Open letter to Forest supporters from new chairman Nicholas Randall

[orbitalforest]

Really enjoyed reading that , given me some real optimism for the future .
Not only that but "We've got the whole world in our hands " started playing on my bluetooth speaker as i started reading the article and i had my phone on shuffle play.
With over 500 songs on that particular playlist it's definitely a positive sign i tell ya ! :35:

 

[Widdow]

Saying we haven't got money in an official letter won't fool other teams if we then start to bid for the their star players and hope they will do us a favour and let us have them on cheap as we said we are skint. Same goes for players out of contract, they will still expect the wages they want and not be peursuaded that we are paupers.

Majority of players will only sign if offer great deals and clubs will only sell their best players if a club pays over the odds (especially if we are in same division) so perhaps will hunt abroad, Scotland and lower leagues to bring in players. Hasn't worked for us in past, hopefully it can now.

The only time done well if we have spent a bit of money. Thinking the Doughty years when we finished 3rd after spending £7m one summer and we looked like we could go up but didn't spend in January and fell away to fail in playoffs

When we spent big money on likes of Britt and Antonio their value has increased. So sending big money on players can work. Problem is he cost of transfer fees are now through the roof and I wonder how ffp will hit clubs in coming seasons, especially as bad as it hit us.

We either have money or need to sell player to get the 5 quality players Mark said he wanted for start of pre season. Which is only 26 days away

 

[factchecker]

Widdow - 1/6/2017 10:48

We either have money or need to sell player to get the 5 quality players Mark said he wanted for start of pre season. Which is only 26 days away

Every interview I've seen he's said 3 or 4. And I don't think I've ever seen him explicitly say he needed them for the start of pre-season.

 

[paplane]

tombalonga - 1/6/2017 10:36

paplane - 1/6/2017 10:25

mao tse tung - 1/6/2017 10:17

the jock - 1/6/2017 09:01

on another note...looks like one of our most valuable assets will be sold to balance the books.

Brereton? Britt?

That would be the obvious conclusion.

It could be that we don't sell immediately and MW recruits from the bargain basement.

We will soon know.

Either way we can't be in a bad position as far as FFP is concerned

He's talking about taking a sustainable approach so if we take him at his word then a sustainable approach would be losing Britt and investing in BB (and possibly Tyler Walker). It would mean taking a step back to move forwards but over a couple of years the general direction of travel is forwards.

It's an approach we've rarely adopted before and will likely not be received well in the short term by fans but we've tried the other way and it's not worked. The only example of it happening in our recent past was selling Bamford & Morgan to fund loans coming in. The difference was that that was a very short term approach to an immediate problem the club faced but it worked.

That's one interpretation, Paplane - but he doesn't actually say that.

A sustainable approach could also involve a conveyor belt of youth that we sell and then reinvest in players that have experience, quality and/or fill a gap.

People get a bit dewy eyed about young players. If promotion is a long term goal then we have to a slightly more complex strategy than investing in the young flavour of the month (with Walker being a great example of such a flavour at one time).

I don't disagree with what you're saying. But for the conveyor belt to work, the youngsters have to have some game time in the team purely for their value to be amassed.

Now I have my doubts if BB is actually worth a mega-money contract (was concerned that he appeared to fade at the end of the season after his stunning introduction), and Britt is now on a longish term contract so can stay put if he wishes. But Fawaz did well to screw Redbull out of £13m for Burke - no other English club seemed prepared to pay that kind of money for an unproven Championship youngster. If they show a similar lack of appetite for BB, then Britt leaving for £10/12m, to fund a decent-ish contract for BB, and to allow the purchase of a couple of established & experienced players as you suggest is an option. The important thing is that coaches are making those decisions based on their professional input, not the owner who needs a quick fix to pay the VAT bill that month. ie BB has to be worthy of the investment, or the whole thing collapses.

 

[Widdow]

factchecker - 1/6/2017 10:55

Widdow - 1/6/2017 10:48

We either have money or need to sell player to get the 5 quality players Mark said he wanted for start of pre season. Which is only 26 days away

Every interview I've seen he's said 3 or 4. And I don't think I've ever seen him explicitly say he needed them for the start of pre-season.

Check the end of season interview he did with paul Taylor and BBC news to hear him say it. In a ideal world he would have them by then a d if we go for loans he will have to be patient and wait while clubs do their preseason.

 

[the jock]

we need a few new midfield players imo.

need to sort out the defence. if britt gets injured...who will score?

will take time. I am more than happy being patient when there is a plan being implemented by intelligent people who know how football works. not struggling from crisis to crisis. spending 30k a week on a ross McCormack who we didn't need and villa didn't want.

 

[Pope John XXIII]

paplane - 1/6/2017 10:58

tombalonga - 1/6/2017 10:36

paplane - 1/6/2017 10:25

mao tse tung - 1/6/2017 10:17

the jock - 1/6/2017 09:01

on another note...looks like one of our most valuable assets will be sold to balance the books.

Brereton? Britt?

That would be the obvious conclusion.

It could be that we don't sell immediately and MW recruits from the bargain basement.

We will soon know.

Either way we can't be in a bad position as far as FFP is concerned

He's talking about taking a sustainable approach so if we take him at his word then a sustainable approach would be losing Britt and investing in BB (and possibly Tyler Walker). It would mean taking a step back to move forwards but over a couple of years the general direction of travel is forwards.

It's an approach we've rarely adopted before and will likely not be received well in the short term by fans but we've tried the other way and it's not worked. The only example of it happening in our recent past was selling Bamford & Morgan to fund loans coming in. The difference was that that was a very short term approach to an immediate problem the club faced but it worked.

That's one interpretation, Paplane - but he doesn't actually say that.

A sustainable approach could also involve a conveyor belt of youth that we sell and then reinvest in players that have experience, quality and/or fill a gap.

People get a bit dewy eyed about young players. If promotion is a long term goal then we have to a slightly more complex strategy than investing in the young flavour of the month (with Walker being a great example of such a flavour at one time).

I don't disagree with what you're saying. But for the conveyor belt to work, the youngsters have to have some game time in the team purely for their value to be amassed.

Now I have my doubts if BB is actually worth a mega-money contract (was concerned that he appeared to fade at the end of the season after his stunning introduction), and Britt is now on a longish term contract so can stay put if he wishes. But Fawaz did well to screw Redbull out of £13m for Burke - no other English club seemed prepared to pay that kind of money for an unproven Championship youngster. If they show a similar lack of appetite for BB, then Britt leaving for £10/12m, to fund a decent-ish contract for BB, and to allow the purchase of a couple of established & experienced players as you suggest is an option. The important thing is that coaches are making those decisions based on their professional input, not the owner who needs a quick fix to pay the VAT bill that month. ie BB has to be worthy of the investment, or the whole thing collapses.

Sorry, but there is no way on earth we should sell a proven asset who has consistently delivered like Britt to fund a massive contract for a 17 year old who is yet to deliver anything and is already pissing us about with a contract.

Brereton is 17 and has scored 3 goals in how many games?

Has shown some really good and exciting flashes but after the first few games he hasnt torn the division apart either.

Ben is the one who needs to go.

I seriously worry that we will be relegated if we sell Britt because there are no other goals in this side.

Britt made a 19 point difference. If you are lucky you will get 10-12 from Clough and 10 from Vellios, but Warburton doesn't seem to rate Vellios.

There is no financial sense in selling Britt because you would have to invest almost all the money in signing a replacement that likely won't work as well, just to stand still.

Not like you could spend that money on 3-4 players- you have to replace the goals.

You could sell any other player in any other position and replace them no problem.

It's different if a PL club come in and he wants to go. He's done well and it's hard to stand in his way

 

[paplane]

Compare all of this with what's going on at Wolves at the moment.

They now have 'super-agent', Jorge Mendes, selecting their purchases and coaches are being selected based on who will go along with it. They just had an established and respected coach leave as a consequence of this 'philosophy'. The new man is the 4th boss in 10 months of ownership by their chinese guys.

Would anyone swap their approach for the one that our new chap has just set out?

Not me.

 

[tombalonga]

Pope John XXIII - 1/6/2017 11:21

paplane - 1/6/2017 10:58

tombalonga - 1/6/2017 10:36

paplane - 1/6/2017 10:25

mao tse tung - 1/6/2017 10:17

the jock - 1/6/2017 09:01

on another note...looks like one of our most valuable assets will be sold to balance the books.

Brereton? Britt?

That would be the obvious conclusion.

It could be that we don't sell immediately and MW recruits from the bargain basement.

We will soon know.

Either way we can't be in a bad position as far as FFP is concerned

He's talking about taking a sustainable approach so if we take him at his word then a sustainable approach would be losing Britt and investing in BB (and possibly Tyler Walker). It would mean taking a step back to move forwards but over a couple of years the general direction of travel is forwards.

It's an approach we've rarely adopted before and will likely not be received well in the short term by fans but we've tried the other way and it's not worked. The only example of it happening in our recent past was selling Bamford & Morgan to fund loans coming in. The difference was that that was a very short term approach to an immediate problem the club faced but it worked.

That's one interpretation, Paplane - but he doesn't actually say that.

A sustainable approach could also involve a conveyor belt of youth that we sell and then reinvest in players that have experience, quality and/or fill a gap.

People get a bit dewy eyed about young players. If promotion is a long term goal then we have to a slightly more complex strategy than investing in the young flavour of the month (with Walker being a great example of such a flavour at one time).

I don't disagree with what you're saying. But for the conveyor belt to work, the youngsters have to have some game time in the team purely for their value to be amassed.

Now I have my doubts if BB is actually worth a mega-money contract (was concerned that he appeared to fade at the end of the season after his stunning introduction), and Britt is now on a longish term contract so can stay put if he wishes. But Fawaz did well to screw Redbull out of £13m for Burke - no other English club seemed prepared to pay that kind of money for an unproven Championship youngster. If they show a similar lack of appetite for BB, then Britt leaving for £10/12m, to fund a decent-ish contract for BB, and to allow the purchase of a couple of established & experienced players as you suggest is an option. The important thing is that coaches are making those decisions based on their professional input, not the owner who needs a quick fix to pay the VAT bill that month. ie BB has to be worthy of the investment, or the whole thing collapses.

Sorry, but there is no way on earth we should sell a proven asset who has consistently delivered like Britt to fund a massive contract for a 17 year old who is yet to deliver anything and is already pissing us about with a contract.

Brereton is 17 and has scored 3 goals in how many games?

Has shown some really good and exciting flashes but after the first few games he hasnt torn the division apart either.

Ben is the one who needs to go.

I seriously worry that we will be relegated if we sell Britt because there are no other goals in this side.

Britt made a 19 point difference. If you are lucky you will get 10-12 from Clough and 10 from Vellios, but Warburton doesn't seem to rate Vellios.

There is no financial sense in selling Britt because you would have to invest almost all the money in signing a replacement that likely won't work as well, just to stand still.

Not like you could spend that money on 3-4 players- you have to replace the goals.

You could sell any other player in any other position and replace them no problem.

It's different if a PL club come in and he wants to go. He's done well and it's hard to stand in his way

Broadly agree, Pope.

Fans will be unhappy for a while in either scenario where we sell Brereton or Britt. Perhaps the difference though is that this time, unlike under Fawaz, we have ownership that openly acknowledges that such decisions will have to be made. This transparency and an allusion to a clear developing strategy are important in placating fans.

 

[Pope John XXIII]

paplane - 1/6/2017 11:31

Compare all of this with what's going on at Wolves at the moment.

They now have 'super-agent', Jorge Mendes, selecting their purchases and coaches are being selected based on who will go along with it. They just had an established and respected coach leave as a consequence of this 'philosophy'. The new man is the 4th boss in 10 months of ownership by their chinese guys.

Would anyone swap their approach for the one that our new chap has just set out?

Not me.

No of course not. Don't think anyone has complained at all.

I'm struggling to think of any far eastern investors who have been good owners.

The new owner of AC Milan is Chinese I think and there are major doubts as to whether he actually has the money to run the club

 

[paplane]

Pope John XXIII - 1/6/2017 11:21

paplane - 1/6/2017 10:58

tombalonga - 1/6/2017 10:36

paplane - 1/6/2017 10:25

mao tse tung - 1/6/2017 10:17

the jock - 1/6/2017 09:01

on another note...looks like one of our most valuable assets will be sold to balance the books.

Brereton? Britt?

That would be the obvious conclusion.

It could be that we don't sell immediately and MW recruits from the bargain basement.

We will soon know.

Either way we can't be in a bad position as far as FFP is concerned

He's talking about taking a sustainable approach so if we take him at his word then a sustainable approach would be losing Britt and investing in BB (and possibly Tyler Walker). It would mean taking a step back to move forwards but over a couple of years the general direction of travel is forwards.

It's an approach we've rarely adopted before and will likely not be received well in the short term by fans but we've tried the other way and it's not worked. The only example of it happening in our recent past was selling Bamford & Morgan to fund loans coming in. The difference was that that was a very short term approach to an immediate problem the club faced but it worked.

That's one interpretation, Paplane - but he doesn't actually say that.

A sustainable approach could also involve a conveyor belt of youth that we sell and then reinvest in players that have experience, quality and/or fill a gap.

People get a bit dewy eyed about young players. If promotion is a long term goal then we have to a slightly more complex strategy than investing in the young flavour of the month (with Walker being a great example of such a flavour at one time).

I don't disagree with what you're saying. But for the conveyor belt to work, the youngsters have to have some game time in the team purely for their value to be amassed.

Now I have my doubts if BB is actually worth a mega-money contract (was concerned that he appeared to fade at the end of the season after his stunning introduction), and Britt is now on a longish term contract so can stay put if he wishes. But Fawaz did well to screw Redbull out of £13m for Burke - no other English club seemed prepared to pay that kind of money for an unproven Championship youngster. If they show a similar lack of appetite for BB, then Britt leaving for £10/12m, to fund a decent-ish contract for BB, and to allow the purchase of a couple of established & experienced players as you suggest is an option. The important thing is that coaches are making those decisions based on their professional input, not the owner who needs a quick fix to pay the VAT bill that month. ie BB has to be worthy of the investment, or the whole thing collapses.

Sorry, but there is no way on earth we should sell a proven asset who has consistently delivered like Britt to fund a massive contract for a 17 year old who is yet to deliver anything and is already pissing us about with a contract.

Brereton is 17 and has scored 3 goals in how many games?

Has shown some really good and exciting flashes but after the first few games he hasnt torn the division apart either.

Ben is the one who needs to go.

I seriously worry that we will be relegated if we sell Britt because there are no other goals in this side.

Britt made a 19 point difference. If you are lucky you will get 10-12 from Clough and 10 from Vellios, but Warburton doesn't seem to rate Vellios.

There is no financial sense in selling Britt because you would have to invest almost all the money in signing a replacement that likely won't work as well, just to stand still.

Not like you could spend that money on 3-4 players- you have to replace the goals.

You could sell any other player in any other position and replace them no problem.

It's different if a PL club come in and he wants to go. He's done well and it's hard to stand in his way

I'm not saying one approach is better than the other but all the factors have to be taken into account. Britt is our only real senior established player of high value who would fund a number of incomings to improve the team elsewhere. He has just signed a contract and can stay put if he wishes - it's his choice. BB has shown glimpses of the promise (probably more than than to be fair to the lad), but if he is stalling on a contract then the club may be forced to stick with Britt and let BB go. But either way we need to act in a sustainable way. What would be unsustainable would be offering Britt an improved contract to stay if offers come in in the summer, and also offering BB a mega money contract, which might also piss off other more senior players.

 

[PVH]

paplane - 1/6/2017 11:31

Compare all of this with what's going on at Wolves at the moment.

They now have 'super-agent', Jorge Mendes, selecting their purchases and coaches are being selected based on who will go along with it. They just had an established and respected coach leave as a consequence of this 'philosophy'. The new man is the 4th boss in 10 months of ownership by their chinese guys.

Would anyone swap their approach for the one that our new chap has just set out?

Not me.

No I wouldn't swap, however I'd hang fire on your praise of the approach.

Marinakis has fired managers at will at Olympiacos, so it will all depend on whether he's taking a different approach to us tahn the one he takes in Greece.

The fact that it is now widely recognised that the club is in a mess should hopefully buy Warburton plenty of time, providing of course we're not flirting with relegation again any time soon.

 

[Widdow]

Wolves just made an excellent free signing in Ryan Bennett. A centre half good age with experience ofchampionship and two years in premier league. Not a bad first signing at all

 

[Strawberry Avenger]

A superb and forensic distillation. Delivered via a nail gun as only a lawyer could.

The broad scope and tone of the objectives augers well for the future and leaves little room for doubt. Forest are in intensive care...but the newly installed medical team have got it covered.

Delivery is harder than words. However, as noted by the new owners, 'actions' count and the
heritage of Olympiacos (Forest's 'spartan twin brother') suggests a similar ethos can be built here.

It echoes the Brian Clough way. Solidarity. But this time? With a proper infrastructure and a vision for the future based on Forest's identity. Forest has a philosophy. Indelible etched into the psyche of every Forest support by 'God' himself. (So, even if the manager goes, the club have an ethos, a way of doing things that survives successive managers and teams of players.)

Given the outstanding team assembled in the board room and the football management team, the clubs legacy looks to be in a safe pair of hands.

SA.

 

[Widdow]

Now this is a start and that letter is another good sign. But that's all it is, a start albeit a promising one.

At moment it is just words though and wwve been fooled by then before. Whether talk of 3 stars, serious about promotion or now a more tempered approach with FFP

They have yet to announce any signings and in my opinion perhaps need to still add a few more backroom and off the field staff. Like they said this takes time, but what will see this summer is their ambition for the coming season

Is it a case of we've reduced season tickets so when we sell best players to help with ffp don't be surprised. Is it case that this season, it's not a case of serious about promotion but more than serious about mid table and improvement on last season. That wouldn't sell season tickets but will fans be happy with it? At moment yes I would say but how long that would be remains to be seen

We know a lot of our fans been conned in past by certain claims and believed everything told them. Now this approach is one of we are here for the future but may have to make hard decisions in the present. So get used to it!!

Yes reducing prices will help fill he stadium, that is for this season. If they buy the calibre of players we did last season under the Greek and we sell best players at same time, then fans may not be so quick to buy tickets next season. Unless reduce them again and say this year will be different. Rinse and repeat. Something we got used to.

So proof of pudding will be in the eating. Come start of season will we have a team that can compete for top, or look for mid table obscurity which always seemed to be the aim under Doughty? Will by end of August have sold our best players or have broken transfer record, we can only wait and see.

Will it be exciting, not sure after that letter. Will we have to wind in our expections, more than likely.

Is our club in good hands? I believe so and hopefully they will get things right off and on the pitch

With everything, time will be the judge if after everything said, more is said than done.

 

[Widdow]

Let's not forget, Clough also like to push boundaries of bringing in players either on wages offered or breaking the British Transfer fee. He wanted backing, so hope they will back Mark Warburton and not just expect him to work with what he has got and hope for miracles. Sometimes all the time in world can't make bad players better

 

[Bad_Dog]

Widdow - 1/6/2017 12:24

Now this is a start and that letter is another good sign. But that's all it is, a start albeit a promising one.

At moment it is just words though and wwve been fooled by then before. Whether talk of 3 stars, serious about promotion or now a more tempered approach with FFP

They have yet to announce any signings and in my opinion perhaps need to still add a few more backroom and off the field staff. Like they said this takes time, but what will see this summer is their ambition for the coming season

Is it a case of we've reduced season tickets so when we sell beat players to help with ffp don't be surprised. Is it case that this season, it's not a case
Of serious about promotion more than serious about mid table and improvement on last season. That wouldn't sell season tickets but will fans be happy with it.

We know a lot of our fans been conned in past by certain claims and believed everything told them. Now this approach is one of we are here for the future but may have to make hard decisions

Yes reducing prices will help fill he stadium, that is for this season. If they buy the calibre of players we did last season under the Greek and we sell best players at same time. They people may not be so quick to buy tickets next season. Unless reduce them again and say this year will be different. Rinse and repeat. Something we got used to.

So proof of pudding will be in the eating. Come start
Of season will we have a team that can compete for top, or look for mid table obscurity which was always seemed to be the aim under Doughty. Will by end of August have sold or best players or have broken transfer record, we can only wait and see.

Will it be exciting, not sure after that letter. Will we have to wind in our expections, more than likely.

Is our club in good hands? I believe so and hopefully they will get things right off and on the pitch

With everything, time will be the judge if after everything said, more is said than done.

Are you drunk? So many mistakes in this it's pretty hard to read... not like you Widdow but I get the jist!

 

[Widdow]

Bad_Dog - 1/6/2017 12:29

Widdow - 1/6/2017 12:24

Now this is a start and that letter is another good sign. But that's all it is, a start albeit a promising one.

At moment it is just words though and wwve been fooled by then before. Whether talk of 3 stars, serious about promotion or now a more tempered approach with FFP

They have yet to announce any signings and in my opinion perhaps need to still add a few more backroom and off the field staff. Like they said this takes time, but what will see this summer is their ambition for the coming season

Is it a case of we've reduced season tickets so when we sell beat players to help with ffp don't be surprised. Is it case that this season, it's not a case
Of serious about promotion more than serious about mid table and improvement on last season. That wouldn't sell season tickets but will fans be happy with it.

We know a lot of our fans been conned in past by certain claims and believed everything told them. Now this approach is one of we are here for the future but may have to make hard decisions

Yes reducing prices will help fill he stadium, that is for this season. If they buy the calibre of players we did last season under the Greek and we sell best players at same time. They people may not be so quick to buy tickets next season. Unless reduce them again and say this year will be different. Rinse and repeat. Something we got used to.

So proof of pudding will be in the eating. Come start
Of season will we have a team that can compete for top, or look for mid table obscurity which was always seemed to be the aim under Doughty. Will by end of August have sold or best players or have broken transfer record, we can only wait and see.

Will it be exciting, not sure after that letter. Will we have to wind in our expections, more than likely.

Is our club in good hands? I believe so and hopefully they will get things right off and on the pitch

With everything, time will be the judge if after everything said, more is said than done.

Are you drunk? So many mistakes in this it's pretty hard to read... not like you Widdow but I get the jist!

Haha just edited it. I am round a pool in Rhodes. Getting lowdown on Marinkas. So far say good things about him. Well the olympiacos fans do lol and the others are now begrudging.

Another vodka and tonic for me lol.

 

[LyttleByLyttle]

Do we conveniently ignore the sale of Burke in the context of FFP compliance?

 

[Pope John XXIII]

LyttleByLyttle - 1/6/2017 12:44

Do we conveniently ignore the sale of Burke in the context of FFP compliance?

That money is stored in the same bank as our £350m a week for the NHS I think.

17 players signed, hardly any of them played regularly and almost none are worth keeping. The combined wages of those 17 players probably comfortably accounts for the Burke money