A Statement of Intent?

There has been a significant amount of speculation on social media over the last few days suggesting that Nottingham Forest are close to signing Benfica duo João Carvalho and Diogo Gonçalves for €15 million and on a season-long loan respectively. This has been met by a mixed response by supporters, with some excited and some a little more cautious and aware of what has gone before.

A lack of spending in recent years

One of the main reasons that this speculation has caused such a reaction on social media is due to the lack of money that has been spent by Forest on the playing staff in recent years. The last time the Reds invested 'serious' money into the squad was ahead of the 2014/15 season when the likes of Britt Assombalonga and Michail Antonio arrived at The City Ground. Since then, due to a lengthy transfer embargo and other reasons, supporters have largely only had free transfers and loans to get excited about.

Nottingham Forest transfer history expenditure by year:

2011/12: 600k
2012/13: £3m
2013/14: £5.05m
2014/15: £10m
2015/16: £0
2016/17: £1m
2017/18: £1.5m
2018/19: ? #nffc

— In From The Trent (@infromthetrent) June 3, 2018

If Forest are able to get both deals over the line, it would certainly raise expectation ahead of next season around the club, mainly due to the fees involved. However, this is arguably a positive as for far too long supporters have had to settle for a "happy for a mid-table finish" season. You get the sense that both Evangelos Marinakis and Aitor Karanka are two individuals that demand success and are not prepared to wait around in order to get it. The club has lacked this sense of direction and purpose in recent years. 

Are they worth the money? 

The question that majority of supporters will be asking is - are they worth the money? No matter who you are in the Championship, spending €15 million on one player is a huge investment. The statistics for both players do not really do much to lessen any concerns. Carvalho has only made eight first team appearances for the first team whilst Gonçalves has featured 11 times. However, both have made a positive impression and have been branded as potential stars for the future.

João Carvalho

It is unlikely that Karanka would be prepared to spend that much money on a player that he was not certain was capable of performing in the Championship next season. One of the key areas that Forest did need to strengthen this summer was in the final third and to bring two forwards to the club with this sort of pedigree can only be a good sign.

The new Wolverhampton Wanderers?

This approach of targeting young Portuguese players is very similar to the approach that Wolverhampton Wanderers took last season as they went on to comfortably win the league title. Wolves signed 20-year-old Rúben Neves for a fee of around £15.8 million from FC Porto with Diogo Jota also arriving on a season-long loan from Atlético Madrid. Both of these players made a huge impact at Molineux and if Carvalho and Gonçalves are able to make half the impact at Forest, they will be two superb acquisitions.

Jorge Mendes

The comparisons between Forest and Wolves have mainly been made due to the fact that both players have Jorge Mendes as their agent. The 52-year-old is one of the most influential football agents in the world, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, David de Gea, James Rodríguez and José Mourinho on his books. He has been working closely with Wolves since they were taken over by Fosun International, playing a key role in the club's recruitment. He does not have such a significant influence at Forest but he is certainly a good contact to have in regards to attracting top talent to the club.

Will it work out?

Of course, Wolves were fortunate that they were able to take advantage of their spending at the first attempt. It is not always that easy. Aston Villa have invested huge amounts of money into the squad since their relegation from the Premier League. However, following their play-off final defeat to Fulham, they are now struggling financially and look set to sell many of their key players in order to avoid falling foul to Financial Fair Play regulations. They are now arguably in a worse position than they were when they were originally relegated.

Forest supporters will be hoping that if the club do spend big this summer, there is a plan behind it. There has been too much turmoil off the pitch in recent years under previous owner Fawaz Al-Hasawi, and the club is due some success. It is possible that Karanka has a sizeable budget available to him this summer due to the lack of money which has been spent in recent years and also because the likes of Oliver Burke and Britt Assombalonga have been sold on for significant fees. However, Karanka will be acutely aware that by spending money, there will be an expectation for him to have Forest challenging for promotion to the top flight next season.

Whatever happens in the next few weeks, it promises to be an exciting campaign. 

Philippe Montanier - the right man at the wrong time?

Nottingham Forest’s dismal run continued yesterday as they fell to a 2-0 defeat against Reading at the Madejski Stadium. Philippe Montanier will now feel under considerable pressure after only picking up one win in 11 games in all competitions.

It seemed like all was well back in August as Forest were picking up wins and scoring plenty of goals in the process. Results such as the 4-3 wins at home to the likes of Burton and Wigan and hard-earned 2-2 draws away at the likes of Rotherham and Aston Villa, had fans very optimistic for the season ahead.

However, the £13 million sale of home-grown talent Oliver Burke to RB Leipzig in addition to many other off the field issues now seems to be taking its toll on the pitch. Forest’s away form in particular has been diabolical this season having failed to win a single one and losing six of them.

Forest’s defensive frailties were apparent right from the first day of the season as we conceded three goals to newly promoted Burton Albion. Despite this, nothing seems to have been done to improve the team defensively and in some ways the goals being conceded are getting worse.

Philippe Montanier will clearly have to take a significant amount of responsibility for this. However, how is he meant to deal with individuals making such costly errors game after game? For example, Aron Gunnarsson was allowed to score a header from 6 yards out for Cardiff City at the City Ground last weekend. These sort of basic errors wouldn’t be accepted at Sunday League level, let alone the Championship.

Despite all these problems Forest are currently experiencing, I can’t help feeling that Montanier is still a good manager. There have been many glimpses of what could be achieved, most notably the 3-1 wins over Leeds and Birmingham where the defence looked solid whilst Forest were still just as potent in attack.

It just seems that the Forest job is an impossible one and that Montanier just finds himself to be unlucky to be in the hot seat at this particular time with Fawaz Al-Hasawi looking to sell the club and fans becoming increasingly apathetic.

However, I do believe that Montanier will be given the opportunity to turn things around. This is mainly because I can’t see a takeover going through anytime soon and with Al-Hasawi looking to sell, he is unlikely to spend any of his time and effort on a search for yet another new manager.

Apostolos Vellios Edges Closer To Forest Move

Former Everton striker, Apostolos Vellios is reportedly edging closer to a move to the City Ground. This will make the 24 year old Forest’s first signing of the summer. Evangelos Marinakis, the new prospective owner of Forest is said to have undergone most of the negotiations personally with the owner of Iraklis. This would suggest his takeover for an 80% share in the club is also nearing completion.

However, there is still a managerial vacancy available at the City Ground with further complications coming yesterday as Olympiacos boss Marco Silva dramatically resigned leading to Marinakis appointing Victor Sanchez, a Forest managerial target, as their new manager. This is unlikely to have any bearing on the signing of Vellios due to the new format Forest will now be working under. Forest recently appointed Pedro Pereira as a Director of Football, meaning that whoever is appointed as manager will have less of an influence on signings anyhow.

 

Aspotolos Vellios is edging closer to becoming Forest's first signing of the summer.

The full cost of the transfer is yet to be confirmed but is said to be around the £950,000 mark. This is arguably a significant amount of money for a striker without the greatest goal scoring record to say the least. He had a three year spell at Everton between 2011 and 2014 but only managed to score 3 goals in 22 appearances. At his most recent club, Iraklis, he has managed to score 11 goals in 27 appearances which is his most successful goal scoring return in his career. However, the Championship is a whole different animal to the Superleague in Greece so it will be interesting to see how he partners Britt Assombalonga in the Forest attack.

Do you think  Apostolos Vellios would be a good signing for Forest?

Get in touch!

Twitter: @ForeverForest1

Did Tesche, Wilson and Burke deserve new deals?

It has been a busy day for Nottingham Forest with the release of the new 2016/17 home kit for next season and their retained list. The retained list confirms that out of contract players Robert Tesche, Kelvin Wilson and Chris Burke will not be given new deals and are now free to join other clubs. However, fans favorite Andy Reid is in negotiations to extend his stay at the club.

Robert Tesche

Tesche is the one out of the three released players who some supporters may be most disappointed to see leave the club. Whilst never being spectacular, he always did a solid job in the centre of the park and was good back-up for whenever the likes of David Vaughan, Henri Lansbury, Ben Osborn and others were unavailable. He only scored 3 goals whilst at the club which included a screamer against Charlton in a 1-1 draw at the City Ground back in 2014. At the beginning of Dougie Freedman’s reign, things didn’t work out for Tesche and he was sent on loan to Championship rivals Birmingham City where he performed very well. It would not be a surprise to see him quickly snapped up by the Blues on a free transfer this summer as he would be a real asset to Gary Rowett’s team. However, Tesche showed his professionalism over the summer and managed to gain a place in Freedman’s starting 11 for the away trip to Brighton back in August before unfortunately being ruled out with a lengthy injury after breaking his foot. Tesche did manage to regain his fitness and scored his final goal for the club as recently as the 3-1 away win at Fulham in April which all but confirmed Forest’s safety in the division.

Kelvin Wilson

Wilson has caused a huge debate amongst supporters about whether he should be given a new deal or not. His casual style of play and debatable attitude makes him unpopular with a large majority of supporters. The fact he is said to be one of the highest earners at the club also did not help his cause. Supporters were delighted to hear that Wilson had made a return to the club in the summer of 2013 to be reunited with former manager Billy Davies for a fee of £2.5 million. However, his return to the City Ground has largely been halted by injury with him only making 46 appearances since his return. His second spell at Forest has no doubt been nowhere near as successful as his first and he will mainly be remembered for the length of time he spent out injured and some costly mistakes. One mistake which springs to mind was back in January when Wilson made a shocking error at home to Watford in the FA Cup which allowed Ighalo to slot home the winner for the Hornets with ease. Wilson summed up his second spell at the club with a woeful performance in a 3-0 home defeat to Brentford at the City Ground which really made fans concerned about relegation from the Championship.

Chris Burke

It was already common knowledge that Burke no longer had a future at the club and it was therefore no surprise to see him released today. After constantly tormenting Forest’s defence in the past, it was a relief to see him sign for the Reds in the summer of 2014. He scored on his debut as he curled in a beauty in a 2-0 home win over Blackpool as Forest fans welcomed club legend Stuart Pearce back to the club. He made 50 appearances in total for Forest scoring just 6 goals which isn’t a fantastic return for a winger. However, he was an honest player who always put in a shift. He also scored in Freedman’s first home match in charge which resulted in a 3-0 win over Wigan Athletic. He then went on to score in his next two matches against Blackpool in a 4-4 draw and Bolton Wanderers in a 4-1 win. However, Burke failed to get into Forest’s first-team set-up this campaign and ended up on loan at Rotherham United where he scored 2 goals. It is likely that Rotherham will be his next destination for a permanent move as the club are said to already have a deal in place to keep Burke at the New York Stadium.

Do you think Forest were right to release Tesche, Wilson and Burke? Or do you think they deserved new deals?

Get in touch!

Twitter: @ForeverForest1

Should Oliveira make a permanent move to the City Ground?

Nelson Oliveira is one of a host of loan players who have featured for Nottingham Forest this season. Due to the fact the club are still on the search for a new manager, it is yet to be seen whether the likes of Oliveira, Gary Gardner, Ryan Mendes and Bojan Jokic have a future on Trentside.

From a Forest perspective, it makes sense for them to express interest in bringing Oliveira back to the City Ground on a permanent deal, but only for the right money. A figure of around the £1 million mark would be a reasonable deal for the Reds but Benfica may argue that he is worth more than that. Despite the fact Forest are expected to come out of the embargo this summer, the budget available to spend will still be fairly low so spending any more than £1 million on Oliveira would be a risky move. He certainly contributed significantly in a season to forget for Forest and they most definitely would have been in relegation fodder had he not found the back of the net 9 times before being ruled out for the rest of the season. To contribute as much as he did in a team which played little attacking football under manager Dougie Freedman suggests he could prove to be a valuable asset. Forest fans also find the prospect of a partnership of Oliveira and Assombalonga upfront very exciting and believe they have what it takes to cause any Championship defence problems.

Nelson Oliveira scored 9 goals for the Reds before being ruled out for the rest of the season through injury.

You suspect that Oliveira himself would consider a permanent move back to Forest should the opportunity ever arise. He had previously struggled to make an impact in England when he went on loan to Swansea City where he scored just 1 goal in 10 games in the Premier League. However, he really looked at home at Forest and made a significant impact. The fact his first team football opportunities may also be limited at his parent club Benfica, may also suggest that he needs to move on in his career. The Portuguese outfit already have a host of attacking options such as Raul Jimenez, Jonas, Luka Jovic, Nuno Santos, Goncalo Guedes and also Konstantinos Mitroglou who has been on loan from Forest’s Championship rivals Fulham this campaign. This certainly suggests that Oliveira would have his work cut out to break into a team which finished top of the Primeira Liga this campaign and also came close to knocking German champions Bayern Munich out of the Champions League. 

Would you like to see Nelson Oliveira make a permanent move back to the City Ground?

Get in touch!

Twitter: @ForeverForest1

Ex-Brighton Boss Linked With Forest Job

Oscar Garcia has become the second ex-Brighton boss to be linked with the Forest job this summer after Gus Poyet recently opted for Real Betis over the Reds.

Speculation over Garcia has become apparent over the past couple of days and he is said to be preparing for talks with the club within the next week. He appears to be a managerial target of Forest chairman Fawaz Al-Hasawi.

However, what could make things more complicated is that Evangelos Marinakis who is said to be waiting for Football League approval over an 80% share in the club may have different ideas on who he wants to be next boss.

Who has the final say on Forest's next managerial appointment? Fawaz Al-Hasawi or Evangelos Marinakis?

It is clear that Garcia would be a popular choice amongst majority of Forest supporters. This is mainly down to his proven track record within management, most notably leading Brighton & Hove Albion to the Championship play-offs in his first season only to resign after a heavy aggregate defeat to Derby County in the semi-finals.

Garcia is just one of a handful of names being linked with the vacancy as it stands. It is understood that Al-Hasawi is also a huge admirer of Carlos Carvalhal and the job he has done of transforming Sheffield Wednesday this season. It would not be a shock for Al-Hasawi to at least consider an approach for Carvalhal especially if Wednesday are unsuccessful in their play-off final against Hull City.

Who would you like to see take the Forest job? 

Get in touch!

Twitter: @ForeverForest1

KEMAR ROOFE - Oxford United Starlet Linked With Reds Switch

23-year-old forward Kemar Roofe has been one of the star players throughout Oxford United’s superb League Two campaign to date. The youngster has now been linked with a potential switch to Forest in the summer.

This link follows interesting comments from owner Fawaz Al-Hasawi surrounding the Financial Fair Play situation this summer. Forest are expected to have their embargo lifted in the summer, but another heavy summer of spending would be likely to put Forest back into embargo again. However, Al-Hasawi has hinted that he will back the new manager considerably in the transfer market and that any FFP implications as a result will be dealt with when they occur. This is a very risky decision but is one which could pay off if Forest managed to gain promotion to the Premier League.

Kemar Roofe could be Nottingham Forest's first signing of the summer.

Kemar Roofe looks like he could potentially be Forest’s first signing of the summer despite the fact they have yet to find a new manager. Roofe has scored 25 goals in all competitions this season and looks more than capable of making the step up to the Championship. As Roofe can play both out wide and up front, his versatility is likely to make him a pleasing addition to any manager especially considering Forest’s lack of cutting edge upfront this season.

Roofe has scored 25 goals in all competitions for Oxford United this season.

Credit: OUFC Yellows

However, there is bound to be competition from other clubs for his signature with Premier League outfit Sunderland also said to be interested. Reading are also said to be in the hunt for the youngster who has so much potential. Al-Hasawi will be hoping he can persuade Roofe to make the switch to the City Ground.

Let me know if you think Roofe would be a good signing for Forest!

Twitter: @ForeverForest1