Position: Forward Born: Swansea Signed from: Galatasary, July 1996
Debut: 17 August 1996 vs Coventry City Sold to: Sheffield United, December 1997
Saunders is regarded by many as symptomatic of all that was bad about the dark and criminally wasted years of the mid-90s, which is completely unfair. There was a lot wrong with that era, but you can hardly blame Deano for it.
All the same, there is no denying that he was a big disappointment! Signed by Frank Clark to fill the holes left by the departure of Brian Roy and the ineptitude of Andrea Silenzi, in his day Saunders had been a fine player - starting at Oxford, he scored goals on a consistent and high quality basis at Derby, Liverpool and Villa before heading off to Turkey with Galatasaray.
We rescued him from what had been an unhappy time in Istanbul, but he didn't exactly repay us very well. Looking back on it now from a safe distance of 5 years, in truth by that stage Frank was starting to lose the plot and the whole team - arguably even the whole club, since this is the time of the Scholar take-over etc - was disappearing down the tubes. None the less, Saunders appeared to have lost his zip in his time away from the UK and, despite continuing to play for a declining Wales side on a regular basis, spent a couple of seasons showing us just how past it he was.
50-odd games for us. 9 goals. OK, so some of those games he ended up playing wide on the right, but even so the figures speak for themselves.
Back to ... The Players : 1996 - 1997 : 1997 - 1998
Position: Defender Born: Nottingham Signed from: Apprentice, July 1975
Debut: 23 January 1976 vs Mansfield Town (County Cup) Sold to: Released, June 1977
Young right back tried by Cloughie at the start of the promotion season. Not very good, and rapidly replaced by the emerging Viv Anderson.
The rest is history, as they say.
Back to ... The Players : 1976 - 1977
Position: Defender / Midfield Born: Leamington Spa, 13 June 1975 Signed from: Aston Villa, July 1999
Debut: 7 August 1999 vs Ipswich Town Sold to: Leicester City, June 2003
David Platt's first signing in the summer of 1999, Riccy came with a glowing tribute from his new manager; "I was going to sign him for Sampdoria because I rate him as one of the biggest young talents in English football" - that sort of thing. An erstwhile captain of the England Under-21s and very experienced for his age, rumour had it that we might have got a bargain, even at £3M.
For his first few games it certainly looked that way; Riccy was frequently our best player in a side that was taking its time to settle. He rapidly became captain, and his fluent Italian was invaluable in integrating the new Italians Mannini, Matrecano and Petrachi as far as possible. After a good start, however, gradually Riccy descended into mediocrity - seldom completely awful, but seldom very good either.
In his time at Villa Park he had played in every position except goalkeeper and made a pretty decent fist of most of them. Talk to Villa fans, however, and they will tell you that, though they liked him, there was also the sneaking suspicion that Scimeca's versatility is his own worst enemy; that he was almost good enough to play in any position, but in fact not that good in any of them. To be fair to him, he has always maintained that he is a midfield player, but one or two of his early performances in his chosen position left just as much to be desired as those when he played at the back.
His time at Forest coincided with a radical rebuilding of the team from scratch, so a final verdict based on Riccy's early stuff was hard. Clearly he has talent - it was his surging run from the back that gave Ian Wright a goal on debut, his majestic soaring header that gave us the lead at Huddersfield. Equally, there were moments out of a football horror film, notably when he appeared asatonished that a football might actually bounce as it cannoned over his head for Shaun Goater to score for Man City at the City Ground in 1999-2000.
Under Hart his passing ability stood him in good stead, and he settled nicely to be captain and an integral part of a tight defence. He was still prone to those "Riccy moments" - lapses of concentration - but in general he had a good season. It was not his fault, after all, that his fee was so high, and at least he did perform decently for us over a long period, unlike most of Mr Platt's other signings (see Mannini, Matrecano, Petrachi for details).
He is, of course, on a high salary and as the 2001-2002 season ended he had a year left on his contract. No-one came in for him, despite persistent rumours about Manchester City, and as the season commenced he at long past got a decent run in midfield.
Perhaps he was right all along, because in a holding role at the base of Forest's diamond formation he was a revelation. He is a good enough defender to drop back and help out Dawson and Walker when required, but his ability to distribute the play from a deep position really come into its own and gave Forest a dimension that they had severely missed in Hart's first season, namely the ability to switch swiftly and incisively from defence to attack. Riccy also started to show a side to his game previously unseen, namely some more than tidy direct free kicks.
Needless to say, his salary remained the problem - though he was offered a new contract, inevitably it was on severely reduced terms, and it was impossible to see how him staying into 2003-2004. The problem was that it was only in the final year of his four-year deal that we actually wanted to see him stay! Not his fault - if only circumstances had seen him have a run in midfield earlier in his time at Forest. So no-one was surprised when he left Forest - though a few eyebrows shot up when his future destination turned out to be Leicester City, a club infamous for their hideous financial problems at the time.
Note to Micky Adams: play Riccy in midfield!
Back to ... The Players : 1999 - 2000 : 2000 - 2001 : 2001 - 2002 : 2002 - 2003
Position: Goalkeeper Born: Eindhoven Signed from: PSV Eindhoven, August 1984
Debut: 17 November 1984 vs Coventry City Sold to: Wimbledon, September 1988
Our second Dutch goalkeeper, signed on the recommendation of the first (Hans van Breukelen). Segers was young when he arrived, and never fully established himself as first choice ahead of Steve Sutton. None the less, he was a reliable if uninspired keeper - it is hardly his fault that he followed Shilton and van Breukelen, both world class goalkeepers who would have excelled in any era.
Hans moved on to Wimbledon, where he had an apparently distinguished career - which ended in a certain amount of ignomony when he was implicated in the Bruce Grobelaar match fixing scandal.
Back to ... The Players : 1984 - 1985 : 1985 - 1986 : 1986 - 1987 : 1987 - 1988
Position: Defender Born: King's Lynn Signed from: Apprentice, August 1970
Debut: 25 March 1972 vs Coventry City Sold to: Walsall, November 1974
A homegrown central defender from the Matt Gillies / Dave Mackay / Alan Brown pre-Clough days, whom I remember chiefly for scoring the most spectacular own goal I have ever witnessed (a crashing drive from the edge of his own box past a startled Jim Barron against Oxford on New Year's Day 1974), plus the fact that he had selection of truly hideous 70s barnets - dodgy bubble perms, mullets, Zapata moustaches, the lot.
He was probably no better or worse than most of the string of journeyman lower division pros that passed through our ranks in that era - but I have forgotten most of the others, whereas Dave's own goal extravaganza means that he has a special place in my private Forest chamber of horrors!
Back to ... The Players : 1971 - 1972 : 1972 - 1973 : 1973 - 1974 : 1974 - 1975
Position: Midfield Born: Manchester Signed from: Leeds United, July 1989
Debut: 20 September 1989 vs Huddersfield Town Sold to: Sheffield Wednesday, November 1989
One of Clough's more bizarre episodes. The talented Sheridan was signed in the summer of 1989 to replace Neil Webb, recently departed for Old Trafford. He seemed a natural replacement; Gary Parker had emerged on the left in the second half of the previous season, Franz Carr and the emerging Gary Crosby had the right tied up, and Harry Hodge was back to his usual self in the middle. It was assumed that Sheridan would be used in a straight swap for Webb, and there wasn't much doubt that he could play.
Except in Clough's mind, of course - the definitive reason has never been established for why Cloughie decided his new signing was rubbish, but decide he did, moving Parker from the left into the centre (where he was less effective) and playing Sheridan just the once, against Huddersfield in the League Cup, before selling him just 3 months after he'd arrived. He promptly demonstrated what a good player he was for several years elsewhere, only finally retiring at the end of the 90s.
Perhaps he, Asa Hartford and Gary Megson should form a club for summer midfield signings binned by Clough within minutes of their arrival.
Back to ... The Players : 1989 - 1990
Position: Forward Born: Highams Park, 2 April 1966 Signed from: Millwall, July 1991
Debut: 17 August 1991 vs Everton Sold to: Tottenham Hotspur, August 1992
The young Teddy arrived at Forest from Millwall, where he'd been tearing up a few lower division defences in tandem with Tony Cascarino. I confess I'd not seen him play, but Millwall's style of the time was decidedly robust and I assumed he would be a hulking great target man.
How wrong can you be?! Certainly Teddy (or "Edward", as Cloughie frequently called him, to the player's evident astonishment) was good in the air, but as anyone who watched England in the second half of the 90s could tell you, there was much more to him than that - flicks, astute passing, the ability play from deep. In a rare season when Nigel Clough's own goalscoring totals were low (he and Sheringham are very similar players, so perhaps their styles took a while to gel) Teddy was consistent, clearly talented and provided a more than respectable return (22 goals from 59 games in all competitions).
He then scored the winning goal against Liverpool on the opening day of the following season... and was promptly and mysteriously sold. His replacements (Gary Bannister and, eventually, Big Bad Bonkin' Bob Rosario) were not even on the same planet in terms of class and, while Teddy went on to enjoy a prolific partnership with Jurgen Klinsmann at Spurs, to a regular England place and eventually to Manchester United and a European Cup winners' medal, Forest were relegated and are yet fully to recover.
At the time there were dark stories about Teddy being homesick for London, but in retrospect it is hard not to say that his departure from Forest without adequate replacement was the first sign that Cloughie had so sadly lost it, as he clearly had by the lamentable 1992-93 season.
Back to ... The Players : 1991 - 1992 : 1992 - 1993
Position: Goalkeeper Born: Leicester Signed from: Stoke City, September 1977
Debut: 17 September 1977 vs Aston Villa Sold to: Southampton, August 1982
Almost certainly the finest goalkeeper who has ever played for Forest (only Hans van Breukelen comes anywhere close) - indeed, one of the greatest keepers of all time. Shilts was signed for a then record fee for a goalkeeper (£270,000, a figure which makes you weep when Fulham have just, as I write, paid 28 times that amount for a goalkeeper who is not half as good). Though they were not stupid enough to say so in public, Clough and Taylor regarded him as the final piece in the jigsaw - though John Middleton, the keeper he replaced, was by no means rubbish, Shilton could get you 10 -15 points in a season, and that is the difference between winning things and finishing in mid table.
In retrospect, it seems incredible that another club had not already snapped him up - Stoke were a declining force by then. But Peter was not, at the time, thought to be the finished article - he had played for England many times, but was seen as the reserve to Ray Clemence. (England were lucky enough to have 2 outstanding goalkeepers at the time, and for several years Shilts and Clemence shared the position in the national team - either of them could have won 150 caps if they'd played in a different era).
Shilton was a big barrel-chested man who worked incredibly hard at his art. He simply dominated his penalty area; the mental picture I have of him is screaming abuse to his defenders after he had just dug them out of the mire. He played behind an outstanding defence as it was, but if you worked your socks off to beat Burns and Lloyd, all you found was Shilton looming over you; it must have been soul destroying for opposition forwards.
In the championship season (his first), Shilton conceded a mere 18 goals in 37 league appearances - under half a goal per game. When you consider that Forest were averaging one-and-a-half goals per game at the other end, the maths of why we won the title are not hard to do!
Liked a bet or two, and is rumoured to have liked the ladies too; both traits were to dog his short-lived managerial career.
Who cares? He was a genius in a green shirt.
Back to ... The Players : 1977 - 1978 : 1978 - 1979 : 1979 - 1980 : 1980 - 1981 : 1981 - 1982
Position: Forward Born: Chatham Signed from: Crystal Palace, September 1998
Debut: 26 September 1998 vs Newcastle United Sold to: Barnsley, July 1999
Sigh. What is it with promising forwards who seem to be able to score for anyone except Forest? Shipperley is destined never to be a huge star, and looks set to be one of those players who move routinely from club to club. Clearly he has something, or all these clubs wouldn't keep buying him. On the other hand, clearly what he has is nothing special, or they wouldn't keep selling him again!
Shipperley started his life with Chelsea, and made his name as a fresh-faced youth with Southampton, before Harry Bassett encountered him at Palace. It was Harry who brought him to the City Ground (and indeed who subsequently signed him from us for Barnsley), and Harry who gave him the big build up when he arrived.
The trouble was that for us he was rubbish - couldn't score in a brothel. On the other hand, it is safe to say that the side was pretty much crap at the time as well, so it probably isn't fair to judge him on the evidence of that season. All the same, it's what we have to go on, and a single measly goal in almost an entire season was not the stuff of legends.
On to Barnsley (where a season or two later he gave a superb display of centre forward play against us), and then to Wimbledon, and then Palace - in all places his career continued to prosper..
Probably not as utterly crap as we tend to remember him; he might be a scapegoat in my mind for what was a depressingly awful period in our history.
On the other hand, he was rubbish, wasn't he?
Back to ... The Players : 1998 - 1999
Position: Forward Born: Rome Signed from: Torino, August 1995
Debut: 9 September 1995 vs Coventry City Sold to: Reggiana, November 1997
When Forest announced to the world in the summer of 1995 that they were to be the first English club to sign an Italian international, the blow of the departure of Stan Collymore seemed to lesson slightly. This guy had scored goals all over the place in Serie A, and for a pretty ordinary side at that. Result!
Ah well - we can dream.
He was dreadful. Couldn't trap his foot in a door, a great slow lumbering beast of a ponderous forward, whose only goals for us came against Bradford City in the League Cup and Oxford United in the FA Cup. But this was a season when we were in Europe, and we needed him to be spear-heading our attack against the likes of Bayern Munich. Instead he was utter crap, and any spear-heading was left to the likes of Paul McGregor.
The following season, when Forest were abjectly relegated in last place, he managed one single appearance, despite the fact that we had the worst team in living memory. (Hah! At the time, maybe, but there were far worse teams to follow!).
As uses of the millions of pounds we'd received for one of our greatest ever centre forwards went, not good. And as Alan Hansen remarked on Match of the Day, "if this guy played for Italy, they must have had a major flu epidemic amongst all their other forwards at the time".
Back to ... The Players : 1995 - 1996 : 1996 - 1997
Position: Defender Born: Newark Signed from: Apprentice, January 1983
Debut: 19 March 1983 vs Ipswich Town Sold to: Orient, March 1987
Central defender who came through the youth system shortly after Chris Fairclough, but who was nowhere near the same quality. 1 UEFA Cup game, 1 League game and 1 League Cup game in September 1984 were about his lot; he went off with an injured hip during the League Cup tie against Pompey, and was never seen in a red shirt again.
Back to ... The Players : 1982 - 1983 : 1983 - 1984 : 1984 - 1985
Position: Goalkeeper Born: Edmonton Signed from: Gravesend, August 1980
Debut: 21 March 1981 vs West Bromwich Albion Sold to: Halifax Town, November 1981
Not the first nor the last keeper to understudy Peter Shilton and never get a look-in. One single appearance in 1981, but then Steve Sutton came through to understudy the great man, and Smelt left us.
Such Tabloid headline possibilities in his comedy name, too, especially if he'd played behind Einar Aas...
Back to ... The Players : 1980 - 1981
Position: Midfield Born: Wigan, 9 January 1972Signed from: Walsall, July 2003
Debut: 9 August 2003 vs Sunderland Sold to: Released, 5 May 2004
Much travelled squad midfield player signed from Walsall 5 days before the 2003 - 2004 Season. Made an excellent start, but Paul Hart didn't seem to believe in him (so why was he signed?); he was dropped whilst still playing reasonably well and then recalled when he was playing poorly. Perhaps the latter was his natural game, because he never played well for us again.
Released after one year.
Back to ... The Players : 2003 - 2004
Position: Midfield Born: Stockton-on-Tees, 28 January 1972 Signed from: Gillingham (Free), 21 June 2005
Debut: - Sold to: -
Versatile and experienced right-sided midfield player-cum-wing back, signed from Gillingham in the close season after relegation to League One.
Back to ... The Players : 2005 - 2006
Position: Forward Born: Nottingham Signed from: Norwich City, July 1985
Debut: 13 December 1986 vs Newcastle United Sold to: Huddersfield Town, August 1991
Nippy but lightweight forward who appeared to have a considerable future as he scored on his debut as a teenager at St James' Park and then again in his second game against Liverpool. Never scored again for us, and never really looked like getting a lengthy run in the side thereafter.
He holds the record for the quickest goal ever scored after coming on as a substitute (for Huddersfield), and was still banging them in in 2002 as player-manager of Hucknall Town. Sammy Chapman's son-in-law, for all you trivia fans out there.
Back to ... The Players : 1986 - 1987 : 1987 - 1988 : 1988 - 1989 : 1989 - 1990 : 1990 - 1991
Position: Full Back Born: Trondheim, Norway Signed from: Rangers (LOAN), January - May 1999
Debut: 30 January 1999 vs Everton
One of a gaggle of journeymen pros (Carlton Palmer, John Harkes etc) brought in by the Large Orange Atkinson in an attempt to stem the floodwaters that were already swirling around Forest's ankles on his arrival in January 1999. For about 90 minutes it worked, as Forest won away at Everton in Atkinson's first match. The next game we lost 1-8 at home to Manchester United, and any illusions we might have had that the club was anything other than well and truly stuffed flew out of the window.
Hardly fair to judge Stensaas in the circumstances. Atkinson seemed to get in anyone who was prepared to come, on the (not entirely unreasonable) grounds that they couldn't be worse than what he already had.
Just the start of some truly desperate times.
Back to ... The Players : 1998 - 1999
Position: Midfield Born: Edinburgh Signed from: Manchester United (LOAN), July 2003
Debut: 9 August 2003 vs Sunderland
Scottish International midfield player signed on a season's loan from Manchester United to fill the gap left by the departure of Riccy Scimeca. Arrived with a good reputation and generated a bit of excitement amongst the fans (albeit in a close season when we were all clutching at the tiniest of hopes that we'd sign someone - anyone - with a bit of quality). He showed up well enough in pre-season and started the first 4 games, but the last of those was an abject home defeat to Cardiff, and his stock plummetted from that point on.
Rumour has it that his attitude sucked big ones, too - culminating in wellpdocumented stories of a training ground fist fight with David Johnson. Either way, he had become a peripheral figure long before Paul Hart's sacking, and things only got worse under Joe Kinnear, who was never a man who happily tolerated under-performers with a rubbish attitude.
In the end he was sent back to Old Trafford early, just to get him off the premises.
Back to ... The Players : 2003 - 2004
Position: Midfield Born: Gateshead, 20 August 1971 Signed from: Apprentice, July 1987
Debut: 2 May 1992 vs West Ham United Sold to: Aston Villa, March 1999
Until the emergence of the likes of David Prutton and Gareth Williams from Paul Hart's youth academy, Stevie Stone was the last decent player we'd produced from within our own ranks. Given the fact that there was a gap of 8 years between Stone's arrival and Prutton's, that fact alone perhaps goes some way to explaining why the late 90s were such a horrible time to be a Forest fan.
All the same, Stoney was one of the real high spots of the early 90s, when Forest, after seemingly recovering brilliantly from the departure of Brian Clough, declined to become (initially) a well-established "yo-yo club", and then worse than that - thus missing out on almost all of the Sky-fuelled Premiership moneybags and, as a consequence, driving deeper into the mire with every passing season. The gap between rich and poor has never been wider, and Forest chose exactly the wrong time to fall out of the elite.
Not that any of this was Stoney's fault - throughout his career, however he has played and in whichever side, one thing you could never accuse him of is lack of effort for the cause.
He made his debut as a sub in the final game of the 91-92 season, and then had a dozen appearances at the end of the following season, usually as a left-sided wing-back after an injury to Stuart Pearce. By this stage the side were in disarray, drifting inexorably towards relegation as the once legendary manager gave us several months of proof that he had indeed gone on too long - hardly the best circumstances in which to judge any young player, especially one playing out of position.
The following season, however, was Frank Clark's first in charge, when Forest rejuvenated themselves by adding Collymore and Cooper to the nucleus of their Premiership side, rediscovered how to play football and stormed straight back up again. The 22-year-old Steve Stone was by now playing on the right hand side of midfield, and was an integral part of that excellent team; from the start of 1993-94 until 5 games into 1996-97 he missed only 9 out of 163 League, Cup and European matches. During that period Forest stormed back into the Premiership, finished 3rd and 9th in consecutive seasons, and got further in European competition than any other English club; Stoney flourished with them, deservedly winning 9 England caps and scoring 2 international goals.
His assets were his phenomenal work-rate, his speed, his passing and crossing, his unquenchable attitude and his ability to "work" the right hand side of the pitch like no other player of the time - and, like any player who appears to run himself to a standstill for the cause, the fans loved him. It is too simplistic to say that Forest's decline towards relegation in 1996-97 (from which it is easy to build a very strong case that they have yet to recover) started the moment Stone ruptured ligaments in his knee against Leicester City in September 1996; there were many other factors in play as well, notably Forest's inability to find a decent forward line to replace the departed Bryan Roy and Stan Collymore. None the less, it is undeniable that Stone was missed very badly indeed as we subsided limply towards catastrophe.
Stoney's injury was serious, but he was still only 26 at the time (though he looked much older, given his premature baldness), and ought to have had plenty of his career left. By the time he returned to the team an awful lot had changed - Clark had gone, Pearce had had his spell as manager and then also gone, and the club had been relegated. None the less, after a couple of false starts, Stoney re-appeared in the side in November 1997, and the side promptly went up again - this time as Champions. He was playing all right, but had never really regained the pace over 5 yards that had made him such a nightmare for opposing left backs; personally I think he has never quite been the same player again (though we'd snap his hand off if he wanted to come back now!).
He has continued to play at a high level, but has not quite returned to the electrifying player of 1993-1997, either for Forest or either of his subsequent clubs (Villa and Pompey). Even if he had immediately returned to his best, by then we were so abject under Bassett and Atkinson that it is hard to believe that he'd have made a difference - all the same, we were sad when the Large Orange Cartoon Manager sold him to Villa as he supervised (if that is the word) Forest's first of several "things-can't-get-any-worse" seasons in recent times, 1998-99.
Stoney is one of those players who will always be welcome at the City Ground. He was hugely popular, and when he was in the side, generally Forest did well; even when that wasn't true, Stone never stopped trying - and there aren't many players you can say that about.
Back to ... The Players : 1991 - 1992 : 1992 - 1993 : 1993 - 1994 : 1994 - 1995 : 1995 - 1996 : 1996 - 1997 : 1997 - 1998 : 1998 - 1999
Position: Winger Born: - Signed from: Free agent (non contract basis), November 2001 - February 2002
Debut: 17 November 2001 vs Preston North End
Son of the 1970s Man City & England legend Mike Summerbee, Nicky is one of those players who struggles to live up to the shadow of his father. Signed by Paul Hart on a pay-as-you-play basis in order to give the side some much-needed width in midfield, he started excellently, but then lived down to his reputation from earlier clubs such as Sunderland and City themselves; one good game in four, a lot of anonymity, and a lot of frustration that his talent (and he has it to burn) should be so wasted. Summerbee can cross onto a sixpence, pass with subtlety, score from wicked free kicks and take a superb corner. He can also lounge about looking bored, has the acceleration of an oil tanker and couldn't tackle his dinner.
He could have been a contender. Instead he drifts from club to club, living (one suspects) on his name and the memory of the good things he has done.
A shame - we could have used a player like he could have been - instead we got the reality, which was 3 poor games in every 4.
Back to ... The Players : 2001 - 2002
Position: Forward Born: Skelton Signed from: Sheffield Wednesday (LOAN), October 1975
Debut: 11 October 1975 vs Fulham
Centre forward who played a single game for us on loan in 1975 while Cloughie had a look at him. No cigar.
Back to ... The Players : 1975 - 1976
Position: Goalkeeper Born: Derby Signed from: Apprentice, July 1977
Debut: 25 October 1980 vs Norwich City Sold to: Derby County, March 1992
Back to ... The Players : 1980 - 1981 : 1981 - 1982 : 1982 - 1983 : 1983 - 1984 : 1984 - 1985 : 1985 - 1986 : 1986 - 1987 : 1987 - 1988 : 1988 - 1989 : 1989 - 1990
Position: Full Back Born: Birkenhead Signed from: Aston Villa, October 1982
Debut: 16 October 1982 vs Birmingham City Sold to: Portsmouth, July 1985
Back to ... The Players : 1982 - 1983 : 1983 - 1984 : 1984 - 1985