Life Under Embargo

Nottingham Forest have been under embargo since the 15th December 2014. However, the full impact of this embargo hadn't started to hit Forest until now. Dougie Freedman is limited to free transfers and loans throughout the duration of this summer. There has been a lot of debate between fans about whether the embargo may actually be a good thing or not. I thought I would look at both the reasons for and against the embargo being good for the club.

One negative factor about being under embargo is our inability to now pick up those real quality signings. Last summer Forest were very busy in the transfer market with Stuart Pearce at the helm and spent big on the likes of Michail Antonio, Michael Mancienne, Britt Assombalonga and more. These have all turned out to be very acute additions to the squad and have proved their worth throughout the season. Britt Assombalonga would've easily gone on to score 20+ goals last season if it was not for his horrific injury. It is these sort of players which Forest will not be able to target under embargo. This is arguably the worst part of being under an embargo. Championship rivals are already starting to spend big on who on paper our quality players. Local rivals Derby County have already spent in excess of £7 million on the likes of Andreas Weimann and Tom Ince. Forest are no longer able to compete in this sort of market not only because of the fees involved with these players but also the wages which they will be demanding. However, it should not be forgotten that Forest already have a significant amount of quality within their squad already. There is more than enough quality in Forest's current squad to remain competitive in the Championship next season even if they were to make no further additions.

Another slightly less significant negative factor about being under embargo is the loss of excitement during the transfer window. Throughout the past, there has always been plenty to talk about on the transfer front with excitement over who the club may be signing. This isn't the case this year which some fans may find frustrating. There is even a minority of Forest fans who seem to be oblivious to the fact we are actually under embargo and are still expecting us to splash out the cash on players such as Jordan Rhodes. Instead of anticipation for who might be coming into the club this summer, it is more anxiety on who might be going out the door. If Forest do manage to keep hold of the likes of Henri Lansbury and Michail Antonio this summer, then the transfer window can be viewed as a success in my eyes. Fans struggle to get enthusiastic about the upcoming season with the likes of Matt Mills and Jamie Ward coming to the club. However, a sense of realism is needed due to the fact we are not going to get much better players on a free transfer and on no more than £10,000 a week.

Despite the clear negatives about being under transfer embargo, there are also plenty of positives. We will now finally get a chance to see what fantastic young talent we have available at the club. It has become clear in the recent past that we have a very good youth team with the likes of Karl Darlow, Jamaal Lascelles, Ben Osborn, Jorge Grant, Oliver Burke and Tyler Walker all featuring in the first-team recently. Now we are under transfer embargo, it gives these youngsters a much better chance of finding a route into the first-team set up. Instead of splashing out the cash on a new striker, Freedman may have to utilize Tyler Walker more instead. I think this is a very good factor as it will help develop our younger players a lot quicker. They definately have the quality to make the step up proven by the quality of players we have produced in the past. We sold Patrick Bamford on to Chelsea for £1 million when under financial difficulties and more recently sold on Jamaal Lascelles and Karl Darlow to Newcastle for £7 million. Ben Osborn has now become a very prominent player in the Forest team and there are hopes Tyler Walker can make his mark next term after getting plenty of experience under his belt at the end of last season. The good thing about these younger players is that they are not playing for the money but their love for the club and desire to continue their development. A huge number of players in Forest's youth team have a great deal of potential and this embargo will hopefully allow us to see it.





Ben Osborn scores Forest's goal of the season away to local rivals Derby County after rising through Forest's youth academy set up to the first-team.









In addition, another positive factor about the transfer embargo that many fans will be happy about is that it prevents us overspending on players. This has something Forest have become accustomed to in recent years. Since the Fawaz era began there have been a range of deals where Forest have been ripped off by other clubs just due to the fact they know we have money to spend. This has resulted in us paying over the odds for players who just aren't worth it. This is ultimately what has caused us to end up under this embargo. The likes of Rafik Djebbour, Lars Veldwijk, Djamal Abdoun, Jamie Mackie just to name a few are players who have failed to deliver for Forest, costing them a hefty amount of money in the process. The embargo prevents this sort of money being spent which can only be a good thing for the club. Now we only attract players who want to play for the club. No player would come to Forest on no more than £10,000 a week when they had better offers elsewhere unless they wanted to play for the club. This is why I think Matt Mills is such a good signing as he is the sort of character we need in and around the club. Players such as Tom Ince who has signed recently for local rivals Derby County is going to have huge pressure on him due to the £4.75 million price tag above his head. If he doesn't go on to help win Derby promotion he will be seen as a waste of money by many. This is why sometimes it is a good thing to not be able to spend this sort of money.

Furthermore, my final point on why being under transfer embargo can be viewed as a positive is due to the lowered amount of expectation and pressure on the player's shoulders. Due to this embargo, majority of fans do not expect Forest to achieve much next season. It is unrealistic to expect Forest to be challenging for automatic promotion and even the play-offs would be a huge achievement. It is going to be very difficult for the club to achieve much realistically under embargo. However, due to this it reduces the pressure on the players and the whole club. This is why it can be viewed as good thing. Everyone knows that Forest play much better with no pressure on them. It is usually when the pressures arrives such as in the play-offs or when they are doing well that they start to crumble. This season with no pressure they may perform better and even surprise a few. This season it will not be a disaster to not get promotion which is how it was seen by many fans last season. We will not be experiencing the sort of pressure throughout the season as clubs such as Hull, Derby, QPR and so on will be feeling as they are expected to win majority of their games. This is the sort of feeling Bournemouth experienced last season and we all know how that turned out.

Overall, the debate surrounding the transfer embargo will continue for the foreseeable future. However, there is no doubt that the transfer embargo isn't all just doom and gloom and that the Forest fans should look at the positives of it and not just the negatives. It may even be that the embargo is lifted depending on the situation regarding QPR and their appeal. For now though we have to deal with the limitations of it but also revel in the fact we no longer have to worry about paying over the odds and can look forward to seeing more of our youth next year. Thanks for reading!

Matt Mills and Jamie Ward Review

Nottingham Forest have this week confirmed the signings of Matt Mills and Jamie Ward. They have become Forest's first two signings of the summer as Dougie Freedman looks to deal with the limitations of the transfer embargo throughout the season. They are two players with vast experience of the Championship and could prove very useful additions to the squad.

Matt Mills was confirmed as Forest's first signing of the season on Wednesday when he joined on a free transfer. I personally think this is a very, very good signing considering our financial position. To get a centre half of Mills's quality on a free transfer and on less than £10,000 is a very astute piece of business. He joins a Forest squad which already has a good number of quality centre halves in the form of Jack Hobbs, Kelvin Wilson and Michael Mancienne. However, with doubts over the fitness of Hobbs and Wilson, Mills may well find himself a prominent figure in the Forest starting line-up next season. Another reason why this is such as good signing is due to the character of Mills. He is a leader and has captained his last three clubs Reading, Leicester and Bolton at some stage. This is the type of character who Forest greatly missed last season when we started to fall away under Stuart Pearce when Reid, Cohen and Hobbs were out injured for sustained periods of the season. There is a chance that Mills could lead Forest as captain this season due to his previous working relationship with manager Dougie Freedman. However, he will face competition for this status from Henri Lansbury and also Hobbs, Reid and Cohen if they can keep fit. Mills also come in as a direct replacement for Jamaal Lascelles as he departs for Newcastle United now his loan has expired. I personally see this as an upgrade as Lascelles arguably took a step backwards last season. Mills comes in with vast experience and is a very good replacement for Lascelles. The fact Leicester previously paid £5 million for his services in the past shows what a quality player we have on our hands. 

Matt Mill's equalizes against new club Forest with a superb header back in 2014. 

Jamie Ward finally became Forest's second signing of the summer yesterday after joining on a free transfer after being released by Derby County. I also think that this is another good piece of business from Forest and manager Dougie Freedman. I don't think it is as good as the Mills signing but I still think Ward could be a very useful addition to the Forest squad. Forest currently have a lot of injury problems with their attackers and this is somewhere Ward could be utilized even though he is predominantly a winger. He was always rated highly whilst at Derby and was one of their better players in my opinion and I was surprised to see them let him go. I was even more surprised when he decided to join Forest considering the history between him and the club. I would not be surprised to see him go on and be a success with Forest as I still think he has a couple of good years left in him at the age of 29. However, he is going to have stiff competition if he is to get in the starting line-up next year with the likes of Michail Antonio, Chris Burke, Oliver Burke, Jamie Paterson, Djamal Abdoun and Andy Reid all challenging for places. One game I would definately stick Ward in the starting line-up for is both Derby games as it is almost written in the script for him to bag a goal. That is one way he could easily win the Forest faithful over and wipe out any doubts they may have. The four-year deal is a bit kind but this is the only way Forest are going to attract players of Ward's quality. 

Overall, I think Forest and Freedman have done very well with their first two signings of the summer in the form of Mills and Ward. I think even without an embargo Forest fans would not argue with these two signings. Both have a great chance of being successful additions to the squad next season. However, there is still a lot of work for Freedman to do this summer. I would still have a central defensive midfielder, a striker, a left back and a goalkeeper on my shopping list for the rest of the summer.