STUART Pearce is a man with an air of quiet satisfaction about him. To say the Nottingham Forest manager has had a busy summer is something of an understatement.
But, as he stands back and looks at the results of the extensive restructuring of his squad, you sense that he is pleased with what he sees.
More than 15 players have left Forest over the summer, with Robert Tesche, the German midfielder, becoming the 11th addition, when he became the second player to arrive from Hamburg, last week.
Forest broke their transfer record to sign Britt Assombalonga for £5m and also paid fees for Michail Antonio, Lars Veldwijk and Michael Mancienne, but they recouped more than £6m with the sale of Karl Darlow and Jamaal Lascelles to Newcastle.
And Pearce (pictured) admits he is delighted with the business the club have done.
"I am pretty frugal, I have lived around farming stock for a long time and they are particularly tight people," he joked. "What you have to throw into the mix as well as that we have recouped £6m in the transfer market, along with the wages of two players for the season, who have come back on loan.
"When you look at that dynamic and the fact that we have Jamaal still to come back and contribute, the business model has been pretty good. We are well in the black at this moment in time, when you consider the players who have gone off the wage bill. We are very happy with the business we have done.
"I am very pleased with the players who have come in and I am also pleased that the dressing room has made them feel so welcome. The new players have been made to feel so welcome that they have hit the ground running.
"You would not look at Assombalonga, Antonio, Fryatt, Burke or Lars and say 'it is going to take them a while to fit in yet'. They have all settled in really well."
Of the new additions, Dutch striker Veldwijk is the only one Pearce believes still needs time to acclimatise to his new surroundings.
But he remains confident that the powerful front man will prove to be a quality addition, once he does find his feet.
"Lars is the one we feel might take a little bit of time, but we knew that when we brought him to the country," said Pearce.
"He has the quality to make it, without a doubt. This is a relentless league. It is Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday – it is physically demanding.
"The way he would play in the Dutch league, you have more time on the ball, the game is more stretched. It is getting him used to the pace of the game.
"With the way the two front players are playing, we feel it is prudent to filter him in. We are working with him on an individual basis in the afternoon as well. We are just building him up.
"The more minutes he gets, the more he will improve. We feel we will have a player on our hands at the end of it."
It is Mancienne who Pearce believes may be the most astute signing Forest have made this summer, with the club shelling out around £500,000 to Hamburg for the former England under-21 defender or midfielder.
The 26-year-old is expected to slot straight back into the side at Bournemouth tomorrow, after picking up a one-match ban for his controversial sending off at Tranmere.
"Having Michael back will be a big bonus," said Pearce. "He is an outstanding footballer. We have already spoken about the business we have done this summer but the bit of business we did to get this boy is fantastic. We got him at a snip.
"I know him inside out and what a lot of people don't know is the man behind the footballer as well, because he is an outstanding man.
"He did have an influence on the signing of Tesche as well. I went to him and asked what he was like; whether he was good enough to play in this league.
"He said that he was, without a doubt. They are friends, but because the recommendation came from Michael, you know it is not a recommendation that is tainted by that (friendship). You know that he believes, in his heart of hearts, that Tesche will be a player who can be of benefit to Nottingham Forest.
"We need someone sitting in the centre of midfield. Tesche is a player who has played at centre-back, he has also played further up the pitch and at right-back. If you ask him to do a role for you, he will fill in and do it.
"We have got him here primarily as a defensive central midfield player. It gives us extra options in the middle of the park.
"The good thing at the minute is that we have options in the squad. I can ask (Chris) Cohen to play in two or three different positions and he will do it well. I can ask Michael Mancienne to do the same and he will do it well. Not just play there, but do it well.
"(Danny) Fox can play in two positions now, in the centre or at left-back. There are a few others too. Michail Antonio can play on the left or the right flank. Chris Burke can play on both sides as well. There are a few players who can play in different positions.
"Jamie Paterson will not only give us width when we need that, but he can also play in the hole, as a number ten, as he matures. There are a few players who have that and it has to bode well for the squad."
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