June 30 2000

Platt Confirms Blues Interest: David Platt has today confirmed Birmingham City's interest in transfer-listed midfielder Nigel Quashie.
Trevor Francis has made an enquiry regarding Quashie and Platt also confirmed that there may be the possibility of setting up a swop deal involving The Blues Zimbabwean international Peter Ndlovu.
Platt said: "Birmingham have expressed an interest in Nigel and that deal could include Ndlovu coming to The City Ground."

Jones Signing Gets Nearer: The signing of Tranmere's Gary Jones looks to be moving closer with the Official Forest Web Site carrying the news that Jones is set for the switch to Forest.
Jones is available on a Bosman free transfer and as such is not entitled to sign for a new club until tomorrow.
Forest are due back for pre-season training tomorrow and the club is hoping to make an announcement within the next 24 hours.

June 29 2000

John And Brennan Miss Tour: Stern John and Jim Brennan look likely to miss Forest's pre-season tour of the USA and Trinidad & Tobago. Instead, they look likely to be facing each other in a World Cup regional qualifying tie in Edmonton on July 16.
Stern John's Trinidad & Tobago play Jim Brennan's Canada in the semi-final round of regional qualifying on the same day the Forest squad are due to leave Fort Lauderdale for Trinidad and Tobago

June 27 2000

Hignett Talks Continue: Forest have today confirmed that they are still in negotiations with Barnsley over the purchase of Craig Hignett.
It has been widely reported in the national press over the last 24 hours that Forest have had a £2 million bid turned down by Barnsley.
Forest have confirmed their increased offer for Hignett, but have declined to give the full details of the offer. It is understood though that even with the new increased offer Forest still remain some way behind Barnsley in their valuation of the player.

June 26 2000

Players Face Graft: The first team squad report back for training this coming Saturday (1/7/00) and will be expected to face a full weekend of hard graft as they start their preparations for the coming season.
The team will spend eight days working out at the City Ground before they leave for the start of their pre-season tour of the USA and Trinidad.

June 22 2000

Home Opener After Eight Years: Forest will start the 2000/2001 season at home against West Brom when the new season starts on August 12.
This is the first time in eight years Forest have started the season at home, the last time being the 1992-93 season, the first season of the Premiership, when Forest entertained Liverpool in front of the Sky TV cameras.

June 19 2000

Norm Voices Concerns: Mark Crossley, in an interview with This Is Nottingham, has voiced his concerns about David Platt's decision to use teenager Barry Roche as his reserve 'keeper next season.
Crossley said: "There is no doubt that Barry is a quality 'keeper and he has a great future ahead of him. But you never know how people are going to react to set backs or mistakes they make.
"It can damage you for life if you have a really bad run. Maybe Forest need someone with a bit more experience. That would give Barry more time to come through and get more experience in the reserves."

June 15 2000

Open Day Moves: Forest's proposed open day has been moved after confirming their pre-season schedule. The original plan was to open the doors to the fans on July 9, but it has now been moved back to July 23 instead. The reasons for the change are that July 9 is the day before the team leave for their pre-season tour of the USA and Trinidad.
Chief executive Mark Arthur said: "We are planning for the entire squad to feature prominently in the Open Day with a signing session and a special exhibition game of 20 minutes each way in the afternoon to show off their new kit.
"Therefore, it was important to take into consideration the fact that the management, players, coaching staff and some officials will be preparing for an early departure on the Monday morning in making the decision to move the event."

June 14 2000

Dream Friendlies Fall Through: It has been reported in today's press that Forest have missed out on two dream friendlies against European teams at the City Ground.
The first friendly was to have been against Spanish giants Barcelona at the City Ground next month. Talks between the two clubs were at an 'advanced' stage when Louis Van Gaal resigned. It appears that with Van Gaal's resignation all talk of the proposed friendly has been scrapped. The proposal for the game came from Colin Calderwood's agent, who was approached by Barcelona to try and arrange friendlies against both Forest and Aston Villa.
The second friendly was to have been against German side Borussia Dortmund. The German side approached Forest with three possible dates for a friendly game at the City Ground. Unfortunately Forest could not fit the proposed dates into their current pre-season schedule which includes a 10 day tour of Florida and Trinidad.

June 9 2000

Platt Denies Nolan Link: David Platt has denied the rumours linking Forest with moves for Ian Nolan and Alan Stubbs. Sheffield Wednesday fullback Nolan - who is available on a free transfer in July - and Celtic centre-half Stubbs have both been linked with moves to the City Ground in recent days.

Platt insists he is not interested in the pair and went on to explain how the club's rising crop of young talent will save millions in transfer fees. He said: "There is absolutely no need for me to strengthen our defence at the moment.
"We have got a lot of experienced players in that position and with players like Gareth Edds and Richard Cooper coming through, strength in depth.
"And their emergence is going to save the club a lot of money. There may have been one or two targets that we had in the past, but the youngsters have helped to fill those positions from within.
"It now means we can concentrate on signing players in areas that do need strengthening."

Platt has been particularly impressed by 19-year-old Edds, who played a part in the last two games of the season. He said: "Gareth came in and did remarkably well. He convinced me that we can count on him next season as a squad player, which is a bonus.
"And you never know, if he gets another half a dozen games under his belt he could play himself into the first team.
"It's all up to him next season, but he's now someone I can rely on if needed."

June 8 2000

New Strip Unveiled: Forest have today unveiled two new strips for the coming season. After relegating the current blue away kit to third choice, Forest have introduced a new red and white home kit and a new all white away kit.

June 7 2000

Doughty Steps In: Nigel Doughty, Forest's major shareholder has stepped in to try and enlist the help of FIFA's secretary general to land Saudi Arabian Sami Al-Jaber.

Al-Jaber spent a spell on trial at the City Ground last season but didn't play because the Saudi football authorities would not give him clearance. Al-Jaber has said himself that he would like to move to England.

Forest are determined to get their man and are requesting the help of FIFA general secretary Michel Zen-Ruffinen. The reason Forest have been forced into taking this step is that Al-Jaber's current club, Al-Hilal, only want to let the player go to one of the big clubs, citing Manchester United and Barcelona as examples. They do not appear willing to listen to offers from other clubs.

June 5 2000

Youth Team Miss Out On Silverware: Nottingham Forest’s youth team have missed out on the chance to claim some more silverware in an ill-tempered final of a prestigious youth tournament in Switzerland. Forest progressed all the way to the final, but had two players sent off and finished the game as 2-1 losers to Swiss side St Gallen.

Forest Face Fine: Forest have found themselves in hot water with the FA again and could be facing a fine of up to £50,000 following their poor disciplinary record last season.

Forest are already sitting on a suspended £25,000 fine from the 1998/99 season due to their poor disciplinary record. They were given a one year suspension to enable them to clean up their act. Unfortunately, during the 1999/2000 season Forest have collected 10 red cards and 65 yellow cards.

The poor discipline has resulted in representatives of Forest being called to Lancaster Gate by the FA to explain their poor record at a forthcoming hearing.

Forest finished second in the Carling Opta 'League of Sin' table, but their red card tally was by far the worst in the First Division. An FA spokesperson said: "Nottingham Forest have already received a warning over their disciplinary record from last season.

"They were warned to improve their behaviour or face further fines but this season has been even worse, so it looks likely that action will be taken.

"We're still gathering information from a variety of sources, including other clubs and referees and only then will we be able to look at it properly. "I expect us to make a final decision in July.'

For the record, only Tranmere Rovers picked up more cautions, with 71 yellow cards.

June 2 2000

Pre-Season Dates Announced: Forest have announced further pre-season dates today. They had already announced the fixture against Leeds United on 29 July at the City Ground and have added dates in the Caribbean and Florida.

The squad will fly out to the states on July 10 where they will play two games in the Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. They will play MLS side Miami Fusion on Wednesday 12 July followed by Jamaican side, Harbor View on 15 July.

There are also plans for a game in Trinidad during the tour but opposition and dates have yet to be confirmed.