Nigel Doughty is a man who knows exactly what he wants from life. The millionaire has conquered the business world in his generation and has seen his private equity business Doughty Hansen collect total assets of around £8 million.

The Newark born man has also pumped around £50 million into the club of his dreams, Nottingham Forest. But it is only now that people are starting to realise his dream of taking Forest back to the Premiership, and take notice.

There were occasions in the past where Mr Doughty was wrongly criticised. Many people would look for a scapegoat, and as is the case at most clubs, the hierarchy of the club, whether it be the Chairman or the Manager, seem to take most of the flack.

But who could really blame the man that without his funding there may not be a club at all?

Sure Doughty has made mistakes in the past, but as a man of the business world he knows how to make up for his mistakes, and he is certainly proving this now.

Back in 1999, Doughty appointed David Platt as manager of Nottingham Forest. The Reds had just been relegated under a combination of Dave Bassett and Ron Atkinson. Platt’s job was simple, rebuild the club and get Forest back into the top flight.

The Chairman honestly believed he had the right man in charge and provided the former Arsenal midfielder with several million pounds to go and buy a squad capable of a swift return to the Premiership.

But the players Platt acquired were expensive, uncommitted and not what Forest required. When Platt eventually left the club, Forest were in a worse position then when he took over and combined with his poor use of the finances Doughty provided and the collapse of ITV Digital, the Reds were on the brink of administration.

The actions of the Chairman to fully back his manager who was in his first job may have seemed a bit naïve, but this was a harsh learning curve for the man at the top as he tried to eradicate a mistake like this again.

Paul Hart created an exciting young squad made up of academy players, and players not wanted by other clubs and this was a hungry team that unfortunately lost in the play-offs that season to Sheffield United.

With a few quality additions that side could have really challenged for promotion the following season, but the Chairman did not want a repeat of Platt’s reign so no funds were available to Hart and players were sold. A season of struggle followed.

Doughty’s dream of seeing his boyhood club back playing the country’s elite seemed to be failing as unsuccessful appointments in Joe Kinnear and Gary Megson left Forest struggling in the third tier of English football by the time former West Brom boss Megson left, following an embarrassing 5-0 defeat against Oldham Athletic.

Doughty chose an upcoming manager in Colin Calderwood to get Forest back into the Championship and keep them there. The Chairman continued to pump money into the club so that the manager could persuade high profile players such as Celtic captain Neil Lennon to drop down to League One.

Doughty’s wish finally materialised in 2008 as at the third attempt of asking Forest made it out of the third tier.

Doughty continued the support of the manager by allowing Calderwood to spend £2.65 million on a first rate striker in Robert Earnshaw.

However, there was a sense that Doughty still did not particularly trust his manager fully and this was proved when after a crushing Boxing Day home defeat to Doncaster Rovers, Calderwood was sacked and eventually replaced by Billy Davies.

In Davies you get the impression that this is a manager that Doughty really does believe in. The Scot has masterminded a side that looks capable of challenging for promotion after avoiding relegation last season.

And you can tell Doughty feels the same way by letting Davies spend almost £9 million of players capable of taking Forest to the Premiership within five years. No manager has been allowed to spend that much on players since David Platt’s disastrous reign that ended eight years ago.

Doughty now feels that Davies is the right man to use his finances wisely and take the club back to the promise land of the Premiership, and make Nigel Doughty’s and Nottingham Forest fans dreams become a reality.