Lack of firepower a big concern as season fast approaches

The start of the new football season is just five days away, but instead of feeling really excited about it, like I was a few weeks ago, I am now feeling a bit worried. Our pre-season performances have been very lacklustre, and we have been struggling in front of goal.

But it's no wonder we haven't been scoring much if Scott Dobie has been operating as a lone striker up front. I am fully aware that if Tyson, Agogo and Holt were all fit, Dobie wouldn't be in the team, but even so, what is stopping us signing somebody on loan, or even bringing someone in permanently? It appears quite a lot, as Calderwood has indicated that there will be no signings made before the weekend for the Bournemouth game.

With Arron Davies ruled out injured, and Chris Cohen still not match-fit yet, it looks like we will have to wait to see all of our new signings line up in the team together. We might just have to content ourselves with a 1-0 scrappy win on Saturday. I guess, as long as we get off to a winning start, that's all that should matter in the short term. The pretty football will hopefully be forthcoming in the next few months when we have all our good players back.

It's not just the fact that we don't have a decent strikeforce that is a concern, though. Calderwood still doesn't seem to know what his best team is and what formation to play. He kept changing it in the friendlies, sometimes three times in a match, so it's not surprising Forest struggled to get going. He has pledged to have us playing more passing football this season, and while there has been some evidence of that during pre-season, he still seems to be obsessed with being defensive. Did we really need six defenders on the pitch at Sheffield United on Saturday? What exactly were they defending? It was a friendly for heaven's sake! They should have used the opportunity to attack as much as possible. That would give them confidence for the important matches ahead.