Who will be the next Nottingham Forest boss?

Championship club Nottingham Forest are now on the lookout for a new boss after the ‘Wally with the Brolly’ Steve McClaren resigned after the clubs recent defeat to Birmingham City.

The former-England boss lasted less than four months in the post.

History

Nottingham Forest have a great history within the game largely due to the great Brian Clough and his team of the seventies and eighties.

During those years Forest were English champions and also kings of Europe twice. However times have been harder at the City Ground in recent years.

Saviour

What they need is a new saviour. When Brian Clough joined the club they were struggling in the second tier of English football, a bit like now. He got them promoted and the next season they won the top flight title, an incredible feat by today’s standards.

They need a boss who can inspire a similar sort of resurrection. I’m not saying a boss could come in get them promoted and they could win the Premier League the season after. Football has changed a lot since then but somebody who can give the club a feel good factor again after so much doom and gloom.

Hero

The fans and bookmakers favourite to take the job is former-Forest hero Martin O’Neill. O’Neill was part of Clough’s Forest revolution in the seventies and eighties and is considered to be a hero at the City Ground.

A recent poll showed that 41% of people asked said they hoped that O’Neill would get the job. O’Neill has been linked with several jobs since leaving Aston Villa last summer but has yet to take any of them.

Could his former-club be the job he has been waiting for? Being a former club hero I think he would be given more time by the fans to get it right. O’Neill is a top manager and was even being talked about as Sir Alex Ferguson’s replacement at Manchester United for along time.

However he has slipped down the managerial pecking order because of his absence from the game. He seems the ideal choice for Forest though but would he take the job? And can Forest afford to appoint him as their new boss? Only O’Neill and the Forest board can answer those questions.

Ex-Players

Other ex-Forest players that are in the frame are Stuart Pearce and Roy Keane. Pearce is currently the boss of the England under-21’s but has had a previous spell in charge of Forest. Pearce is another who would be a popular choice.

Former- Forest and Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane is the fans second favourite to take the reigns at the City Ground. Keane has had rather unsuccessful spells as boss of Sunderland and also of Ipswich.

Return

Former-boss Billy Davies has garnered lots of support amongst Forest fans as well. The Scot left the club in the summer after successive play-off defeats but was regarded as one of the best bosses the club had had for years.

Forest seemed to be going in the right direction under Davies and perhaps re-hiring the former-Derby boss wouldn’t be the worse move in the world. The question is would he want the job back after the way he was sack in the summer?

Young

Forest have also been linked with inexperienced bosses in the shape of MK Dons Karl Robinson and Exeter City boss Paul Tisdale. Both are undoubtedly talented young coaches but I think at this point in time Forest need an experienced boss to some in and steady the club.

Choice

The Forest chairman Nigel Doughty and Forest board really need to make the right choice this time around. Doughty took full responsibility of appointing McClaren and he is set to step down as chairman next summer.

Before that though he will need to make sure the next manager he appoints is the right one. Or a once great English club could find themselves in the third tier of English football once again.

Who will be the next Nottingham Forest boss?