New recruits are step up on previous years

TWO summers ago Nottingham Forest were signing plenty of foreign players - and they were largely usless.

Philippe Montanier was in charge when some second-rate blokes came in. I’m not sure if they’d been rejected by Ilkeston but they certainly weren’t good enough for Forest.

This summer, we’re seeing another influx of lads from overseas, but this feels different.

Not only are these players clearly more costly but there seems to be a method behind signing them.

I’m willing to admit I don’t know too much about a lot of them but I trust the manager and the process behind it all.

The new forward, Hillal Soudani, would certainly fit into that category. I’ve not seen him play, so I look forward to seeing him over the first five or 10 games of the season in order to form an opinion.

He certainly looks to be a big lad and he’s got plenty of experience under his belt.

Jack Robinson is someone I’m more familiar with. He had a decent reputation as young player and he’s gone on to do well in the Championship.

At 24, he’s played a lot of games at this level, but he’s someone who can get better still, especially under someone like Aitor Karanka, given the career he had as a defender. These kind of players are much better than the lads that were signed last summer on the face of it.

Hand on heart, I look back at some of the signings of a year ago and they were poor. The jury is still out on the players coming in now because they are such unknown quantities in England but they look to be smart acquisitions on paper.

This isn’t a team being built to finish mid-table. This is one looking right at the top end of the table.

It sounds like more players will be coming in too. Lewis Grabban gets goals at Championship level.

Look at what he did last season in a terrible Sunderland side and then at Aston Villa, scoring 20 goals in total.

Like Robinson, he knows this level and that’s important. If Forest can get him and Costel Pantilimon as well, then I’d be happy.

The Romanian keeper did well last season when he signed on loan. He might be about 6ft 9in tall, but he also talks to his defenders. That’s so important.

He’ll give out a rollicking when needed. Forest don’t have enough of that.

They’ve not had enough of that since Billy Davies was manager. There’s been too many soft touches in the dugout.

I don’t see that happening with Karanka. He’ll make sure this team has some backbone.

That said, I’d like to see some physicality in there next season. They’re got Ben Watson in midfield but they need something else. The balance needs to be right. I’m sure Karanka’s working at that, to make these new Portuguese lads have the best chance to succeed.

OVER TO YOU Give your verdict ... online at nottinghampost.com/nottinghamforest