O/T:- Forest v Sheff Utd

[ancientpie]

The momentum Forest had going into the play off is key. One reason we need to win tomorrow to keep our bit of momentum.

I wouldn't be surprised if Forest go up this season and it could well benefit Notts with even better players on loan....if we manage to get back in the EFL though.

I cannot see any situation where forest going up is going to benefit Notts in fact I see the complete opposite & hope it never happens, it could well lead to us losing another 2 or 3 generations of potential fans. Anyone who supported us in the early 70s (pre Clough) will remember when we last genuinely challenged forest for superiority, then disaster struck they started winning things & we are still paying the price supporting them became the easy option & we lost 90% of the young support. Obviously their fan base is made up of descendants of the Clough bandwagon jumpers but over the last few seasons we have seen signs that supporting Notts isn't the weird choice that it was once seen & gates & more importantly for youngsters, credibility that it once was. However such is now the medias obsession with the Premier league that Forest joining the elite & getting the coverage & financial benefits that come with it I fear the worst, even if we enjoy a season of them getting stuffed every week & breaking all records the damage could be already done. COYP

[SwalePie]

I cannot see any situation where forest going up is going to benefit Notts in fact I see the complete opposite & hope it never happens, it could well lead to us losing another 2 or 3 generations of potential fans. Anyone who supported us in the early 70s (pre Clough) will remember when we last genuinely challenged forest for superiority, then disaster struck they started winning things & we are still paying the price supporting them became the easy option & we lost 90% of the young support. Obviously their fan base is made up of descendants of the Clough bandwagon jumpers but over the last few seasons we have seen signs that supporting Notts isn't the weird choice that it was once seen & gates & more importantly for youngsters, credibility that it once was. However such is now the medias obsession with the Premier league that Forest joining the elite & getting the coverage & financial benefits that come with it I fear the worst, even if we enjoy a season of them getting stuffed every week & breaking all records the damage could be already done. COYP

Agreed.

[uysapie]

I cannot see any situation where forest going up is going to benefit Notts in fact I see the complete opposite & hope it never happens, it could well lead to us losing another 2 or 3 generations of potential fans. Anyone who supported us in the early 70s (pre Clough) will remember when we last genuinely challenged forest for superiority, then disaster struck they started winning things & we are still paying the price supporting them became the easy option & we lost 90% of the young support. Obviously their fan base is made up of descendants of the Clough bandwagon jumpers but over the last few seasons we have seen signs that supporting Notts isn't the weird choice that it was once seen & gates & more importantly for youngsters, credibility that it once was. However such is now the medias obsession with the Premier league that Forest joining the elite & getting the coverage & financial benefits that come with it I fear the worst, even if we enjoy a season of them getting stuffed every week & breaking all records the damage could be already done. COYP

True. The collateral damage could be even greater this time.

[macse15]

True. The collateral damage could be even greater this time.

Maybe we need to take responsibility for our own future rather than whining about Forest possibly being successful. After all we didn’t make much of them being mediocre for c30 years and it’s not their fault we’re in the NL

[Old_pie]

Maybe we need to take responsibility for our own future rather than whining about Forest possibly being successful. After all we didn’t make much of them being mediocre for c30 years and it’s not their fault we’re in the NL

My heart sank when Clough came to Nottingham. Up until that time Derby were the big East Midlands side and Notts were recapturing the remnants of the generation after the Lawton era. His achievements never gave Dunnett a chance especially in the face of falling gates and crowd hooliganism and it was a turning point in the possible rise of our club. If Forest hadn't had that success and Dunnett/Sirrel and co had continued to build on the good work that had been carried out I don't think we would be where we are now despite the Pavis/Warnock rollercoaster ride.

[upthemaggies]

Maybe we need to take responsibility for our own future rather than whining about Forest possibly being successful.

Notts did that in 1981, we got less support than we did in the 3rd tier a decade earlier. Imagine a club in any other town returning to the top flight after 55 years having an opening home gate against Manchester City less than had watched them play Halifax two levels lower and still with the same manager and captain. That is an example of the devastating effect Fwords success under Clough had.

The opportunity to return some sort of pre-1959 balance was lost in the mid 2000s when they dropped into the 3rd tier and we were fannying about with the trust experiment. If Fword go up, I doubt we'll get another.

There will always be a Notts County of some sort so long as football is still played in this country, but there is a real danger we will now become about as relevant in Nottingham as Park Avenue have become n Bradford.

[MAD_MAGPIE]

.
The opportunity to return some sort of pre-1959 balance was lost in the mid 2000s when they dropped into the 3rd tier and we were fannying about with the trust experiment. If Fword go up, I doubt we'll get another.

I completely agree. We had the perfect opportunity to try and close the gap around the mid 00’s and compete with Forest in the same league when they were in the third tier. Back then it had only been just over a decade since we had played them in the league. Now it’s nearly 30 years ago.

The mid 00’s was the window of opportunity. It would have reignited some rivalry between the clubs as well. But we could not manage it and instead were bumping around in the 4th tier trying to survive hand to mouth mirroring Forests fall down the leagues.

Our club is in a much better and stable position now despite being in the fifth tier and I do believe we can emulate the Lincoln’s and Luton’s of this world and get back to the third tier.

What a romantic football story that will be if Luton play Forest in the Championship playoff final after being where we are now no so long ago. It gives us hope that we could do something similar.

[Old_pie]

What a romantic football story that will be if Luton play Forest in the Championship playoff final after being where we are now no so long ago. It gives us hope that we could do something similar.

And some of us remember what happened last time those two teams met at Wembley.

[upthemaggies]

And some of us remember what happened last time those two teams met at Wembley.

I do, Nigel Clough scored twice and they won the League Cup.

I know what you're really referring to though and it's amazing how those jammy gits almost always get lucky with relatively minor opponents in finals... Luton (twice), Oldham, Southampton, Malmo, Hamburg. When they have come up against somebody decent, they've lost - Wolves and Man Utd, with the only notable win v Liverpool in a replay thanks to two blatant mistakes by officials at either end.
Going way back, their first FA Cup win was against Derby who hadn't done anything at the time.

[sidders]

I cannot see any situation where forest going up is going to benefit Notts in fact I see the complete opposite & hope it never happens, it could well lead to us losing another 2 or 3 generations of potential fans. Anyone who supported us in the early 70s (pre Clough) will remember when we last genuinely challenged forest for superiority, then disaster struck they started winning things & we are still paying the price supporting them became the easy option & we lost 90% of the young support. Obviously their fan base is made up of descendants of the Clough bandwagon jumpers but over the last few seasons we have seen signs that supporting Notts isn't the weird choice that it was once seen & gates & more importantly for youngsters, credibility that it once was. However such is now the medias obsession with the Premier league that Forest joining the elite & getting the coverage & financial benefits that come with it I fear the worst, even if we enjoy a season of them getting stuffed every week & breaking all records the damage could be already done. COYP

I'll tell you a situation where Forest's promotion benefits us: the loaning of players. We could become a trialling base for their new talent, especially local youngsters who might not quite make it at top level.
Beggars can't be choosers and we have to accept that those days where we mocked Forest's failures are over. For the foreseeable future we are playing a distant second fiddle in Nottingham but at least the first fiddle see a use for us.