Profile: Nottingham Forest boss Billy Davies

Former Forest manager Billy Davies has made a return to the City Ground, after Blackpool announced he would not be taking up the job at Bloomfield Road.

Davies, who managed Forest between 2008 and 2011, was a key contender to replace Alex McLeish, who left after only 41 days in charge.

Davies has previously managed Derby County, Motherwell and North End. Prior to this he enjoyed an 18-year playing career with the likes of Rangers, Leicester City and IF Elfsborg.

The Scotsman’s playing days began at Manchester United in 1980, and he was soon offered a contract. But instead he started his professional playing career at a club close to his heart – Rangers.

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Davies was a fringe player at Ibrox for three years, after joining the club in 1981. He penned a deal with Swedish club IF Elfsborg in 1986, and stayed put for one year.

His next career move took him to Scottish club St. Mirren in 1987, and he remained at the club until 1990.

He then enjoyed a brief stint at Leicester City, before moving to Dunfermline Athletic. He stayed with the club until 1993, at which point he penned a deal with Motherwell.

Davies made more than 100 appearances for Motherwell over five years, and saw out the last of his playing days at the club. In the early stages of the 1998/99 season he was promoted from youth coach to first-team manager.

But according to the club’s official website, despite receiving “enormous financial backing from the Chairman”, Davies “failed to deliver the results and success that Boyle craved”.

Consequently, “pressure continued to mount and he was eventually sacked after gaining just three points from seven games at the start of the 2001/02 season”.

Following his dismissal Davies took on the role of assistant manager to former Scotland national coach Craig Brown at Preston North End.

He was named caretaker manager following Brown's departure in 2004 before being given the job on a permanent basis later that year.

In 2006 he was linked with a move to Charlton and even interviewed with the club. But Charlton bosses decided to opt instead for Iain Dowie.

Davies was unveiled as the new Derby County boss in June that year after the club agreed a compensation package with Preston. Under the terms of the package Preston received almost two years of Davies' wages in reparation.

But he parted company with the club just 18 months later after the Rams made what the BBC called “a miserable start to life back in the Premier League”. The team sat bottom of the table having failed to score in the past eight games.

But just six months earlier he led the Rams to promotion through the play-offs at Wembley.

Davies was linked with a number of posts over the following months but it was not until the end of December 2008 he took the helm at Nottingham Forest.

He remained with the club until June 2011, during which time he led the club to consecutive play-off campaigns and was nominated manager of the month.

Of the 126 games he presided over, 53 were wins, 37 losses and 36 draws.

He spent £4 million on new players during his first summer in charge and led the club to an unbeaten run of 18 league games.

He saved Forest from relegation and subsequently steered them to two consecutive top six finishes.

But in June 2011, after being unable to secure promotion to the Premier League after two attempts, Davies saw his contract terminated with immediate effect.

Davies, who has been out of work since his Reds dismissal, “remains a fans favourite at Forest after leading the club to the play-offs on two occasions”, the Daily Mail reports.