FOREST MUST DRAW A LINE UNDER THE
KAMIL Grosicki would have been a great signing for Nottingham Forest, there’s no denying that.
But while the Reds are clearly aggrieved at not being able to get the deal over the line – in the transfer saga to end all transfer sagas – they should not be too downbeat over not adding the West Bromwich Albion winger.
Almost two weeks after the deadline, a decision was finally made that an “alleged 20-second delay” scuppered Forest’s move for Grosicki.
The club issued a pretty stronglyworded statement following that news.
It spoke of their “significant regret” that the English Football League board did not exercise “its discretion”, adding: “In particular we do not believe the board’s decision was the product of the type of governance needed to enable the EFL to flourish and to provide the fans with a vibrant competition.”
You could quibble for another fortnight about whether it should have gone right down to the wire for the Poland international to put pen to paper.
But, at this point, now the Reds have had their say, it does little to dwell on what might have been.
They can try again in January, of course, with the gap between the two windows considerably shorter than normal due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
In the meantime, though, Chris Hughton has a squad more than capable of pushing up the table.
Sure, Grosicki would have added attacking threat, at a time when
Forest are struggling to create chances in games.
But Hughton now must focus on getting the best out of the players already at the City Ground and he has a considerable pool of talent to work with.
Joe Lolley, Sammy Ameobi, Luke Freeman and Anthony Knockaert have bags of quality.
Figuring out the optimal system, when you add in strikers Lewis Grabban and Lyle Taylor, is taking a bit of time.
The next international break will give the manager more opportunity to work on that. And then there is Alex Mighten. If the failure to land Grosicki has a positive, there is the chance it could mean the teenager is more likely to see some game time.
A 15th signing would have pushed Mighten further down the pecking order.
He has not yet got on the pitch under Hughton, being an unused substitute in the last four games.
The Reds boss has said, though: “It’s not a question of developing him to see if he’s good enough, he’s already shown his ability. The balance is the type of games we’ve got and balancing the squad.
“You want someone like him to be in the mix of the squad. It’s about the right time, whether he plays well, whether it’s the right game for him.
“He’s in a good place.”
Whenever he has played previously, Mighten has looked dangerous and has caused opposition defences problems.
He’s a young man with a great deal of potential.
Not bringing in Grosicki will, hopefully, mean he soon gets the chance to prove that.