'YOU are a football club wrecker'.

'It is time to go'.

'You have had long enough to prove yourself. Leave'.

And, repeated in many forms and variations, quite simply 'out'.

All have been barbed comments, aimed at Nigel Doughty, on the Nottingham Post website this week.

In fact, they are just a small selection of a vast outpouring of frustration and disappointment from Forest fans, following the failure to add permanent new signings in the transfer window.

The underlying suggestion is that the chairman lacks ambition, that many fans would be happy if he were to walk away from the City Ground.

Maybe so. But they ought to be careful what they wish for.

We are, after all, talking about a man who is willing to run the football club at a loss of £5m to, as revealed today, £13.4m a season – that he personally finances.

Were he to walk away, the landscape would be bleak on the south side of the Trent.

Without his level of financial backing, Forest would not be bidding for players such as Darren Pratley or Peter Whittingham in the first place, whether their efforts were successful or not.

But none of this means that Doughty should be immune to criticism. Because, while his intentions are honourable, he is not faultless.

The Forest faithful are bemused and bewildered by the club's failure to make new signings at crucial times in three out of the last four transfer windows.

The running joke among fans is that the 'acquisitions panel' should be renamed or be sued under the trade descriptions act.

But much of this anger and outrage could easily have been avoided.

Because, as a club, the response to the lack of new signings has come across as aloof and arrogant – whether it was intended that way or not.

Communication, at board room level at least, has never been a strong point at the City Ground, particularly during difficult times. All Forest needed to do, once the window closed last Tuesday without new arrivals, was to issue a simple statement.

You could write it in 20 seconds flat. In fact, I just have.

"We are as frustrated as anyone at the failure to make new signings," it could have read. "We had tried to complete several deals for a number of high quality new additions. But we were not able to reach an agreement with the selling clubs.

"We are trying to make additions who will improve the City Ground squad and it is not always easy to persuade clubs to part company with their prize assets."

Instead, despite interview requests from media sources, including the Post, eight days passed without comment or explanation before the club issued a statement in the form of an interview conducted by their own press officer – saying virtually exactly what is written above.

It may have been an innocent attempt to let the dust settle. But it didn't. Instead, their silence whipped up a frenzy.

The fans were left to conjure up dramatic speculation about Middle Eastern takeovers and cash crises – and to pour abuse and vitriol in Doughty's direction.

It is not fanciful to suggest there is a growing rift between manager and club, as Billy Davies becomes increasingly disillusioned at what he perceives to be a critical lack of backing.

The Scot remains convinced that Forest would have won promotion had they added either Pratley or Nicky Shorey to their ranks in January. And he loudly voiced his opinion that three or four 'stellar' signings were required to improve on last season's third place finish.

Instead – until January at least – Forest must rely on loan signings if they are to forge another challenge for promotion, at a time when Joe Garner and Julian Bennett have been allowed to go out on loan and James Perch has been sold to Newcastle.

Depending on injuries, they could face Millwall on Saturday with 16 senior players.

It is not inconceivable that there is a wider political game being played out behind the scenes.

The combination of an ever more unsettled manager and a board who are becoming increasingly riled by his public criticism is not a healthy combination.

What should have been a healthy, buoyant football club following the exploits of last season is instead gripped by paranoia and unrest – a mood that is pervading the dressing room as well.

In the build-up to the play-offs, Davies said he would consider offers from any club in Europe, when linked with the manager's role at Celtic.

It was not quite a 'come and get me' plea, but nor was it exactly a declaration of loyalty, from a man whose patience was clearly already being tested.

When Forest took on Davies, they knew they were employing a passionate, vocal and at times unpredictable figure with a reputation for blunt speaking.

What they also took on was a man who has proven himself capable of providing success when given the right kind of backing.

His past record surely merited putting a little more trust in his judgment, when it came to new signings.

Instead, as revealed in Arthur's interview, it is David Pleat who continues to have the chairman's ear, enjoying a telling influence when it comes to potential new signings – and their value.

Whether the most recent failure in transfer market will become the straw that breaks the camel's back when it comes to upsetting the already fragile relationship between club and manager remains to be seen. But something needs to change.

In Davies, they now possess a manager whose drive and motivation has been severely dented and whose faith in the acquisitions panel has almost certainly been irrevocably damaged.

The Scot will not walk away. But do they have a manager who will be operating with the same belief as he was last season?

In the meantime, Forest have also alienated large sections of their support, who renewed their season tickets – at an increased price – in anticipation of another promotion push.

Not just through their lack of signings, but through their lack of communication.

Forest would be absolutely lost without Doughty, but they would also be equally lost without their fans.

And that is something they could perhaps do well to remember at the City Ground.