It’s never nice to see someone you once enjoyed watching play for your rivals, even if he was only a loan player.
That’s the situation Nottingham Forest find themselves in today, with John Percy of The Telegraph reporting that Derby County are set to complete the loan signing of Everton’s Kieran Dowell.
Dowell spent a season on loan at the City Ground back in 2017/18 and had a very successful time there, scoring ten goals and providing five assists. His finest moment though came in October of that season when he scored a hat-trick away at Hull.
Forest fans were quick to jump on Twitter and provide their own take on the situation. As was to be expected, there were some who kept the rivalry going, I suppose old habits do sometimes die hard.
Dowell, how could you?! #nffc https://t.co/8LfgkeCZwj
— Hannah Forest ????⚪️⚽️ (@hannahforest) July 11, 2019
@kierandowell1 is a ram he hates forest #dcfc #nffc
— Alex (@redmandcfc) July 11, 2019
The fact so many forest fans are slagging the Dowell transfer to Derby and trying to make out hes not a decent player just cause hes going there is embarrassing. If he went somewhere like Brentford all you’d see is “got yourself a good player there” #nffc????♂️????
— Jack Brown. (@_Jackbrownn) July 11, 2019
However, it was good to see some Forest fans putting their differences aside and actually give an honest assessment of Dowell as a player. Especially when a Derby County fan offered out an olive branch of peace asking the Forest fans, they took the high road and praised Dowell for his performances during his brief spell at the club.
Good luck to Kieran Dowell at Derby. There’s a talented young player in there without doubt. On his day, was excellent for Forest before running out of gas. This is a big move for him, needs to find form, play regularly and prove he’s a consistent performer. #nffc #dcfc
— Baz Cooper (@bazdjcooper) July 11, 2019
Was good for us, a rangey ACM who likes a crack at goal
He’ll be rubbish for you though— Nottz TV (@NottzTV) July 11, 2019
He’ll win your goal of the season award, he’ll probably have the top 3 in fact, but I was never convinced by his all round game. Bit lightweight at times, but that was a couple of seasons ago and his first taste of Championship football
— Gary (@RedDogGary) July 11, 2019
Honest assessment Mick he’s a top half champ player at best, backs out of and don’t make many tackles, isn’t very fast and slows attack’s down but can pass and has a good shot decent on his day but his day is about 5 games a season, scored 10 for us inc a hat trick
— Michael Cooper (@mikecoop82) July 11, 2019
They’ve got themselves a good player for sure, he’s not as good as mount though. Dowell is good for the luxury games, not sure I’d want to rely on him, he went quiet when McKay went off the boil
— Adam Egan (@adamegan2009) July 11, 2019