While the focus is now on the next manager, here’s 10 things you might have missed about ‘McLeishgate’… if you can stand any more of the circus.
1. Forest in turmoil with owners scrambling for credibility after McLeish walks out — The Daily Mail
“Nottingham Forest’s owners are facing a battle to restore credibility after Alex McLeish walked out on the former European champions having been in charge for just 40 full days. The Kuwaiti owners have opened themselves up to ridicule again after the Scot decided rifts which had grown between him and his employers were too wide to bridge.”
2. Alex McLeish’s 40 Days Crowns “Nottingham Forest’s Seven Weeks Of Madness — Twohundredpercent
McLeish’s records at Birmingham City and Aston Villa meant that his initial appointment was greeted with a degree of scepticism by many Forest supporters and he had hardly set the world on fire since taking the job, with just one win in his seven matches in charge of the club (against the Championship’s bottom club, Peterborough United) as well as a home defeat in the Third Round of the FA Cup at the hands of League One strugglers Oldham Athletic.”
3. Alex McLeish’s sudden exit turns once-proud Forest into laughing stock — The Guardian
“The surprise in this latest Forest fiasco is not so much that McLeish has jumped ship so soon after replacing Sean O’Driscoll, but that he was naive enough to get on board in the first place. The alarm bells should have been ringing after other experienced managers gave Forest a wide berth in the summer, leaving the Kuwaiti owners looking rather foolish after they had talked about appointing an “iconic” manager.”
4. Where now? — eighteensixtyfive
“I wasn’t thrilled at McLeish’s appointment but I wasn’t thrilled about Dave “Harry” Bassett and he did a great job for us (whilst also constrained by idiot owners). Signing Henderson didn’t fill me with joy, but I was wrong about Dele “Pele” Adebola, so I was prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt.”
5. Nottingham Forest: The Soap Opera — The Huffington Post
“Perhaps O’Driscoll was a victim of his own mini-success. After frantically trying to put a squad together less than a month before the start of this season, including basically signing a new back four, he would have been forgiven for a slow start. But, instead, the side impressed…”
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6. The Circus Continues — View From The Main Stand
“It begs the question, “can anyone actually succeed at Forest with Fawaz in charge?” If he is indeed interfering with team affairs as much as being reported, then it’s hard to put forward any answer other than ‘no’.”
7. Where Do We Go From Here? — Forest 24/7
“So we are again managerless, rudderless and evidently clueless. Quite what this does for a player’s mindset I’m not sure. On the one hand maybe it makes not much difference but it must be a time of confusion for a squad just getting used to one guys ideas. And as for the backroom staff too, again confusion as to what they do now.”
8. Alex McLeish: Nottingham Forest manager exits City Ground — BBC Sport
“At the heart of this is the January transfer window. We understand that Alex McLeish was promised around £3m to wheel and deal for players. The one that really annoyed him was George Boyd signing from Peterborough. He thought he had him for £500,000 but then the owners pulled out.”
9. A Plea To Fawaz Al-Hasawi — Vital Forest
“You need friends Mr. Al-Hasawi and you can never have enough. You could do a lot worse than reappoint Frank Clark to a position of worth and one that could ultimately benefit you and more to the point, benefit NFFC. He is the man at this precise moment in time, who could best advise you in the next managerial appointment you make. You have to get it right this time. You can not afford to make the same mistake again.”
10. Alex McLeish’s Nottingham Forest farce shows fans must be careful who they trust — Metro
“Inevitably, in the circumstances, McLeish wasn’t prepared to be an iconic puppet any longer. And, with the odds on Al-Hasawi appointing himself as next Forest manager tumbling fast comes a warning to football fans everywhere – be careful who you trust.”
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