ONE or two things have surprised me at Nottingham Forest over the last few days – and they all involve strikers.
I had hoped that Billy Davies would be on the phone to Southampton the moment the news broke that Billy Sharp was free to go.
As I have said many times before, I like Sharp. Play to his strengths and he will get you goals.
But he can't score if he's warming the bench and I would have loved to have seen him in tandem with a big-strong boy like Darius Henderson.
Sadly, Sharp is rumoured to be on his way to Reading to link up with manager Nigel Adkins for the third time.
I was equally shocked to see Ishmael Miller back in the fold at Forest, and even scoring, in a 2-1 win over Hibs on their pre-season trip to Portugal.
Miller, who cost Forest over £1m when they signed him from West Brom, looks like he ticks all the right boxes.
He's played Roy Hodgson at West Brom; he's well over six feet tall and is still only 26.
But, for whatever reason, he never really looked the part at the City Ground.
He is apparently one of the big earners at the club and I thought he might have been off-loaded to Middlesbrough, after scoring a few goals while out on loan to them last season.
And I was also surprised to see Marcus Tudgay handed a one-year extension to his contract.
I know Billy Davies brought him to the club in the first place. But he's 30 now and I really thought his days at the City Ground were numbered.
Tudgay has had a frustrating time of late after breaking his collarbone while out on loan at Barnsley.
Nine goals in 55 League games isn't a great return for a striker. But Davies obviously has a lot of faith in the former Derby man and brought him in back in against Cardiff City and Millwall towards the end of last season.
Don't get me wrong, Tudgay can still do a job. But Forest look a bit top heavy in the striking department at the moment with the likes of Dexter Blackstock, Simon Cox, Matt Derbyshire and Henderson to pick from.
Derbyshire doesn't appear to have a future under Davies and I thought he might have gone by now as well.
There have been too many players arriving at Forest for good money who have simply not turned up with their 'A' game.
When Cox arrived I thought he was going to be something special. He has time on his side, but he needs to make, and score, more goals.
Forest owner Fawaz Al Hasawi recently promised to back Davies in the transfer market.
And he has done that with the signing of Walsall winger Jamie Paterson, who was also wanted by Middlesbrough.
I've never seen the kid play, but he apparently scored 13 goals in 51 appearances for The Saddlers.
He could eventually cost the Reds £1m, which you might think is a lot for an untried 21-year-old. But I suspect that Ned Kelly, who knows that neck of the woods, would have seen him a few times.
Another player who cost Forest £1m was David McGoldrick, who has now left the City Ground along with Lewis McGugan.
It was a lot of money at the time, but what did they get in return? I'll tell you, eight goals in 63 League games.
Ironically, he scored plenty on loan at Coventry before joining Ipswich for nothing.
McGugan came through the youth ranks at Forest, but he never really cut it at the City Ground did he.
He's a very talented lad with a lot of skill, but he needs to work harder.
When you need him to put in a shift, he only seems to be fit enough to be effective in bursts.
He takes a mean free-kick and scores his share of goals. But is that enough these days?
He seems to have been around a long time and I can't believe he's still only 24.
He also leaves Forest for nothing, but I can't understand why he's joined Watford. It will be interesting to see what he does there.
