Takeover Complete - Now Let's Get Back to Reality




As most of you will be aware, the Al-Hasawi family completed their purchase of Forest from the estate of Nigel Doughty last night.

Of course, great news considering many weeks back we never dreamed a day like this would come.

Like every new owner at a club, the communication from the Al-Hasawi's to the fans is one of excitement and positivity for the times ahead, which is already proving mutual.

How much they are worth I still find is unclear. I see them dubbed as 'mega rich' but never see any figures.

Now I'm not being pessimistic, I'm as delighted as any we can rebuild and look forwards to a new beginning. I'm also confident Doughty's estate wouldn't have sold the club to anybody considering they're both fans of the club and would be keen for a return on the loans Nigel put into the club over the years.

I guess sceptical is the right word due to examples of how foreign investment can go wrong in clubs like Portsmouth, Blackburn and Birmingham. The obvious flip side to this is the likes of Man City and Chelsea, something we can only ever dream of.

This is obvious, and in saying that I'm covering no new ground. In fact, I don't believe I am alone in being pleased with a hint of scepticism about the takeover and the future. I guess we will see what happens.

As things stand though, I guess all I can ask of the new board and fellow fans is to be realistic with expectations for the season ahead.

We certainly do not want the Al-Hasawi's to pull any PR stunts similar to what other clubs have done to get the fans on side. Historically, they never pay off - even at Man City the first thing they did was buy Robinho, who was sold on for half the price inside two years.

These stunts may create a buzz and drum up a few extra season ticket sales. Fact of the matter is the Al-Hasawi's buying the club alone has already done this. Why do they need to do anything crazy? In fact we have been in and out the papers for a majority of last season, do we really want this to continue?

The goal for me this season, is to establish ourselves in the middle of the table. It's not a low expectation and I question why should we be looking for promotion when the current squad is unbalanced and, following recent departures, would be one of the favourites to go down?

We could well be 'mega rich' but its uncommon that big investment produces immediate success at higher levels. Look how it worked out for Leicester last season.

Rebuilding the squad smartly and trying to link up the financial fairplay regulations would be the best and most achievable thing they can do for the club. In fact, they will be putting our best interests at heart immediately.

To help rebuild the squad, I would not change the manager either. Cotterill knows what and who he wants to sign for his playing and non-playing staff. There are lots of gaps to be filled and if he was given say £4m-£6m to spend, I'm confident he would build a great squad that would link up well.

Despite his critics, few could argue with the loanees he signed in January, which transformed our season. He went on to build a strong tactic to dominate teams, particularly away from home. It's clear he has a vision of what he wants and I am all for him having the chance to act it out - although a replacement for Sean O'Driscoll will support him.

What you must remember is Cotterill has never had much to spend throughout his career as a manager. It's alright saying he will not get us up but in fairness to him, he has never been given a budget or mission to get a club promoted - less so on the latter with Notts County. He is an unknown quantity in this respect but I am confident he can stabilise and help kick us on.

But I can not emphasise enough that this season we must be realistic and aim to finish mid-table. Anything else really will be a bonus and we simply can't get carried away with a promotion dream that isn't really achievable at the moment.

There will be lots of ridiculous rumours about who is coming in - Maradona and Michael Owen being two within hours of the takeover being confirmed - and we need to keep grounded as fans.

Today is a new beginning and while we all want glory now, it's vital we build a strong plan of how we will get to the Premier League and stay there in the next five years.

Patience and realism are good starting points to work from.

Follow me on twitter @benando_torres

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