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!
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