Nottingham Forest: Sack the board? Not quite… but they have A LOT of questions to answer

If I go missing after this article is published, it’ll be down to one of two things: Either I’ve run away to join the Basford United Ultras, or I’ve said something I shouldn’t have done and there’s a nice pair of concrete shoes waiting for me behind the Trent End…

We’re Forest fans. Disappointment on Transfer Deadline Day comes as naturally to us as a heavy first-touch comes to Adama Diakhaby. However, this time round, the villain of the piece won’t be some bargain-basement reject, holding up the shirt they’ll be wearing for about 37 minutes of football over the next six months – it’ll be higher up than that…

Saturday has left a lot of us broken, frustrated and somewhat inquisitive. How can things go so wrong, so quickly? The capitulation that has engulfed this club since lockdown looks to be terminal at the moment, and Forest are – yet again – set to hop back on the managerial merry-go-round. Of course, we’re all angry. But you know what? We’re exhausted, too.

Legitimate questions for the board

How many more false dawns can possibly rise over the Trent? How many times must we ‘give the new guy a chance’? And, if we’re asking tough questions here, just how far have we come under the ownership of Evangelos Marinakis?

I’m a fair person. Of course, we are in a better position – in terms of our finances, our squad and prospects – than we were three years ago. But Fawaz should never be the standard this club defines itself by. His reign marks one of the darkest eras seen at this club, so the bar would ultimately prove to be low for his replacement.

Nonetheless, that hurdle has been cleared. But we haven’t jumped as high as some would like to believe. If Forest could have just avoided conceding one of those injury-time sickeners during the resumption of last season, would we even be having this conversation? It’s debatable, and it perhaps sums up the fickle nature of football as a concept.

But that’s the thing: We didn’t hold our bottle. We didn’t kill teams off. We didn’t see the season out as a top six team. And that’s why we are here, with five defeats from five in all competitions. As far as clearing hangovers go, this is the equivalent of downing a bottle of Jack Daniels to get rid of a pounding headache.

The players haven’t been good enough. Sabri has essentially lost the plot. And, it has to be said, those who are responsible for running Nottingham Forest in a non-chaotic manner are ultimately falling short of their remit.

Perhaps we can all see a little clearer once the red mist descends – a paradox that so beautifully, and harrowingly, sums up Nottingham Forest fans. Most of us are only capable of real introspection when things are going wrong. Because when they are going right – as they were for three-quarters of last season – we love too deeply to think rationally. In June, it was ‘Sabri Lamouchi, J’adore’. Four months on, it’s ‘Sabri Lamouchi, the door…’

Recruitment a large thorn in Forest’s side

So here we are. After another squad overhaul, and almost certainly, another change in manager. The only constants left are at a boardroom level – and they are not exempt from criticism.

Why have we had to sign 60-something players within the last few years? Why were expensive, long-term contracts dished out to the likes of Yohan Benalouane and Gaeten Bong? How has Yuri Ribiero gone from first-choice left-back to a prospective bomb-squad member? And, to tie this little segment up nicely… why was our head of recruitment, Jose Anigo, arrested for extortion this weekend?

The communication with fans, sadly, has been a little ‘off’ to say the least this year. Even Forza Garibaldi has admitted to being kept in the dark, after several flag displays were moved from the stands. It’s a small, perhaps inconsequential thing to note. But it doesn’t exactly reflect the actions of a club busting a gut to keep the fans onside.

I don’t mind being run by people who ‘get on with things’ and keep a low-profile – that’s probably how football ownership should be. But this is now a crisis for Forest. And there’s little sign of leadership either on or off the pitch.

Why was the January transfer window so bleak? Why are we (almost) looking for a fifth manager since 2018? How has an atmosphere of distrust and hopelessness been allowed to brew amongst the fanbase, with particular apoplexy now turning towards the board?

Good times, bad times, and unquestionable shortcomings

There are so many questions that need to be answered. Unfortunately, in recent years, raising issues with the ownership has felt like an extreme support. Legitimate grievances are often drowned out by cries of; ‘they have ploughed their money into this club!’

They have. And I salute them for it. But money should never be a smokescreen to cloud judgements. For the second season in a row, we’ve started a season with around 35 professional players. Enough to field three separate teams, and have two left over to help set up ‘bench cam’ for when we eventually win our next game at some point in 2022.

Bringing in 13 players in one window doesn’t necessarily scream progress – what happened last summer to make us need that many new signings? Oh, that’s right, there was another massive squad turnover. And what happened before that? You can see where this is going…

I know, I can hear the counter-argument already: We have big squad turnovers because we have to bring new managers in.

Aye, and why’s that then? With Sabri set to depart, we’re now on our fifth attempt to find ‘the right appointment’. The entire fallout from the Aitor Karanka / Martin O’Neill debacle cost us an entire season. There was half-a-chance to ensure Lamouchi would be here for some time, but he never got the players he needed in January. Had Luke Freeman scored a wonder-goal in July, and not in Saturday’s game against Bristol City, the narrative could be wholly different.

When it matters, those who need to make a big decision often make the wrong decision. We have so many new players this season, but do we have that ‘explosive’ winger Sabri has been asked for since the transfer window opened? As I type this, it seems a move for Kamil Grosicki is up in the air – after a day of pulling him from pillar to post, between Athens and Nottingham.

We’re all on the same team here…

Running a football club is a difficult thing to do. Heaven knows I couldn’t do much better. But there is an enormous amount of responsibility and accountability involved. The scrutiny is more intense in this industry than anywhere else. That means we have to expect a high level of performance from our directors, our CEOs, and those behind the scenes.

Can we honestly say we are completely satisfied with things at the moment? Of course we can’t. Jose Anigo’s next recommended player could be someone he’s watched play in a prison five-a-side tournament…

This isn’t a call to sack the board. Not one bit. But, in the same way fans want players and managers to pull their socks up when we feel the performance is lacking, those in control of this club need to make sure they are upholding the high standards Nottingham Forest supporters deserve to see.

I’ll repeat what I said earlier: Criticism of those in charge at an executive level for Forest has been deemed taboo – but it’s important to speak without fear on this matter. We all want to do well together. We all want to succeed. But if our recruitment remains scattergun, and our overall direction as a club drifts towards the indistinguishable, a veil of silence will no longer do the job…

Talk to us. Tell us what we can expect going forward. This is a difficult time for everyone, and should a few things ‘chop and change’ this week, it’s a good chance to hit the reset button.

The board’s next decision is a big one: Sabri is all but gone, and the word on the street is that the board are looking for ‘a local coach’.

May I recommend Silverdale? It’ll take three hours to get to Barnsley, but they have one hell of a fleet.