NOTTINGHAM FOREST THE 1970's

Sammy was on the transfer list and refusing
to come off it. This decline in results
coincided with the pairing of Cottam with
Dave Serella in central defence. They were
both steady players, but as it turned out,
neither was up to Division Two standard if
you wanted to be challenging for promotion.
Although they played over two hundred
games between them for Forest, this was
more of a reflection on the standard of the
clubs playing staff. Cottam was a local lad,
strong in the air and although he was loaned
out three times, he kept bouncing back into
the team. Serella was a more wiry player,
sporting a fashionable 70’s style moustache,
he was often too brave for his own good,
regularly leaving the field with blood
pouring from another facial injury.
The start to the season might have been poor,
but the team certainly didn’t deserve an
attendance of only 6,414 for the game with
Cardiff. Those hardy souls who came out on
a windy rainswept evening at least had the
satisfaction of seeing the team beat Cardiff
2-1. The fans had turned their back on the
team, half an hour before kick off at 7.00pm,
there were only 300 people in the whole
ground. At this rate, the club was heading
for financial disaster if this continued on.
The writing was on the wall for Matt Gillies
after a run of five games without victory, that
included a heavy 4-1 loss away at Sunderland.
He finally put the fans out of their misery
when he resigned after a draw at Bristol City
but in reality it showed the weakness of the
Committee when they didn’t pull the trigger
themselves. Bill Anderson was once more
put in charge, whilst a replacement was
sought.
The change had an immediate positive
effect, a fighting 2-2 draw with Swindon that
saw John Robertson net his first senior goal,
followed by a win at Sheffield Wednesday.
Anderson had recalled out of favour Neil
Martin and Sammy Chapman as he set
about restoring confidence.
Before a new manager was appointed, there
was sad news to report, as reserve players
Tommy (Chalkie) White and Steve Baines
were involved in a car crash, in which
Tommy tragically lost an eye. At the age
of 19, after only one first team outing as a
substitute at Chelsea, he was forced to retire.
There were great discussions about the type
of manager the Reds should be looking
for, the general concensus that a ‘Clough’
type of tracksuit manager was needed,
although as Forever a Red put it, ‘It seems
as if the committee want to manage the team
themselves. Red Letter from Calverton
offered his suggestion, ‘Why not try Peter
Taylor, he’s a Nottingham lad, perhaps he
might like a little of the limelight for himself ’.
So it was a positive surprise when it was
announced that the club had immediately
identified Dave Mackay as the person
they wanted to replace Gillies. Although
inexperienced as a manager he seemed to
have all the qualities needed to be a success
and he jumped at the chance to make a
quick return to the East Midlands. Despite
his association with Derby, reaction to
his appointment was positive, but to be
fair anybody would have been seen as an
improvement. He was announced as the
new manager shortly before the home game
with Millwall, though he watched from the
Main stand as the Reds produced a good
performance to win 3-2, with Alan Buckley
scoring his first senior goal.
Dave Mackay quickly showed he meant
business, his first act was to sack Bob
McKinlay, Frank Knight and Alan Hill and
replace them with Des Anderson and Colin
Murphy. He then spoke to each player
individually to tell them what he expected
from them and to reaffirm that everyone
had a clean slate with him. Jim Barron has
this to say about the appointment, ‘Dave
had a terrific enthusiasm and it rubbed off
on the players, our appetite returned. To be
honest it was a lack of enthusiasm that got us
relegated in the first place. Although we had
started the season reasonably well, we had
been lucky, but it was different under Dave,
we were playing better but just couldn’t get
the rub of the green’.
Despite a loss at Cardiff in his first game,
the manager showed that he had a different
philosophy to the previous incumbent
when he sent on Lyall for Serella as they
chased the game, but after another loss to
Preston, it hadn’t taken him long to realise
the extent of his job. Meanwhile the match
day programme reported that local lad Viv
Anderson was signing as an apprentice and
that Trent buses were going to stop running
trips to Forest away games after continuing
vandalism.
Mackays first victory came against Orient,
two goals for George Lyall in a 2-1 win, as the
manager tried to maintain a more positive
approach with Martin and McKenzie playing
up front, the crowd figure again slipping
below 8,000.
As he continued the evaluation of his
playing squad, he had not been impressed by
the contribution made by Tommy Gemmell,
who as one of the most experienced and
higher paid players, had been expected to
lead the clubs promotion push. He had
incurred the managers wrath after an ill
timed backpass that gifted Burnley a win.
Not only was the captaincy taken from him,
but he was replaced in the team by John
Winfield and made no further appearances,
before he was released to Dundee on a free
transfer a couple of months later.
John Robertson was singled out for praise,
as he now looked like he was growing into
the role of a professional footballer, his
dribble and cross for George Lyalls first goal
against Orient was described as pure soccer
brilliance by the boss.
Writing in the Football Post once more,
Mike Beesley told everyone that promotion
was impossible this season and that avoiding
relegation was the priority. Whether he was
addressing supporters or the club hierarchy
itself was not clear.
Harry Richards in his weekly column as
Editor, warned those Forest fans still calling
for the Committee to resign, to be careful
what you wished for. Although he disagreed
with many of the things that they had done,
if they were to leave, the club could be left
in a vulnerable position he said, especially as
at this moment, there would not be a long
queue of businessmen looking to replace
them.
76 NOTTINGHAM FOREST IN THE 1970s
NOTTINGHAM FOREST IN THE 1970s 77