We start the 2008/09 season with a home game with newly relegated Reading, and our first away trip is at Swansea, who of course came up with us. We visit Derby on November 1st and the home game is on February 21st, although both games will probably be switched to accommodate Sky TV.
Just six weeks after that amazing day at the City Ground when we snatched promotion at the final hurdle back to the Championship, we have got more confirmation that it wasn't just a dream, seeing our name in print alongside other big teams with histories and huge fan bases like Birmingham City, Sheffield Wednesday, and Southampton. It feels like we have finally come home. The Championship is where we belong, in my opinion. I don't think we have a right to claim we belong in the Premiership because we've been relegated three times from it and only spent six seasons there in total. The Premiership is not the same as what the old Division One (that's the top flight) used to be. I think the Championship is more like that league now, and that's why I'm perfectly happy for Forest to be here and am not too bothered about the Premiership any more.
Nigel Doughty, being a multi-millionaire businessman, of course is desperate for us to be in the top flight, but from a football point of view, I don't want Forest to be like Derby were last season being a huge source of ridicule for everyone else. I'd sooner we were at the top of League One than be bottom of the Premiership, as at least we would be winning games instead of losing all the time.
It's also extremely expensive to follow a top flight football team. I would want to go to virtually all of the away games, but with tickets sometimes costing £50 a time, I have to ask myself if I can justify the cost when I add on travel expenses as well. Season ticket prices at Forest would shoot up, as the City Ground would sell out every week, and there'd be a huge demand for tickets for most games.
But I am getting way ahead of myself here. We're more likely to be involved in a relegation battle next season than a promotion one if we don't make any more good signings. We've lost Judas (I can't bring myself to say his name any more), Junior Agogo has apparently found a bigger club in Egypt (snigger!), and with Nathan Tyson and Sammy Clingan yet to sign new deals, we could lose another couple of good players from our promotion campaign. The signing of Robbie Earnshaw, however, is a great start, and it underlines our ambition, but it's all gone rather quiet lately on the transfer front. I just hope they are really busy behind the scenes right now, because the players report back for pre-season training in a fortnight, and it's always good preparation to have an idea of what your squad is going to be a month before the season begins.
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