Ex-boss delivers his verdict on what it's like to be a Nottingham Forest fan

Ian McParland believes life as a Nottingham Forest supporter is great as the club aim to end their two-decade wait for Premier League football.

The Reds are nestled nicely inside the Championship’s top six after 15 games of the season, and could cement their place with a win at play-off rivals Bristol City this weekend.

Three points at Ashton Gate would cap off an encouraging couple of weeks for Forest, after seeing off Derby County and then announcing their latest plans to redevelop the City Ground.

“It’s a great time to be a Nottingham Forest fan,” McParland told Notts TV.

“Evangelos Marinakis is backing the manager, they’ve got 28,000 in there every two weeks.

“28,000!

“Nottingham Forest are a big club so you have to think big and you have to courage.

“I think it’s 20 years, 21 at the end of this season since they’ve been in the big league – that’s not good enough for Nottingham Forest.”

The Reds revealed their latest designs to rebuild parts of the City Ground, and McParland, a former Forest manager, says the development is not before time and will mean Forest can start to compete with Derby and Leicester off the pitch.

A new image of Nottingham Forest's proposed City Ground redevelopment. (Nottingham Forest FC)

“Yes, definitely” admitted the Scot of the Reds’ exciting times. “Forest are well behind Derby County and Leicester City with the stadium, the meals that they do and all that stuff.

“Its massive now, hospitality.

“If you go to Derby, the facilities are fantastic – you go underneath that main stand (the Toyota Stand), all the hospitality, it’s the same at Leicester City.

“At Forest, they need that.”

Initial plans will see the Peter Taylor Stand demolished and replaced with a brand new, state of the art stand with a host of new facilities, and McParland says he’s positive about the future of his old club.

Forest head coach Sabri Lamouchi (Joseph Raynor/ Nottingham Post)

“They need to knock the Peter Taylor Stand down and build another one underneath it and redo all the hospitality because that brings in millions of pounds if you get that right.

“It’s all part of modern day football.

“It’s great news for them to kick on, add a few more thousand onto the gate and get a bigger capacity.

“Hopefully, when they get to the Premier League, they’ll fill it.

“I’m positive.

“I’m not like some of these Nottingham Forest fans that are quite happy to sit in the Championship, not get promoted and have a good season.

“They’ve got all the plans, they’re waiting on them to get passed, so fingers crossed.”