Room for 4 Goalkeepers, But No Room For Smith

Nottingham Forest played 180 minutes football on Wednesday evening & took 4 goal keepers with them to fulfil 2 fixtures, but there was no sign of Paul Smith at either game.


Much has been made of smiths ability over the last 12 months which culminated in the goal keeper making a statement to the official Nottingham Forest web site midway through the last campaign to say he didn’t understand why he had been dropped (he was replaced by Lee Camp who arrived on loan) which did little to endear him to his detractors, but with his recent omission from 2 friendly games and the arrival of Camp on a permanent deal it seems his time at the club may be up.


Many fans would be pleased to see the back of a keeper seen by what now seems a majority of fans as incapable of anything other than shot stopping, which has clearly been his main strength, but defenders of the former Southampton & England keeper will point to his first 2 season at the club in which he conceded just 73 goals in 92 league games (& a staggering 30 goals in 46 home games) while i’m sure Smith himself will point to a creaky defence lacking in confidence for the increase in goals conceded in Forest’s first season back in the Championship.


Whether Smith stays as reserve keeper at Forest remains to be seen, as does whether he can reclaim the number one spot should he stay. For the time being though, it looks like Paul Smiths time on Trent side may be coming to an end & some would say not a moment too soon.