Kris Commons on Nottingham Forest, the move to Derby, plus Celtic, Stoke & Notts County

Thanks for this one Robin. I always liked Kris as a player and wish he could've stayed longer.

Brilliant - fair play Robin, requested this a few weeks back. Nice!

He was out of contract the summer before and signed a 1 year contract, yet a few months later he was knocking on Calderwoods door asking for a new contract? Hmmmm

I'm very surprised at the lack of subscribers and likes on this channel. It's bloody brilliant

Any chance of getting an interview with Nathan Tyson ? Get him to talk about when he was waving flag against derby

Kris is a human being. I have no hate for him, and I have sympathy for his family situation at the time. You can't imagine how awful that was. But what he did was a terrible betrayal, it is unforgivable, and it won't ever be forgotten.

Forest fans made him a wealthy young man. He was given unwavering support on the field, and kids would have had his poster on their wall, his name on their shirts, and love for him in their heart. When his contract ended (and Forest and Colin C have made it clear it was not the club who were stalling on a new deal for him) I think every Forest fan would have said "if you must leave then OK, you have our best wishes, good luck for the future...just don't sign for Derby". And he chose to laugh in the face of all those fans whose love and loyalty caused them to dig deep in their pockets so he could get wealthy, to laugh in the face of every kid with "Commons" on their shirt, to repay all that we - the fans, not the club, the fans - had given him with contempt and disdain.

He signed for Derby the first day of June, the very day his contract ran out. I do not believe that no other club within commutable distance of here hadn't or wouldn't have come in for him in the several weeks before pre-season training would have started. I simply do not believe it. I think he made a choice because he didn't care about fans, he simply wanted the most money he could wring out of them. Well I hope for him it was worth it.

To take another player of his era, Julian Bennett will spend the rest of his life being adored and revered round his home and at an always welcoming City Ground. Kris will forever be a pariah, unsure when a local face recognises him as to whether he's about to get abuse. Now I don't condone that, I'd never do it, but it's a fact. When all he got from Pride Park was relegation battles and spanked 5-2 I'm not sure even Faust would have been so foolish.

Really good interview and great to hear his side of the move. So many Forest fans were fed the lines that it was about greed and doubling his contract, but it was much more of a human reason behind it

Another brilliant listen Robin

Best one yet, huge insight onto how badly a club can treat a person

Great to hear from Kris, he was my favourite player as a kid at that time and I was devastated to see him leave!

Fantastic interview and an interesting attempt to rebuild some bridges with Forest fans, but can't see it going down well. His side again is just one side of the story as is the story that comes from Forest's side. He still chose to go to Derby, he still chose to celebrate like a loony at the City ground etc. and should take the consequences that comes with that, in this case a bad relationship with Forest fans. I don't mind him but then again I am not a die hard Forest fan, but I can see why some die hards would find it hard to accept his side of the story.

Already knew the reasons behind joining Derby but I still think you shouldn't go from forest to Derby.

I gave him dogs abuse when he made the switch to that shower across the A52. Glad to see him doing well though and I’m happy he had a good career at Celtic too. He seems a grounded bloke. Football rivalries can get the best of us. But life is too short to hold a grudge. Especially considering what him and his wife were going through at the time of the move and the fact that he made the decision based on what he believed was best for his wife I can only respect.

No hard feelings, Chris. We gave you a hard time because we loved you. Take care.

Another good video Chippers. Was one of my favourite players as a young lad.

Hated him when he left but looking back he did help get us out of league one. Had a good career in the end and cant begrudge him that.

Very interesting and shows what a crazy time it was at forest then

Naaah. Not for me. I'll never forget those celebrations against us.

I just find there's something disingenuous about him. For example, its a lie about his tatoos. I can remember seeing a photo of them from when the derby players were swimming or something. He had a forest tree crossed out and a ram next to it. He burnt his bridges with me years ago and I'll never have any respect for him. I dont believe a word he says about not being offered a contract. What club lets their star player walk withour discussing a new contract? He did similar at Derby too a few years later iirc.

He's framed the Derby move from how he saw it, perhaps it was more complicated than that, but this is another prime example of what infuriated be about the Doughty/Mark Arthur regime. Just letting first team players contracts run out. This happened with Jim Brennan, Riccy Scimeca, Jack Lester, Gareth Williams, Kris Commons, Sammy Clingan, Kelvin Wilson, Rob Earnshaw, Joel Lynch, Luke Chambers & Garath McCleary (even Harewood was sold on the cheap* because his contract was running out and they didn't think a player that had scored 30+ goals in 18 months was worth giving a pay rise to). From a business point of view these were assets which were allowed to leave the club for free because there was no foresight in getting these players tied down to longer contracts when they had 18 months. I understand they were trying to balance the books and were concerned about FFP long before it was enforced, but it's like giving away all your electric goods for free because you don't want to pay the electricity bill.

*Same for Wes Morgan

Just to be clear, kris, Stuart Pearce did NOT play for Derby

I love this channel I still miss hearing you on a Saturday afternoon any chance you could get Billy Davies on the channel

Great interview..kris came across as a nice guy and now we know how bad forest treated who can blame him for leaving..he went on to have a decent career 👍

Chippers what's going on? Die hard forest fan here. Why interview someone like him. 2 steps backwards

24.00 Stuart Pearce didn’t do the switch to Derby, wash your mouth out.

Commons was a fantastic player, which made it all the more heartbreaking when he joined Derby. Forest should have had another 6 or 7 years great out of him.

Refuse to believe the club couldn’t or wouldn’t offer him a contract after winning promotion. I suspect the stubbornness of his agent and Kris himself led him away to Derby at that point though. I do accept the way it was managed by Forest wasn’t the best .......but would he have accepted a contract that was all ifs and buts dependent on what league we were in the folllowing season? He didn’t for Clough at derby and that led him to a move to Celtic (same agent/player contractual manouvering?).

But Forest could and should’ve offered him a deal. I agree. Badly managed by Forest, but no surprises because it was the era of Mark Arthur and Doughty where any evidence of ambition was in very short supply.

All said and done, Commons still chose to join Derby, and he’ll always be remembered as a Judas by Forest fans for making that move, especially at that point in his career and the clubs history.

He won’t be bothered though. He had a very decent career, and made his money.

Great stuff & great insight as ever Chippers, just shows how unjustified some of the abuse footballers get can be. No one knows what is happening behind the scenes, or what is happening in players personal lives. Kris & his wife suffered one of the worst sort of tragedies that can befall a couple, and takes a long time to get over if you ever do completely as I know from personal experience. Really pleased he went on to have the career he did.

I worked security for the kit launch that season in sheep land . Talked to kris back stage I said "Kris I'm a forest fan why did you leave us".
He said " forest didn't want me" I don't want to play for this sh1t" (pointing at his top). I felt he was honest then. Hearing this all these years later.
Good interview enjoyed it. 👏

Any respect I had for Commons was lost when he started kissing his Derby shirt while losing 4-2. He wobbles down he left wing...

Not sure about that hair dye Kris....

I liked Kris but the constant talk about him not wanting sign a new contract because he felt we as a club wasnt performing enough ect left a bit of a bad taste for me , then eventually he signed a extension if i remember right . All of this disappointed me a bit because as a player he was brilliant. i just felt his heart wasn't there and ultimately it was just about the money i think . Then when he joined Derby and we hammered them 5:1 i remember Kris kissing the derby badge on his shirt after they scored what was a consolation goal was just pathetic. It was great watching this though hearing him talk about his time was good . Great player just not my favorite person .

Hi Robin

This interview was one of the best.

Taken at face value, what a crime it was in not signing Kris up, especially as he didn’t want to leave. With the revealing of his personal circumstances, I hope now, once and for all, he is spoken about in a completely different light. Who can blame him for not wanting to play his football far away from family considering the events that took place. Events that for obvious reasons, were not publicised at the time.

He was a good player and clearly cared for the club. That’s why this interview is right up there, because it should act as a clarion call towards all forest supporters who remember seeing him play that the personal abuse must stop.

Great interview. Thank you.

If we kept him under davies . I think he would of been class . Like he did magugan

Stuart Pearce went to Derby?
Talking complete tripe.

This put a whole other spin on things, at the time when Kris left I was gutted/angry, thinking that hed left us for the sheep! now its clear and I take it all back Kris, sorry mate, disgusted he never got a sit down with the people that should have given him a red future!

Still shit on the club he "supposedly loved" and to a club in his own words said "I could never play for that team" A true fan and a lover of our club would never have done that. Always be a judas for that alone

I remember being at the city ground when we beat Derby 5-2, commons took some stick that evening

If Kris needs any more reason to regret what he did ... the whole Forest family - fans, staff, former and current players - have been so united in this magical season in so much mutual love. It's been a celebration of the club in an indescribable atmosphere. The only former Forest favourite not invited? Kris Commons. Yes he earned a few quid, but the last few months should have been for him what was really special about playing for a club like ours. It was the party of his life and he wasn't and never will be welcome. I wonder how worth it the 30 pieces of silver felt on the outside looking in?

It’s really interesting and sad to hear about the circumstances of Kris’s move to Derby. It’s a shame Forest fans didn’t know this at the time. Fair play to you Kris.

His son will is my friend