Joe Kinnear

Joe Kinnear's time at Forest could have been the stuff of legends, but it is with sour memories that Forest fans will look back on his tenure as manager.

He was originally linked to the club in 1999, but the club opted for David Platt as manager in that instance. Four and a half years later, his appointment came totally out of the blue. Many had expected Glenn Hoddle to take over from the sacked Paul Hart, but instead chairman Nigel Doughty invited Joe to guide Forest away from relegation danger and he was confirmed as manager a few days after Hart was pushed.

As with the rest of his career, Kinnear's appointment was very controversial. He was renowned for his long-ball style and local commentators suggested that this wasn't appropriate for a club famous for its passing style like Forest. Kinnear hit back with a scorching verbal assault on his critics, but he needed to back his words with actions.

The day after he got the job, Kinnear set about turning Forest's dreadful season around by signing Andy Impey and Alan Rogers on loan from Leicester, immediately filling the problem positions right-wing and left-back. In his first game at the helm, the Reds came back from 3-1 down against Walsall to rescue a point with a dramatic late goal. It was a taste of things to come.

Kinnear led Forest to their first win for four months and then took them clear of the relegation zone. Despite the set back of an embarrassing 4-2 defeat to local rivals Derby County, things were really improving for Forest fans. A number of shrewd signings - such as Paul Evans from Bradford and the loans of Nick Barmby and Paul Gerrard - helped Forest put together an incredible period of form. In just over three months, the Reds went from the relegation zone to a fairly respectable 14th by the end of the season thanks to Joe's management.

Things seemed to be going so well, but in the summer Kinnear seemed to inexplicably lose control of the club and his sense. His first mistake was to promise "sexy signings", and the fans were understandably disappointed when these failed to materialise. The Reds then went on a disastrous tour of America where they won only one game of four.

Following a poor pre-season, the start of the campaign was very uninspiring and Forest were quickly dragged into a relegation battle, making all the talk of promotion over the summer from manager and club seem a little misguided. Results continued to go against the Reds, but still Kinnear remained convinced his team could not only escape danger but in fact win promotion.

By December it was clear this was not going to happen and the fan lost faith in Big Fat Joe. Some supporters organised car park protests to have him removed, to which Kinnear responded by calling them "morons". Despite the arrival of Mick Harford as his assistant, results did not improve and a humiliating 3-0 defeat at Derby was the final sraw. Kinnear resigned the following week and by then very few were sad to see him go.

Kinnear made his name as manager of Wimbledon in the '90s, helping the club beat the relegation predictions for seven seasons and even taking them into the top half of the table. Heart problems forced him to step down from the Wimbledon job in 1999, but two years later he took over at Luton, helping the club to promotion the next season. He was forced to quit in 2003 after the club was taken over, but he was keen to take on the challenge Forest offered the following year.

His previous success was built around the 'Crazy Gang' approach that created an enormous sense of team spirit. However, while at Forest his lack of discipline was subject to much criticism. His ambition and self-confidence made him popular at first, but soon started to grate when things took a turn for the worse and many also felt he misled fans over prospective signings. He left the club with fewer fans in Nottingham than when he arrived.

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