McClaren Pledges Future To NFFC

Good news from Nottingham Forest this afternoon, in the form of an official statement, where manager Steve McClaren has quashed rumours that he was set to quit.

If you take the statement at face value, it appears that there was no chance of McClaren leaving the club. But there's no smoke without fire as they say and the fact that the news made the back page of virtually every national newspaper today and the comments made earlier this week by the manager, suggest there was alot more to the headlines than the club would have us believe.

The decision by McClaren hopefully means that he will now get the backing he requires to deliver the remit set out by his employers when he took charge 3 months ago. If not, then it's only a matter of time before this entire episode flares up again.

If McClaren had resigned his position, it would have brought severe pressure on chairman Nigel Doughty and his CEO Mark Arthur. The fallout from such an event and the backlash that was already underway throughout the Forest Internet community, would have made life very tough for the hierarchy at the club. This should finally pave the way for some investment in the squad.

We'll know soon enough if that's the case, because the loan window reopens on September 8. By the time that comes around, McClaren will be waiting to see what has transpired, in the shape of new players for his squad. Any new signings at that stage will have to be for an initial 93 days, so he'll be looking for deals with longer term promises attached to them.

Official club statement:

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