The Algerian spent two seasons at the City Ground and arrived as a marquee signing
Nottingham Forest finally ended their 23-year exile from the Premier League having sat bottom of the Championship table in the 2021/22 season until Steve Cooper’s arrival.
Over the years, players from far and wide have walked through the doors of the City Ground, hopeful they are the ones to help return this historic club to the division it so rightly belongs.
Some evidently did a better job than the large majority of signings made by the East Midlands club, with the Reds having finished in the play-off places in just four of their previous 14 seasons in the second tier, which accumulated to 21 different managers coming, trying, but ultimately failing.
Their ownership for a large portion of their time in the Championship came under the stewardship of Kuwaiti businessman, Fawaz Al Hasawi, who sanctioned the transfers of arguably some of the most unsuccessful players to ever wear the Garabaldi Red.
Nottingham Forest’s transfers for the 2013/14 season
Following Al-Hasawi’s acquisition of the club in July 2012, the club were in a considerable amount of turmoil, both on and off the pitch.
The sudden death of previous chairman and benefactor, Nigel Doughty, had left the club in a position of financial uncertainty, having narrowly missed out on relegation to League One the season prior. The uncertainty over the club’s fortunes had led to Forest only boasting a handful of first team players. A huge overhaul was needed, and it came in the summer.
16 players arrived in the summer, including the likes of Henri Lansbury, Adlene Guediora and Simon Cox, but Forest would just miss out on a spot in the play-off places.
Al-Hasawi would again dip into his pockets and fork out more money to improve his squad the following season, welcoming a number of signings he considered to be marquee ones at the time, with Kelvin Wilson arriving from Celtic, Jamie Mackie from Queens Park Rangers, exciting Walsall winger Jamie Patterson and Djamel Abdoun, a player arriving from Greece for £1.5m with Olympiacos which brought anticipation and excitement for Reds supporters.
Djamel Abdoun showed his class in one game during three years at Forest
The Algerian made his debut in a 3-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers in the Championship, and would get a run in the side during the early parts of the season under Billy Davies, but would ultimately be in and out of the team.
A red card in a defeat to Blackpool at the City Ground summed up Abdoun’s early tenure at the club, but he would get his first goal contributions for the club at the 14th time of asking, grabbing two assists in a win over QPR.
The turn of the year saw FA Cup action welcomed to the City Ground, with Premier League side West Ham the opponents for the Reds for a place in the fourth round of the competition.
With just 12 minutes on the clock, George Moncur tripped Patterson inside the area, offering the Championship side the opportunity to lead the tie. Abdoun immediately picked up the ball and took responsibility, despite some disagreement from his team-mates, cheekily dinking the ball down the middle, but was left celebrating on his own given his actions.
It was arguably one of his best performances in a Forest shirt, providing an assist for Andy Reid to smash home the fifth and final goal for Forest on a fine afternoon at the City Ground.
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