Robert Earnshaw (Derby)
QPR fans will know how Forest fans have been feeling these last few years. Like us they suffered relegation despite former glories in the top division. Forest's glories of course were far greater than ours but that counts for little in league one as Leeds found out last year. Forest were the big fish in a
small pond and after a playoff defeat in 2007 nothing other than
automatic promotion would do for them. Colin Calderwood was under big pressure and his side looked to be choking with firepower from Tyson and Agogo not enough to push them into the top two and with Kris Commons linked with a move away in January things looked tough for Forest. Forest fans were getting ready for a fourth year in league one until they knuckled down and went on a storming run taking nineteen points from the last twenty one on offer which was enough to pip Doncaster to promotion on the final day of the season. They did it against a Yeovil side
who had ended their promotion dreams a year earlier and win them
back a place in the Championship which is the least their fans think
they deserve.
After years struggling to get
up Forest will now find themselves in a league where the pressure
is not on so much and that could be a huge benefit to them. For the last three years they have been expected to walk every match but now expectations will be to just stay up and progress from there. Of course Forest fans will expect more and to be honest they could well get more this season. Colin Calderwood has always been a safety first manager and will look to make his side hard to beat. The loss of Kirs Commons will hurt but they have brought in some real quality up front with Robert Earnshaw and Andrew Cole both capable of scoring a lot of goals at this level. Forest also have momentum with them similar to Bristol City last season that can get them through the early months which can define the season. The weakness for Forest appears to be in midfield where they will miss Commons and Clingan but the addition of Paul Anderson will go some way to solving that. I can see Forest having a good
season back in the Championship and think they'll be the surprise
package, although me tipping them to do well means I won't actually
be surprised so expect the surprise package to be the three I tipped
to go down. You get my drift anyway and I
think they'll be close to the playoffs. PREDICTION: 8th 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? 9th Who are your players to watch out for? Rob Earnshaw Is your Manager the right man for the job? Yes but would like to see more passing football Which three teams will be promoted this season? QPR, Wolves and Birmimgham Which teams will be relegated? Doncaster, Preston and Derby How do you think QPR will fare this season? Top two
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.
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.
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Perhaps
the best player to ever wear a QPR shirt was sold to Nottingham
Forest in 1978.