David McGoldrick (undisclosed,
Southampton),
Much was expected of Nottingham Forest
last season as they hoped to build on a promotion campaign but it
turned out to be a difficult season for them. An opening day draw with Reading was
a decent start but heavy defeats at Swansea and Wolves showed they
would have it tough and after ten games without a win they looked
in big trouble at the bottom of the table. Manager Colin Calderwood brought Lee
Camp in on loan and things began to turn round for them with a win
at Crystal Palace before an amazing draw at Derby where Camp saved
a last minute penalty. That result spurred them on and they picked
up some decent draws against Birmingham and Bristol City before
a win over Barnsley. They were still struggling to pull away from the bottom though and a heavy 4-2 defeat at home to Doncaster was the last straw for the board at Forest who sacked Colin Calderwood. This seemed to make an instant impact as the team then won at Norwich before thrashing Manchester City in the FA Cup. Two further wins followed to move them away from trouble as Billy Davies took over as manager. A couple of poor months though meant they were always still in trouble and faced a late fight to secure their place in the division. A thrilling 3-2 win over Bristol City where
on loan Dexter Blackstock scored looked to be enough for them and
wins over Coventry and Southampton made sure they ended the season
unbeaten in the final six games and ensured Championship football
for another season.
Billy Davies has been a busy man this summer as he looks to repeat what he did at Derby in turning a side who almost went down to one that is promoted a year later. He did that at Derby and by the looks of it he has built a squad that could achieve that again at Nottingham Forest. The signings so far have been impressive with Camp a more than able keeper at this level and Chris Gunter a very exciting full back. Paul McKenna is a very useful player at this level and will add experience to the side but it's up front where they look strong with so many options. Adebola is always a threat in
the Championship whilst Blackstock and McGoldrick are proven at
this level. When you consider they also have Joe Garner, Robert
Earnshaw and Nathan Tyson they should be an entertaining side to
watch this year with plenty of goals. In Billy Davies they have a manager
who knows the division and tends to get teams well organised and
hard to beat. It's at the back where I feel he may still have problems
but if he can make sure they are tighter at the back they should
do well with the options he has up front. Of course keeping all those strikers happy will be difficult and it will be interesting to see how quickly the new players settle in but they look a strong squad and I fancy them to do well. I can see them pushing hard for
automatic promotion but I think they may just come up short and
have to settle for the playoffs. PREDICTION: 3rd in the Championship
I asked Nottingham Forest fans on an unofficial message board for their thoughts on the new season and here is what they had to say. How do you think Nottingham Forest will fare this season? Top two Who are your players to watch out for? Rob Earnshaw, Chris Cohen and Dexter Blackstock Is your Manager the right man for the job? I think so, he kept us up and seems to be building a strong squad this time around. Which three teams will be promoted this season? Nottingham Forest, West Brom and Sheffield United Which teams will be relegated? Derby, Doncaster and Plymouth How do you think QPR will fare this season? mid table
Stan Bowles wonderful skills and showmanship helped make the mid 1970's such a golden era in the history of Queens Park Rangers. Stan won just five international caps mostly due to his antics off the field rather than the genius he displayed on it. Like most football geniuses his talent on the field was matched with many off field problems and his private life is almost as fascinating as his playing career. Former Rangers star Don Givens describes Stan as "the most talented player I ever played with or saw in action" and not many QPR fans that saw him would disagree. On the other end of the scale John Curtis joined QPR from Forest last summer and it's safe to say he wasn't the best player we've ever seen in the hoops. I'll leave it at that. Gino Padula had a spell at Forest after doing so well at QPR where he was a very popular defender whilst Nigel Quashie began his career at QPR and went on to be a decent player for Forest. In the current squad Forest have two fomrer QPR players with Dexter Blackstock and Lee Camp making the move from Loftus Road to the City Ground this summer.
Rangers have never won at the City Ground and since this web site started the results have been mixed. In 1999 Rangers fell a goal behind thanks to Ian Wright but the former Arsenal man also missed a penalty in an incident that saw Jermaine Darlington sent off. Ten man Rangers battled back well though and earned a point thanks to a late Karl Ready goal. The return game was also a draw. Chris Kiwomya gave Rangers the lead before the returning Nigel Quashie won his side a point. The following season rangers were in the middle of a dire run when Forest came to town and Rangers battled and fought to a narrow 1-0 win thanks to Peter Crouch's goal. The return game was another draw as Stuart Wardley scored a late equaliser. We met again in 2004 after our three year stay in league one and lost up at the City ground. Georges Santos scored for Rangers but Joe Kinnears men ended up with a 2-1 win. At Loftus Road a win for QPR would see Forest relegated and thats what happened as a John Curtis own goal and a screamer from Marc Bircham saw Forest relegated to league one. Last season we won at Loftus Road once again by two goals to one. Angelo Balanta and Akos Buzsaky got the goals for Rangers in what proved to be the last win under Iain Dowie. The return game should have ended our winless run at the City Ground when Matteo Alberti struck twice to give us a 2-1 lead but we threw it away conceding a poor late goal to draw the game.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Perhaps
the best player to ever wear a QPR shirt was sold to Nottingham
Forest in 1978.