Left Brian: September

Ay up mi duck.

 

It’s been a while. How’ve you been? A lot’s gone on down at the City Ground since we last chatted, so I’ll waste no time with niceties and dive straight in.

 

We’re gonna win the league.

 

Not sure there’s a lot more to say, really. Oh, go on then, as it’s been a while I’ll talk you through the eight reasons why we’re going to win this league.

 

Psycho

When we had wee Billy Davies as our manager there was always an air of animosity. He didn’t care who he irked – Sky, Fawaz, the fans, the players, referees, opposition managers, local and national journalists, and pretty much anyone else that had ever come into contact with him – as long as he could see himself on some self-appointed high road. Yes, he had some good results; and, as ‘nearly men’ go, well he did nearly take us up. However, since his departure there is a wave of calm around the place. For the first time in recent memory we’ve got a genuine Forest hero and legend in charge, a man who the fans will back to the hilt, and a man who we would happily follow through the Gates of Hell if he said it was the right thing to do. This is a man who the fans will back over anyone else.

 

 

Interesting, then, that within weeks of him taking charge, Fawaz seemed to go a little mental again and sell Darlow and Lascelles (hereafter, “Darscelles”) to Newcastle without Pearce’s knowledge. A radio interview from Psycho quickly set the record straight, and we all knew where we stood. He didn’t shout and rage; he didn’t make not-so-subtle digs at the hierarchy; he merely told us the truth and that he wasn’t happy about it. This became national news, and the country waited to see if Fawaz would make things right or if he’d just managed to annoy one of the handful of men that this city has canonised. Folk do tend to like a good drama if it’s not happening at their club.

 

Now, I don’t know how the conversation went down, but I like to imagine that it played out in a mixture of Brian Clough’s “lets talk about it for twenty minutes” and one of Psycho’s famed challenges on some nifty right-winger (not David Cameron, although I’m sure a Youtube video of that would be fairly popular). The result was that the money we got for Darscelles was quickly invested. Alongside the excellent free signings, Pearce spent some money on improving the squad and we now sit with possibly the strongest squad in the league. Once it fully gels, we will win the league.

 

Britt Assambalonga

Before the money from Darscelles could burn a hole in the manager’s pocket, it was spent at a rate that made Mickey Carroll look careful. Within days we’d spent £5.5m on a guy from League One with a difficult-to-pronounce name and a decent record. People are always cautious when records are broken in this vain. I firmly believe that Billy would have been able to spend like this, but chose not to so as not to dismiss one of his many excuses for any poor results. Pearce is clearly not a cover your arse kind of guy. He saw some talent and paid what seemed like a hefty price for it.

 

Now with 7 appearances for the Reds under his belt, Britt neatly slotted in his eighth goal against Fulham to round off a hat-trick and an incredible start to the season. It’s amazing how £5.5m can seem like such a large sum of money one minute and a veritable bargain the next. We’ve said for years that we needed a 30+ goal per season striker, and this future England [or DR Congo – non-chicken-counting Ed.] superstar looks every inch of that. Not since the days of Stan Collymore has a Forest striker been quite so thrilling when he receives the ball. The only thing he seems to want to do is score. Wherever he is on the pitch, he gets the ball and looks for a route to goal – a route that is quickly becoming a well trodden path for our Britt.

 

 

Michail Antonio

Almost the forgotten portion of the Darscelles money, coming in at around the million pound mark, I was not alone in being initially unimpressed with Antonio. I felt he reminded me a little too much of Guy Moussi. However, with four goals from his seven appearances so far this season, he’s already outscoring Moussi. Also noticeable is that he puts in a shift – some serious work rate. He’s quick and tricky, and defenders just have to foul him to stop him. Not that they always do stop him, as his superbly taken goal of the season contender against Fulham shows.

 

The danger here, however, is that in every game so far he’s been on the floor looking like he needs urgent medical attention due to the fouls against him.  Players are relentless in their hacking down of him [now which famous full-back does this method remind me of? – Ed.], and my worry is that at some point he’ll inevitably miss some games through injury and we don’t have a ready-made replacement. But, like a County fan hoping to see top-class football in the city, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it…

 

Michael Mancienne

For around a million pounds, we’ve managed to secure an international-class young defender; a defender who is currently keeping Newcastle’s Lascelles out of the team. This guy is the real deal (as Pearce would know well from his time managing him at England U-21 level): composed, cultured, and a reader of the game far beyond his years. Having been on a footballing journey from Chelsea to Forest via QPR, Wolves, and Hamburg, it’s little wonder that this guy is such an excellent addition to the squad. Much like the previous two players mentioned, his price tag seems like an absolute bargain. A comfortable man of the match in many games so far, what we have to remember is that right now, at centre back, we’re picking two from Mancienne, Wilson, Hobbs, and Lascelles. Not to mention the other defenders that help form a formidable back line option. You’d be forgiven for thinking that our manager was one of the greatest defenders this country has ever produced, or something.

 

The fans

Last season the club opened up the Lower Bridgford to home fans. It got a lukewarm reception. High prices and low uptake made it quite a depressing place to be, especially on those cold winter evenings when three people had made the effort to turn up. Cue Forest fan Rich Lewis, who has done something pretty incredible. He’s embarked on a one-man mission to fill the end with a ‘singing section’, which leads to consistent atmosphere and encouragement to the team. This was most evident after being pegged back to 2-3 against Fulham having frittered away a lead. Where last season the doubters and the mutterers would have audibly crept in, the Lower Bridgford got right behind the team and led a chorus of ‘Come on You Boys in Red’, immediately lifting the atmosphere. I’m fairly certain that this support has a positive impact on the players, and contributed to the turnaround.

 

A second point to note is that the stand has now been christened ‘The Home of Legends’,  with Rich leading a project to fill the end with flags depicting some of our legends. With the flags hoisted during Mull of Kintyre, it’s beginning to feel like those glorious European days of yesteryear. Stan Collymore has even given his flag the much coveted Tweet of Approval.

 

I have to say, this is not limited to the Lower Bridgford, their enthusiasm is contagious, and the rest of the ground seems to be following suit in their vocal support of the team. For the first time in a long time, it genuinely feels like every fan is behind the manager and the team.

 

Team spirit is incredible

With the sad news that Chris Cohen has once again injured his knee and looks likely to miss the rest of the season, it would have been easy for the team to be down. Our own Captain Fantastic is an inspirational character; seemingly a nice, quiet guy who I hear is nonetheless pretty vocal in the dressing room. He gets everyone in the mood for the game, and is hugely respected. As ever, the bigger the character, the greater the loss, but it feels like our team spirit is so high that he is leading from the sidelines. The players now want to win for him rather than win with him. We can see everyone playing for each other, no egos, no arrogance, no one looking for that move away. Everyone is in this together:

 

Strength in depth

Alongside Chris Cohen, injured for the remainder of the season, sits Andy Reid, though only for a couple of weeks. Going into the Fulham game with two key players out (we actually had four out, as Hobbs picked up a knock and Fryatt has a strain), it never felt like we were playing second string players. In previous seasons we’ve had a much larger squad, but a more defined starting eleven. The gulf between starter and benchwarmer was actually quite large, whereas now Pearce’s smaller squad is filled with much more quality. Bringing in Tesche and Osborn for Cohen and Reid isn’t a dramatic drop in quality, though it is in experience. It feels much more like we’re covered for long-term injuries this season than last – and, of course, with a manager and chairman not bickering in the press, it makes it easier for the chairman to say to Pearce “go and get a loanee in if you want”.

 

It’s ten years since Brian Clough died

If we can’t do it for Brian, we can’t do it for anyone.

 

I’ll see thee.