Chappers85
Can't Play Left-Back
Percy's had a bit of a shitter:
"The past was alterable. The past had never been altered. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia." Nineteen Eighty-Four
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Dane Murphy - ex-CEO
- Thread starter Matt
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"The past was alterable. The past had never been altered. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia." Nineteen Eighty-Four
Is this the Mark Arthur who proudly claimed that by selling all the bright young talent bought through by Paul Hart he had successfully reduced Forests losses from a staggering £120k a week to a mere £6.5m a year?
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Nigel saw the impact ffp was going to have long before many others and was warning us about it even then. He did what was right imo. And regards Davies, the mistake Nigel made was not sacking him earlier
Joe Baker's Dog
Grenville Morris
I have no doubt that Nigel Doughty was a Forest fan at heart but his reign was awful with the exception of our very successful Academy..........some of those Managers he appointed should never have been anywhere near this club....
Harvey
Chrissy Cohen
His actual time as owner isn't what we should be thankful for
The fact that Nottingham Forest FC might not even exist today were it not for him, however, very much is
Statto
Free Kick Specialist
I would say pretty much all of them. Hart was far too inexperienced which showed when he had to bring in his own players and not work with mainly lads he knew from the Academy. Kinnear was logical in that he did well with next to nothing for years at Wimbledon but was a bit of a dinosaur tactically and didn't seem to want discipline, though he was pretty badly fuxed over that preseason with the marketing and lack of investment. Megson doesn't even need to be mentioned really. Calderwood did at least get us promoted after a failed attempt and some good results at the end (along with a points deduction for one of the rivals) but couldn't keep us there and in the end he got lucky as Davies could at least get results. But he was clearly a disaster off the pitch. McClaren is not far off Megson in terms of being talked about. (Although he did sign a manager who needed to spend and then refused to pay up for his targets, which presumably didn't help at all). I'm not sure how much ND had in Cotterill as Clark had taken over as chairman but FAH's best decision was to fire him as soon as he walked in. Out of the lot you could really only say Davies and Calderwood did anything decent and they have both done f*** all since leaving us. As indeed have most of the rest - ironically if you count his favours to Mr Cashley then Kinnear is probably one of the more successful.
Statto
Free Kick Specialist
People say this. Plenty said it at the time and you're not gonna be the only one to say it since.
But really? I don't have a lot against ND. He made some mistakes as did Arthur but their intentions were good. And he was ahead of the game in trying to make the club self sufficient in terms of transfer fees and wages.
Let's just say if he hadn't stepped in I don't think the club would have folded. Someone would have bought it. We sold the club to Fawaz and EM after even though Fawaz tried a few times. I think he was on the board at the time under Barnes anyway so presumably that regime would have put the club into administration anyway. We'd not have lost any points because that didn't come in until after the dippers did it in 02/03. And the asset stripping of high earners was already going on as though we were in admin anyway. Very few teams have folded because literally no-one bought them. Even the sheep got bought eventually with only a few of Crewton's school mates in the playing squad.
Nigel did what he did because he loved the club, that is certain. And he stepped in to try and save the club when the times weren't certain. But it's unlikely he would be the only person wanting to buy it.
Harvey
Chrissy Cohen
My Uncle was quite heavily involved with Forest around the time Doughty took over so the whole saga has been recounted to me on many an occasion. To give you a brief history from what I know it goes something like this (and this is taken from a blog of mine and I've posted this on here before):
1996/97 and on our way to relegation, badly in debt and living off an overdraft, our owners in their eternal wisdom decided that it was the perfect time to float Forest on the stock market... *facepalm* This resulted in two main groups vying for our affections - one headed up by Sandy Anderson (which included Nigel Doughty behind the scenes), and another fronted by Irving Scholar, Phil Soar, and later Nigel Wray. As per the Forest constitution at the time any bid needed three quarters of the shareholders' votes for any prospective investor to gain control.
Anderson's bid was the fans' favourite and the soundest financially, and was backed by our accountants at the time (PWC I think?). It offered about 10m+ right away to directly fund transfers, with more promised for the future. The plan was also to set up a board of directors to run the club, and to guarantee not to change anything fundamental to the club like our colours, badge or stadium. The goal being for Forest to prosper in the long term and in that way shareholders would see a return.
By contrast to say the Scholar and Wray bid was underhand would be a colossal understatement. The darlings of the tabloids instead of listening to the fans or even attempting to engage with the setup at the time just tried to block Anderson and beguiled the shareholders with promises of quick cash along the lines of "you've lost enough already, we'll pay you back circa £15k each right now if you let us have control".
And so those shareholders who claimed to have the club's interests at heart, including "club legend" Larry Lloyd, decided that a payout right there and then was the way, took the money, and ran. Wray was intsalled as chairman and immediately began his quest to asset strip Forest to fund his main venture, Saracens. Ticket prices were raised which priced fans out and attendances and revenues dropped off a cliff.
A season or so later with the atmosphere around the club becoming increasingly toxic Wray decided he'd had enough and resigned as chairman, but left Scholar on the board with his cronies like Julian Markham who continued to syphon off cash to bankroll their tinpot Rugby team.
So then in came Eric Barnes (deputy chairman of GUS at the time) as a figurehead, bringing Nigel Doughty with him (who had been part of the unsuccesful Anderson bid) who again agreed to invest £10m+ but on the condition that he be given the majority interest in the club, which he did only because as a life long Forest fan he was not prepared to see the club run into the ground by carpet baggers out to bleed us dry. (It's worth remembering at this point that ND never set out, or possibly ever even wanted, to be chairman, but became so almost by default as a result of not wanting to see the club he loved run into ruin).
Anyway, worried that the well of cash was about to dry up Scholar and his cronies tried to block the Doughty takeover and took the club to court claiming it was against our constitution and demanding that Forest pay back the money that ND invested, which had the court ordered it at the time would effectively have bankrupted us. Fortunately due to Nigel's intervention and pursuance they took a different view which ultimately lead to Scholar et al withdrawing their case and the court awarding damages to Forest in the millions of pounds for being put throught the whole sorry process.
We'd been absolutely dragged through the mire in the papers (we were a bigger deal to them than we are now) and were seen as even more toxic a club to be involved with then than subsequently when Fawaz left. And we'd been floated on the stock market with zero interest outside people who knew Forest and the carpet baggers I mention above. No-one else was willing to take over! So Doughty had to step in. He literally fought the good fight for Forest after everyone else fell away, and without his persistance and tenacity Forest would've been declared bankrupt.
So I think the club owes Nigel a massive debt of gratitude for everything he did, not only in investing the money put putting his personal reputation on the line for the club he loved and saving us from the clutches of some complete and utter shysters.
Notcher
Stuart Pearce
I was at the club whilst Mark Arthur was there and I can assure you he is incompetence personified. Completely out of his depth and thought he could run it like a cricket club. I saw some things with my own eyes. Anyone in a senior position that I had the trust or access of would also tell me the same.
Is this the same Mark Arthur that left to become CEO of Yorkshire County Cricket, running them so effectively and efficiently that they went £millions into debt and required a restructuring to pay it off before being revealed as a racist institution in a case that made Parliament and headline news?
Ashley
Steve Chettle
We're serious about racism and debt. Are you?
Exactly my point. On the face of it he paid the bills on time and did what he was asked by the owner like Charnley. However, those with ties to the club have said he was useless, just like those in Newcastle have said about our current CEO. Bringing us back to my original failure comment.
Morpeth
John Robertson
No one with even half a brain up here has said that about Charnley. He’s not liked at all, but there’s not a single thing of any substance been said about him either way.
The role of a CEO is not to be popular (to be fair to him Mark Arthur managed to get that part right) but to fulfill the owners brief, whatever that may be.
In the case of Newcastle my understanding was it was to make them as successful as possible whilst being self sufficient in which case Charnley probably achieved his role. Seeing as our old friend Mark Arthur has been bought up I leave it to others to decide if a mountain of debt, three years in League 1, failure to achieve promotion from the Championship, a series of court orders and a google definition of 'derisory bid' bringing up Nottingham Forest as 7 of the first 10 results is classed as a success. I am not so sure it is.
Cloughie1975
John Robertson
Nigel Doughty cut the budget after the play-off defeat to Sheffield United in 2003 (I remember sitting on
the M1 the next morning in the pouring rain listening to Mark Arthur talking about it).This was well before
FFP was discussed and nearly a decade before it was introduced in the Championship in 2012.
This (and other poor decisions) resulted in the club sliding into the 3rd tier for the first time since 1951-hardly a ringing endorsement of his stewardship.
As for Davies-we were heading at breakneck speed back into League 1 under Calderwood when he was
appointed in 2009.He then saved us from relegation and took us into successive play-off campaigns before
being bizarrely sacked in 2011.His second spell at the club was obviously a disaster (especially with the Al
Hasawi’s now in charge).
Nigel Doughty was undoubtedly a lovely man and true Forest supporter,but his spell at the club will be
remembered by many fans as a period of turmoil and failure.
He played a large part in rescuing the club after the Wray/Scholar/Soar fiasco but I tend to agree with
Statto that another buyer would probably have been found to prevent liquidation.
Whatever your view of Nigel Doughty-I think all fans were very sad when he passed away in 2012.
Otis Redding
Try A Little Tenderness
I clearly remember Arthur appearing on a local radio phone-in (BBC RN if I recall correctly) and was asked about the absence of commercial support (local shirt sponsor aside) at Forest in comparison with other clubs; his reply being...."we don't need commercial partners because Nigel meets any shortfall in funding". Astonishing.
Alf-engelos Mindminackers
The Artiste formally known as "Wanksy"
Jesus, all this Mark Arthur talk is really ramming home just how long we waited to find a good CEO 
The next chap best be good. I don't want this to turn into another Davies situation where we kid ourselves for 10 years that Murphs was the issue and a trouble causer, when in reality he was the one who knew what it took to succeed.
The next chap best be good. I don't want this to turn into another Davies situation where we kid ourselves for 10 years that Murphs was the issue and a trouble causer, when in reality he was the one who knew what it took to succeed.
MaxiRobriguez
Bob McKinlay
How many CEO's are "good?"
The role of most CEOs are to make the company as profitable as it can be.
If you judge Arthur by "running us into debt" then very few clubs are run well because most clubs run operating losses and rely on the goodwill (or naked ambition, more like) of their owners.
Not to suggest I think Arthur did a good job, just suggesting most CEO's fail in football because of the environment they operate in (if you want the team to do well, which the ownership usually does, then you end up with wage bills which are greater than revenue in).
The role of most CEOs are to make the company as profitable as it can be.
If you judge Arthur by "running us into debt" then very few clubs are run well because most clubs run operating losses and rely on the goodwill (or naked ambition, more like) of their owners.
Not to suggest I think Arthur did a good job, just suggesting most CEO's fail in football because of the environment they operate in (if you want the team to do well, which the ownership usually does, then you end up with wage bills which are greater than revenue in).
Notcher
Stuart Pearce
That's the badger. He's just great at CEO'ing
Morpeth
John Robertson
Is this a dig at Charnley?I'd argue that losing thousands of season ticket holders and 2 relegations under his stewardship for a club the size of Newcastle supplemented by Prem money doesn't portray a director that can be considered a success. Plus they hired Steve Bruce!
I'm Red Till Dead
Stuart Pearce
FYI there was a third group interested according to the Newspapers of the time -
(The Independent, Monday, January 13, 1997)
Fans flock to buy Forest
THAT WAS THE WEEKEND THAT WAS
Fans flock to buy Forest
THAT WAS THE WEEKEND THAT WAS
By Jon Culley
It used to be just FA Cup finals that brought previously little- known football supporters out of the woodwork - now it is takeover bids.
The long-running Nottingham Forest saga has seen the emergence of "lifelong Forest fan" and video film maker Grant Bovey, who lives in West Sussex, and the converted Rangers devotee Sandy Anderson, who at least has a home in East Leake, a 20-minute drive from the City Ground.
Now another bidder has popped up to declare an allegiance - a somewhat long-distance one - from an Italian living in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Mario Cardinali, who is aiming to raise pounds 20m largely from Asian investors, at least has a pedigree. He was educated at Ilkeston Grammar School, played football for Notts County‘s A team and his parents still live at Trowell, just off the M1.
Not that it makes things any easier for the 203 shareholders who must decide into whose hands their club eventually falls. Having turned down one bid - the consequence of which was an uncomfortable afternoon’s viewing under police protection on Saturday - they may now have to consider the relative merits of half a dozen.
For most of those among us attending a football match this weekend, the business of being a supporter is a straightforward matter involving 90 minutes of partisan yelling followed by an evening of celebration or consolation, whichever is appropriate. For them, life is no longer quite so simple.
(Sunday Tribune, Sunday February 23, 1997)
MORE significant than the successful £19 million bid by Saracens rugby club owner Nigel Wray and former Tottenham chairman Irving Scholar to buy Nottingham Forest may be the decision by a major investment bank to withdraw its support for a rival bid.
MORE significant than the successful £19 million bid by Saracens rugby club owner Nigel Wray and former Tottenham chairman Irving Scholar to buy Nottingham Forest may be the decision by a major investment bank to withdraw its support for a rival bid.
Mercury Asset Management is possibly the most powerful investment manager in the City of London. It has reached that position by being probably the smartest investor in the market. Its decision to withdraw from a rival £20 million bid for the struggling Premiership club may have been highly significant in that it shows that there is a price beyond which a buyer of a football club should not go, especially if the club being purchased is not one with bigger potential.
MAM withdrew days before last Monday’s decision to knock the club down to Wray and Scholar, claiming that it had received fresh information about the club which had made the investment too risky. The club has been under pressure from its main banker, Nat West, as borrowings are understood to have risen by 50% to £9 million over the last three months. As the injection of fresh equity has been mainly earmarked for the purchase of new players, the financial position of the club will not look too bright still if the club is relegated from the Premiership to the financial wastelands of Division One.
Forest’s caretaker manager Stuart Pearce, assisted by new general manager Dave Bassett, now has £16 million to spend on new players before the transfer deadline at the end of the month. He may find the money harder to spend than he expects, with few clubs wishing to sell players so close to the end of the season (although some clubs may look for transfer fees for those players who would go "free" under the Bosman ruling). Those under long term contract will cost a very large sum of money.
Mario Cardinali I believe was at Ilkeston College at the same time as me. There was certainly someone of that name who was the president of the student union there and I'm pretty sure he was a Forest fan. His was the MAM bid which was withdrawn in the second article.
Otis Redding
Try A Little Tenderness
I know that I can possibly be accused of defending Arthur by saying this, but is that Charnley's responsibility as CEO or Mike Ashley's as the owner?
Otis Redding
Try A Little Tenderness
For the record Nicola, like ND, Sandy Anderson was a season-ticket-holder (in D-block in the Main Stand) at the time.