BILLY Davies will be entering familiar territory at Fir Park tomorrow night – even if he may not be used to sitting in the away dugout.
Almost 15 years ago, after Motherwell had sacked Harri Kampman, Davies was promoted from his role as youth team manager to take control of the first team.
With results having gone badly in the early stages of 1998/99, the Scotsman was handed his first senior role in management.
Davies, already, by that stage was a familiar face around Motherwell, having made more than 100 appearances as a player, amid a career that also took him to Rangers, St Mirren and Dunfermline in Scotland, as well as to Leicester City and Elfsborg.
It was a baptism of fire for Davies, as he learnt his trade. His first match is one he will probably have erased from his memory, with St Johnstone hammering his side 5-0.
He will almost certainly not have forgotten his second game in charge, however, as Davies achieved a landmark success – in the form of a narrow 1-0 win over Rangers at Fir Park.
Davies lasted almost three years in the role at Motherwell, taking charge of 123 games, winning 41, drawing 31 and losing 51 of their fixtures during that time.
And, when the club made a slow start to the 2001/02 season, Davies was replaced. A tally of three points from their first seven games proved to be costly to the manager.
But he had been given his grounding in the manager's office.
And, while his next role was to join the coaching staff at Preston North End, under Craig Brown, three years later, Davies was back in charge himself, when he took over as manager at Deepdale in 2004.
Davies' return to Motherwell is likely to be a competitive one, with Russian side Kuban Krasnodar set to visit Fir Park in Europa League action next Thursday.
While, with it being Forest's final friendly of the summer, Davies' team selection may give at least a small hint towards what he believes his strongest starting XI is.
Ishmael Miller and Gonzalo Jara are believed to be the only fitness concerns for Forest ahead of the game, which kicks-off at 7pm.
