Field Notes

December 4, 2013

  • Typical. We go down to Millwall and it’s the manager who ends up in a fight. While the players were looking disjointed and tactically inert during the 2-2 draw, Billy Davies found time to have a sideline barney with a photographer. Freelance Dan Westwell posted on his Facebook account that the Forest boss has accosted him, demanding to know where he was from and then sending substitutes to block his view of the dug out.

    Billy brushed the incident off in the post match press conference, but it inevitably led to more negative headlines the following day. Photos of the incident suggest Westwell’s claim the ‘Millwall fans were going mad’ was a bit of an exaggeration. LTLF also notes that this isn’t the first time Westwell has fallen foul of club officials, having been ejected from Mansfield Town after snapping a controversial banner and then giving the finger to the directors’ box as he was led away. He subsequently became an ironic poster boy for Notts County fans who set up a Facebook campaign for him.

    It seems unlikely that Billy was aware of this last night, but even if he was, he has no right to demand an accredited photographer tell him anything, nor to prevent him from going about his business. Nevertheless, the club have now issued a statement accusing Westwell of unprofessional conduct, so County fans might be resurrecting that Facebook page again. Meanwhile, it’s Billy’s conduct Forest fans are becoming increasingly concerned about…

  • In potentially more serious news, the club have confirmed reports that loanee Nathaniel Chalobah thinks he might have been racially abused by home supporters. Looks like the fall-out from this match is going to be even uglier than the Forest performance.

    Update: Millwall have responded with their own statement, saying that no complaint was made to the police at the time of the alleged incident meaning the chances of proving any wrongdoing are slim.