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With neither Kevin Campbell nor the woeful Italian Andrea Silenzi coming
close to filling the huge void left by Stan Collymore's departure to
Liverpool, Nottingham Forest boss Frank Clark turned to the much
travelled Dean Saunders in the hope of finding the answer to his
striking problems. The Welshman arrived at the City Ground in the summer
of 1996 for a fee of £1 million, after spending a season with Turkish
outfit Galatasary, but his stay in the East Midlands proved to be
similarly short lived. Deano was never able to rediscover the scoring
touch that he had displayed so memorably just up the road at Derby a few
years earlier and was to score just 5 goals in 43 league appearances.
Things had started well enough for Saunders as he linked up in fine
style with strike partner Kevin Campbell on the opening day of the
1996-97 season as Forest swept to a 3-0 win at Coventry City. Three
games later the Welsh international scored his first goal for the club,
as Forest drew 2-2 with Southampton at the Dell, but by the time Dean
next found the net the writing was on the wall as to the outcome of
Forest's season. That next goal came in a 1-1 draw with Forest's great
rivals, and Saunders former club, Derby County and was the ninth game of
a sixteen match run in the league without victory. That miserable run
saw the departure of Frank Clark and although caretaker boss Stuart
Pearce enjoyed some initial success he was unable to stave off the
inevitable relegation.
The start of the following campaign saw Dean
behind Kevin Campbell and the prolific Dutchman Pierre Van Hooijdonk in
the pecking order and it was not long before he was on his way to First
Division rivals Sheffield United, somewhat surprisingly on a free
transfer. (David Scranage)
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