Davies Wants To Make His Own Forest History

The past glories of our once and soon to be again great club, have all too often been treated like a millstone around every managers neck since the departure of the Great Man some 16 years ago. So it makes a very refreshing change indeed, to see someone take up the hot seat and revel in those glories and look on them with pride.

We are forever being told about the shadow of Sir Brian hovering around the corridors of NFFC and that his presence is still felt at the club. It’s not said to be in a haunting, ghostly way, just a metaphor to describe the pressure that has been put on successive managers since the Great Man left.

Billy Davies apparently looks at the photos on the hallowed walls at NFFC Towers, with a sense of envy and clearly wants a piece of it. Talking to the Glasgow Evening Times, Davies said. ‘I know all the stuff that has been said about following in the footsteps of Brian Clough being daunting, but for me it is a great honour. When I sit in the manager’s office at the City Ground and look at all the black and white photos on the wall and the great times that Clough took this club to, the only thing it does is inspire me. It certainly doesn’t frighten me and that is because I have absolute faith and belief in my own ability. Before Forest came along I had a couple of offers on the table, but they weren’t what I was looking for.
Nottingham Forest are a great club and one with a proud history. That is all part of the attraction of managing here. Right now we are a big club, but one which has a fight on its hands to survive in the English Championship. We got more than 26,000 at our last home game and that tells you everything you need to know about how passionate the people of Nottingham are about Forest. I think that both underlines the size of the challenge here and the exciting nature of it.’

I have to confess, that my chin hit the floor with news of his appointment. For me, the name Billy Davies was fairly close, to the bottom of a fairly unimpressive list of possible appointments and it was nothing to do with his previous stint at the Mutton Molestors down the road. I always thought him as dour, negative and a thoroughly miserable bloke. But, since his arrival on Trentside, I have slowly began to warm to the guy. Fair enough, he looks a sack of pooh in a suit, unlike his predecessor, who was always immaculately groomed. But Davies appears to know what’s what when it comes to fixing a broken football club and let’s face it, that’s exactly what we are.

So long as Billy Davies doesn’t decide to wing it until the end of the season with what we have and he can bring in a few experienced heads to steady the ship, then Championship football should be guaranteed next year. What happens after that is anyone’s guess, but it could be worth hanging around to find out. He’s definitely his own man and won’t suffer fools gladly. At this moment in time and given time, he might just be the man we’ve been waiting for. I hope we get behind him and the lads tomorrow and give him a great welcome to the City Ground. It will probably be a bit of a bumpy ride with him in charge and I dare say we’ll all have the odd fall out with him along the way. But, life under King Billy will be a little more lively than it was under Calderwood, that’s for sure.