This might not be a popular opinion among many Nottingham Forest supporters, so stick with me.
January is a huge month for the club when it comes to the transfer window and getting the little bits needed to help with the play-off bid.
Forest have got a few saleable assets that you’d imagine will be in demand from clubs desperate to bolster their squads, rather like we are.
For me, I’d be looking to try and move on Joao Carvalho when the window opens on New Year’s Day to free up money on the wage bill and give Sabri Lamouchi more ammunition to bolster his attack, which we all know is desperate for help.
I’ve never really taken to him since he arrived for the best part if £13m last summer. And while he’s shown glimpses of ability, it hasn’t been consistent enough to warrant him staying around. He's basically a bench warmer now for the most part.
He’s been outshone by Tiago Silva, his compatriot who arrived for a couple of hundred thousand pounds a few months ago.
Silva brings much more to the party than Carvalho and cost a fraction of the price.
It’s so important that Forest go and bring in two strikers next month, and in truth, if the owner genuinely wants promotion then that’s what he’ll do - ones of quality, they have to be.
Lewis Grabban scored another couple at Millwall and showed his worth to the team, while Rafa Mir proved once again that he’s just not good enough.
His record over recent seasons backs it up, so I’m still wondering why he was signed in the first place.
Lyle Taylor at Charlton is a good start, he knows where the net is. He can hold it up, he can run the channels and is a big physical presence.
He’s also out of contract in the summer, so he wouldn’t cost the earth and I’m sure would quite fancy playing in this side.
What I do hope Forest don’t do is wait until the end of the window and try to be too clever to get players on the cheap.
This season is their chance to get back into the top flight, so it’s important that they grasp it with both hands. Be bullish and proactive, go out and get the players they want as early as possible, don’t mess about.
I know it sometimes isn’t as easy as that in the winter window, with some clubs waiting on getting players in before sanctioning a move in such a short space of time, but I’d like to see the club be really aggressive.
I’ve mentioned Dwight Gayle numerous times before and he’d obviously be the marquee arrival, though I think the numbers involved to see him move to the City Ground would make it difficult – I wouldn’t rule it out though because I do think Evangelos Marinakis will be tempted to have a bit of a go.
Regular observers will know my thoughts on Britt Assombalonga and what he would bring if he returned.
Britt knows where the goal is, is powerful, can stick his backside into a defender and get his way.
The move to Middlesbrough is one that he probably regrets, certainly in terms of career progression if maybe not his bank balance.
It looks like he won’t play at the City Ground on Tuesday because of injury which is a good thing for Sabri Lamouchi and Forest’s hopes of getting a vital win.
I would be tempted to try and get him out of the Riverside, just drop a little bid in and see where it takes you.
Jarrod Bowen is another name that’s on the lips of most people for the last couple of years, and talk of Hull slapping a £20m price tag on his head is ridiculous.
He’s a talent and scores goal without question, however that’s still an awful lot of money for a Championship player.
Bowen is a player I’d love to see playing at the City Ground, though at that price, the window has been slammed firmly shut and you’d fancy only a Premier League club would be daft enough to fork out that sort of money.
And they probably will.
You know what the winter window can be like, people all over the place panic and buy players they either don’t need, can’t afford or have seen their values over-inflated.
Having said all of that, if Aston Villa were to test the water for Joe Lolley again in January, which wouldn’t surprise me, then that’s a deal I’d probably be more open to, if Bowen was available at the right price.
Lolley hasn’t been quite the same player this season by his own admission, and maybe, just maybe, talk of a summer move to Villa Park has maybe had an impact on him.
Kenny Burns was in conversation with Barry Cooper
