You can tell the January transfer window is coming into view, with the increase in speculation about players departing and arriving at Nottingham Forest.
The latest is Matty Cash, with him being linked with a move to the likes of Everton, Crystal Palace and Southampton.
I’m never one for stopping players playing at the highest level even if I would be hugely disappointed to see him leave.
He gives the side so much, especially going forward and must be a joy to work with for Sabri Lamouchi and his coaching staff, he’s learnt an awful lot since being deployed at the back.
Nobody wants to lose their best players, especially their best young players and this is something the Reds have had to deal with over the years, as a consequence of being outside the top division - it is a fact of life.
Michael Dawson, Andy Reid, Jermaine Jenas, David Prutton all left on those occasions we didn’t get into the big league.
Everybody wants to play at the top and Matty will be no different, though I would urge a note of caution.
Recently players have left the City Ground hoping to further their careers, believing that they may get a chance to go on to bigger and better things.
For some, that just has not worked.
Oliver Burke, Ben Brereton, Ben Osborn and even Britt Assombalonga left the club seeking bigger and better things, and you’d have to say, none really have.
Burke has struggled, Brereton’s Blackburn move probably hasn’t worked out the way he would have liked, Osborn can’t get into the Sheffield United team and as for Middlesbrough, well, just look at their league position.
So that should act as a word of warning that the grass isn’t always as green as you think it might be.
Very few players go from the Championship straight into the Premier League teams because the pressure to get points is so great, it’s always a big risk to plunge them straight in, even more so if the team they move to is struggling.
There’s a big risk that the club buys them up, doesn’t play the player and then they’re stuck in the background and their career hasn’t really gone anywhere, with some having to take a step back.
Yes, they might have a bigger bank balance but they are not playing football and that should mean more than anything.
I have to say, I do sometimes feel sorry for players because for the most part they depart with good intentions.
An opportunity arrives to play in the Premier League and you can’t fault them for wanting to give it a go – a player’s career is relatively short and you cannot begrudge them that chance.
In Cash's case, ultimately, if the deal is right the club will give it due consideration and that’s the right thing to do.
Forest may not want to sell, the reality as we’ve said a million times is that there is a business to run which needs to have its books balanced.
We may well be talking hypothetically, here, there’s always what Matty wants.
He’s only 24, has a bright career ahead of him and is in the form of his life working for a manager he clearly enjoys.
You never know, he might just fancy sticking around.
Garry Birtles was this week in conversation with Barry Cooper
