The Trent End Saga...

The Discerning Eye is usually a very reputable site renowned for it's inside scoops and exclusively releasing all the latest gossip from his good friend Nigel Doughty- however now his reputation seems to be fading and fast. Karl Pridmore has been banned from the Official Forum for his abusive comments when confronted about what he has been writing, and a lot of what he has been spouting in recent times has been pure crap. Lost That Loving Feeling have suggested that maybe Karl's only purpose is to cause a media frenzy in which our chairman can come out smelling of roses.

If Alex Walker's extremist view is correct and he really is aiming for all this- then he is doing a pretty fine job and should give himself a large pat on the back. We were all in a major panic when we read the rather alarming headline "Forest to be forced into administration," but with Doughty making just one comment on the matter we all began to sing his praises yet again. Now, it seems, every time he takes out a business transaction we are all on hand to mention the fact that maybe the man who can do no wrong will put some of this revenue into the club and repay the loan.

It's already getting confusing, isn't it? There are only two choices and yet we just cannot rely on either of them. Be prepared then, as I tell you, there are more than just two sides to the saga.

Nottingham's premier newspaper The Evening Post has also played an immense part in the mind boggle. They have made every quote, no matter how small, as dramatic as possible. This has worked out for them but at the expense of the Forest faithful. They have never stopped saying that the council are looking to sell The City Ground and are trying to imply that this has been their intention all along and remains their main objective. This is not so.

Should the council be forced to sell the place we always desire to be- they would see unrest amongst many of the citizens of Nottingham, a lot of people would stop supporting them politically and the would lose quite a bit from the tourism revenues that The Reds' glorious past brings in every year.

Weighing up all the options I'd say that it is in the best interest of both parties that they come up with a solution and that if I can work this out then so can the club. In the meantime I'll place my trust in our chairman and hope that a man who's done so much for other businesses, knows what's best for us, too.

"If Joe Kinnear wanted to buy a player for 5m then I would back him all the way" - Nigel Doughty.

Nottingham Forest have spent the summer scanning the transfer market for the best in FREE talent. So far we have managed to snap-up Paul Gerrard, Andy Impey and Alan Rogers, who were both released by Leicester City last season, and also Kevin James and Kris Commons- two inexperienced young midfielders who so far look to be nothing more than squad players. Now I am not suggesting that these transfers are not decent- we have some pretty hot prospects in there- but we haven't got the players that we actually need.

It's ten days before the big kick-off at the JJB Stadium where we will take on Wigan Athletic. Up front they have star man Nathan Ellington who will easily rip our defence to pieces. Ellington is handful for any back for, but when you have one as weak as The Reds' then you know you have problems. Michael Dawson and Wes Morgan will both be missing for the first few games through injury and suspension respectively, and who have we seen some in to cover for them? Nobody. Not even a loanee.

What ever happened to the 5m comment, eh, Nige? Get your wallet out and get spending- with your millions- you could easily afford to sort Joe out with a bit of cash to sign a few defenders. We have been told by the media, and we're not yet sure as to whether it's just another case of journalists putting 2+2 together and getting five, that Kinnear is being forced to sell players such as Wardy in order to fund transfers!

"Sexy signings... 5m from a tribunal... Disgraceful U.S. Tour... Anything less than playoffs would be an underachievement" - Joe Kinnear

I am am now officially worried about our Irish manager's sexuality. We all thought that when he said he would bring in some 'sexy' players we all though that it meant big signing that'd blow our socks off... but it seems he actually meant sexually attractive. Now, I'm not saying that the player's we've got ARE sexually attractive, although a lot of girls have told me they think Gerrard is, but he cannot of meant Rogers, Imps, James and Commons. All pretty decent but two players that we've had on loan all ready and a couple of youngsters is hardly sexy, is it?!

Another case of us being spoon-fed cr*p is Kinnear and Arthur both stating that they want 3-5m from the tribunal concerning the move of Gareth Williams to Leicester City. Reality check: It's never going to happen. This would probably be on of the largest amounts ever received and although our case will be boosted somewhat by the fact that Gaz was our captain for part of last season, Judas is no world class football superstar!

The U.S. Tour, we are told by JK that it was a complete disaster and that it was seen by the club as an opportunity to improve public relations across the Atlantic rather than a fitness exercise. Surely if it was this bad, and we didn't get as much as we should have concerning fitness from the trip, then our player's performances will suffer.

Play-offs, with this squad? Oh please, God, let him prove me wrong!

Do something about it!" - Andy Reid

Reidy's outburst is the final signal that all is not well on Trentside. There is unrest in the players camp meaning that the team's morale will drop and not even they will believe in themselves. Not good. How do we expect to do anything this season with us being in the state that we are currently in? We're a mess, and we need to do something about it... and fast.

In my opinion Andy Reid should be sold. We now need the money from his departure and yesterday we saw Andy trying to unleash 30 yarders against Premiership opposition, never passing, and yet getting vexed when others did not play the ball to him. We need to let him go before he is unable to play as his head will not fit through the dressing room door. Send him packing to Tottenham Hotspur and that should deflate his over-sized ego somewhat, seeing that he is not actually the world's greatest player!

'Reidy' was once in the same boat as a certain Keith Foy. He was challenged to get fit by the management as was told that if he didn't then he could face the danger of being released by the club. They could have let him go a long while ago- and so why he feels the need to act the way he does I don't know. Maybe what he said in his outburst was right, and maybe I do agree with it: but he could easily have said this in a private meeting with the manager. If he does not want to stay then he can <Insert 4-letter expletive> off! Take the money and run Joe!

Administration?...

©ForestFC.co.uk, 2004