| About Rish... | A Nottingham boy, I went to my first match at Wembley to see Jemmo knock in the winning goal against Oldham in 1990, and have held a season ticket for all except two seasons (when I was living away from Nottingham) since 1992. I sit in the Upper Trent End, with my brother. Cut me open and I bleed red and white! |
As we all know, Forest made a pretty awful start to the season. At the time of writing, the boy Jack's return had inspired the Reds to six points out of six. My match-reporting colleagues will undoubtedly keep you informed as to the whys and wherefores of what actually happened in these matches. However, I am trying to think outside the (eighteen-yard) box. So here are my suggestions as to why Forest have been successful or otherwise in recent years: 1. The first relegation (1992-3):
Was this down to Cloughie's ailing condition, the sale of Des Walker and Teddy Sheringham or just plain bad luck in front of goal? None of these - you cannot expect a team to play in pinstripes and be successful (note also that our European Cup successes were achieved in an Adidas kit with the classic three stripes on the sleeve).
 | | Steve Blatherwick models the 1993 kit |
2. The first promotion (1993-4):
Following on from this, you could ask how the same pinstriped monstrosity achieved promotion the next season? Well, it didn't. Promotion was entirely down to the introduction of the classic blue and green away kit. Although I do admit that having a quality spine of Cooper, Bohinen and Collymore did have quite a lot to do with our success! This kit also saw our great win at Old Trafford the following season. 3. The start of the new decline (1995-6):
Although this season saw relative success in the UEFA Cup, our league form was poor to middling. Is it a coincidence that we only ever won a single away match in the league in the horrid yellow and navy kit that was introduced this season? Again, I will admit that the departure of Stan Collymore had something of an effect… 4. The Platt years (1999-2001):
OK, so there were a whole host of reasons why we failed under Platt, and some of them were Italian. But can you expect to do well when squad numbers 1-11 do not feature a single striker? Number 8 was a defender (Riccy Scimeca), number 9 a winger ("Beppe" Petrachi - 'nuff said), and number 10 was Andy Johnson, a combative midfielder not known for his goalscoring prowess. At least Bartman had number 11, although he spent most of his time playing as a holding midfielder or in defence! With a numbering system like that, it is no wonder the players seemingly had no clue about what they were supposed to be doing.
 | | Stan Collymore models the 1994 kit |
5. The play-off season (2002-3):
A combination of kit and squad numbers saw us prosper this year. For much of the season, Paul Hart was able to put out a team numbering from 1-11. Only the emergence of Michael Dawson and Andy Reid disrupted this numerical harmony. A decent home kit, in a good shade of red, coupled with the navy away kit, saw us have an almost successful season. I reckon if the navy kit had a collar rather than a round neck, we would have got promoted. 6. The days since…
The shocking decline of our club into the Third Division has been caused by a combination of bad away kits (the Inter Milan blue and black? Urgh!), and, let's face it, incompetence on and off the pitch. On a footballing level, who could have questioned the decision to award Joe a new contract after saving us (likewise with lazy prima-donnas such as... well, you know)? The decision to sack Harty was controversial only in that he was a fan's favourite - unfortunately, at the time, we were only going one way, and it wasn't up. And Gary Megson has also endured a torrid time. The issue here is greater than that of our club. This boils down to the issue of footballers earning too much and therefore becoming complacent. No-one is going to turn down a decent salary, and equally no-one should be surprised when a young man earning thousands of pounds a week becomes a little detached from those paying his wages. So, where next? Well, the last couple of weeks have seen a return to unity on and off the football pitch. The team are working better together and the fans are happier as a result. The return of Jack has provided a fillip for players and fans, and his undoubted ability and desire to prove himself after such a bad injury have given us that little bit of extra resolve that was needed. But let us not discount the fact that he runs like a chicken…
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