Why Nottingham Forest were too good to go down - In every way!

Brian Clough with Nigel Mansell ahead of  1992/93 season  

It had been said numerous times by numerous people from fans of Nottingham Forest to neutral fans of other clubs and from people within the media during the 1992/1993 Premier League season, that Nottingham Forest were too good to go down. Perhaps going into the first ever Premier League season Brian Clough and his players thought exactly the same as many others that they were indeed too good to face relegation and that facing the drop would not be an issue that they would be facing that season. However, the inevitable happened and now whenever you hear people mention the inaugural Premier League season I don't associate it with Manchester United winning their first League title in 26 years but rather the exit from English footballs top division by Nottingham Forest and eventually the exit from English football of arguably the games greatest manager, Brian Clough. This blog will look at various factors that lead to Forests exit from top flight football but will also examine why I believe it was down simply to bad luck.

The pre season started with much optimism for Forest in many ways. The Bridgford Stand was in the process of being redeveloped during this time in order to increase it's capacity after Clough had complained a few years previous that they couldn't get enough people into the City Ground. Getting people into football grounds rather than watching the games at home on the television was something continuously at the heart of Cloughie's beliefs for decades and this is shown in the way the City Ground slowly evolved between 1980 and the early 1990's with the building of what would become known as 'The Brian Clough Stand' in 1980 and as mentioned above the redevelopment of The Bridgford Stand in mid 1992. Now I know what you'll be thinking. What has increasing your stadiums capacity got to do with being able to harness a successful team and how can it have kept Forest in the Premier League? Well truth be told there's no direct link, however such redevelopment in 1992 was a real indication that Nottingham Forest were moving with the times and showing foresight in furthering the club heading towards the millennium long after Brian Clough had managed his last game. Clough once alluded to the fact he wanted to be able to manage in an arena and now the City Ground was certainly beginning to look and feel more like an arena, certainly the type that would suit Forest and their trademark brand of football heading into the new season.

City Ground with new sponsor Labatts

On top of this, in the summer of 1992 Forest announced a lucrative new sponsorship deal with Canadian Beer Brewing Company 'Labatts' on top of their existing sponsorship deal with local brewing firm 'Shipstones' who had been affiliated with Forest since 1987. Now again how would such a sponsorship deal have ensured Premier League survival for Brian Clough's Forest? Well nothing in football is a guarantee however in terms of the bigger picture it once again showed Forest to be moving forward at a time where clubs were forced to move forward due to the nature and demands of the newly founded Premier League and with such sponsorship coupled with the improved TV deal brought about by the Premier League it meant Forest would be financially healthier than they had perhaps been before 1992/93 and would give them greater leverage in an increasingly more competitive transfer market. On the other hand, despite these optimistic factors the summer of 1992 still through a few problematic issues Forests way. Despite arguably more financial clout now, a couple of key players had began to head for the exit doors at the City Ground.

Des Walker

The most high profile being Des Walker who left for Sampdoria in Italy for a reported fee of £1.5 million. Despite acquiescing to Walkers sale Forest still had what appeared to be a strong squad. Rumours persisted about Teddy Sheringhams future during the summer of 92 but Cloughie was hopeful of keeping the young striker. There was a sticking point in Forests summer though and that was that key transfer targets never materialised and some would say that went a long way in contributing towards Forests dismal season. Sheringham in the end followed Des Walker out of the door and rumoured targets to replace Teddy such as; Dean Saunders and Stan Collymore never came to fruition. In some ways replacing the departed Sheringham with either Saunders or Collymore would have bolstered Forests depleted goal tally during the 92/93 campaign, a campaign that saw them rely heavily on Nigel Clough with few others being able to find the back of the net regularly enough. However with key players leaving during that summer, players coming in in the opposite direction were few and far between.

Gary Bannister

They did eventually bring someone in to fill Sheringhams void up front, a trialist by the name of Gary Bannister who had left West Bromwich Albion, however his goal tally didn't live up to surely what Sheringham's would have been. Bannister notched up just 8 goals in 31 appearances however when you look at the chances he was afforded in front of goal that season that tally of 8 could've easily have been doubled in hindsight.  

Teddy Sheringham

Despite this though it could be argued even with Teddy Sheringham's eventual exit to Spurs that Cloughie had kept the nucleus of a more than capable, vibrant young side that played the game in an attractive manner. Names such as; Pearce, Keane, Webb and Clough Jr all spring to mind as examples of key players Forest retained during the summer of 1992. All relatively young players with varied experience between them who could have carried Forest not only to survival but to potentially much more during what would become a fateful 1992/93 campaign. I mean lets face it, the eventual Premier League Champions Manchester United similarly had a relatively young squad with tinges of experience and look what they went on to do not only that season but for many seasons to come, so why couldn't Forest replicate that or at least challenge at the opposite end of the table to where they finished up?

Ultimately Forests relegation could be attributed to not bolstering the squad enough with quality transfers many people would argue. Others would lay the blame at the door of the clubs greatest manager, Brian Clough. Going in to that season people said he looked weary and that his appetite for the game had perhaps waned after over 30 years in management. Well to be fair wouldn't anyone look a little weary after 30 years in any profession, let alone the demanding nature of football management? I'll address the main issue that has been pointed at Forests decline that season, that being Mr Clough's health and alcoholism. Brian's alcoholism had visibly accelerated during that season although many would say his actions would suggest it had significantly accelerated a good few years earlier. One such issue that would indicate this being in 1989 when Clough hit pitch invading fans at the City Ground after a 5-2 victory over Queens Park Rangers.

Clough hitting fans invading the pitch

Brian had been a big drinker throughout the 1980's and many attribute this to the job he had to try and rebuild a world beating side after the departure of his long time assistant and friend Peter Taylor. But I believe the greater descent into alcoholism wasn't largely to do with the rebuilding task at Forest but chiefly as a result of Taylor's departure. We all know their relationship bittered particularly after Taylor came out of retirement to take charge at Derby County but for me it was Taylor's death in October 1990 that was the main factor resulting in Clough's alcoholic maelstrom. Jimmy Hill stated in 1991 that Brian should retire at the end of the 1991 season after the FA Cup final. Brian even partially agreed with this statement ahead of the FA Cup final with Spurs stating that Hill "is a good judge". Perhaps he would have retired had Forest beaten Spurs in that final in what would certainly have been the icing on the cake for Cloughie trophy-wise having won everything else in sight over his career. But what kept Cloughie going for as long as he did in management up until he felt enough was enough in 1993? Well firstly I believe he felt he had to show not only Peter Taylor but the world of football that he could cope and be successful without Taylor by his side as the rift between the pair was fierce and often at times very personal. However in the wake of Taylor's death in late 1990 I believe it brought about a more thoughtful and softer side to Cloughie in terms of wanting to carry on managing to consolidate and extend not only his legacy but that of Peter Taylor perhaps because of his upset that the pair never made up or were reunited before Taylor passed away.

What a partnership. Clough & Taylor

It's not as if the seasons building upto the season of 92/93 showed alarming signs of decline or stark warnings to signal that relegation was imminent. In the seasons building upto this one Forest were perhaps pound for pound the best cup side in English football boasting a record shown below:-

• League Cup winners in both 88/89 & 89/90 seasons reaching the 4th round in the 90/91 and the Quarter Finals in the 91/92 seasons. 
• Reaching the semi final of the FA Cup in the 88-89 season as well as finishing Runner Up in the 90-91 season. 
• Between 1987-1992 they had consecutive top half finishes most notably finishing 3rd in the 87/88 and 88/89 seasons. 
• Full Members Cup (aka Simod Cup/Zenith Data Systems Cup) Winners in both the 88/89 & 91/92 seasons.

I think it can be argued that there are no visible indicators here of a declining football club looking at this league and cup pedigree in the late 1980's and early 1990's. In more recent footballing times the teams that have been relegated from the top flight such as Sunderland have shown clear diminishing qualities and results over a number of seasons that have lead to their eventual exit from the top flight. This unlike Forest who boasted strong league and cup form over a number of seasons that would've had most teams envious not only at the time, but that most modern teams would hanker for. 2 wins from their opening 12 games in that season ultimately set the tone for the whole campaign. Notoriously January can be a sticky patch for many sides however Forest put their best spell of the campaign together throughout this month and heading into the month of February with 5 wins and 1 draw between the beginning of 1993 and the start of March. This string of results would now be seen as pivotal by teams fighting the drop in the modern day Premier League. Although just 3 more wins and 2 draws followed that mini resurgence with too many shots hitting the post and bar and missed chances a plenty which lead to Forests impending doom.  

In closing I think it's clear to see that Nottingham Forest shouldn't have gone down. The fact is however that they did and they did for a reason, that reason being that they were simply too inconsistent at the best of times throughout this campaign and perhaps believed their own hype that they were too good to go down. Although Cloughie had his faults that season I believe he had enough in him to take a very young yet capable and potential-filled side onto more glory, the kind of glory they'd seen so many times before, rather than the relegation they eventually succumbed to.