Following In Our Father's Footsteps: Nottingham Forest FC

STAN COLLYMORE: “LET NIGEL BUILD SOMETHING”

07 September 2015


Talksport presenter Stan Collymore has today given his views on the appointment of Nigel Clough at one of his former clubs, Nottingham Forest. The former Forest, Liverpool and Aston Villa man said he was happy with the appointment at the City Ground but hoped that the Al-Hasawi family gave him the time he deserves.” The club icon said that whilst he wasn’t best friends with the manager, he was sure that he was the right man for the job. ”We didn’t get to spend any time together really as Forest players but I know from what I was told he had the club running through his veins, it was in his blood and he will know what the club needs to do now he’s in charge.”

Having been a Premier League club when Clough left originally, Collymore said that he was the right man to return the club to the top flight. ”It is a fantastic club with some fantastic fans that are very loyal. They have a terrific stadium and brilliant facilities and it is a club that deserves to be in the top flight. When you look at a club like Swansea, that weren’t run on the biggest of budgets when they were promoted and are now a firmly established club in the Premier League, that is what Forest should be aiming for, and with Nigel Clough in charge, I am confident that they will reach it.”

”We seem to say this a lot in football at the minute, but he needs to be given time. If they have a run of five poor results, the owners can’t go around thinking who can we get to replace him. He’s already started the season well so if he has a poor run, so long as it gets fixed, let him fix it. Don’t be all short term. The club needs someone with the club running through his blood and Nigel is the right man for it.”

SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW: NOTTINGHAM FOREST VS. MIDDLESBROUGH

Date: 19 September 2015
Kick Off: 12:30 GMT


Nottingham Forest
Position: 4th
Manager: Nigel Clough
Captain: Chris Cohen
Key Players: Dorus de Vries, Jack Hobbs, Henri Lansbury, Jamie Ward, Nelson Oliveira
Last Match: 0-0 Vs. Birmingham City
Form:

Fans Prediction: ”We’re all very happy with how we’ve started the season, sitting in the Play Off spots is really nice to see and we’ve just got to hope that we can maintain our run of form and still be in and around these positions at the end of the season. None of us expect to be anywhere near good enough to be promoted because of the transfer embargo and the squad we’ve got but so far we’ve been okay and look like a good team. Middlesbrough won’t make it easy, and they are a fantastic team under Karanka but hopefully we can go out there at home, play well and bring home at least a point, maybe even three.” Predicted Result: 1-1 Draw.



Middlesbrough
Position: 1st
Manager: Aitor Karanka
Captain: Grant Leadbitter
Key Players: Michael Agazii, Ben Gibson, Albert Adomah, Stewart Downing, Jordan Rhodes
Last Match: 2-1 Vs. Brentford
Form:

Fans Prediction: ”We’re having a really good season so far and to sit in 1st position is brilliant. Karanka has come in and done a fantastic job at this club and we’re all delighted to have him here. Last season was a big learning curve because we weren’t good enough in the Play Off Final. Hopefully this year can be the year we secure our return to the Premier League. Forest have a really good squad but a lot of injuries which is a big blow for them but good for us and hopefully we can take advantage of them not having a lot of fresh faces in the team and go and really push them and claim the three points.” Predicted Result: 2-0 Middlesbrough Win.

MONTHLY UPDATE: SEPTEMBER

RESULTS

12.09.2015: QPR 1-2 Nottingham Forest
- Forest Come From Behind To Beat Frail QPR Side
19: J. Hoilett
31: O. Burke
65: J. Hobbs
Oliver Burke

15.09.2015: Birmingham City 0-0 Nottingham Forest
- Forest Fail To Convert Chances At Struggling Birmingham City
Dorus de Vries

19.09.2015: Nottingham Forest 2-0 Middlesbrough
- High Flying Boro Slip Up Against Impressive Forest
39: J. Ward
59: J. Grant
Jamie Ward

26.09.2015: Huddersfield Town 0-0 Nottingham Forest
- Third Consecutive Clean Sheet For Forest Despite 0-0 Draw At John Smith’s Stadium
Dorus de Vries

LEAGUE TABLE

INJURIES

Dexter Blackstock. The forward tore his ligaments during the month and is the latest player to be out for a couple of months as he will miss the next 2 to 3 months with the injury.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH

DORUS DE VRIES


The goalkeeper has had a fantastic month in the Nottingham Forest goal, keeping 3 successive clean sheets at the end of the month, and only conceding the one goal after conceding 7 in August. His two man of the match performances against Birmingham and Huddersfield were a massive reason for us earning valuable points at their places and hopefully our improved defence can lead to further strong performances next month.

SCHEDULE

Five fixtures for Nigel Clough’s boys in October, three of which will be played at the City Ground. With only 5 points separating 1st and 16th the division is still very tight so any poor results could see Forest slip dramatically down the table. Forest start the month at recently relegated Hull who occupy ninth place in the table but could easily cause Nigel Clough’s side problems. After the international break Bristol City are the next opponents at Ashton Gate with the Robins hoping to continue their good run of form, before the Reds return to the City Ground for a double header against promotion hopefuls Burnley and Ipswich Town. The Reds final fixture of the month sees them take a trip to Hillsborough to meet Sheffield Wednesday.

AWARDS

Manager of the Month: Lee Johnson, Bristol City
Player of the Month: Wellington Silva, Bolton Wanderers
Young Player of the Month: Zach Clough, Bolton Wanderers

MANAGER’S THOUGHTS

A very good month in all for us. The biggest thing to take from this month is our improved defensive record and to have gone from conceding 7 goals in 5 games during August to then only concede 1 in our 4 games in September is extremely pleasing and I am very happy with the work we have put in in training to gain that record. We’re top of the table too, after 2 wins and 2 draws and that is fantastic but it is very tight in this division at the minute and I fully expect that to continue into next month and beyond because the quality of the teams in this division is fantastic. Hopefully next month with some very tough fixtures we can continue doing as well and flying high and with any luck we’ll come away from October with some very good results.