McClaren threatens to quit in funding row

Steve McClaren has threatened to quit as manager of Nottingham Forest in a funding row.  He has been in the job less than three months, but thinks that owner Nigel Doughty is not committing the funds necessary to make a serious bid to get out of the Championship.  Doughty is a venture capitalist estimated to be worth £130m.

Steve McClaren has threatened to quit as manager of Nottingham Forest in a funding row.  He has been in the job less than three months, but thinks that owner Nigel Doughty is not committing the funds necessary to make a serious bid to get out of the Championship.  Doughty is a venture capitalist estimated to be worth £130m.


Forest have spent £2m in the transfer window, plus the wages of players acquired on free transfers.  However, matters boiled over on transfer deadline day when the owner refused to sanction a number of signings McClaren wanted to make.   McClaren was desperate to restore his reputation in English football, but has now retreated to his north-east base to consider his future over the weekend.


McClaren’s predecessor Billy Davies resigned over funding issues including the role of the club’s transfer acquisitions panel which includes football adviser David Pleat and the club’s chief executive.  No experienced manager is going to like having their autonomy constrained in this way.   Some put the earlier row down to Davies’s fiery personality, but the recurrence of a funding dispute will concern Forest fans.