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How Long Will Steve McClaren Last As Manager of Nottingham Forest?

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The past two seasons Nottingham Forest have had successful finishes by securing play-off spots, but have been unable to capitalise on these by losing at the semi final stage on both occasions. As a result Billy Davis was sacked as manager and the board felt they needed a fresh start to achieve the goal of reaching the Premier League.

During the summer they appointed former England manager Steve McClaren as the man to take them to that all important promotion. With only five games into the new season there are already rumours that the end might be close for McClaren, who is reportedly unhappy with the amount of money injected into the team.

Since the close of last season there have been a number of departures and arrivals at the club, making it difficult for the team to maintain their recent good performances in the league, which saw them, reach the play-offs two years running. The key players that have departed from the City Ground over the summer period are,

Kelvin Wilson – Celtic

Dele Adebola – Hull City

Julian Bennett – Sheffield Wednesday

Robert Earnshaw – Cardiff City

Paul Mckenna – Hull City

Nathan Tyson – Derby County

Also two players they had on loan, Paul Konchesky and Kris Boyd moved on to new clubs leaving them light in the defensive and attacking areas. To help reconstruct the team McClaren had to bring in a number of replacements without the aid of any additional funds from the Forest board. The five main players that were acquired by Forest are,

Ishmael Miller – West Brom

Jonathan Greening – Fulham

George Boateng – Skoda Xanthi

Matt Derbyshire – Birmingham City

Andy Reid – Blackpool

With high expectations for Steve McClaren and his Forest side, after previous season finishes, the start has not gone as planned with only five points from five games. This has been a very disappointing start to the season as they are still awaiting a home win after drawing the first two games, and last weekend lost emphatically to West Ham. The biggest difference this season from previous seasons is the both the strength of their defence and attack which were a major part in their previous seasons campaigns.

After speculation of his future at the club, Steve McClaren reassured the Forest supporters by committing his future to the club and states he had no intentions of leaving. He told the club website, “My only concern is getting on with the job and achieving the goal of taking the club back into the Premier League. Contrary to reports, it has never been my intention to consider leaving.”

Although many people will think his time at the club will not last the entire season if his recent performances and results continue, which makes you question if this was a deliberate ploy to make supporters feel sympathy for his poor start as manager. When the job was offered to him during the summer, he surely would have been briefed on the current situation of the club, along with how much money would be available for him to spend over the pre-season. Even though he has dismissed the exit talks at the City Ground, it may not be long until the former England manager is looking for a new job.

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  • Husky Red says:

    This article misses the point. It isn’t that funds aren’t there (£2m for Dutch winger who pulled out of move at last minute for example). It is that the club don’t have the staff with the ability to conclude deals. They lost routledge over a £1000 gap in wages, and similarly didnt meet Leeds valuation for gradel – in both cases other clubs stepped in AFTER forest had had an opportunity to seal the deal.

    Fans have known this for 2 years now. The suspicion is that David pleat – an advisor who bears no responsibility for the consequence of his actions – is out of touch with Market values and giving the club unrealistic limits about what the player targets are worth in wages / fees.

    Mclaren has not covered himself with glory either – insisting for most of the window that we didn’t need to fill the left back position which has been vacant for 3 year – 3 YEARS, and playing 2 other key players out of position to cover it.

    The loan signings (or not) will be key to mclaren’s desire to stay. But it is his ability to motivate a squad he has derided, who are undoubtedly as talented as the group Billy Davies left, that will show whether the club have upgraded their manager or made the biggest mistake in recent history.

    Under Davies forest went almost a year unabated away, then over a year unbeaten at home. Only jose Mourhinio has a better record than that. Many in red and White are watching and waiting. Schteve has a hard act to follow.

  • realred85 says:

    I suggest any non-Forest fans skip the article and just stick to Husky Red’s comment to sum things up. Lack of funds is not the issue; it is sealing deals, and the ponderous way that our so-called Transfer Acquisition Panel go about their business.

    By the way, to the author, its DAVIES, not DAVIS and Derbyshire was signed from Olympiakos; he was only on loan at Birmingham last year. They are not our main signings either – they are all of our signings.

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