Nottingham Forest legend issues stark warning to the club’s owners

Garry Birtles has told Nottingham Forest they need to make sure they tie some of their young stars on to longer deals according to the latest reports in the Nottingham Post.

The former Forest striker, who twice won the European Cup under Brian Clough, has warned the club’s owners to get several players tied down on long term contracts.

Forest recently extended 20 year-old defender Joe Worrall’s deal at the club keeping him at the City Ground until 2020.

Birtles wants to see more youngsters get an extended deal, noting:

“It’s good to get young players, and quality players, like Joe Worrall signed up to a new contract,” he said.

“But when you’re trying to get other players to put pen to paper, the problem is what’s going on at the club off the pitch at the moment. We don’t know who is going to be in charge come the summer.

“We don’t want to risk players going elsewhere – especially not talented players and young players.

“There are some good players at the club, and you want to keep them there.”

It’s a period of instability for Forest at the moment, with manager Gary Brazil and  his assistant Jack Lester in charge until the summer, having initially taken over managerial duties on an interim basis following the sacking of Philippe Montanier.

With Forest currently sitting 18th in the Championship table, the club still faces a struggle to avoid dropping down to football’s third tier, tying down some of their younger players may be a step in the right direction.