Mark Arthur reveals Nottingham Forest investment fear

You cannot force people to sell. We tried everything we could possibly try to get the players in but it didn't come off

Forest chief executive Mark Arthur

Nottingham Forest chief executive Mark Arthur has hinted that chairman Nigel Doughty may curtail his investment in the wake of recent criticism from fans.

Forest fan Doughty has invested more than £60m in shares and loans during the last decade.

But some fans say the dearth of new signings shows the club lacks ambition.

Arthur told the club website: "When you are putting in that sort of money and getting the abuse he has received it must make you think about it."

Forest finished third in the Championship last season, losing in the play-off semi-finals to Blackpool.

But they have yet to win a game so far this season.

Both Doughty and Arthur have refused to give interviews following fierce criticism from some supporters about their failure to bring in new faces in the August transfer window.

Instead the Reds have have offered a syndicated interview conducted by their own staff in which Arthur added: "It's not very pleasant for him.

"Nigel has regularly put in over £5m over the last few years. Last year his commitment was £13.4m which is double the amount we received from season-ticket revenue and match-day ticket revenue. I would say that is a huge commitment.

"We always review it with the chairman at the end of the season and while that level is there for this year, whether he sustains it at the level that in future years will be a question for him at the end of the season.

"For the sake of the supporters and the club I hope we are able to continue to have the generous support of Nigel.

"He is still very committed to this club and wants to see it succeed."

And Arthur insists the inability to attract new players into the City Ground was not because of a lack of trying.

606: DEBATE

The problem was there was NO PLAN 'B', when we didn't get either Pratley or Whittingham, we had nothing left to chase, either through lack of planning or lack of time

reddave

Swansea's Darren Pratley and Cardiff's Peter Whittingham topped the shopping list but the Reds could not tie up a deal for either of them.

"It's been a major disappointment for us," Arthur added. "We had targeted, at the end of a very successful season, two players in particular that we wanted to bring in to improve our squad.

"We have always said we would only bring in players that are better than what we have got. We targeted those two players and went in pursuit of them quite vigorously.

"But unfortunately both their clubs decided to stick with them despite the fact they were entering into the final year of their contract and we have to respect that.

"A similar thing has happened in reverse when we have turned down offers in excess of a million pounds for both Nathan Tyson and Kelvin Wilson.

"But you cannot force people to sell. We tried everything we could possibly try to get the players in but it didn't come off."