As the thoroughly depressing run of form continues, something hasn’t been right at The City Ground for some time now. And whilst we’ve navigated a global pandemic, it’s just about right that Nottingham Forest would carry the unwanted top spot of the worst team in the division during it.
They say that cockroaches would survive a nuclear war. I’m of the opinion that even if Nottingham Forest survived such a cataclysmic event, in current mood, we’d still probably lose to a Cockroach All Stars XI.
In terms of promotion aspirations, the season is all but a write-off. What’s looming larger, is a test of character to escape an increasingly growing possibility of relegation. I can’t be the only one who feels a shudder down the spine when I hear the words ‘too good to go down.’
The ship Nottingham Forest has sprang leaks left, right and centre. Whilst the captain and crew have already been thrown overboard and replaced, there doesn’t seem to be enough buckets to bail out the rising fast levels of water at this moment in time.
I was asked to make some predictions earlier in the week about the Brentford game and it was probably the most depressing three sentences I’ve ever written about Forest in supporting for 35+ years.
‘We’re on a dreadful run and worst side in the league since pandemic hit. Technically we are so poor, confidence is fragile and last seasons togetherness is lost. 1-3 Brentford.’
Admittedly, this was written as we were trailing 1-0 to Norwich on Wednesday evening but what followed in the last 20 minutes wasn’t enough to change my mind that I’d perhaps been a little over critical. It pains me to have written it. A sense of betrayal.
I don’t really want to get into the behind scenes stuff but I’ll offer a brief opinion. I thought the club did the honourable thing in sticking by Sabri Lamouchi. I welcomed a large number of the summer signings, on paper they looked upgrades. Chris Hughton is a fantastic appointment given the circumstances. It hasn’t worked out so far and that’s a tough pill for us all to swallow, but I can’t turn 360 on the ownership. There’s no doubting the resources invested to get Forest promoted.
Mistakes have been made granted. Some of the things I’ve read in the press definitely suggest no smoke without fire. If we take football out of the equation, any organisation is going to feel the impact of constant change. A complete overhaul following armageddon in recent months is going to take time to heal. The biggest worry is the lack of identity we have. Long are the days where we were renowned for a certain style of play. We’re now seen as one of the biggest revolving doors in English football that has ended in constant failure despite some short term gains.
Lessons need to be learnt and all hands on deck are required immediately. We’ve got to salvage what we can and the furthest thing we need at the moment is a change of ownership to complement what we’re already seeing on the pitch.
The ship simply cannot go down and that has to be the season objective. Any expectation of promotion has to be off the table. The players need to focus on the here and now.
I’ve seen Forest players still give 100% in worst circumstances. It’s not a team of young lads, it’s not a team of players that aren’t good enough. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves for much longer. The players are the only ones that can truly get us out of this mess.
I’ve still complete faith in Chris Hughton that he can get us back on course but we are going to learn an awful lot about this collective’s character over the next few months.
With the xG merchants in town today, they’ll be rubbing their hands together to get revenge after stuffing them twice last season. Grit and determination overcame football in both those games with a dash of quality I hasten to add. We’re going to need a huge injection of that today.
Time to take some responsibility Forest.