesday, right midfielder Aaron Doran from Inverness and strikers Piotr Parzyszek and Sergey Khizhnichenko from Charlton and Korona Kielce, respectively. There were 2 players loaned from the previous regime, left-back Danny Fox (who had an agreement to join permanently next season), centre-back Kévin Gomis, and central midfielder David Vaughan. At the same time, I sold and sent on loan some older and not-good enough players who were out of my plans.
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To add more depth to the squad and save some money, I brought goalkeeper Dimitar Evtimov, central defender Jamaal Lascelles and left-midfielder Stephen McLaughlin to the first team. Midfielder Jonathan Greening took a full coaching position at the club a few months into the season.
First half of the season
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Pre-season had already started, with 2 out of 5 friendlies had been played; the team won 3-0 against Halifax, and drew Köln 1-1. So, the next 3 remaining friendlies were played with me in charge. The first one was an away 1-1 draw at Alloa, followed by two wins, 3-2 over Alcorcón and 2-0 over Woking.
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On the league front, the team managed to go unbeaten, with 20 wins in 23 matches, which included a 15-match consecutive winning run. The lowest point came in the 1-1 draw against under-performing Wigan.
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The best came in two matches, the first, a 5-1 win against Barnsley, with 4 goals coming from Kazakh striker Khizhnichenko, who settled as an undisputed starter for the rest of the season.
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The other was the 6-0 win over QPR, with a great collective effort, 4 different Forest players scored, including a brace from Scottish midfielder Doran, and an own-goal by QPR goalkeeper Rob Green.
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This half of the season also included a short run in the Capitol One Cup, but it was long enough to meet the target set by the board. I chose to play the cup with players that were not having enough minutes in the field. The first match was a 5-3 home win over League One side Oldham, followed by an away 4-1 win over League Two side Morecambe, finally losing in the third round at home, 1-0 to Manchester United.
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Mid season changes
After some players started to complain about the lack of playing time, and others’ poor form, I used the money remaining to bring some new players, before the board gave more funds to spend (which I adjusted afterwards to spend more on transfers fees), coupled with sales and further players sent out on loan. During this time, I was offered a new contract, and after a little discussion, I signed it on December, on 34,500 euro a week, running until 2016.
Coming into the team were right-back Ryan Jack, from Aberdeen, left-back James Husband from bottom Doncaster, hot prospect Tyron Ivanof, striker, straight into the first team. Kévin Gomis’ loan was made permanent, soon joined by fellow centre-back Rune Holth, a promising Norwegian, on compensation fee from Lyn, and midfielder John McGinn from St. Mirren. After right-backs Jack and Jara were injured for some weeks, leaving Mark O’Hara as the only player capable of playing in that position, Phil Bardsley was brought on loan for a month. He returned to Sunderland after that period.
Second half of the season
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The first match of the remaining 23 league matches was a key win against then second-placed Reading, followed by a disappointing draw at Bolton, with heroic saves from their goalkeeper Bogdán.
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A further 4 wins and 3 draw, and after drawing with Burnley, who managed to stage a 2-goal comeback, the team won the remaining 14 league matches.
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Another key win came during that run came against Middlesbrough, who finished second, enabling the team to secure the title with a win over rivals Derby, in their backyard.
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The last match was a 3-0 win over Brighton, who went on to win the play-offs and get promoted into the Premier League.
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FINAL TABLE
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During this time, Forest also won the FA Cup. I fielded mainly backup players through the fifth-round, knocking out defending champions Wigan, QPR after extra-time in a home replay, coming from behind in both matches, with Tyron Ivanof becoming the hero and the competition’s youngest goalscorer with his last-minute extra-time winner. This match was followed by a victory over Charlton.
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We were facing Chelsea in the quarter-final, so I put in the first-choice players minus Karl Darlow, keeping Evtimov as the cup competitions first-choice. Khizhnichenko put in a man of the match performance, missing a penalty but scoring a first-half hat-trick. Chelsea got two goals back, but the lads resisted and they got a ticket to Wembley in the end.
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In the first Wembley match, we beat Swansea with a header by Guinea-Bissau international Kévin Gomis, and a late-penalty by Khizhnichenko.
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A full Wembley went onto witness Forest’s first cup win over Tottenham. Striker Rafik Djebbour scored the only goal of the match around the hour-mark, and a man of the match performance by young centre-back Lascelles ensured the title did not slip through our hands. This win also ensured we qualified for the group stage of next-season Europa League.
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Awards
Rafik Djebbour was awarded both the Championship’s and the Fans’ Player of the Year. He was also the league’s top-scorer with 37 goals in 42 matches.
http://www.nottinghamforest.co.uk/cms_images/player/rafik-dejebbour-2-profile40-1337156_231x264.jpg
Rhys McCabe was awarded the Championship’s Young Player of the Year.
Sergey Khizhnichenko and Kévin Gomis joined them in the Players’ Team of the Year.
http://korona-kielce.pl/images/zawodnik/cut/6d822f796022d5b454a8083488838203.jpg
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I was named Manager of the Year.
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Unfortunately, I started this save some time ago, and my first season is over, and so, the promotion objective was completed. However, I’ll tell you what happened then.
http://www.myfootballfacts.com/Nottingham_Forest_logo.gif
When I arrived, Billy Davies had left, under pressure for underachieving in the 2012/13 season, I knew I had a big challenge given the trigger-happy attitude of the owner. Also, I had to bring new players and get rid of the deadwood.
I was tasked with challenging for a promotion place, and so I was given a more than enough 15 million euro transfer budget. With that money, I brought in central defender Mark O’Hara from Kilmarnock, central midfielder Rhys McCabe from Sheffield Wednesday, right midfielder Aaron Doran from Inverness and strikers Piotr Parzyszek and Sergey Khizhnichenko from Charlton and Korona Kielce, respectively. There were 2 players loaned from the previous regime, left-back Danny Fox (who had an agreement to join permanently next season), centre-back Kévin Gomis, and central midfielder David Vaughan. At the same time, I sold and sent on loan some older and not-good enough players who were out of my plans.
To add more depth to the squad and save some money, I brought goalkeeper Dimitar Evtimov, central defender Jamaal Lascelles and left-midfielder Stephen McLaughlin to the first team. Midfielder Jonathan Greening took a full coaching position at the club a few months into the season.
First half of the season
Pre-season had already started, with 2 out of 5 friendlies had been played; the team won 3-0 against Halifax, and drew Köln 1-1. So, the next 3 remaining friendlies were played with me in charge. The first one was an away 1-1 draw at Alloa, followed by two wins, 3-2 over Alcorcón and 2-0 over Woking.
On the league front, the team managed to go unbeaten, with 20 wins in 23 matches, which included a 15-match consecutive winning run. The lowest point came in the 1-1 draw against under-performing Wigan.
The best came in two matches, the first, a 5-1 win against Barnsley, with 4 goals coming from Kazakh striker Khizhnichenko, who settled as an undisputed starter for the rest of the season.
The other was the 6-0 win over QPR, with a great collective effort, 4 different Forest players scored, including a brace from Scottish midfielder Doran, and an own-goal by QPR goalkeeper Rob Green.
This half of the season also included a short run in the Capitol One Cup, but it was long enough to meet the target set by the board. I chose to play the cup with players that were not having enough minutes in the field. The first match was a 5-3 home win over League One side Oldham, followed by an away 4-1 win over League Two side Morecambe, finally losing in the third round at home, 1-0 to Manchester United.
Mid season changes
After some players started to complain about the lack of playing time, and others’ poor form, I used the money remaining to bring some new players, before the board gave more funds to spend (which I adjusted afterwards to spend more on transfers fees), coupled with sales and further players sent out on loan. During this time, I was offered a new contract, and after a little discussion, I signed it on December, on 34,500 euro a week, running until 2016.
Coming into the team were right-back Ryan Jack, from Aberdeen, left-back James Husband from bottom Doncaster, hot prospect Tyron Ivanof, striker, straight into the first team. Kévin Gomis’ loan was made permanent, soon joined by fellow centre-back Rune Holth, a promising Norwegian, on compensation fee from Lyn, and midfielder John McGinn from St. Mirren. After right-backs Jack and Jara were injured for some weeks, leaving Mark O’Hara as the only player capable of playing in that position, Phil Bardsley was brought on loan for a month. He returned to Sunderland after that period.
Second half of the season
The first match of the remaining 23 league matches was a key win against then second-placed Reading, followed by a disappointing draw at Bolton, with heroic saves from their goalkeeper Bogdán.
A further 4 wins and 3 draw, and after drawing with Burnley, who managed to stage a 2-goal comeback, the team won the remaining 14 league matches.
Another key win came during that run came against Middlesbrough, who finished second, enabling the team to secure the title with a win over rivals Derby, in their backyard.
The last match was a 3-0 win over Brighton, who went on to win the play-offs and get promoted into the Premier League.
FINAL TABLE
During this time, Forest also won the FA Cup. I fielded mainly backup players through the fifth-round, knocking out defending champions Wigan, QPR after extra-time in a home replay, coming from behind in both matches, with Tyron Ivanof becoming the hero and the competition’s youngest goalscorer with his last-minute extra-time winner. This match was followed by a victory over Charlton.
We were facing Chelsea in the quarter-final, so I put in the first-choice players minus Karl Darlow, keeping Evtimov as the cup competitions first-choice. Khizhnichenko put in a man of the match performance, missing a penalty but scoring a first-half hat-trick. Chelsea got two goals back, but the lads resisted and they got a ticket to Wembley in the end.
In the first Wembley match, we beat Swansea with a header by Guinea-Bissau international Kévin Gomis, and a late-penalty by Khizhnichenko.
A full Wembley went onto witness Forest’s first cup win over Tottenham. Striker Rafik Djebbour scored the only goal of the match around the hour-mark, and a man of the match performance by young centre-back Lascelles ensured the title did not slip through our hands. This win also ensured we qualified for the group stage of next-season Europa League.
Awards
Rafik Djebbour was awarded both the Championship’s and the Fans’ Player of the Year. He was also the league’s top-scorer with 37 goals in 42 matches.
http://www.nottinghamforest.co.uk/cms_images/player/rafik-dejebbour-2-profile40-1337156_231x264.jpg
Rhys McCabe was awarded the Championship’s Young Player of the Year.
Sergey Khizhnichenko and Kévin Gomis joined them in the Players’ Team of the Year.
http://korona-kielce.pl/images/zawodnik/cut/6d822f796022d5b454a8083488838203.jpg
I was named Manager of the Year.
