I'm all hooked up! 04/09/02 | by Peter Collison (Issue 1)

Hello, and welcome to my column. My name is Peter Collison, I’m 19 years old and I live in Nottingham. The die-hard LTLF fans amongst you might remember my name from somewhere. But Where? Yes, a question that almost no-one could answer.

I, of course, was the writer of the late View from the Main Stand column that appeared way back in 1999 when the site was in its infancy. It was just a little column, something to write down my thoughts concerning our favourite club. But this writer had a problem. A rather large problem.

You see, I didn’t have a computer. Getting my column to Alex every week involved bringing it to school on a floppy disk and handing it over to him there. Inevitably a column written this way was never going to last long, so my column disappeared without trace.

One thing has changed between then and now: yes, I am hooked up to the net with my fancy broadband connection.

So I'm back, armed with a desire to carry on where I left off writing about the Reds, despite my lack of a presence at a Forest home game since the 1999/2000 season!

Let me explain. After not doing so well at school, all my efforts went into working. The job I’m currently doing (checkout work at Asda) means I work on Saturdays, missing out on the majority of Forest's games. But what about midweek games, I hear you cry? Well, I work Wednesdays too!

Believe me, no one is itching to get back to the City Ground as much as me (especially now Derby and Leicester have returned to where they belong). My column has a new title and will attempt to appear grown up, which will be a bit hard for me as I’ve never really grown up at all. But in the meantime, I hope you enjoy the constant ramblings of a Mr Peter Collison.

Many things have happened since I last wrote for lost that loving feeling. If my memory serves me correctly, when my column was first on these pages, we were looking forward to a long reign under David Platt, hoping that Gianluca Petrachi, Moreano Mannini and Salvatore Matrecano could fire us back to the Premiership.

It really was that long ago.

With hindsight, employing an unproven, former-England star to gamble all our money on three unknown Italians to take us back to the top flight was never the brightest idea. Luckily things have picked up to the point where optimism around the club is high and the Reds finally have a realistic chance of reaching the play-offs. All Paul Hart needed was time to steady the ship, sell players, and get his formation and side right and, hopefully, I think he’s got it right.

After Forest's relatively dismal past couple of seasons, I, for one, was not holding my expectations too high for success this season. The problems Forest facing denting any chance of a promotion bid due to the constant money worries and the sale of players, they always had their minds on other things.

Through all the gloom though, the Reds have proved me wrong. With a strong line-up to start the season and David Johnson also returning, the Reds came into the new season looking a strong, capable side. Not letting the defeat by a strong Portsmouth side get them down, the draw against Preston showed that they had no trouble scoring, before really coming into their own against Sheffield Wednesday.

As well as showing the fans that we could hammer sides just like we used to, it was also the showcase for the forgotten talent of David Johnson - he of the scary hair. DJ's time at the City Ground is reminding me of a former Red, now plying his trade at Everton.

Derided at the City Ground for many a season, Kevin Campbell finally showed his class when he helped the Reds to promotion in the 97/98 season. Now I’m not saying that Johnson will be doing the same, but four goals in six games is a good sign of things to come.

I don’t think that automatic promotion is in their sights yet but a playoff place is certainly well within their capabilities. I think with the attack that we present, the first division better watch out!

One quick thing before I go. It still continues to amaze me how much of a psychotic Roy Keane is. After his latest escapades at the weekend, you’ve got to wonder what he’s going to do next (probably nothing with that operation looming!). Admittedly, McAteer's foul on Keane was a bookable, even red card, offence. But to react in away he did, in front of the referee, was disgraceful. Hard to believe that this nice young chap used to play for Forest!

Well I hope that the return of this column to LTLF has taken you on a trip down memory lane and left you asking for more. Fear not as I will be returning as a regular contributor here, so you can enjoy me on a frequent basis.