Is Billy Davies Losing His Grip On All Things Nottingham Forest?
Can Davies Handle The Pressure?
It's a bit of a mystery what is going on inside the offices of Nottingham Forest at the moment. The side that at one point sat at the top of the Championship last season with an impressive unbeaten record narrowly missed out on promotion after defeat in the play offs, but this still left Forest fan's with hope that their team was heading back in the right direction after a number of years in the wilderness. So far the club has made one signing, Radoslow Majewski and when you consider that he was on loan at the club last season, it is understandable to think the Forest fans are a bit confused and troubled as to why their side is not capitalising on last season by strengthening the team. Manager Billy Davies has acknowledged that signings must be made, but fans are becoming impatient, particularly one supporter who needed to be controlled by security at a recent audience with the manager for fans.
Davies remained tight lipped in the audience episode, but it appears that he is losing his support with the fans as confusion seems to be swirling around the City Ground. This isn't the only communication breakdown however, when Newcastle United signed James Perch from Forest recently, Davies came out soon after to admit that he had no part in the deal and only learned of Perch's departure once the player had already left. Rumours of a rift between manager and board have been denied by the club, but a number of questions can still be asked, such as why haven't the club reinvested the money they made from Perch (believed to be around 1m) and how much of a say does Davies have in the transfer market for his club? In that short out take regarding Perch, Billy Davies mentioned that there was an 'acquisition panel' who decided transfer m! atters, but in the same interview he said that he had drawn up a list of targets for the club. Davies has however admitted he is keen to see Nicky Shorey return to the club and if you are to believe Sheffield Wednesday, Forest have had a bid for Jermaine Johnson rejected by the Owls.
Another headache for Davies is an apparent bust up with Kelvin Wilson, after it was rumoured that the defender refused to play for the club after Forest rejected a bid from Celtic for his services. It shows good intent that Davies wants to keep hold of one of their young players, but if the player really does want to leave, in the modern age of football there is little a club can really do. Another point regarding Wilson is that he is injured, something that is effecting a number of Forest players lately, including fellow defenders Wes Morgan and Luke Chambers.
The fact is, Forest fans have realised that they finally have the pieces in place to compete in the Championship and charge towards promotion, but any club in the same position would be disappointed to see their team almost show a lack of ambition. If there was any bigger hint that Forest need some new faces and more depth, they were recently beaten by Peterborough in pre-season and lost Joel Lynch to injury in that game. The main concern for the fans is that this one of their best chances in years to push for promotion, yet it appears to be slipping away from the club. When the side were knocked out of the play offs last season, the fans had high expectations for the 2010/11 season, but many are now reassessing their expectations and I even came across one fan on the internet who looking for a refund for his season ticket. The pressure lies on Davies at the moment, and it would appear that he is losing his grip on all aspects of the football club; however, he could put a smile of the faces of fans and reassure them that the club is heading in the right direction with some signings before the start of the season. Sure, it is tough at the moment as the world of foo! tball is starting to wake up to a more realistic financial view, but take Sheffield United as an example - they didn't have a lot of money to spend but they've managed to make a number of clever and worthy signings to add more strength and depth to the club. If Forest fail to much sufficient signings before their first game of the season, Davies could find himself out of a job before the end of the season.
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