Vital Forest News

The Squad For The Season Ahead

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Lee Camp: Played in all but one league game last season & firmly established himself as the number one keeper, won’t be moved. He seems to give the defence extra confidence to go out & play secure in the knowledge there is a safe pair of hands behind them. His distribution sometimes a little off which can be improved but is command of his area & shot stopping is first class. Forest reigning player of the season.

Paul Smith: Only started one league game last season with a further 3 cup appearances & with his pre season form he’ll probably be starting less this season. May well be on to pastures new soon to look for 1st team football.

Karl Darlow: The 20 year old has impressed for the youth academy over the past 12 months & looks set to become Lee Camps number 2

Chris Gunter: The former Tottenham full back proved one of the signings of the season last term, starting 47 games in all competitions scoring his first ever competitive goal along the way. His forward runs were a hit with the fans giving Forest an extra dimension in attack.

Wes Morgan: Played 44 league games & 49 in all competitions last season, scoring 3 goals along the way including a thunder bolt against Crystal Palace. Had possibly his best season for Forest so far. Always willing to throw himself in where it hurts to either stop or score a goal. A little clumsy at time but a firm fans favourite.

Kelvin Wilson: Played 35 league games last term & after a slow start to his Forest career improved immeasurably to become one of Forest’s most consistent performers. His pace is his best attribute & often gets him out of trouble when caught napping in defence but those occasions are becoming less frequent with experience.

Luke Chambers: Took part in a surprising 26 games last season (6 as sub) & scored 4 goals along the way including the last minute match winner against Swansea. Get’s criticism from a section of Forest fans but always gets on with his job in a professional manner & never complains. always their to be relied upon in times of need but will probably have another frustrating season on the side lines.

Joel Lynch: Played 12 games last season including 9 league starts. He’s often played out of position at left back but it seems he’ll never win over the Forest faithful despite playing through injury.

Julian Bennett: Big Season coming up for Jules, hasn’t kicked a competitive ball in over 18 months & has spent the majority of the last 2 years on the side lines. Full of passion & the closest Forest have to left back. It will be interesting how Billy Davies plays him as he hasn’t yet had the chance to use Bennett in his Forest reign but after saying he needs a loan spell, he’s been used throughout pre-season mainly as a centre back.

Brendan Moloney: Spent the first half of last season on loan at Notts earning rave revues & was unlucky to get injured shortly after joining Scunthorpe on loan. Will only be back up to Gunter unless he moves out on loan again but the boy does have talent.

Paul McKenna: Was captain marvel for the first three quarters of last season when an injury had a massive impact on both him & the team, starting 35 league games & scoring one goal he proved to be the organising captain we’ve been missing for years. Will once again be charged mainly with protecting the defence & breaking up play. He lacks passing ability but his work ethic, tenacity & leadership qualities more than make up for it.

Radoslaw Majewski: The little magician wowed the crowds last season with some stunning displays, With 31 league starts & 4 sub appearances (plus 3 more cup starts) a return of just three goals was a little disappointing, but the ability is certainly there & he weighed in with 9 assists. Seemed to lack the stamina to play a full 90 minutes last term but this has probably been worked on in pre-season.

Paul Anderson: I once claimed all he could do was run but he went some way to proving me wrong last season, from 42 appearances in all competitions he chipped in with 5 goals & a further 8 assists. Has pace but is getting a better end product these days.

Chris Cohen: Or ‘The Running Man’ as he should be known, some say he will simply cease to exists if he stops running & that is the reason he never stops but personally i just don’t think he’s human. No Forest player had more appearances last season with 49 (only Camp can match it) he played all over the park last term from all midfield positions as well as filling in at left back where he’s likely to start again this season. With 3 goals & 6 assists he could have contributed more but he proved a consistent performer despite never knowing where he’d be playing from one game to the next.

Nathan Tyson: Probably played more games than any other season of his Forest career appearing 38 times (18 as sub) and was used primarily as a winger. Only managed 2 goals + 2 assists & his end product needs a lot of work doing on it but my God the boy knows how to wave a flag. He’s full of effort & you’ll never see him give anything less that 100%. Will probably be used more as an impact sub this season if a move away fails to materialise.

Guy Moussi: His injury plagued Forest career carried on in similar form last term, still seems to struggle to string a run of games together but he did improve his goal scoring last season including important goals against Barnsley & Bristol City, with 22 starts + 6 substitute appearances he fitted in well in the three man midfield but will struggle to get ahead of either McKenna or Majewski should we play 4-4-2. 3 goals in all last season but just the one assist. Seems to rotate between looking like real quality & a run away tank.

Lewis McGugan: It’s difficult to see what the future holds for Lewis, he clearly has bags of ability & potential but has lost his way a little since Forest’s return to the Championship. He was used mainly as a substitute last season coming off the bench for 13 of his 21 appearances but even so, no Forest midfielder scored more than McGugan’s 4 goals & he also chipped in with 3 assists. So, he scored or created a goal in one out of every three games last term, they aren’t bad statistics for a midfielder who averages only 15 – 20 per game.

Gareth McCleary: Only started one league game last season but that was the 4 – 1 demolition of Doncaster & was brought off the bench a further 26 times but from those games he managed no goals, 1 assist & 1 red card. Good impact sub & often got himself involved in games but has little end product. May get more of a chance this term after a good pre-season.


Rob Earnshaw: It must have seemed strange for Robbie last season knowing he was one of the first names on the team sheet for home games but most likely to be on the bench away from home. Started 23 games with a further 12 substitute appearances from which he scored 15 goals but only one assists. That took his Forest tally to 32 goals in 71 appearances in the garibaldi with just 1 assist to his name. Robbie is an excellent goal scorer at this level & will most likely prove exactly the same again this term.

Dexter Blackstock: Worked his socks off last season playing 42 games (9 as sub) including many as a loan striker. Got his fair share of goals with 13 but could do with improving that a little this term. Also helped out with a further 6 assists to prove himself a real team player. He works hard for the team closing down defenders but will need more support up front than he got last term.

David McGoldrick: Billy has stated this lad will prove the fans wrong & come good. There have been glimpses of real talent but not anything like consistently enough over last season, he scored 3 goals along with 2 assists from 36 games (17 as sub) but it will be a while before he gets chance to show if he’s improved for the forthcoming season having been ruled out for the first few months with a shoulder injury picked up in the close season.

Dele Adebola: Like McGoldrick he’s come in for some criticism from Forest fans but was used mainly as a substitute having come off the bench for 24 of his 38 games & showed his use for Forest when protecting a lead. Scored 3 goals with another 4 assists.


22 & counting (upwards hopefully)

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