Relief as Davies is given all clear

Thank god for that! Arron Davies has not broken his ankle, and should be fit in time to start the new season.

I was dreading coming home today to find out that he would face a lengthy spell on the sidelines, and consequently leave Forest's preparations for the new campaign in tatters, but fortunately a scan has revealed that he is suffering from nothing more than heavy bruising.

It's a shame he won't be able to play against Derby tomorrow night, but the most important thing is that he is available for selection on August 11th when we play Bournemouth. Three League One points is more important than getting one over our sworn enemy in a friendly, after all! At least I think it is, anyway.

I wish I could go to the Derby match, but being reliant on public transport, it's impossible on a Tuesday night to get there. There's going to be around 4,000 Forest fans going, so there will be a very good atmosphere, and whoever wins will get their hands on the Brian Clough trophy, which will be awarded to the winners of all future meetings between the two sides.

I'll console myself with the fact that at least I won't have to tolerate the inevitable mocking from the Derby fans about the current chasm between the two Clubs. If all goes to plan, this time next year we will be looking forward to meeting each other in the Championship!

It's all gone Pete Tong

Well, that didn't last long, did it? The pre-season optimism that was so prevalent a few short weeks ago has all but dissipated, and now it's business as usual with the news that Arron Davies could be facing months on the sidelines with a broken ankle, and Neil Lennon has been caught playing away from home by one of the tabloids.

I was feeling really excited only yesterday about the start of the new season, but following the news of Davies' injury, and Lennon's antics up in Scotland, I am beginning to feel, well, rather indifferent. What good will our midfield be without a decent right winger? Davies was THE summer signing who was supposed to make all the difference. Now it looks as though he will be out for weeks at best, or at worst for the bulk of the season. Please god, let's hope it's the former, if it has to be one of them.

As for Lennon, well the only thing that bothers me is that it bothers other people what he gets up to in his personal life. Being unfaithful to your wife is not very moral, but it's not a crime, and it certainly shouldn't affect what he does on the pitch. A tiny minority of people on Talk Forest (well, two actually) are taking the moral high ground and saying that he should be made an example of, etc, etc... Fortunately, the vast majority think his private life should remain just that...private. To be quite honest, who gives a damn? As long as he does a brilliant job in midfield, which I am sure he will do when the season gets going, that's all that should matter. He has not done anything illegal, has he?

Today has not really been a very good day for Forest at all. Let's hope Monday heralds better news for Davies, but if it doesn't, the important thing is not to panic, but to immediately bring in a suitable replacement on loan, or even permanently. Otherwise, we are going to really struggle without him.

Holts's worth holding on to

At last! Forest have finally won a pre-season game. The inevitable doom and gloom returned following lackadaisical performances at Rushdon and Chesterfield, but the 3-1 victory at Scottish Premier League side Kilmarnock has come as a timely boost.

All our goals may have come from the penalty spot, but at least it must have meant we were creating chances, so we're almost there. When Agogo and Tyson are fully fit, there will surely be no stopping us.

Mind you, Grant Holt might have something to say about that. He scored a hat-trick last night, and he was voted Player of the Year last season, despite spending a lot of it starting the game as a substitute. For some reason or other, he and Calderwood didn't see eye to eye, and after earlier turning down a move to Bristol City, who went on to win automatic promotion instead of Forest, he asked for a transfer request this summer when apparently Forest refused to reward him for last season's exploits with an improved pay offer. Confusingly, even though they had tried to flog him to their promotion rivals, Forest then turned down Holt's request for a move, and now it seems all is rosy in the garden again as he has held clear-the-air talks with Calderwood, and is happy to play his part this season, even if it doesn't mean a regular starting place.

I don't understand why on earth Forest would be so stupid to let one of their best players leave for their promotion rivals. How myopic would that have been? If I were Holt I would have told the Club to get stuffed, but no, he snubbed City instead, citing his love for Forest, and said that he wanted to stay and fight for his place. That kind of attitude in this day and age is becoming rarer and rarer amongst professional footballers, so Forest would do very well to recognise that.

Right back is perfect for Perch

It looks like our right back problem has been solved for the moment. James Perch has been told by Colin Calderwood to make the position his own this season. He will no longer be able to hold down a place in the centre of midfield following the arrival of Cohen and Lennon, so it's just as well that he is versatile.

Ironically, Perch did start out as a right back, but ended up in midfield, where he did quite well at times, but was far too inconsistent to hold down a place there.
He is a far more natural right back, and he is not afraid to get a tackle in, and loves to get forward. I think he will do really well for us here, and it means he will still be in the first team after all.

If Perch does indeed become our first choice right back, that means that as part of a flat 4-4-2 formation, there will be only two vacant central defensive places to fill.
Calderwood will now have to pick two from Chambers, Wilson, Breckin and Morgan.
I think Morgan is probably fourth choice right now, and his dreadful backpass against Yeovil will certainly have done him no favours. That leaves Chambers and Wilson, both signed by Calderwood, and both very young and promising with good futures, and Breckin, who is 32 now, and in the last year of his contract. He'll probably be at another club this time next year. Most Forest fans think the central defensive pairing should be Chambers and Wilson, and I agree. Breckin is injured at the moment, so hopefully he will struggle with his fitness, and find himself out of favour. We can but dream! Then Lennon will be appointed captain, and all will be right with the world.

As for who plays at left back, well there's only two choices right now. Lockwood or Bennett. Both are very good at getting forward – Lockwood scored 11 goals for Leyton Orient last year, and he is very good at free kicks, and will give McGugan and Commons a run for their money, I'm sure. Bennett also scores his fair share, but his defending is a bit iffy. I don't know how good a defender Lockwood is, but most Forest fans were happy when he signed, so I will take their word for it.

Now that the midfield is a lot more attack-minded, hopefully we will not have to put up with boring defensive football any more. It's not as if playing that way stops us conceding goals after all. Last season we were on the receiving end of quite a few thrashings, which really made a mockery of our position at the summit of the division.

Cole to fuel the Forest fire?

Is Colin Calderwood planning to build an all-Nottingham-born side or something? Following the capture of self-confessed Forest fan Kelvin Wilson from Preston, there is a very strong rumour doing the rounds that none other than Andy Cole is on the verge of signing for his hometown club!

If Cole does indeed join, in the first team squad we would also have Commons, Bennett, Morgan, Wilson, Perch and McGugan all being born in the local area!
If nothing else, footballers who play for their home town club should in theory play with more passion than somebody who does not, but it doesn't always work out that way, so we should not get obsessed with the idea of building a totally homemade squad. After all our most passionate player ever to pull on the Tricky shirt – Stuart Pearce as if you need wonder who that is - was a Londoner.

Putting that issue aside, though, Wilson looks to be an excellent buy. Although he can play right back, his best position is in central defence. He is very tall and is a good header of the ball, so I am guessing that is where he will play. A lot of people reckon Calderwood plans to play a 3-5-2 formation, which would eliminate the need for a proper right back, which currently we don't have. The back three will probably be Chambers, Wilson and Breckin, and the midfield could well be Davies, on the right, Cohen and Lennon in the middle, and Lockwood on the left, with Commons just in front of them, supplementing the front two which hopefully, with a bit of luck will be Cole and somebody else!

Once we have signed a new striker (or two), I think we will be all set for the new season. The signings this summer have been absolutely brilliant, and if Cole does join, that will really top it off.
Nigel Doughty seems to be hellbent on us getting promotion this time around, and the bookmakers have certainly taken notice. We've overtaken Leeds as favourites for the title now, and to be honest if we haven't got it all sewn up by Christmas, I will be demanding my money back!

Suddenly midfield's looking marvellous

I was only moaning yesterday about our lack of quality on the right hand side of midfield, and now we have signed one of the best right wingers in the whole division, and also a very promising young central midfielder.

Not so long ago, few Forest fans would have been excited over a double raid on little Yeovil, but the combined £1 million capture of Arron Davies, a 23-year-old Welsh international, who tore Forest apart two months ago at the City Ground, and 20-year-old Chris Cohen, formally of West Ham, has persuaded quite a few would-be stay-aways to part with their cash and renew their season ticket after all. Suddenly, our midfield looks unbeatable. Commons on the left, Davies on the right, and in the middle take your pick from Cohen, Lennon, Clingan, and McGugan.

Our midfield, or lack thereof, has been our Achilles heel for years. Now it must surely be the strongest in League One. It is very attack-minded, which is quite a surprise given Calderwood's obsession with defenders.

Calderwood's managerial abilities have been called into question, but he sure does have a good eye for a good signing. He has not made a bad one yet (well, apart from Henry, but he was only on loan), and now the team will be very much one that he has built, with only about three or four players remaining from the Megson days.

I did want Calderwood to get the sack at the end of last season, but now I am very happy for him to stay, at least until Christmas anyway. If we are not anywhere near the top two by then, he will have to go, given the quality of the playing squad he will have at his disposal.

This has been an excellent day for Forest fans, and everybody is buzzing and really looking forward to what should ultimately be a promotion-winning campaign. Though I am not taking anything for granted, our prospects look a darn sight brighter than they did this time last week. In the space of two days, we have signed three quality players, and if we manage to land Kelvin Wilson from Preston, that will make five good summer signings altogether, or six if you count Kris Commons!

Lockwood signing does not make it all right

What's this I hear you cry? A new signing? Yes, at last we have a new face. And yes, he's a defender (god damn it), and yes, he's over 30, but judging by people's comments on the forum, Matt Lockwood will do a good job for us.

I do like the sound of him, actually. Last season he scored 11 goals from left back for Leyton Orient, including one against us when we played them back in April. If he replicates that kind of form at Forest, then it will give us another attacking dimension. Lockwood and Commons should link up very well together.

This piece of news means that Forest will not be asking Alan Wright to stay on. He did a pretty good job for us towards the end of last season - apart from that own goal against Yeovil, that is – but he is getting on a bit now, and he doesn't score goals like Lockwood does, so I am not bothered that we are letting him go.

I am not sure where this leaves Julian Bennett. I personally thought he was alright, but Calderwood doesn't seem to rate him, so I don't really see a future at Forest for him at the moment, which is quite a shame as he is from the area, and is only young with plenty of time to improve.

I hope we now concentrate on signing a right back and a right winger. I am glad John Curtis has gone, as I never felt that his heart was in it anyway, and I hate ex-Man United players, but if Calderwood doesn't get a move on and sign somebody soon, I am going to start panicking. The right side of our team is almost non-existent at the moment, and it must be sorted soon.

The season is only five weeks away, but the pre-season games are just around the corner, and they still don't have any idea what the team is going to be. This happens every summer now. Forest's preparations for the new season have been very poor for the past few years, and I am sure it's no coincidence that this has coincided with the worst period in their history.

Is Kris deal Commons sense?

I have mixed feelings about Kris Commons' decision to sign a one-year extension to his contract. Yes, it's a positive thing that our best player has chosen to stay with us, and our promotion chances this forthcoming season will surely be boosted, but on the other hand, if we don't get promotion next May, we will lose him for nothing, seeing as he will be 24.

Still, at least it shows that the Club are for once being a bit more ambitious. They could have told Commons to either sign the three-year deal or to get knotted. But instead, they've taken a massive gamble and allowed him a one-year extension only. It will be just our luck if he spends half of the season sidelined with an injury, won't it?! It's not as if he doesn't have a track record of it.

There hasn't been an awful lot of interest in Commons over the summer anyway, which says a lot for how highly thought of he really is. I personally don't think he's that good. It's just he's surrounded by rubbish in the Forest midfield, so of course he's going to look brilliant in comparison. But the truth is, he is not much of a team player. He is just one of those players who can pull a rabbit out of the hat when you least expect it.
And I think that's part of the problem that Forest have with their midfield. They rely on Commons way too much for creativity, and as a result they are stifled.

I don't think it's a coincidence that in the earlier part of last season when we were top of League One and seemingly cruising our way towards the Championship, Commons was out injured.

I think it would have been better if we had allowed Commons to leave this summer and get a bit of money for him while we still could.