A shame
David Johnson today announced his retirement through injury.
I followed his career closely since he nearly took my head off with a narrowly wide shot at Bury on a cold wet Tuesday night back in '97. Bury beat us that night, Johnson scored. I always thought we should have gone in for him after our promotion in '98, but instead we went for Dougie 'couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo' Freedman and Neil 'couldn't hit the f***ing farm, let alone the cow's arse' Shipperley. We got relegated. Johnson went to Ipswich.
When we did eventually sign him, we got a player who always gave it the proverbial 110%. He was an integral part of the striking triumvurate with Harewood & Huckerby which got us within extra time of the play-off final in 2003. The Derby game in March that year one of my best days, a 1,400 mile round trip to watch us beat local rivals in the run in to a top 6 finish.
Forest fans will tell you that he wasn't the same after his broken leg, suffered after Huckerby wasn't signed and Harewood sold on the cheap, and Forest's third division league status now is a direct result of Johnson's absences.
We may be saving on his wages, but that is a scant grey lining on a very big cloud. On his day, he was quite simply one of the best strikers outside the Premiership.
Bye, David, and thanks.
David Johnson classic Forest moments
I followed his career closely since he nearly took my head off with a narrowly wide shot at Bury on a cold wet Tuesday night back in '97. Bury beat us that night, Johnson scored. I always thought we should have gone in for him after our promotion in '98, but instead we went for Dougie 'couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo' Freedman and Neil 'couldn't hit the f***ing farm, let alone the cow's arse' Shipperley. We got relegated. Johnson went to Ipswich.
When we did eventually sign him, we got a player who always gave it the proverbial 110%. He was an integral part of the striking triumvurate with Harewood & Huckerby which got us within extra time of the play-off final in 2003. The Derby game in March that year one of my best days, a 1,400 mile round trip to watch us beat local rivals in the run in to a top 6 finish.
Forest fans will tell you that he wasn't the same after his broken leg, suffered after Huckerby wasn't signed and Harewood sold on the cheap, and Forest's third division league status now is a direct result of Johnson's absences.
We may be saving on his wages, but that is a scant grey lining on a very big cloud. On his day, he was quite simply one of the best strikers outside the Premiership.
Bye, David, and thanks.
David Johnson classic Forest moments
posted by Lucky Col at
10:04 PM
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