Tales of the unexpected

Some odd stories coming out of Forest at the moment, and no, we don’t mean the fact that we’ve been signing some players who sound pretty good!

For a start, Dexter Blackstock didn’t seem to get the memo saying the pre-season tour to the US had been called off, jetting off to LA on his tod (although on a serious note, you have to admire his commitment to put in the extra training).

In lieu of that cancelled tour, the Reds have been playing some hastily arranged games closer to home, including one against the Chilean Under-20 national side who presumably just happened to be in town on one of their many jaunts to Nottingham…

We also found out today that the upper tier corner enclosure between the Brian Clough and West Bridgford stands (not sure why I need to point out the location given that it’s the only corner stand at the City Ground, but hey, it’s late) has once again been renamed in honour of the sponsors to the rather uninspiring ‘John Pye Corner’.

The weird thing is they’ve added a banner with the legend ‘The Tricky Trees – Always Standing Tall’, which is ironic given the amount of time City Ground stewards spend telling the Tricky Trees in that area of the stadium to sit down…

Strangest of all, the club tonight made an announcement to say the Football League had insisted some of our squad numbers be amended. Why Kieron Freeman, Ishmael Miller and Jamaal Lascelles were up there in 40s in the first place we’re not sure, but equally puzzling is why the authorities felt they should be changed. Still, the squad list is looking a lot healthier in terms of numbers now – even some of the defensive numbers are taken!

Finally, it has been announced that the Al-Hasawi family are stepping in to end the Nottingham Forest Ladies team’s cash-flow problems. NFLFC, who like the men’s team have recently appointed a new manager, were £10,000 in the red but the Kuwaitis have pledged the necessary funding along with a shirt sponsorship deal for one of their companies.

Whatever your views on women’s football, this is good news in that it shows a real community spirit towards Nottingham from the Al-Hasawis – and with the Olympic legacy Team GB’s progress so far may create for the women’s game it is important that Forest Ladies are a part of it.