Davies refuses to carry the can for Forest's plight

BILLY Davies says he is not completely responsible for Nottingham Forest's relegation plight – because no players have been added to the squad he inherited in January.

The Forest boss insists he has no qualms with the City Ground hierarchy and has faith they can add new faces in the loan market.

But until that happens, he does not feel culpable for the club's Championship struggle, which was added to by a painful 3-1 defeat at the hands of arch rivals Derby on Saturday.

With Forest having failed to land any of the numerous transfer targets he highlighted in January, Davies is unwilling to carry the can for their struggle.

"I am not trying to be clever – but I am not going to lose any sleep over this," he said.

"If I had signed seven players in January and the club was picking up the results it has picked up, I would be saying to you that I am happy to carry the can. I would be happy to admit I am concerned.

"At this moment in time, we need players. At this moment in time, we have a young squad. At this moment in time, we have an average age of around 21.

"We do not have the depth of squad to compete at this level. They are all facts, it is not me trying to pass the buck.

"That is the situation I have taken over. I am happy to take that situation over, I came in here knowing exactly where I am and exactly what we need to do.

"In January we clearly identified several signings that would have helped the football club. Unfortunately, we could not get those signings made. I am not having a swipe at anything.

"But the numbers we have available are costing us dear at the minute. If we had more numbers at the minute, neither Robert Earnshaw or Paul Anderson would have played on Saturday.

"With bigger numbers, neither would Moloney, Newbold or Heath in the last few weeks.

"My role is not finance. I have identified players on several occasions. But finance is not my role, it is not my money, it is not my club.

"What I can do is clearly identify people I believe could help this club move forwards.

"We put that to the people up above us. It is then their call because it is their club, to go and decide whether we pay that amount of money or whether we don't."

Forest tried – and failed – to land Norwich's Lee Croft, Bristol City striker Dele Adebola, Hibs defender Rob Jones and QPR keeper Lee Camp, as well as several other players.

It was a difficult situation for Forest, as they attempted to prise players away from clubs who were not only among their Championship rivals, but who also – with the exception of Camp – were unwilling to sell in the first place.

But Davies said had he been in charge of the club's finances, he would have offered more money for players.

"But it is easy for me to say that, because it is somebody else's money," he said. "It is somebody else's club.

"Am I confident in the people in the board room and their astuteness in their dealings? Yes I am. I am not trying to take a swipe at anyone.

"How many managers would have wanted to sign players in January? Every single one of them would. I am no different."

But Davies intimated he would have been happier had he been given a budget to spend at Forest – a situation that Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has been trying to engineer for himself for years at Anfield.

"Rafa Benitez has a very good point at the moment," added Davies.

"If you have a budget you are accountable. You then spend what you spend.

"But I am employed by this club to work with the people we have available. I am delighted to do that.

"I will sleep well tonight because I know I came into a club that sneaked into the Championship and a club that, unfortunately, did not add to the squad in the January transfer window.

"We are stuck with the young squad we have got. But, as I keep saying, it is a work in progress.

"I know where we are with regards to our squad. I am confident that we can keep them up; I am very confident we will get the necessary points to do that."

Davies said defeat on Saturday did not heighten the need for new signings.

"It doesn't heighten the need for new signings because we knew we needed new signings when we came in," he said.

"We know we need new signings and we tried to address that in January. Unfortunately it didn't happen.

"Nothing changes though, because what we knew then we still know now.

"We will keep working away. We have tried to make progress over the past two weeks. Unfortunately there have been too many reasons why we could not bring people in.

"We keep asking the questions and keep knocking on doors. But the loan market, in my opinion, was always the second best option. I knew how difficult it would be to bring players in on loan.

"It is easy to bring players in on loan when you are in the top half of the table. Bringing people in on loan when you are in our position is very difficult."