FORMER HATTERS BOSS KINNEAR SET FOR FOREST JOB

Former Luton Town manager and fans’ favourite Joe Kinnear is set to become the new boss of First Division strugglers Nottingham Forest following the sacking of Paul Hart.

The news comes after Nottingham Forest decided to sack Paul Hart as manager following their 0-1 defeat to Midlands rivals Coventry City on Saturday.

Forest have slid down the Division One table to their current position of third from bottom, with the club having last won in the League in late October against lowly Bradford City.

Kinnear has been out of football since leaving Kenilworth Road last summer when The Hatters fell into financial and ownerships problems under the ownership of John Gurney. Mike Newell, who won in a ‘Pop Idol’ style phone poll, later replaced Kinnear.

Despite being out of the game, Kinnear's track record as a manager has impressed Forest chairman Nigel Doughty enough to begin discussions with him over the club's managerial vacancy.

"We are in discussions at the moment with Joe and I would hope we could move our negotiations forward in the coming 48 hours," Doughty told the Forest's official website.

"When he took over at Wimbledon in 1992, they were bottom of The Premiership and went on to not only consolidate the club's position in the top flight but took them to three (FA) Cup semi-finals.

"He also had tremendous success at Luton, who he took to promotion in his first full season, before they were gripped by financial and ownership problems.

"During his time at Wimbledon, he was a key figure in developing a lot of talented young players who have become household names in football and everyone knows how much emphasis we place on the academy at Nottingham Forest.

"He's also an inspirational and charismatic figure and his popularity with supporters at his previous clubs speaks volumes for the job he has done."
Story date: Monday, February 9, 2004