|
I love lists. Let me make that quite unapologetically clear! I love lists and order and 'greatest evers' and 'most ever' lists, etc, etc, etc. I'm not exactly Statto but I probably am a border-line nerd.
That said, I've been giving some thought to Forest players of the last 10 years or so. Now admittedly, we haven't had too much to shout about over the last decade but there have still been some players during that period who have brought a smile to my face, who have done something special, who, for some completely random reason or other, hold a special place in my footballing heart. These are the guys that never make the 'Greatest!' or 'Most whatevers' lists. These guys are the perennial 'best supporting' players. Not too many of them have won end of season player awards with Forest or topped too many charts of any kind but I love them none the less!
Of course, like every Forest fan, I love the usual suspects to, the one's that almost always make those 'best ever' lists. We all revere Shilton, Robertson, Francis, Birtles, Psycho, Clough Jr, Collymore, etc. They are our heroes. They are the ones that did it week in, week out, season in, season out. But that's not what I'm talking about here and I think you know that.
So, here they are, in all their momentary fleeting glory, my homage to MY special (for one reason or another!) Forest players of recent years. I know you have yours.
DEFENSE
1 - Chris Woods: Number one in any club that doesn't have Shilton!
2 - Chris Bart-Williams: The greatest example of playing sweeper that I've ever in a Forest shirt. And those free-kicks!
3 - Colin Cooper: The strength of Lloyd, the heart of Pearce, the panache of Walker but just not quite as good as any of them!
4 - Jon Olav-Hjelde: A rock…admittedly a rock that got injured a lot!
5 - Bernard Allou: Quick, tricky, scored a few goals, fun to cheer (alooooooooooo!)
MIDFIELD
6 - Neil Webb: The closest thing Forest had to Glenn Hoddle (though Cloughie almost got us Glenn Hoddle!)
7 - Paul Evans: Already a Forest favourite, soon to be a Forest legend in the Psycho heart-on-your-sleeve type way. Gareth who?
8 - Bryan Roy: Cantankerous but brilliant! A flair player worthy of the Garibaldi.
9 - Ben Olsen: The mighty midget from America! Worked his socks of and even got his leg broken for the Forest cause.
FORWARDS
10 - Dean Saunders: One of the two fastest players I’ve ever seen in a Forest shirt…
11 - Jean-Claude Darcheville: …With this guy being the other one! Had family issues which distracted him during his time at The City Ground.
SUBS/SQUAD
12 - Dave Beasant: I was thinking ‘Oh no!’ when we signed him. I was chanting ‘England’s number one’ once I’d seen him play for us!
13 - Richard Gough: Never shirked a tackle, never missed a header and never let anyone in his defence give anything less that 110%
14 - Eugen Bopp: A forest legend that I think, sadly, will never be. Great potential though.
15 - David Prutton: I don't know why but I just always liked Prutts more than Jenas or Williams. No rhyme, no reason, but then this is my list!
16 - Steve Hodge: If Webby was Forest’s answer to Hoddle then this pocket dynamo was the closest thing we had to Bryan Robson.
17 - Steve Stone: A winger with balls! Could beat you with a side-step as soon as kick you up in the air!
18 - Ian Wright: A football legend, full stop. Just a pleasure to see him in a Forest shirt.
RLP |
