Is Promotion Still Possible?

[Alf]

...it's been shouted down as "you don't like foreigners" lol.

That's because you're always talking about that well known cockney Nélson Oliveira

Cor blimey gavnar! :D

3mill on zach clough. imagine the amount that money could do for people in need across nottingham.

Thats what Nigel Doughty alluded to when he announced he was stepping down. To be honest if we all felt like that none of us would have anything to do with football, the waste is obscene. The counter argument  is that making it in football gives kids hope and a way out.

With Clough its a very strange one, when we signed him the view was almost universally positive, young up and coming player, top scorer and highly rated at Bolton, we thought we had signed the heir to Reid.

Such a bizare signing. For me it really was just Fawaz signing the name Clough to appease fans.

I mean, we had Gary Brazil in charge lol. All these managers slog their backsides off to get us into decent positions, and one of the more expensive signings we make lands on the lap of a caretaker manager lol.

"Is promotion still possible?" The day we start making signings count will be the day it's probable.

[Duncan Mckenzie]

Fair enough Duncan. I think in a round about way we are all talking about how can promotion be possible when our 3 biggest summer signings worth over £22M are not playing.

My opinion boils down to the fact there are at least 6 better teams than us in this league. By better I mean in terms of cohesion, consistency and quality. We lack in all of those to be a top 6 team as it stands.

Wasn't aimed at you Salvatore. We both posted at the same time which made it look like I replied to you.

[Strawberry Avenger]

At 30+, it's a big ask to get a player to adapt to the Championship, and compete physically against some of the most robust defenders in the world.

The unique challenges of the championship is an area our new owners have been slow to grasp.

I don't want to be overly critical of it as they are still new owners & many of the mistakes they've made were, to be honest, entirely predictable.

With no offence intended to our owners, or any other Greeks, Greece is a nation of just over 10m people & with a very poor economy.

As you'd expect from a country with a population & economy smaller than that of greater London, if you climb outside of the top few football clubs the Greek Super League really has very little to offer.

Apollon Smyrnis, for example, who currently sit bottom of that league, have spent less on players, across their entire history, than a number of English non-league teams.

In to that world you can bring scatter gun recruitment, because even the worst player can be dressed up to look good, an example of this is Gil Dias, who played 24 times for us, across all competitions, scoring once.

In Greece, Olympiacos have used him a lot more sparingly, but in his 6 appearances, so far, he's already managed to accrue two goals, despite not playing particularly well.

Now, if you were looking to buy a winger, which player would be more appealing, the one who got 1 goal in 24 matches in a domestic 2nd division, or the one who has 2 goals in 6 appearances in a national top flight division & international European club football?

Ashkan Dejagah, Licá, Hildeberto Pereira, Ryan Mendes, buy these sorts of players for Olympiacos & they will probably tear up the league, but even if they fail you can play them in enough duff matches to get their stats up & because wages are relatively low in Greek football you can pretty much guarantee their resale & with their inflated stats usually with an inflated profit.

Send the same players to England & they will possibly struggle, & because the championship is relentless there are no  duff matches to get their stats up in, so their stats will decline & because wages are extremely high in English football you can pretty much guarantee their sale will be difficult & with their deflated stats usually at a loss.

What worked for Olympiacos won't work for us, we are a unique team, in a unique league, with unique challenges & I think our owners have been slowly learning that lesson.

And to swing this back on topic, because I'm good like that, the errors in recruitment strategy, both from a poor manager & a hierarchy only just beginning to come to terms with the differences in English league football, has impacted on our promotion prospects this season, however we are now in the business end of the season & the business end of a league season is pretty similar to the business end of a cup competition, in that if you've got yourself this far then you've got yourself a chance.

Nottingham Forest still have a chance.

Promotion my be hard to achieve, we may yet find it beyond our grasp this season, but it's still possible & as long as it remains possible it must remain our target & our hope.

Cold sober post.

Enlightened reading.

I enjoyed that overview of our 'new' owners, the recruitment policy last Summer etc.

They've shown they can learn from their mistakes.  Witness Jan's recruitment and the luring (finally) of MoN/Keane to our club.  

One feels the train is leaving the station.  And that it's headed somewhere.

MoN/Keane.  3 quality CHs.  Ryan Yates.  A new ground while retaining our spiritual home.

It'll be a good future.  'Good enough.'

SA.

[wassy04]

Fair enough Duncan. I think in a round about way we are all talking about how can promotion be possible when our 3 biggest summer signings worth over £22M are not playing.

My opinion boils down to the fact there are at least 6 better teams than us in this league. By better I mean in terms of cohesion, consistency and quality. We lack in all of those to be a top 6 team as it stands.

Not disagreeing that there are 6 teams better than us however the best 6 teams won’t necessarily be the top 6 and the best two won’t necessarily be top two. Norwich for example got up there by going on a run where they repeatedly won by one goal (often late) in games where they often created fewer chances than their opponents. The point is now you don’t say they are one of the top two teams but at the time they were lucky. We could be lucky!

[Strawberry Avenger]

Fair enough Duncan. I think in a round about way we are all talking about how can promotion be possible when our 3 biggest summer signings worth over £22M are not playing.

My opinion boils down to the fact there are at least 6 better teams than us in this league. By better I mean in terms of cohesion, consistency and quality. We lack in all of those to be a top 6 team as it stands.

Not disagreeing that there are 6 teams better than us however the best 6 teams won’t necessarily be the top 6 and the best two won’t necessarily be top two. Norwich for example got up there by going on a run where they repeatedly won by one goal (often late) in games where they often created fewer chances than their opponents. The point is now you don’t say they are one of the top two teams but at the time they were lucky. We could be lucky!

Don't get me started on Norwich.  Fortunate to escape with points both times, in my view.

Lucky late bloomers with late goals.

Meh.

Them and Leeds?  Nothing special.

But they've been 'more' consistent...than Forest.  So, it is what it is.

SA.

[Strawberry Avenger]

Meh.

Them and Leeds?  Nothing special.

But they've been 'more' consistent...

Sums up the championship this year, in my opinion.

If we'd had even a 'mediocre' December, we'd be in the top 6 and 'not that far' behind the front two.

The top 6 have been brittle, lacking quality, inconsistent etc, etc.

If we miss out this year, it will be frustrating on that level after the £25 million investment (our biggest ever) and a 'Mr. Walkout' costing us points in recruitment and over December.

Puh.

SA.

[ThePromisedLand]

I have been consistently in the NO camp on this.
But IF we can get 3 points on Wednesday I may start to believe.

[Redgirl]

Consistency is the key to getting out of this league. Considering how inconsistent and downright poor we’ve been at times this season it’s a miracle we are still in with a shout.

It is however a welcome change to still have something to play for at this stage in a season (other than to avoid relegation) that in itself shows what progress we’ve made.

[Strawberry Avenger]

Consistency is the key to getting out of this league. Considering how inconsistent and downright poor we’ve been at times this season it’s a miracle we are still in with a shout.

It is however a welcome change to still have something to play for at this stage in a season (other than to avoid relegation) that in itself shows what progress we’ve made.

Imagine if we hidden been so poor in December?  Or had buried Norwich both times we played them (as we SHOULD have done!)

We'd be breathing down their necks and uprooted their 'consistent' momentum.

I'll maintain the top two, in fact the top 6 have been nothing special.  Forest have smashed them in results or performance.  But we go and DO a 'December' (guest staring Mr. Walkout) and by the gods...we're two points off the play offs now...because of the prodigal son.

Martin.

SA.

[Strawberry Avenger]

If only...

SA.

[Strawberry Avenger]

I have been consistently in the NO camp on this.
But IF we can get 3 points on Wednesday I may start to believe.

You're probably a way more sensible person than me then.

Our star striker is injured, our record signing has been out of form, our 3rd highest scorer injured & our most expensive defender out & despite all that I've been posting in this thread, trying to find reasons & excuses to post to keep others believing & behind the team.

I probably need certifying, but then I look back on where we were 6 weeks ago, with half our fans either slitting their wrists, or grabbing pitchforks for a misguided lynching & someone had to fight the other corner.

It was still possible then.  It's very possible now.

It's not as bad as when Calderwood said Forest could still get automatic promotion from Division 3 (that's that I call it...people can 'stick' the Premier malarky...it's still Div 1-4 to me...that's what I grew up with m'lad...and Hovis...and stuff like that...and the Ready Brek glow...walk tuh shops...)  Now, people were doubting his sanity.  :O

Being sensible is over rated.

SA.

[wassy04]

Just looking at the fixtures and BC/Derby have not got a game on weekend. So if we win the next two games we will be 6th over international break.

Games in hand is a massive inconvenience to those teams. All about psychological momentum and alsots of catch up games can be physically challenging