Why Megson should stay
04/12/05 | by Kier Gough

Following yesterday’s pathetic capitulation at the hands of lowly Chester City, chants of “Megson Out” were heard from the hordes of angry travelling Forest fans. It seems that Megson is going the way of his two predecessors Joe Kinnear and Paul Hart, both of whom were immensely popular figures with the supporters until things went pear-shaped and they became central figures of blame and were relieved of their posts. Now, while I was glad to see both Hart and Kinnear leave the football club, I am still firmly behind Gary Megson.

While we may have been humiliated three times in the cups this season at the hands of Macclesfield, Woking and Chester, this season the cups are relatively unimportant. We are playing at our lowest league level for over 50 years – surely putting this situation right has to be the top priority. We currently lie in 10th position in the league, but are a mere three points off the play-offs, with four winnable home games coming up in the next month. I’d be surprised if going into 2006 we are not occupying a top six slot. When Hart and Kinnear left the club, we were languishing in the relegation zone and looking royally f**ked. Things are a million miles from being this bad at the moment.

Our form in the league has been inconsistent this season at best. However, in my opinion the players who we have are more than capable of challenging for promotion. Yesterday Megson selected the strongest 11 available in a simple 4-4-2 formation which, is what the fans want. What more can he do? The players should be able to motivate themselves with their bumper pay packets. Certain players have let NFFC down very badly this season and should be ashamed to collect their wages.

There is also no obvious replacement for Megson. The reality is that in our current position we are not going to attract a manager of any sort of quality who would do any better in the current climate. This football club has had no stability whatsoever over the last few years since over last stint in the Premiership; we have changed managers several times. Successful clubs stick with their managers when the times are tough. It’s crazy to think Alex Ferguson was a game away from being sacked at Man U after all the success he’s brought them.

Megson is a good manager; his record at West Brom speaks for itself. He is also honest with the media, which – compared to the sh*te that Kinnear spouted week in, week out and Paul Hart’s feeble excuses – is a refreshing change. His line with the Evening Post is completely justified as they have consistently misquoted him this season in a feeble attempt to flog a few extra copies of their poor newspaper. Let’s face it, their coverage of Forest has always been prone to silly errors. 

He’s not completely blameless however – some of his signings like Dadi and Eaden are simply not good enough for a team hoping to be promoted. However, he seems to be putting this right as Eaden wasn’t playing yesterday and I doubt Dadi will even start a league game for us unless there’s a major injury crisis.

This football club has been in terminal decline since 1992. During that time we’ve had several managers, several major cash injections and nothing works. It’s going to take time for us to rise again to our rightful place in the football ladder. As far as I can see Megson is as good as anyone for the long road that lies ahead.