Transfer blow no disaster for Forest

LIKE a child discovering that Father Christmas has left nothing but dust gathering under the festive tree, a sense of disappointment will prevail at the City Ground today.

After a day of waiting with bated breath for the announcement of a new signing from Nottingham Forest, there was finally some good news.

But it was only that the versatile team captain, James Perch, has penned a new contract that will keep him at the club until 2011.

While it is certainly an encouraging step to have tied one of the squad's most influential players to a new deal, it is still not what fans wanted to hear.

If there were to be any contracts signed in the bowels of the Main Stand yesterday, supporters were hoping the pen would be brandished by a new face, rather than a familiar one.

As a result, when it came to new arrivals, there was only a sense of biting anticlimax.

And that will have been felt no more keenly by anyone than Billy Davies, who will find himself with no new toys to play with prior to the visit of fierce rivals Derby County tomorrow night.

But, while the manager may feel a sense of trepidation and frustration at the prospect of facing the coming weeks with a squad that he has already admitted is, numerically at least, under equipped to flourish in the Championship, is now the time for recriminations and blame?

Or should a sense of reality be allowed to prevail on the banks of the River Trent?

Because, while the process of signing players may seem to be a simple one, it is not always that straightforward.

Identifying potential targets is the easy part.

But, thanks partly to the frustrating nuances of the January window, actually bringing new players in is an entirely different matter.

And while Forest's failure to secure new faces at a critical time of the season will be greeted with incredulity in some quarters – and could, indeed, prove costly in the long term – there are a number of influential factors to consider.

The first is that, having identified a target, it may simply not be possible to sign them, for a variety of reasons.

This is something Forest discovered the hard way over the past 24 hours as they tried to lure three different players to the City Ground.

Rob Jones, the Hibs central defender had clearly been earmarked as a potential Forest captain by Davies and a bid believed to be in the region of £600,000 seemed perfectly reasonable.

The 28-year-old is out of contract in 18 months' time and, by all accounts, was keen on a move to the City Ground.

But Hibs still believe they have a chance of securing a place in Europe this season and, as a result, such money was deemed insignificant in the face of their ambitions.

To put it more succinctly, they did not want to sell their best and most influential player. At least not without a fight.

Where Norwich winger Lee Croft was concerned, the situation is even more black and white.

The 23-year-old's contract actually expires this coming summer. But, as one of the sides Norwich see as being one of their main relegation rivals, they were not willing to do business with Forest, in any circumstances.

While Bristol City, very publicly, rebuffed an offer for striker Dele Adebola, after Forest had come calling.

That is their prerogative.

Forest may have money, they may have history, they may have a vibrant young squad that is lacking only in depth, rather than quality.

And they certainly have a manager who is capable of selling the ambitions of the club.

But, if the player's current club are unwilling to sell, nothing else matters.

Perhaps if Forest threw money at the situation, they would be able to grease the wheels a little.

But paying over the odds for players is a trap they have paid the price for in the past.

While signing players for the sake of it, as Davies has repeated time and again, is simply not on the agenda.

It is not just about deciding that a player is the right man for Nottingham Forest, the deal has to be right as well.

For Forest, for the player and for his current club.

If all three parts of the equation do not gel together, there will only ever be one outcome.

For Forest, the failure to bring in new faces will feel particularly frustrating, particularly to Davies, as he seeks to build on a promising start to his City Ground career.

Fortunately for Forest, unlike Christmas, the opportunity to sign players comes around more than once a year.

And, in just over a week's time, they will be able to sign players on loan – potentially with a view to a more permanent move further down the line.

It is not the ideal situation, it is not the scenario Forest wanted.

But, despite the disappointment, nor is it the end of the world.