Feeling a Little Disillusioned

This was a post made forum user Mr Geo Challenge that I have decided to transfer into a article, I do stress this was written last week, so may have been completely negative had it been written today.

Similarly if you ever feel like venting your spleen,come on over to the forum at http://www.soccer24-7.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=80 and post away, we regularly use forum users are guest columnists on here.

Had to come out of forum retirement because this is something increasingly troublesome to me. I will add this will possibly sound more gloomy than I usually feel...

My mind has been parked (poorly) in a paradoxical cul-de-sac of hope and frustration since the new owners arrival. I'm desperate to see Forest actually have some success after seemingly cursing the club with my presence, yet I always thought there was something special about Forest. We were different in my eyes, and not just in a garibaldi-tinted glasses way. Forest always (usually) did things right, we were the good guys, we had a bias for local players, we didn't just chuck stupid money at players that didn't care about the club, when we owed money we didn't just do a Leicester or Portsmouth - we sold our valuables to pay. We tried to develop out own - even under Doughty's failed regime we knew where we were - we had a plan for long term stability with the undeniable good of the club in mind.

This isn't an attack on our new owners because without them we'd be dead as that fish, however I cannot help feeling disillusioned at what I can't help suspect is happening. In sacking the slow and steady O'Driscoll they have blown away all pretence of carefully building - these guys want the Premiership as soon as possible. One point off the playoffs wasn't enough. They needed immediate success. Why?

The cynical demon perched on my shoulder is whispering that they're impatient at best, and at worst they only want our club for their own means - as a showpiece. Are they only interested in Forest in order to bask in the glory of their plaything? And what if their new toy dosen't provide what they wanted? How patient are they willing to be? What has their track record in patience been so far?

I dismiss the above fears - I've no choice, they're unthinkable.

However there's another, almost as equally ugly demon on the other shoulder querying the direction in which Forest are being steered. O'Driscoll was clearly building for the future, he was level headed, transparent with the fans when they disagreed yet steadfast in his decisions, I was frustrated with some of his tactics but he clearly wanted us to play proper football - he was sculpting a vision. He was slowly and steadily moving us forward and building for the future.

Slowly and steadily isn't good enough for our owners though. They wanted better, quicker, and they sacked him, bringing in a new manager not as known for good football, a manager less inclined for transparency (see the "ill" Hutton whose position he didn't think needed wasting on a loan... ah wait... hello Mr Jara), a manager with absolutely no contractual reason to build for the future, in short a manager that will turn us into just another success-hungry (now!!!) football club.

Maybe it's a natural aversion to change, but my fear is turning up to the City Ground in a years time to watch eleven grossly overpaid mercenaries hoofing the ball and cheating their way to mediocrity. I fear us gambling like all the other financially turgid clubs looking for immediate success - it doesn't work and it promotes the erosion of the club's character.

I don't want to watch another Wigan. I want Forest to be something special - I want us to do things different, properly. I want to see us building for the future, playing attractive football, developing out own product and competitive in the Premiership (and inevitably the Championship).

I support our new owners, and even our new manager, however I also fear we're merely chucking 10p in the slot-machine on the off-chance of making a pound.