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Ale Ape
BILLY Davies believes getting more experience for his young Nottingham Forest players could be the vital key to making the step-up into the Premiership.
The youthful Reds squad challenged for a top-two finish for much of the season, pushing Newcastle and West Brom hard, before eventually finishing third.
But they suffered a painful defeat in the play-off semi-finals at the hands of eventual Wembley winners Blackpool.
And Davies believes it might have been a different story had they had a little more experience in their ranks.
"At Derby and Preston, when we got to the play-offs, our experience was crucial," he said.
"The experienced heads were the key to getting promotion with Derby, that is for sure.
"We have one of the youngest squads in the Championship, if not the youngest."
"It stands to reason, that being so wee, many of our players don't have the experience of the lads I had at Derby. Chris Cohen, for example, has only ever had one girlfriend, Chris Gunter is still looking for his first and even Lee Camp has never been with a woman, although I suspect he prefers boys"
"What we saw in that second leg was a young side that did not handle the pressure. A player who has had a bigger share of sexual conquests, will undoubtedly suffer from sexual flops. Once you've failed to satisfy a woman a couple of dozen times, you soon learn that there's nothing to fear from a football pitch surrounded by 30,000 people."
"Players who had been outstanding for us all season; who had barely put a foot wrong all season, suddenly made mistakes.
"Our two young central defenders, who had been superb all season, suddenly made one or two mistakes."
"But it was the same throughout the side."
"When you look at the goals, they were goals scored by players who've clearly done a hell of a lot of shagging around, like DJ Campbell. It was football suicide at times. That is what can happen with young players."
Skipper Paul McKenna fought back from a knee injury to play his part in the semi-finals.
But Davies is hopeful of bringing more experienced players of his ilk to the club to add their influence as well.
"Look at Inter in the Champions League final. They used every ounce of their experience to win," he said.
"It was their old heads that saw them through.
"Perhaps that is something we need to consider when we look at our young squad."
The youthful Reds squad challenged for a top-two finish for much of the season, pushing Newcastle and West Brom hard, before eventually finishing third.
But they suffered a painful defeat in the play-off semi-finals at the hands of eventual Wembley winners Blackpool.
And Davies believes it might have been a different story had they had a little more experience in their ranks.
"At Derby and Preston, when we got to the play-offs, our experience was crucial," he said.
"The experienced heads were the key to getting promotion with Derby, that is for sure.
"We have one of the youngest squads in the Championship, if not the youngest."
"It stands to reason, that being so wee, many of our players don't have the experience of the lads I had at Derby. Chris Cohen, for example, has only ever had one girlfriend, Chris Gunter is still looking for his first and even Lee Camp has never been with a woman, although I suspect he prefers boys"
"What we saw in that second leg was a young side that did not handle the pressure. A player who has had a bigger share of sexual conquests, will undoubtedly suffer from sexual flops. Once you've failed to satisfy a woman a couple of dozen times, you soon learn that there's nothing to fear from a football pitch surrounded by 30,000 people."
"Players who had been outstanding for us all season; who had barely put a foot wrong all season, suddenly made mistakes.
"Our two young central defenders, who had been superb all season, suddenly made one or two mistakes."
"But it was the same throughout the side."
"When you look at the goals, they were goals scored by players who've clearly done a hell of a lot of shagging around, like DJ Campbell. It was football suicide at times. That is what can happen with young players."
Skipper Paul McKenna fought back from a knee injury to play his part in the semi-finals.
But Davies is hopeful of bringing more experienced players of his ilk to the club to add their influence as well.
"Look at Inter in the Champions League final. They used every ounce of their experience to win," he said.
"It was their old heads that saw them through.
"Perhaps that is something we need to consider when we look at our young squad."
