Forest Green Rovers (FGR), as of last weekend, languish at the bottom of the League One table with 5 wins, 5 draws and a whopping 15 losses as of last weekend.
Their home record leaves them just above the likes of Fleetwood Town, Accrington Stanley and MK Dons with an abysmal 9 defeats and their away record is only one win and 6 losses leaving them just above Morecambe and Cambridge.
Ian Burchnall was quoted in a Gloucestershire Live interview as saying “we want to give a much stronger account of ourselves” as he was looking forward to the game at Birmingham. He goes on to acknowledge that “the squad needed freshening up “ and that he badly needed to bring “new energy and impetus” to the team.
The Green have made five signings in this transfer window so far and Burchnall seems to be placing much hope on the signing from Tranmere of Ross Doohan. Doohan is a 24-year-old goalkeeper from Clydebank.
Stevie Grieve head of Performance and Recruitment at FGR knows him very well from Scotland and Doohan “aligned with the fact we wanted to bring in players who are hungry to develop and every area is up for strengthening. Competition is healthy and for players who aspire to develop and improve in the football club” according to Burchnall.
Doohan is quoted on the FGR Facebook page as saying “I like to make saves and just want to help the team as much as I can” to which Martin Wyman comments “Let’s hope you’re a good shot stopper as you’re need to be at the moment, good luck mate”
Another of their new signings is Jaimie Robson a 25 year old left back born in Perth (is there a tartan theme here?). He is quoted as saying “he likes to bomb up and down the wing and attack as much as I can, but I am here to defend and want to help contribute to clean sheets”
Jordon Garrick a right winger and 24 years old is originally from Jamaica – “He’s an attacking player who can play anywhere across the front three,” Burchnall told the FGR website.
18-year-old goalkeeper from Drogheda United, Fiachra Pagel was also signed early on in this transfer window. The FGR website had this to say about Fiachra, “A towering presence between the sticks, Pagel made his senior debut for Drogheda against Finn Harps last November. We’re delighted to welcome Fiachra to Forest Green and wish him the best of luck during the rest of his time at Drogheda.”
However, Jamille Matt may be allowed to leave the side should they sign forward Amadou Bakayoko in this transfer window according to recent reports by Gloucestershire Live, although only scoring one goal this season, he is still somehow highly prized by FGR.
Hopefully Burchnall and Grieve know what they are doing and with all the new signings we see FGR sail out of the doldrums and chart a better course in the season ahead.
