To say that I was surprised to hear of Sean O’Driscoll’s appointment as manager of Nottingham Forest would be a huge understatement. The 55 year old has left his post at League One side Crawley Town to return to the City ground, this time as manager not number two. Forest owners the Al-Hasawi family promised an ‘iconic’ manager, instead it is ironic that someone who worked as a first team coach at the club and left for a job at a third tier side is the man chosen to take the club to the big time.
Ever since Steve Cotterill’s departure a whole host of football greats have been linked with the club, former Forest star Roy Keane was thought to be in the running for the job, there were whispers that Harry Redknapp was considering applying for the vacancy, ex-England bossess Sven Goran-Erikkson and Glenn Hoddle became bookies favourites at one stage and Mick McCarthy was even said to have been spotted at the City Ground, however they have ruled themselves out of contention and former Doncaster Rovers manager Sean O’Driscoll has been chose by a supposedly ‘mega-rich’ family to take the top job.
O’Driscoll’s playing career saw him turn out for Fulham and Bournemouth in England and went on to manage Bournemouth five years after his retirement in 1995 at the turn of the millennium, a job he held down for six years. In that time he suffered relegation and then promotion straight away the next season via the old division three play offs. 2006 saw the English born Republic of Ireland international move to take the managers job at Doncaster where he stayed for five years.
He won the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy with the club and in the next season he won promotion, again through the play offs, credited by many for bringing ‘attractive football’ to Doncaster Rovers. His success wasn’t to last though, with just one win in 26 games stemming over two seasons he was sacked by the Doncaster board. He became assistant manager under Steve Cotterill’s new regime at Nottingham Forest and helped to save the reds from relegation. In May 2012 he left Forest to become manager at Crawley Town but never took charge of a competitive game before returning to the City Ground.
It seems that this decision was popular among the players with Dexter Blackstock tweeting “SEAN O’DRISCOLL IS BACK!!!” and Andy Reid giving an interview to the clubs official website in which he says “we are all delighted” and “he has the trust and respect of the players”. However now that some of Forest’s best players have left including Gareth McCleary (Reading), Chris Gunter (Reading) and the club captain Luke Chambers (Ipswich) could this appointment be interpreted as a lack of ambition? That would be extremely dangerous for Forest as it may turn players away from the club, failing to replace those listed with others of the same calibre.
This whole situation of searching for a new manager when we had a great one a year ago makes the sacking of Billy Davies now look ridiculous, there’s a lesson to be learnt in that; never rush into big decisions. But the past is the past and we need to look froward to the future and give Sean O’Driscoll a chance, he may not be ‘iconic’ nor the fans first choice but he’s what we have at the moment.
Only time will tell whether the little known Wolverhampton born manager will turn out to be a success at Nottingham Forest.
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Dear me did you check any of this before inflicting it on the internet?
1. Crawley are in League 1 and not league 2
2. Polls amongst supporters put approval of this appointment at around 90%. Most did not want any of the names linked via the media, especially Eriksson, anywhere near the club.
3. Gunther is a character in friends, Chris Gunter used to play for Forest. Given the chance to play in the premier league its no great surprise that he left. Most fans wish him well.
4. With the exception of Gunter all the players that left were out of contract and had left before the Al-Hasawi take over.
5. O’Driscoll was first team coach under Cotterill not “number 2” that was Rob Kelly.
Basic factual errors consign this drivel into the virtual waste paper basket which given its content is the best place for it.
We will see what happens next. S O’D is very well respected by Forest Fans and players. Which is more than can be said for previous “Icons” such as Ron Atkinson, David Platt, and Steve McClaren.
Given a chance and some time, I expect great things from S O’D and from Forest. If Doncaster had not had to sell players and could have bought some instead – who knows what could have happened there. They were reknown for playing very good football…ask the opinions of football people..see what they say!
Davies is coming BACK as number 2 and Crawley are in LEAGUE one NOT two
I would like to apologise for the mistakes in the article. They have all been rectified and I thank you for bringing them to my attention.
not v exciting. in a worse position than 6 months ago, players and a manager and few million in compensation down already. we all hope that sod was responsible for 100% of everything that was good in our last season which was poor 🙂
10million needed before we start for a defence, never mind kuwaiti players who evereyone else seems to think are league 2 standard anyway..
the joys of bein a red!