It only seems like yesterday that I was travelling to South Wales, filled with secret optimism that Nottingham Forest could progress past a stubborn Swansea side and reach the Play Off Final.
Unfortunately, Darren Pratley scored a quite sublime goal from the halfway line to end our hopes of promotion for another year and the summer ahead appeared to be a long and miserable one.
But what a summer it has been for the Reds.
With nine departures, three new arrivals and a change of manager, it has been a hectic three months at the City Ground. But one factor that hadn't changed was come 3pm, there was that same old feeling of hope, that this season could be 'our season'.
I, for one, discretly feel it will be.
I can remember hearing Billy Davies was sacked and McLaren was odds on to replace him. Safe to say, I wasn't impressed. Billy was a fighter and said what he had to say. He was a tactician which was vital, he really scruitinised every detail of the upcoming opponents and I believe he had a plan for every game.
More importantly, he led the team to being relatively successful again.
In my 16 or so years watching the Reds, I've got more bad memories than good. The relegations, the play off defeats...need I go on?
I was a big supporter of Davies, but two failed play off attempts and the odd rumour of squad unrest probably meant it was time for a change and I hope the goodbye was 'Cheerio and thank you' rather than 'we're glad to see the back of him.'
Unfortunately for McLaren, he comes with a very heavy tag round his neck-'The Wally With The Brolly'.
It's doubtful whether anyone will ever forget it. But the more research I did, the more I was excited by the change.
He learnt from one of the best managers of my generation in Sir Alex Ferguson, he brought European football and cup success to Middlesborough, a team that were not expected to challenge, he has managed his country, admittedly failed but at least he had the chance to do it in the first place and this meaning he has worked with some of the best players England has had to offer, he brought Dutch success to FC Twente, again, a team that were never expected to challenge and has never won the Eredivisie before a short spell with Wolfsberg where the main reason he failed was due to lack of control over transfers.
The small minded will look at his England tenure and believe this is a terrible appointment, the rest of us will understand that this manager has a wealth of experience and an intriguing contacts book. Credit must go to the board for acting as quickly as they did.
A relatively successful pre-season followed with only two defeats, one against Premier League opposition and the other against dutch giants PSV Eindhoven, who were quite honestly on another level, the way they moved the ball around the pitch meant it wasn't a massive catastrophe.
So August 6th rolls round, a new season begins and we welcomed Barnsley to the City Ground.
As usual, both teams looked a little rusty for the opening day of the season. Barnsley were not there to make up the numbers and supported by an impressive raucous following, should probably have been ahead after 20 minutes as a free header was looped over the bar. Forest settled and began to move the ball nicely but with no end product and at the break, it was goalless.
The second half showed promise, every player wanting to be on the ball and create something and the substitutions of Garner and Majewski helped the cause. Forest camped in the Barnsley half but couldn't break down a stubborn defence and credit must go to the Yorkshire side, for defending excellently and frustrating us massively.
Again, the small minded amongst us believe we should be winning every game 5-0 but Barnsley looked tough to break down and showed real unity as a team for 90 minutes.
A new look team lined up for the Reds, with the ratings as follows:
Camp-Never really had an important save to make so was rarely involved. Tried to move the ball quickly and pass it onto our defenders rather than hoofing aimlessly. 6/10
Gunter-Always works hard and defended well. 2nd half, went forward a lot more and we looked more threatening. 7/10
Morgan-Was strong as always and won the war but not every battle with Barnsley striker, Davies, but seems more comfortably aimlessly hoofing forward rather than keeping possession and being patient. 7/10
Chambers-My man of the match. Absolute rock at the back when called upon, which to be fair, was a few times as Barnsley broke away, a couple of vital tackles and blocks provided Forest with a clean sheet. Looks to be loving his role as captain. 9/10
Cohen-Same old story, is he a left back? To be fair, he coped well today. Got stuck in and won headers while also adding a wing back element as he went up and down the touchline. Did the job that was asked of him. 8/10
Anderson-Frustrating day for the wingers. Whether it was tactical advice or not, neither Ando nor Reidy seemed to hold their position on the wing. When Ando did do so, certainly in the 2nd half, he looked extremely threatening with his pace and ability. Just needs a quiet word in the ear I think. 7/10
Greening- Admittedly cautious on his competative debut, but did the simple stuff well. Moved the ball quickly and made sure we kept possession. Little bit defensively minded at times. 7/10
Boateng- I wasn't sure of this signing when it was announced yet it could prove to be the best one of the season. A player filled with experience, he worked hard for 90 minutes, showing real strength and tenacity in the middle of the park. Impressed. 8/10
Reid-As much as its nice to see Reidy back in a Forest shirt, it was a frustrating day for him and the fans. We all know he's got ability, but he seems intent on 'showing it off' too much. After the opening half hour, he began to spread the ball beautifully but similarly to Ando, he was consistently in the middle of the park with no end product once he got the ball. It left Cohen without an option on the left and the play became very narrow. 7/0
McGugan-Following last season, big things are expected from the Long Eaton Lad. There were signs of his ability in the game. Little bit rusty but the odd touch and the 30 yard shot that skimmed off the turf and just past the post were a couple of highlights. Didn't link up well with McGoldrick, but to be fair, who does? 7/10
McGoldrick- I will always support whoever lines up for Reds, especially a Nottingham lad. But I must admit my heart sank a little bit when I heard he was leading the line. To be fair, he's got ability, we saw that with the screamer he scored against Palace last season and he's been successful elsewhere. Davies was also a fan of him, so he must be doing something right in training. Also, he was up there on his own and it didn't suit him. Ran a lot but was rarely involved. 6/10
Garner-Came on for McGoldrick after 55 minutes and was pleasing to see. Really hope this is his chance to prove why he was brought to the club. He's apparently the best finisher at Forest and we need to see it now more than ever. As long as he can control his temper, he'll be a useful player for us this season. Came on and ruffled a few feathers, never had a chance of scoring though. 7/10
Majewski- In a game where players had a decent amount of time on the ball and were able to move it quickly, the Pole should probably have been on sooner. When he did come on, Forest looked slicker on the attack and a lot more threatening. Radi should have a pivitol role to play this season. 8/10
Overall, I think an opening day point was the fairest result. We were certainly better than Barnsley, but they deserved to take something away from the game. There were positives in terms of the clean sheet in which Camp was rarely called up, the team already showed a bit more experience in the side with decision making and positioning and we created the odd chance through nice football, that on another day, the ball goes in the back of the net. I, for one, am certainly not pessimistic.
One negative point though and it was proven today was that the squad is not big enough. We need signings. But not many, I don't believe. Nine players left, but aside from Earnshaw, Adebola, Wilson and the infamous left back position, who do we need to replace? I completely agree that the summer, yet again, has been immensely frustrating. But under Davies, I felt it was all media spin, that NFFC were not signing anyone, even if they told us they were. This year has a different feel to it. I fully believe the board is backing McLaren, you can see that from 1) the player's we've signed-experience pro's who's wages will not be cheap and 2) the type of players we've apparently been chasing, in which we've had to battle with the never ending chequebook of Leicester City and the Premier League new boys, Swansea City. We are never going to be the favourites in that situation. Furthermore, signings take time. Agent's have a lot of say in deals and if one minor detail is not right, the whole deal can fall though. It was rumoured that the Routledge deal failed after Swansea offered him £10,000 more in wages. If that's true, then you cannot blame the board for not pursuing it. That extra money along with the transfer fee can equal in the region of £5m on one player over 3-5 years. If you still want to support NFFC in ten years time, then that deal has to be let go. I'm not defending anyone, but I would rather us chase real talent to bring to the club but know we are financially secure, rather than spend left, right and centre on a brand new squad that isn't guaranteed success for a team that has had previous financial worries. Make no bones about it, Leicester must get promoted this season or they are in serious trouble.
But let's not get on the manager's back before we've even begun, let's see where we are at the end of August when the tranfer window shuts. I, for one, feel there will be a few faces.
On a side note, I couldn't believe some of the rubbish that some of our so called 'fans' come out with. I passed one person as I was leaving the ground who said 'I'd rather have Moloney in midfield than Greening, at least he moves'. I couldn't believe it. There are so many reasons why this is a ridiculous statement to make that I don't even know where to begin. Unfortunately, it was only going to get worse. As I switched on my radio to listen to the post match report, I had the misfortune of hearing the football phone in line in which fans can leave their opinions. Now, don't get me wrong, everyone is entitled to their opinion, I mean, I'm voicing mine now, but some of the thoughts are so factually weak and almost comical, that is became embarrassing to listen to.
One guy spoke about how we never should have sacked Billy and we've made two steps backwards. A second rang up and just said 'one word after today, worried.' It's the first game of the season, you need to build form. Doesn't happen straight away. One person even rang up and said 'we lacked ideas, we were boring, need a striker, Doughty get your chequebook out' Well yes. Some of that holds truth. We do need a striker, but Findley is about a week away and Ishmael Miller may be arriving along with Blackstock back at christmas. Also, Doughty has got his chequebook out, on numerous occasions. How some people think football works is beyond me and at times, I think that unless you can find negatives in every performance, you can't be a Forest Fan. Yet, I would be willing to place my student loan on the fact that there would be a clear correlation between a happy, supporting ground and promotion. These so called supporters need to realise that their continous negativity isn't going to help the cause. Yes, there are issues, but I fully expect the majority of them to be resolved in the not so distant future.
To be fair, not everyone rang up with aimless thoughts. One man from Hyson Green rang up and said 'kept the ball well, pressured a lot higher up the pitch, just couldn't break down a very good Barnsley defensive unit. There's positives to take from the game and I look forward to the next one. Welcome Steve'. He was absolutely correct.
Thankfully, radio Nottingham then aired an interview with George Boateng who calmed me down relatively quickly. The dutchman spoke a huge amount of sense. When asked about the difference between PL and Championship, he admitted that there was a huge difference. That, we effectively panicked today and started hoofing the ball in when in fact, it's better to keep the ball and tire the opposition out. I hate to see the ball go backwards as well, but some fans need to learn that by doing that, it draws the opposition out, meaning there's more space to exploit behind the back four which is what we need.
Anyway, I'm ranting now. But overall, I felt the team showed positives in certain areas of the game, admittedly need a couple of new faces in and need to begin to gel as a team but that'll come over time. I look forward now, cautiously i must admit, to Tuesday night and the big game against Notts County. It's going to be a classic.
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