The revolving door strikes again
12/01/05 | by Alan Fisher

If you had to write a fantasy CV for the man to pull Forest out of this mess then you would be seeking a disciplinarian, someone with a proven track record of hauling a big club (albeit down on its luck) from the lower echelons of the Championship to a promotion push which will eventually lead to Premiership football. The ideal candidate should be renowned for instilling a work ethic in his players, and of course, considering the fiscal situation at Forest, he should be available for immediate employment, preferably without having to pay compensation to another club.

Running these ideas around my head, I came to the conclusion that there were really only two realistic candidates for the role – and since one of them would involve a miraculous resurrection of the great Sir Brian Clough, it leaves just one man who has the qualities that will serve Forest in the short-to-medium term and hopefully the longer term. So welcome to the fold, Gary Megson – certainly you’ll get more first team games as a manager than you did as a player!

Considering his first choice manager for some time was Joe Kinnear, it’s a welcome relief that Nigel Doughty has evidently taken stock of his errors (which, whilst not accrediting himself with the errors, he eluded to in his comments upon Megson’s appointment), taken some advice by people who know things about football (could we have David Pleat partly to thank for Gary’s appointment?) and made his first sensible appointment as chairman. Whilst I was, and remain, a big fan of Paul Hart, his appointment at the time was risky and almost proved to be a masterstroke but for the curtailing of support at board level. But add David Platt and Joe Kinnear to the roster of appointments and Mr Doughty’s ability to spot talented managers is exposed as very poor indeed. Ironically, the only one of his managers who was sacked was the only one I rated (I’m not counting Mick Harford in this appraisal as he wasn’t strictly appointed a manager). 

Upon arrival, Megson’s clearly learned from all the mistakes the buffoon-like Kinnear fell foul of – largely because he has dealt with a club of Forests’ stature before. West Brom have a history too – and a fanbase – and Gary Megson knows how to deal with that, whereas Joe didn’t. Rather than hearing Clough’s footsteps behind him when things go wrong and lashing out to blame someone, Megson will take comfort from the prestige the Nottingham Forest job comes with and  work to emulate the past greats so one day he will be considered one too. His attitude so far appears to be spot on – if there’s something that needs to happen at our club it’s someone to come in and kick some primadonnas up the arse.

Another thing I’m not too uncomfortable with about Gary Megson is his track record of taking no crap from chairmen. I don’t think that Nigel Doughty would employ someone with that kind of reputation without being prepared to back them, and indeed, I don’t think Megson would have taken the job without that kind of assurance. The only way forward for us in the long term is to attain top flight football to try to run at something resembling a profit. Of course, that’s jumping the gun, the first job for Gary is to save us from relegation this season. And to do this – within 24 hours of arriving at the City Ground – he’s already appointed his assistant and a coach, which is pretty good going. But that leads me to those that have departed.

Des, of course, needs no introduction – a fantastic servant to Nottingham Forest on the pitch, but things didn’t seem to work out on the coaching front too well (let’s face it, Des is a defensive coach – have you seen our defending this season?). But that’s the head talking. Thinking from the heart, it’s really sad that Des has moved on – here’s to you, Des, and all the best for your career. Mick, however, is a slightly different kettle of fish – I don’t doubt his ability, but unfortunately the ineptitude and final cowardice shown by his predecessor left him floundering somewhat out of his depth. He brought in players and we could see what he was trying to do, but it was a BIG gamble to see whether or not he could turn it around quick enough. I can’t help but think that it’s a case of right place, wrong time for Mick Harford.

The most refreshing thing, though, is I think Mick has every right to feel completely hard done by. He left a comfortable position at Luton and came within a whisker of getting the manager's job at Forest (kind of), before being unceremoniously relieved of his duties. His conduct after this has been immaculate and this has only enhanced my respect for him. He spoke of his pride of his short time here, his affection for a club he’s not spent long with, he said he was praying we would survive this season and remain in the Championship. He has dignity, respect and I’m sure every Forest fan would join me in thanking him – and Des – for their efforts here, and wish them the very best for the future. For someone who has spent a chunk of time working with a certain Mr Kinnear, it’s such a relief to see that all of Kinnear’s tendencies are not shared by his protégé: no whining, no blaming anyone else – just a dignified exit which certainly will not have done his future prospects any harm at all. All the best, Mick.

But now we have the fiery ginger man prowling our technical area – and as is our way, we must transfer our allegiances to him immediately. I know that there are those with reservations – as ever – and those like me who think this is a good move, but one thing we all share is our passion for our club, and as such it’s in our interests to back Megson and his be-flatcapped assistant Frank Burrows – who’s to say the City Ground won’t soon be bedecked with fake moustaches, flat caps and ginger wigs celebrating the success of our latest management team to take the helm? Here’s hoping!

What do you think about Gary Megson's appointment? E-mail us at forest_1979@hotmail.com with your comments...