lost that loving feeling - Hart needs striking options

It's clear for everyone to see that this season Forest have lacked goals. In a notable number of matches they have failed to score which has cost the team a notable number of points. The situation needs to be looked at because it is a major concern for all supporters. Goals win matches and we simply aren't scoring enough.

At the current time, Paul Hart doesn't have many striking options at all. After the sale of Stern John to Birmingham and the loan departure of David Johnson to Sheffield Wednesday, the Forest front-line consists of just four options. These being Jack Lester, Marlon Harewood, Gary Jones and 16-years-young Craig Westcarr.

Now it doesn't take a genius to work out that we don't have enough firepower at the club at the present time. The players mentioned above have scored nine goals between them all season and clearly with a record like that the team won't be challenging for promotion. Obviously the departure of the club's top scorer doesn't help matters, but other strikers need to be contributing. So far this campaign they haven't.

Harewood is starting to score goals and his personal tally this season now stands at five, but in my opinion he isn't the man to score us those vital goals. Don't get me wrong, I hope Marlon is successful for many years in a Forest shirt, but at the moment he doesn't look like a player who can score 20 goals a season and that's what we need. Harewood has pace that frightens every defence in the league and if he improves his finishing there's no doubt that he has the potential to score goals. He certainly has a lot to offer if he gets it right.

This season's record speaks for itself: we have drawn 44% of our league games; we have drawn more matches then any other team in the Nationwide Leagues; only four teams in Division One have scored fewer goals than us this campaign.

Scoring has been a problem for a few years now, but this season it's become a major concern. If it wasn't for our excellent defensive record, we might be struggling, maybe even at the wrong end of the table fighting against relegation.

Forest have conceded 32 goals in 34 games and that is superb. Only Wolves and WBA have a better record than ours and that's impressive for a mid-table side. Just think what could be achieved if we had a prolific striker.

The play-offs should be a realistic aim and there's no reason why this can't be achieved next season. All good teams are built from the back, and the 'goals against' column speaks for itself. Now Paul Hart has to concentrate on attacking and I'm sure he will be working hard to solve the scoring problem. Hopefully the strikers will start to hit the back of the net soon.

The scoring problem won't be easy to solve however, due to the financial problem the club finds itself in. As I write this article, Forest are being linked with a £500,000 move for West Ham striker Svetoslav Todorov. According to a number of reports, Hart has had a bid accepted and the player should be in Nottingham to discuss personal terms within the next few days. However, Forest are not favourites to sign him as Portsmouth have also had a bid accepted. It will be down personal terms and Pompey should be able to offer more following a wage-cap issued by the board last week. However, I think he will sign for Portsmouth because of his connection with Harry Redknapp, but maybe we'll sign another player if we fail to purchase Todorov.

Other options are limited. Forest are being heavily linked with Mansfield striker Chris Greenacre; some even say that a deal has already been struck and that he will sign officially in the summer in the way Darren Ward did last year. Paul Hart has made it clear that he is interested in signing Greenacre during pre-season and I fully expect him to be a Forest player come next season.

Other than that, we may struggle to bring in any more new players although a couple may sign on Bosmans in the summer. We will just have to wait and see what happens down at the City Ground in what should be an eventful summer.

In so many games this season we have lacked someone to provide goals. Saturday's match at Burnley was no exception. Forest dominated large parts of the action and had a lot of chances, but just couldn't find the net with the exception of Marlon Harewood's penalty in the second half. It was a frustrating afternoon for the players and fans alike and the problem was clear for everyone to see.

The amount of chances Marlon had and wasted was the most annoying part of the afternoon. He would do something really awful, then produce an amazing piece of skill and nearly score a goal. He worked his socks off and nobody can fault his effort, but it just didn't happen for Marlon on Saturday. At the age of 21, he needs to learn, but the lad still has time. After all, he has scored three in the last three games. Harewood and Lester didn't have the best of matches, but if a new striker comes in, it might give them a much-needed kick up the backside.

There's no doubt that Paul Hart is doing everything possible to change our poor record in front of goal, but we have to be patient. I hope that by the time I write my next article, we will have a new forward and the team scoring goals, but it may take a while to find a forward capable of doing a job for us, especially with so little money available. If the inevitable does happen and Todorov doesn't sign, I can't see us purchasing anyone else, but I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.