Q&As With Reds QC

It always winds me up, everytime the Nottingham Forest Chairman is mentioned by anyone at Nottingham Forest you can’t forget to notice that the name Nicholas Randall always ends with the letters ‘QC’.

I’ll be honest… Before he joined Forest I didn’t even know what those initials stood for? I didn’t care… I still don’t.. But the whole ‘QC’ thing is one that gives the clubs ‘ownership’ kudos… It gives them a status that ‘by law’ the club looks to be ran well from the outside… And after listening to the podcast Q&A with the Reds Chairman late last night whilst tucked up in bed on YouTube, I must admit, I am starting to believe myself, the club IS now being run properly.

QC mentioned a number of things in a half hour interview that would have been welcome for Reds fans… The loyalty that owner Evangelos Marinakis has shown is not in doubt, the club is being well looked after and is financially stable, with no issues of potential FFP breach. Chris Hughton, the Manager, picks the team, he also has the final say on players brought in, QC even admitted his regime has made mistakes, and I feel that in accepting this, it makes for a better, more transparent ownership, and one that I now believe ‘WILL’ come good… They could even become the best we’ve ever had?

A calming influence perhaps, I was always sceptical about what QC brings to the table, but a man that knows law inside-out, is one that looks after the daily running of the football club from a business perspective, is one that I trust is the right man for the job.

One thing I was pleased about, after hearing how they ‘got wrong’ the season ticket situation with covid, the club let’s not forget, like us, are also in unprecedented times… Their stance at that moment when lockdown hit, was to ‘keep quiet’ and ‘say as little as possible’ until they had some clarity themselves.. This never really came, QC mentioned that in hindsight, the club would have done things differently, the club is learning from mistakes made, and from making mistakes, is better equipped to deal with them in the future. As a fan I can handle that! A good honest appraisal with ambition to improve.

The breakdown of the club I’ll interpret… Marinakis has an 80% share and his interest is to make Forest great again.. He loves the club from growing up watching Forest dominate in Europe during the 70’s and 80’s… Cheap (compared to similar sized Premier League teams for sale), low risk, he took his chance to get involved with an English football club following his success at Olympiacos, when he took over, he did so with a long term friend and business partner in Sokratis Kominaki (who has 20% ownership)… He’s not as bothered about the fancy showbiz stuff and getting his name in the papers, he much prefers staying under the radar.

The day to day stuff is ran pretty much in three areas…. QC (Nick to friends) takes on ‘all’ responsibility for the club running, dealing with the Football League, the LMA, the PFA, the business, the accounts, the finance, the law… Ioannis Vrentzos who is CEO, is the go to man that relays information to Marinakis who is often out of the country, whilst Jonny Owen is the public face, liaising with supporters groups and casting eye on media marketing and advertorial opportunity. It was he who had a big say on those funky away kits in the summer.

With recruitment, QC again stated another error made by Forest has been ‘short termism’ when targeting players. The Chairman pointing out that Francois Modesto is head of a scouting network that has a vast array of global head-hunters and it can swiftly act when the Manager highlights a position he is short on.

The Reds way, over the last couple of summers has been to bring in a lot of fresh faces which admittedly hasn’t worked, but knowing how footballers can adapt, that stance is not likely to change too much with the ambition still to get Forest into the Premier League, whilst no deadline has been placed, that ambition is hoped to become reality very soon.

QC mentioned youth, blooding players through and relying on the famous ‘academy’ to be the major factor of Forest’s future… I get his stance… Not totally convinced, he knows as long as Forest are outside the top flight, that all the Academy can do is provide a stepping stone for some, onto bigger things… The cash from the sale of Matty Cash, HUGE in minimising losses this last year… Forest ‘have’ to sell their best assets to keep afloat… FFP almost forcing their hand to take any seriously attractive offers for their young stars…

Reading in between the lines I get with QC, a man that is growing on me, that I believe he himself is growing into the roll, enjoying it the longer he’s here, and his own hopes are to be around for some time, to see the job through to its next destination.

Whilst the decisions on the field will be made by the management, coaching staff and players, the board room and back room people can certainly ensure the club is its best version of itself behind those scenes too.. And I feel that at this moment in time, NFFC is certainly pushing along nicely in that direction…

You only have to look at little touches around the place, the Forza Garibaldi Flags, the recent improvement in social media, stunning imagery to whet the appetite through matchday build up, things feel like they are heading in the right direction, even if performances haven’t always been great, it feels like a good place to work for… And that, will eventually pay dividends on the pitch too!