Forest Needed Stability – We Got Stupidity
As Nottingham Forest fans walked away from the City Ground on Boxing Day afternoon, with beaming smiles after a 4-2 thumping of Leeds United, nothing could surely ruin their day. Surely nothing could put a dampener on their Christmas?
Following recent disappointing performances, Forest needed to bounce back, to keep in touch with the playoff places. It was a lot more than a performance that flouted their bouncebackability. It was a display that showed the players wanted to play for the manager, and believed in his ways, and the direction he was taking the club.
Hours later, when supporters were reveling in the delight of victory, the news came through. Fawaz Al-Hasawi had sacked Sean O’Driscoll.
Shocked?
Personally, it was deflating. The Al-Hasawis were supposed to be different to the usual foreign owners, that use their club as a toy. Talk of long-term plans in their introductory press conference, and their desire to produce players from the academy. All of that feels irrelevant now they’ve sacked O’Driscoll, sitting in 8th position, one point from the playoffs.
What looked like was going to be the perfect Boxing Day, had turned into a disaster. The club had gone from putting on a show on national television, to becoming the laughing stock of English football. Only Forest could achieve such a feat.
Whilst Sean O’Driscoll had his faults, he was learning. Undoubtedly one of the cleverest men in football, rid of 24 games in. Building a squad capable of challenging, forming the backbone that would ensure its long term success. Figures in the game such as Roberto Martinez, lauding O’Driscoll, commenting he was creating something special.
The Al-Hasawi’s seemed intent early in the season, on creating a family atmosphere around the club, meaning the players felt comfortable approaching him, and likewise. A major part of O’Driscoll’s arrival to the club, the players may feel a little deflated themselves.
It will take a certain type of manager to fire up the players, and make the squad believe in a philosophy. With O’Driscoll being a popular figure amongst the dressing room, the new manager will have to hit the ground running, because anything else, thanks to the Al-Hasawi’s precedent set, is frankly unacceptable.
The next managerial appointment the Al-Hasawi’s is massive. Make a shrewd one, and a good run could see eventual promotion. Make a bad one, and it could set the club back two to three years, something the owners don’t appear overly keen on now.
A year consisting of the death of the former owner, financial troubles, a relegation battle and the elongated search for new owners – What the club needed was a period of stability. Someone with a clear way of thinking, who knew the processes required. Many interpreted his calmness, and his ability to not get carried away as having a “lack of ambition”.
Of all Nottingham Forest managers in recent years, he spoke the most sense. Almost too much sense, for some to fathom. He could explain every decision he made, and to those who bothered to listen, he was starting to educate people like he’d hoped.
Despite his vast knowledge, he never patronised. He got on with the job in hand, and everything was starting to come together. For someone so wise, it would’ve been easy to diverge himself, but he did the opposite, appearing on local radio programmes to discuss and elaborate on some questionable decisions.
The club that gets him next, should look forward to progress and stability. A major contributor in our survival, and starting the ball rolling this season, Nottingham Forest fans should be forever grateful towards him.
As for Forest, the Al-Hasawi’s have got some explaining to do. We knew it was going to be a rollercoaster ride. We knew there was going to be some drama. But get this key decision wrong, and Forest could become an embarrassment.
@will_forest to get in touch via Twitter
December 28th, 2012
Couldn’t disagree more,
All this nonsense about playing the Forest way etc. The decision to part with S.O.D. was obviously made before the Leeds game so that result wasn’t relevant. What WAS relevant was some of the negative performances prior to that game. Recent games seemed to show a side going backwards with no real idea of how to attack sides, look at the lack of supply to our strikers and lack of width.
As for his so called record of playing attractive football, I have seen nothing to suggest ( unless you call our back four passing the ball to each other and going absolutely knowhere attractive football ) that there was any difference from our last manager.
I suspect that S.O.D was a little out of his depth and is probably better suited in a coaching roll or managing a club the size of Doncaster, not the size of Forest.
As for talking ” a lot of sense ” he barely spoke at all as far as I could see and never looked or sounded comfortable whilst being interviewed and didn’t come across as being very at ease with his position.
I suspect our owners were very aware of this and decided ( quite rightly in my opinion ) to act quickly, they bought the club and have a perfect right to make decisions like this.
Good luck to the new Manager, I believe he will take us forward to another level.
December 28th, 2012
I agree. And what also perhaps showed he was out of depth was when he started asking the players their opinions on things.
December 28th, 2012
I feel I know Sean better than most and Will is spot on. He is not a great orator but he knows the game inside out,he is brutally honest and gains the respect of the players. I can’t wait to see the results coming in, the excuses AM makes and Forest’s final position in the league. Forest will become a laughing stock just like we did when we sacked him. He deserves better.
Just watch how quick the supporters turn against AM a failed PL manager.
January 2nd, 2013
“Can’t help but feel disillusioned right now, both at the lack of faith shown in SOD’s 4 year plan by owners and fans alike and by the lack of any logic at all shown in the choice of replacement. I can’t believe anyone expected more than the position SOD had placed us and he was never given time to embed the proper football he wanted to play or the signings and releases he wanted to make. I was very much looking forward to seeing what he would do in January, far more so than I am now. Look at the calibre of the players he went out and selected to improve us. In the long run I don’t think we would have regretted Cox, Sharp, Lansbury, Jenas, Hutchinson or Gillett. I actually think his record in the market was pretty much beyond question up to here. In the summer we had to build a defence in a matter of weeks using free transfers and loans and, even on reflection, I think Sean did a decent job under the circumstances. I laughed when everyone sang the praises of Collins in those early weeks because he like all the others was more stopgap, squad professional than Sean’s first choice and, given time,I have no doubt he would have strengthened again here. As for his failure to correct the loss of spirit within the squad I think he knew Camp and McGugan were going to be tough to turn around but he had no choice but to play them unless better options were available. Look what happened to McGugan as soon as other attacking midfielders returned to fitness, rightly benched and off in January. The same would doubtless have happened to Camp and perhaps other bits of dead wood.
With the bigger picture in mind then I was contented enough with progress up until the Leeds game and looking forward to the next stage of the plan in January. Sharp signed up, Jenas and Hutchinson signed up if fit or let go, new recruits in defence and out wide and maybe even a few youth players ready to step into the footballing mould SOD was building. Instead the 4 year plan is replaced by a quick fix approach, a new and entirely unsuited and unexciting manager comes in to take us back to square one and we turn in a drab and spiritless performance with a dose of tactical ineptitude thrown in for good measure. I want to be wrong about AM and the owners I really do but it’s hard to be optimistic about our club right now. The minute foreign money came in I feared the loss of our identity and tradition. I don’t want Forest to earn success the Chelsea or Man City way (sacking managers every season and papering footballing cracks with cash) and, more to the point, I don’t think the Hasawis have the money to do that anyway. But I’m willing to show the patience to build a club over four years in the Rogers, Wenger or Ferguson way. I feel we had the man to do that and I shall be writing to him to thank him for his work just as I did to Paul Hart all that time ago when we last stood on the verge of rekindling what we love most about our club. I’m grateful to anyone who invests their money in our club but hope they never lose sight of what makes it unique.”