Countdown to the big kick-off: Nick Wells, Flint Bishop

In the first of a new series which will run to the beginning of the 2016-17 football season, we ask local business figures to preview how their team will fare when the big kick-off arrives in August.

First up, we talk to Nick Wells, partner at Derby law firm Flint Bishop, who’s a Nottingham Forest fan.

What was the high point of last season?
It is only question one and I have just spent 20 minutes staring blankly at the screen. In a season involving a transfer embargo, lowest number of goals scored (save the relegated teams), lowest average attendance since League One days and several winding up petitions in the High Court, there may be more high points to be found on the Norfolk Broads.

For someone who lives and works in Derby, the deserved early-season win over Derby was good. But to say that a derby win is the high point of a season feels a bit like admitting to being a club with an inferiority complex towards its local rivals, where two games make up its season. A bit like Leicester used to be before last season’s incredible story.

In context, I think the high point was the support shown by the fans at the end of another long, frustrating and enthusiasm-sapping season. I was one of nearly 3,000 fans who travelled to Fulham for the penultimate away game, and amazingly around 5,000 went to the final game of the season, at MK Dons of all places. The atmosphere was incredible and it showed that the core support remain passionately loyal, even when those in charge perhaps don’t deserve it.

Favourite other team in your division?
For this season, it has to be Burton Albion. It is fantastic how far they have come and they are managed by a Forest legend. And they are more or less the closest Football League club to my house.

And least favourite?
Somewhat frustratingly, as a Forest fan living and working in Derby I get to see first-hand just how far ahead of us Derby County is as a football club – that is both as a team and a business.

For a number of years now it has been run sensibly and professionally, maximising its commercial revenues and being an integral part of the community, including the business community. At the other end of the A52 is circus-City Ground, with clowns in numbers, disappearing crowds, a managerial merry-go-round and ever-bouncing cheques. But despite this, I am going to avoid the obvious choice. As irritating as it may be, we can and should learn a lot from Derby.

My least favourite team therefore has to be Leeds. As the song goes, we all hate Leeds. And what is not to hate? Brian Clough was spot on with his assessment all those years ago. They now make Forest look like a club that is well run and operates through sound financial decisions.

Have you been happy with the close season?
Before this week, the close season had seen numerous decent managers go elsewhere, a protracted takeover that still isn’t completed, a complete and disastrous failure by England at another major tournament and a financial and political meltdown. Now at least we have a manager, but it isn’t the strong name that fans were promised and it isn’t likely to entice back those fans that drifted away last season as attendances dropped. It may turn out to be inspired or another false dawn.

Phillipe Montanier

In recent years, we have had a fiery Scot who got results on the pitch but nearly destroyed the club off it, a club legend who did everything right off the pitch but couldn’t get the players playing for him, and a dour Scot whose signings were excellent but could only play one way (negatively). So why not try something a little different? Much like Philippe Montanier, Wenger was a little-known Frenchman once. But so was Remi Garde. We just have to hope that he is more of the former.

We have now made a couple of signings and are likely to have a new majority owner soon, Evangelos Marinakis, who is also the Olympiakos owner. The club needs a new, more positive image amongst its own fans, its business associates and the footballing world, so hopefully the takeover will bring about the change needed. If it does, and the new manager gets some good early performances and results, the close season may end up being the best business done for a while. For now, the jury remains out.

How do you think you’ll do next season?
The Championship can be a lottery at times, so predicting is virtually impossible. After a few games we could be top as easily as we could be bottom. It would be a bonus to go through a season with the same manager, not least as this will probably mean that the season is going ok. The club needs to rebuild from top to bottom though and earn back some respect on and off the field. I would be happy to see some progress in this regard, as well as some decent football and a top half finish. Anything more would be a big bonus.

Predicted finish?
Mid-table, with more goals than last year, fewer High Court appearances than last year and a slightly better outlook.