Robbie Rocketpants

Forest set their stalls out early for the coming season by splashing nearly three million quid on Robert Earnshaw. With the goals he’s scored at Championship level not in doubt, it seems a bit strange that Derby were so keen to let him go - for less than they paid for him. Falling out with the manager maybe?

It was annnounced a day or so ago, and a picture of Earnshaw completing the deal appeared on the official Forest website. Now with Robert not being the tallest of guys, and with our chairman Nigel Doughty being a bit of a giant, it probably wasn’t the best idea to get them to together…!

I’m certain that Earnshaw will do well, and hopefully with him banging in the goals we’ll at least stay up next year. 

Other than that little nugget of news it has been rather quiet for both Forest and for me. Back to work is always a drag right after two weeks off, but more time off is looming on the horizon!

Super Sunny Sunday

Back in Nottingham now and facing reality once more. Last week was fun though, at the sea side and away from work and everything. Norfolk is a nice area of the country, though if i’m honest there isn’t many areas of the country that I don’t like (except West Bromwich and Uttoxeter possibly) - maybe i’m just easily pleased. 

I took shedloads of pictures of various places we went to, all of which can be viewed here.

In my absence, lots of footy related things have happened. Pompey winning the FA Cup, Hull getting promoted to the premier league (!!), Avram Grant getting the sack and just an hour ago, Doncaster Rovers beating Leeds in the playoffs to get promoted with us! Glad it’s all sorted now, though the departure of Kris Commons on a free transfer is a bit shit.

One Last Thing…

After a few weeks I’ve come to the end of GTA 4. A lot of time and effort and I’m at the final mission. Only problem is that it is not as straightforward as I like. The preceding missions have been fairly easy, but the last one is tricky - as opposed to being hard.

It’s a bit sad coming to the end of the game where the story has been so involving and believable. Sure there are things to do after the story mission is over, but now I’ve come to the end of the game I can understand why the Xbox 360’s downloadable content for the game would be such a draw. Extending this already fine story is a great idea, and while I won’t be getting it (as a PS3 owner), it’ll still be interesting to see how exactly they do it, knowing how the story ends and everything.

Reviews for the game are universally positive, nothing below a 9/10 or a 97%. As Games TM put it, “A new benchmark has been set”. I totally agree, I look forward to the spin off verisons of this game, if Vice City and San Andreas can improve on the already fine GTA 3, then there is no doubt of the improvements that are possible with every GTA 4 ‘chapter’.

I’m also looking out for new PS3 games, after purposely not bothering with anything else other than GTA. I don’t think i’ve actually ejected the game from the console since i bought it! 

This week has been a good one, though not hitting the heights of the previous week. After Forest’s surprise promotion, it has still to fully set in. Though now Forest are going about recruiting new players, and spending £2.5million on them, the reality of it all is dawning. If Bristol City and Hull can claw their way to the right end of the Championship, then it is something that Forest have to aim for. We need to continue this ascension after descending for so many years.

To keep up the good mood, the weather has been way above average until the start of the week. Hot, humid days with temperatures in the mid-twenties, it was all boding well for next weeks jollies. But normal May temperatures have returned. And while the round-the-clock sun might be missed, the stickiness certainly won’t be.

Not to worry though, i’m in the Mediterranean in the autumn where warm, sunny weather is the norm. As is the ability to get sunburnt! 

Good Things Come…

It’s been a great week, truth be told.

It started off with the release of GTA IV. Went into Nottingham early on Tuesday to get the game, already on the side reserved for me, so no Gamestation-style madness of it being out of stock (although as it turns out, it was actually in stock at Gamestation all through release day!). The bus journey home, with the game in my hand, was unbearable!

First impressions were a little disappointment with the graphics. It soon became apparent though, that I was sitting far too close to my TV. I’d been using the Samsung telly as a TV and monitor, so I was really close to it. After moving things round in the bedroom, I got the telly a longer distance away and the game looks better.

It seems that Rockstar have taken all the good bits from San Andreas and improved the hell out of it all. The level of detail in the game is astounding, it really does give you the feeling that you’re playing in a living, breathing city. The realistic way things happen in the game are also notable, like when you’ve shot a cop in the leg or arm, he’ll still try and shoot you but will hobble along or be holding his injured arm. Another example is if you start a fist fight with a female passer-by, some random blokes will come to her aid and start to beat you up.

I could go on and on saying everything I love about this game, but I could be here all day. All the reviews that gave this game top marks will spot on. If there was ever a game to define the genre (that it itself created!), then it is GTA IV. Rockstar have raised the bar yet again, it’ll be interesting to see how the gaming world takes note of this gaming masterpiece. Though with the forthcoming release of Saints Row 2, I doubt Rockstar will be losing sleep.

Away from GTA - and trust me, this week it has been hard! - last week was when Leeds United were told the outcome of their appeal against the 15 point deduction. They’d pissed off the top six or so clubs in League One by this being dragged out. Swansea were still to be given the League One trophy and ourselves, Doncaster and Carlisle would’ve been displaced by a Leeds side that would have gone into second place had they been successful in getting all their points back.

Thankfully, they got absolutely nothing. When they were doing so well earlier this season, they didn’t care about the ‘injustice’ of starting on -15 points, but when things started to wobble they brought it up again. It’s not so much Leeds the football club I’m happy to see be unsuccessful in their appeal, it’s Ken Bates. To put it plain and simple, the guy’s a wanker.

With Swansea able to crowned champions, it was up to us, Donny and Carlisle to fight for second spot. I think it is safe to say that most Forest fans had readied themselves for another shot at the playoffs. We’d got into a form a little too late, i thought. I’d recently become a little detached from Forest (i’ve not been able to get to any games this year), so I decided not listen to the game (v Yeovil) at work yesterday. I might not be the super-mad Forest fan that I was ten years or so ago, but I still care about my club. Turns out though, that they had Radio Nottingham playing through the loudspeaker at the Mail Centre. Not just Radio Nottingham, but their commentary on the Notts County game.

I had to make do with Colin Slater first telling us that Forest were in the lead, then that Doncaster were losing. What had to happen yesterday was that if Doncaster drew or lost, and we won, we would get promoted. I was totally expecting us to choke, as we so often do, but after giving up and listening to my personal radio, I heard Forest to be totally in control of the game.

I’ve never felt so nervous about anything, I couldn’t concentrate on my work, i took too long on my break, my mind just wasn’t there! When Doncaster equalized, I could see us throwing it away. Yeovil then got another goal back and I was expecting the worse. Towards the end though, news came through that Doncaster were losing yet again, with only ten minutes to go. Our game had started about five minutes later than theirs, so as soon as the final score came in from Donny, we knew we were up. 

The whole City Ground was whistling, wanting the game to end. But word then came through that Doncaster had lost, Forest were up! No matter what happened in the remaining three minutes, we were up! The team played out the injury time, then all hell broke loose. The club had wanted the fans to remain seated, but it just wasn’t happening. The pitch soon filled up and the players got mobbed. There are a few pictures dotted around the internet that I’ve seen so far, all of them makes me wish I was there!

So, we snatched automatic promotion on the last day. Nottingham Forest are promoted back to the Championship, how good does that sound? I also think it is pretty safe to say that the future of our top players are secured, for another year at least. And it is so, so good for a little bit of luck and success to come our way after so much shit over the past ten years. This is our first promotion in 10 years, and I hope everyone connected with the club enjoys it all before all the hard work begins.

One thing I do wonder though, what is it that the runners up get? Is it a plate, trophy, plaque? And will we get an open top bus parade through the city? Hope so!