BLOG POST NUMBER ONE (IS BRIAN RICE)

Welcome to the first in an occasional blog in which I intend to chronicle my thoughts on the football club with which I have been obsessed since boyhood – Nottingham Forest. Or, as we like to describe them as often as possible in order to really irritate supporters of other clubs (particularly followers of Derby County): ‘Two-time European Cup Winners Nottingham Forest.’ I still think we should be billed as that on the matchday tickets, especially when we come up against our local rivals.

It seems as good a place to start as any to tackle any accusations that might come up that I’m a fair-weather blogger. Why, for instance, did I not decide to chronicle my thoughts on the Reds when we were languishing in League One? Well, the answer is quite simple. I couldn’t be arsed. What miserable times they were, hopefully to never be repeated. It seems fitting that I’m writing this on the day that Gary Megson has been sacked from Bolton, just days after my friends and I were pondering how on earth he was managing to hold down a position in the Premiership, a dizzy height that we haven’t seen for over a decade now.

Clearly this has been the best season we’ve experienced for many years. In fact, since the play-off semi-final defeat at the hands of Sheffield United, most seasons have been endured rather than enjoyed, and that arguably includes the season where we snuck promotion back to the Championship. It’s great to see us playing with confidence, and it’s wonderful to see us having some depth to our squad, and whichever eleven are selected for games they seem to gel as a team, something a Forest side hasn’t done for far too long. The Christmas period is a great example of this; taking four points from a tough trip to Watford and a potentially tricky encounter with a useful looking Coventry side at the City Ground is something we’ve probably come to expect over the last few months. It’s becoming easy to forget that we’ve been in the doldrums for so long. This is lovely, but it’s also worth remembering, as Billy Davies is telling us on a regular basis, that we shouldn’t get carried away too soon.

The reason we got four points over Christmas is down to sheer hard work (and a little bit of luck – Nicky Shorey doing his best Gordon Banks impression and then getting up rubbing his head – I might have to rethink my feelings on the Thierry Henry incident…), and the ability that we now have to adapt to different situations. A hard-fought draw at Vicarage Road, with Adebola, McGoldrick and McGugan drafted into the starting line-up, followed by our more showy front pairing of Blackstock and Earnshaw, plus the creative Majewski, against Coventry, shows that we now have more strings to our bow than before.

The January transfer window, though, may well be crucial. Comments by Davies through the season so far, plus things he has said about his times at Derby and Preston, suggest that he won’t rest on his laurels and will be looking to add more players to his squad in January. Last week, it was reported that Nigel Doughty has donated a million pounds to the Labour Party. I’m hoping that this wasn’t a miscommunication brought about by Davies suggesting he invest heavily on the left-wing. Other comments by Davies suggest that he’s not entirely comfortable with the Acquisition Panel, consisting of David Pleat, Mark Arthur and John Pelling. Having seen the money some of our other managers have wasted over the past ten years or so (particularly ten years ago – much as I’m not sure about his position at the club, if it has to be anyone then thank God it’s David Pleat and not Platt who is the barrier between Davies and the purse strings), it’s not difficult to see why this panel exists. But hopefully they can all work together towards the same end – giving us a depth of squad which will mean we won’t have to rely on untried youngsters stepping in as injuries and suspensions hit towards the end of the season.

Here’s to a fantastic 2010. It’s going to be a much happier new year than the last one.