If you'd have asked me around four months ago I would have said that Gareth Williams leaving Nottingham Forest was a virtual certainty however under Joe Kinnear's arrival, he has found a new lease of life and maybe he gave fans the impression that he wanted to earn a new deal and stay at the football club.
Kissing the badge after scoring against West Brom on the last day of the season would have been a nice touch if he had signed a new Forest contract and committed himself to Nottingham Forest for a further two, three perhaps four years. This is not always the case of course.
Prior to Roy Keane's transfer to Manchester United in 1993, he scored a goal for Forest and kissed the beloved badge on his shirt above his heart but still left for pastures new. Okay, so Manchster United are a bigger club and we were relegated and it's not the best example but so many players like to kiss the badge as a farewell instead of a desire to show what the club actually means to them.
Williams will be a huge loss to Nottingham Forest. I admit that he's never been a so-called "favourite" of mine but his committment to the cause when the Reds were deep in trouble in the new year cannot be forgotten.
The thing Joe Kinnear and perhaps the board/chairman at Nottingham Forest should think is who we need to repalce him. It seems an age ago now but think back to last summer. The loss of Jim Brennan, Jon Hjelde, Jack Lester, Darren Huckerby and Riccardo Scimeca cost us dearly and we can't afford to make the same mistakes again.
The fans have the upmost respect for Joe Kinnear and I'm sure he has something up his sleve but I can't help but have a pessimistic view and feel a certain case of deja vu.
We had to battle against relegation after losing so many players and with so many promises from the club and manager alike for next season, it's imperative that we don't make the same mistakes. I repeat - DO NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES AS LAST SUMMER.
My heart can't face another troublesome season and with the club saying "We're serious about promotion, are you?" you have to feel confident about a reasonable campaign especially when season ticket prices have taken a big hike.
The fans stuck by the club last year which was mentioned by the chairman AND manager but it's about time the club did something to make the fans shout about. Riccy Scimeca, who although again, was not highly regarded by Reds fans, was a big loss last summer and was never replaced by the likes of Danny Sonner and Brynjar Gunnarsson. The Williams situation will have to be resloved and fast otherwise I can see the likes of 25,000 average attentendce slipping to the 20,000 mark before the end of the season.
The fans are prepared to put their money where their mouths are by purchasing season tickets but our persistance will not last forever. It took Norwich six years to get back to the ellusive Premiershop and although the signs aren't looking too good at the moment, the team has a strong backbone which sugggests a "good go of it" is not far off for the Reds of Nottingham.
Lets hope for once that Forest can learn from previos mistakes and have a happy and successful campaign in Division One next season.
Forest 'til I die!