First team:
1 Karl Darlow (G)

2 Eric Lichaj (D)
13 Daniel Fox (D)
22 Kelvin Wilson (D)
25 Jack Hobbs (D)

11 Andy Reid (M)
10 Henri Lansbury (M)
24 David Vaughan (M)
21 Jamie Paterson (M)

2 more strikers.

Current Squad for backup;
26 Dimitar Evtimov (G)
29 Dorus De Vries (G)
15 Greg Halford (D)
16 Jamaal Lascelles (D)
18 Gonzalo Jara (D)
32 Kevin Gomis (D)
37 Lee Peltier (D)
6 Guy Moussi (M)
8 Chris Cohen (M)
28 Radoslaw Majewski (M)
30 Stephen McLaughlin (M)
38 Ben Osborn (M)
39 Djamel Abdoun (M)
9 Darius Henderson (F)
12 Jamie Mackie (F)
19 Rafik Djebbour (F)

abdoun and the terrorist can go useless the pair of them.aboun can't pass to a red shirt and the terrorist more use rolling Tarmac

It's a ridiculously big squad, without balance in some areas. Fawaz should be slapped for letting it get to this stage with FFP kicking in next season.

Pearce will have to clear some rubbish out and make one or two sensible additions

Other squad members who I think we should keep are:

26 Dimitar Evtimov (G)
29 Dorus De Vries (G)
15 Greg Halford (D)
16 Jamaal Lascelles (D)
18 Gonzalo Jara (D)
8 Chris Cohen (M)
30 Stephen McLaughlin (M) keep for the future.
38 Ben Osborn (M) keep for the future.
9 Darius Henderson (F)
12 Jamie Mackie (F)

That's a 'decent quality' squad of only 17 players (including 3 goal keepers!!)
All of a sudden, you can see why we're struggling at the moment. The likes of magic, moose & abdoun... Whilst i like them & I see what they bring. They are simply not good enough for what we need.

There's no way Abdoun is leaving though, it's a Fawaz signing and he argued with Billy about not playing him enough

While I agree with some of the comments I think it is a bit soon to be writing off the Algrian players. A few years ago Arsenal had a player who cost 11 million quid and failed to settle early on, he did not score in his first 8 games, however Thierry Henry did ok for them. Closer to home we bought David Johnson from Opswich and despite being proven at our level he was so bad he was sent out on loan, he turned ok too.
As for Abdoun, he played probably his best game for us against Barnsley and if not for a great save, the post and two sitters missed from his crosses would have had two goals and two assists. After that he was dropped and not been picked since.
I will reserve my judgment until they have had a full pre season here. Who knows one or both may surprise a few people

Sorry Ipswich

Squad certainly needs trimming. A number who should be actively 'encouraged' out of the door.
These would certainly stay and we would need to strengthen areas, notably the strikeforce.


1 Karl Darlow (G)
26 Dimitar Evtimov (G)
29 Dorus De Vries (G)
2 Eric Lichaj (D)
3 Dan Harding (D)
13 Daniel Fox (D)
15 Greg Halford (D)
16 Jamaal Lascelles (D)
18 Gonzalo Jara (D)
22 Kelvin Wilson (D)
25 Jack Hobbs (D)
32 Kevin Gomis (D)
37 Lee Peltier (D)
8 Chris Cohen (M)
10 Henri Lansbury (M)
11 Andy Reid (M)
21 Jamie Paterson (M)
24 David Vaughan (M)
30 Stephen McLaughlin (M)
38 Ben Osborn (M)
39 Djamel Abdoun (M)
9 Darius Henderson (F)
12 Jamie Mackie (F)
19 Rafik Djebbour (F)

Agree with Jacko that we should keep Abdoun and Djebbour.

Left the NA's out of the selection/culling procedure - presume Academy? Do we have any gems ready to make the step up?

Fawaz also needs to sort out the structure behind the scenes - he has alluded to this already .

July 1st

One I the things that stood out from psychos interviews was the idea of a 'brand' of football synonymous with forest. Almost a blue print going forward.
Swansea have done this for years now. Each manager has 'played' in a similar style to the next ....
We need our identity back.

We are forest.
We play on the floor.

Pearce will fully understand and respect this fact.
He knows us / the club better than anyone.

He's going to work very closely with the academy and the reserves. So we will all play the same brand of football. This will make the transition from youth team to reserves to first team, much easier. Which should mean more young lads coming through. All of whom play the forest way!!

Well.... That's the plan anyway!!

Rashidi left in January

Ok you want to keep the Algerians hope they prove me wrong hmmm I doubt it but strange things happen in football Algerians or not will be renewing season ticket next week

For a second division team. That's a big squad

With regards to djebbour and abdoun, I think there is stuff going on behind the scenes which has complicated their progress in the first team. On the footballing side of things, our defence has been so bad that is magnifies abdouns tendency to drift in and out of games. The core spine of the team is not currently able to support a player of this ilk. As far as djebbour is concerned, his arrival coincided with a host of our best players, and more significantly playmakers getting injured. Put simply, we're not creating chances, and the balls into the box are in the air, not too feet, as djebbour has stated is his preferred style of play. If we actually kept the ball down and played the forest way, he might surprise a few. Looking at our starting 11 on Saturday, it's not surprising we're playing so badly. Just speaking the names on that list makes me want to bang my head some place hard. Jara has been really disappointing and blatantly at fault for both goals. Harding, Halford Collins all poo. Majewski is such a bag of balls it's unreal and greening???? Jesus. It is not a mystery why we're doing poorly at the minute. The sooner we get rid of the above, the better imho

Rashidi is no longer at the club.

I believe Moussi, Jara, Derbyshire, Miller, Tudgay and Greening all out of contract in the summer so opportunity to get rid of some dead wood there

With everyone fit we aren't missing much at all. Good keeper, quality back four. Plenty of quality in midfield, maybe a proper holding player. Obviously the main problem is a goal scorer. But everyone is always looking for a 20 goal a season man

Do we have a twenty goal a season man already ? Maybe we do. People say Patterson is a winger but his recent goals have been scored from where strikers should be. He is the best finisher in the team and usually at least makes the keeper work. He would not in a one up top situation but along side Djbbour if he cab recreate his form in Greece and with the kind of service the likes of Reid, Lansbury and yes Abdoun ;who showed against Barnsley and Leicester, creating the chances we could have an awesome strikeforce.

I hope Djebbour can get back into the squad and see what he can do with Reid and Lansbury hopefully increasing the quality of Forest's attacking. With Lansbury now back, hopefully Brazil will feel more confident about playing 442 with him driving the midfield.

It's been stated today that Djebbour is still suffering from problems with his ankle and Abdoun has been ill. Not sure I take either at face value especially as Abdoun's illness seemed to be OK for the Charlton game

The photos of them at the awards on Sunday seem to show them in decent enough spirit. Don't forget it is a new country, new league and new club. One thing I will say is that I am sure Djbbour would not have missed some of the sitters our other strikers have missed

Next august, assuming we sign nobody and nobody on your list leaves, and everyone is match fit I would have the following 18 man squad for our opening game.

Darlow
Lichaj Hobbs Wilson Cohen
Mackie Lansbury Vaughan Reid
Blackstock Derbyshire

De Vries Fox Lascelles Peltier Jara Cox Paterson


add to that as squad players Evtimov, Halford, Gomis, and Abdoun.

That is about all I would keep. Plus the youngsters like Osborn and Blake who have been on the fringes of the squad. That give us 22 players. All I would want to buy would be three strikers to complete the squad. The rumours of Samaras and Guidetti are quite exciting but probably without foundation. We would also need to replace anyone from the above list who leaves