Through the seasons before us..

Carlisle United - 1
Nottingham Forest - 0

Forest failed to capitalise on their game in hand by falling to a single controversial goal at Carlisle tonight. The scorer, Hawley, certainly wasn’t offside as he headed home on the stroke of half time - but another player was clearly offside, but running back inside the six yard box (clattering Breckin in the process) - but deemed by the linesman and referee to not be interfering with play, so the goal was to stand.

It’s easy to use poor decisions as excuses though, and from the sound of the game a new look Forest line up had very little creative impact. With the departure of Nicky Southall, Smoulderwood opted for a midfield trio of Perch, Clingan and McGugan, with Lester “in the hole” behind Holt and Dobie. A brave move, putting Agogo and Tyson on the bench - and one, ultimately, that leaves Smoulds looking a bit naive in this writer’s opinion.

The familiar clueless refereeing of Mr Drysdale was in attendance, with numerous ridiculous bookings of Forest players without noticing Carlisle hacking down our players by hook or crook when they looked to get clear. All in all, it’s proven a bad day at the office all around - and Carlisle wanted the game more than us - the put us under more pressure, had more shots on goal, and ultimately won the three points.

Tyson and Agogo eventually made the field with a little under 15 minutes to go, but barely got a touch as Carlisle frustrated Forest by keeping the ball in our half. Ultimately, all we have to look back on in this game is a left-footed half volley wide from Jack Lester after a Dobie flick on, and Dobie taking the ball round the keeper but being unable to convert from a tight angle - and the bizarre sight of Ian Breckin operating as an emergency striker in stoppage time.

Very disappointing - the formation change was almost inevitable given the departure of Nicky Southall with no viable replacement (and even if we were to replace him, the player would be ineligible to play today anyway). Smoulders made a brave line-up choice, but ultimately it proved futile - Grant Holt, a Carlisle fan, and Scott Dobie, a former player, would have every motivation to have an impact - but failed to do so, and so our game in hand over our rivals ends with no points.

Some fans are getting on the manager’s back on the message boards, and in some ways I can see why - his selection and tactics tonight were baffling, and his reluctance to change them until 15 minutes to go, it does deserve some criticism. The brightest news of the night is that Bristol City also dropped three points against Cheltenham tonight, which is bittersweet because if we’d stepped up and won this we’d be second again. Ultimately though, poor refereeing decisions or controversial goals aside, we sounded like we were on the end of a just-deserved beating.

After what’s been a busy day, it ends on a low - fingers crossed that the rumours sweeping the message boards of a loan signing coming in tomorrow that will “blow your socks off” (oh dear, I seem to remember hearing that phrase before!) are not as rubbish as I think they probably are - we’ve missed a golden opportunity today, but we must look forward - and the game at Valley Parade on Saturday becomes all the more critical.

Perhaps the least surprising departure of the day, as Danny Cullip follows Thommo and Trigger out of the door to sign up for QPR in an 18 month deal.  The centre half has barely featured for the Reds since his late sending off against Oldham Athletic in a 5-0 New Years Day romp at Boundary Park - and rumours abound that it was at half time in this game that he had a nose-to-nose blazing row with Smoulderwood, since then he’s been frozen out.

Danny has been injured for much of his Forest career - but he’s had a roller-coaster time of it recently, when he came into the side earlier in the season we enjoyed our strongest form of the season - with the uncompromising defender barking orders in a back three formation alongside Breckin and Morgan.  He received much praise at the time, from myself included, for stablising the back line and providing a bit of leadership and stability - there were calls from some quarters to make him captain.

Since then, however, it’s fair to say he’s been less impactful.  Breckin and he don’t really work well together - and whilst I’ve appreciated Danny’s service, I know which I’d rather keep - whilst Brecks is a no-frills defender, he is lethal on set-pieces, whereas Cullip is rather cumbersome in an attacking capacity.  With the signing of Chambers yesterday the writing has been on the wall for Cullip for a while - although I did have a bit of a wonder when Thompson left earlier today.

There are rumours that a further incoming signing will be forthcoming; the increasingly stage-managed news releasing from Forest seems to be leaving this announcement (if indeed, there is one) until after the Carlisle United game.  If it’s happening it’s likely to be a loan signing - with Mark Yeates already moved to Leicester on loan, I’m fresh out of candidates - but as I listen to the game later I look forward to any potential updates!

Good luck Danny, and thanks for your time - but if you have indeed fallen out with the manager then the time was probably right to move on.

A surprising move has seen Nicky Southall return to Gillingham today - the 35 year old was out of contract at the end of the season, but with Forest only willing to extend it by a year, he’s instead opted for a two-and-a-half year deal with the Gills, where he’s inexplicably spoken of wanting to settle down before.  This will be his third spell with the Kent club, and whilst I have some reservations about our cover in his position, it’s nice that Forest have recognised the contribution he’s made.

I very much hope that we will have an incoming player though, given that Gillingham are involved I really hope it’s Matt Jarvis.  But to return to Trigger - he’s been a solid player for us in his relatively short time, contributing vital assists and goals along the way - including a memorable hattrick!  But certainly of late he’s starting to look his age a bit, so allowing him to return to where he sees his future is probably a sensible move - so long as we have a replacement lined up!  Which is certainly not the rumoured loan move of Mark Yeates from Tottenham, who’s joined the crisp-munchers on loan for the rest of the season.

Thanks for your hard work, Trig - as with Thommo, you’re not leaving for a club I particularly like - so good luck, within reason!

Forest have just confirmed that Tranmere have once again captured John Thompson on loan until the end of the season.  Presumably perpetually miserable bugger Ronnie Moore will have been a bit more careful over the recall clause this time around,  after accusing Smoulderwood of deliberately confounding his plans by recalling Thompson early from his last loan there.

Thompson is actually Forests longest serving professional, despite being only 25 years old.  He’s struggled to make a regular first team impact for some time, hindered by his own versatility in many ways - although crueller fans have suggested that his versatility is governed by his lack of excelling in any particular position.  With Chambers on board to push him further down the pecking order in defence, and Prutton doing likewise in midfield, it perhaps isn’t too surprising his future apparently is elsewhere.

So it’s to the almost-Scousers that Thommo is set - his contract with us is up in the summer, so it’s likely he’ll move there, or somewhere else, permanently come the end of the season.  In some ways it’s a shame - whilst never the most gifted player he’s had some decent games for us - but given the incoming signings I think it’s a sensible move for all concerned - it’s just a shame it’s to a divisional rival with a vague chance of challenging for promotion.

Good luck, Thommo, but not too much!

Once again Nicky Eaden has been offloaded to Lincoln City on a loan deal, presumably the Imps were unable to attract the unwanted defender to a permanent move (unsurprising, given his wages), so he’s once again at Sincil Bank to prove a danger to any flight paths that happen to fly over Lincoln any time soon.

He’s there until the end of the season now, having made 17 appearances for the Imps in his two previous loan stints.  He’s been very popular in his time with Lincoln and their manager has been positively gushing with excitement of being able to acquire his services once again - at 34 years of age he brings experience to the League Two promotion chasers.

I forget when his contract is up at Forest, but hopefully it’s in the summer so that we can just part company with him for good - I have no particular gripe with him, I think circumstances were somewhat against him given the timing of his arrival.  That aside, he was never much more than dire in a Forest shirt so the sooner he moves on the better for all of us!

Hot on the heels of talking about practically nothing but the Chelsea cup game, we’ve signed two players which has naturally drawn attention away from tomorrow’s important trip to Carlisle.  Neither Prutton nor Chambers are eligible to take part in the fixture due to signing for us too late - so Smoulds will not have the luxury of experimenting with his new acquisitions at least until Saturday’s game at Bradford.

Carlisle are on a shaky run, they’ve only won one in the last four league games - but then again, so have we - albeit more recently against Yeovil Town in our last home game.  United occupy 10th place in the table, and have a number of injury concerns which will be troubling their selection - Atkin and Lumsdon are ruled out, whilst Smith and Murray are both also doubts, but have a chance of featuring against us.

We emerge from a rather uninspiring showing against Chelsea at the weekend with no injuries or suspensions - Sammy Clingan’s harsh booking at Stamford Bridge earning him a suspension for the Northampton home game - so aside for the new boys we have a full squad to choose from, which is good news.  Given that we’ve dropped to fourth in the league this game becomes hugely significant, as it is one of our games in hand over Scunthorpe.  Bristol City are also in action tomorrow, at home to Cheltenham which has home win written all over it - meaning that it’s all the more important we pick up points.

Top scorer Grant Holt is of course a native of Carlisle, so will undoubtedly be keen to impress against his home town club - that is, of course, if Smoulderwood opts to play him upfront instead of in the bizarre left wing/left back position he found himself at the weekend.  The midfield will need to be on their toes too, knowing that Prutton is waiting in the wings to claim a place in the starting eleven.

I’m hoping to see a similar lineup as against Chelsea, but swapping Grant Holt with Nathan Tyson, and Sammy Clingan to replace Gary Holt in the starting eleven.  Having said that, I’m certainly hoping for a vastly improved performance from the lads - hopefully the Carlisle scouts opted for the easy option of watching our last game on TV and believe us to be the hapless disorganised team that turned up in the cup!

Shortly after the great news of Prutton agreeing terms with us, it’s been confirmed that long time Smoulderwood target Luke Chambers has also finally completed his move to Forest.  The young defender has signed a two and a half year deal, and arrives for an undisclosed fee from fellow League One side Northampton Town.  As with Prutton, he’s joined too late to feature against Carlisle tomorrow night, so is likely to make his debut against Bradford on Saturday.

Adding a bit of youth to the defence is a good move, particularly given that Cullip seems to have been frozen out of first team duties lately - and certainly two incoming players will do much to satisfy the increasingly grizzling Forest fans (self included!) who were getting impatient with the lack of activity - it would appear that Smoulderwood has bided his time and landed two key targets without paying over the odds, which in my book is good management, assuming - of course - that both players settle in and live up to their billing!

It was widely thought that originally a deal was on the table involving a Forest player going the other way (rumoured to be Jack Lester), but with that deal collapsing another was quickly instigated and we’ve landed our target - who was captain of the Cobblers despite his tender years.  I’m pleased we’ve signed him, rumours of loan targets like Mark Yeates would make be very happy indeed if they turned out to be true also.  My only fear is that by adding a further central defender to the ranks we may see a return of the dreaded back three formation!

After a seemingly ridiculous courtship, Forest have finally confirmed they have indeed secured the services of David Prutton for a second spell at the club.  The battling midfielder is of course a product of our youth academy, he’s signed initially on loan until the end of the season - where he’s out of contract with Southampton (thanks Tom), presumably if we got promotion then we will enjoy his services beyond this season.

Prutts has Premiership experience with Southampton, but has fallen out of favour with manager George Burley after spending time out with an ankle injury earlier in the season.  It’s thought we pipped both Hull and Leeds to signing him, and I’m sure both he and the fans will be keen to rekindle the relationship they had during his first spell here, when he was somewhat of a fans favourite.

Hopefully this won’t be the end of the transfer news today or tomorrow - but certainly the signing appears to have given the message boards a huge lift in the post-Chelsea gloom, so well done to Smoulders and crew for sticking to their guns and delivering a signing that has sparked genuine excitement.  Having said that, I for one won’t be happy if this is our only activity during the transfer window.

Welcome back, Prutts - although the referees are really shit at this level, so try not to hit any of them!

I’d largely dismissed Prutton-talk - it’s been going on tirelessly, but according to Talk Sport he’s agreed a deal with Forest and is as I type travelling to have his medical.  Of course, what with the “Barry Cogan is in Nottingham!” rumours last week, it remains to be seen whether it’s true or just further desperate speculation from increasingly impatient Forest fans awaiting some activity in the transfer window.

Prutton, of course, was with us previously and the combative midfielder earned a place in Forest fans hearts for his spirited - if not always skillful - performances in a Forest shirt.  I’m not sure he’s quite the creative force many fans seem to want us to sign, but certainly he’ll put himself about which is also something that can go missing from our midfield on occasions, so long as he can control his firey temperament.

Other rumours doing the rounds are that we’re in for another as yet unnamed Southampton player, and that we are after Mark Yeates on loan from Tottenham, he’s a two-footed winger who’s highly rated, and just the kind of player (on paper) that many of us have been crying out for, so hopefully there’s some truth in this and Spurs are willing to do their former player Smoulderwood, and us - who gave them Dawson for what turned out to be a bargain - a favour, and get him some experience to boot.

Notable rumour-mongers (admittedly not always reliable ones, in fact, let’s be fair - they’re rarely reliable) claim there will be signings today, some stating as many as three - so fingers crossed we’ll actually get some transfer news to give us a boost after what was really a very disappointing FA Cup tie against Chelsea from an on-the-pitch perspective.  Roll on the next few days when at least - even if we have to endure the disappointment of not signing anyone - the infernal speculation and “I’ve got an inside source!” nonsense can cease at least for a few months!

Chelsea - 3
Nottingham Forest - 0

I certainly never even had a vague hope of an upset, so this result was very much to be expected - today has been all about the occasion, an opportunity to enjoy a game without any importance being attached to the result, to travel with my fellow Reds fans and make a load of noise.  To that end, it was very much mission accomplished - okay, there was a tiny glimmer of optimism that was hoping for a surprise result as well, but that was to be quickly extinguished!

The coach journey was fairly uneventful, and saw us arrive about 5 minutes walk from the Chelsea Village at around noon - giving us time to take in our surroundings; which have certainly changed considerably since my last visit to Stamford Bridge!  The outside of the ground offered glimpses of the absolute gulf between ourselves and this level of football, not to mention the series of very flash motors driving into the nearby carpark.

It was hard to miss the chaps from LTLF with their banner outside, posing for all and sundry from both press and TV - I’ve filched the below picture from another fan’s site, I’m sure he won’t mind!  It was saddening to read - upon returning and catching up with the forum gossip - that not only was the banner taken down after its fleeting appearance, but it was confiscated and not returned by an over-zealous official - hopefully the folks on the site make good with their letters of complaint as that’s out of order.

So on to the game - well, the first half involved Chelsea having a gargantuan 81% of possession, according to their scoreboard!  So it’s not really surprising that they were 3-0 up at the stroke of half time.  The first goal was unfortunate, a scuffed shot from Shevchenko looked easy for Smith to deal with, until Curtis deflected it beyond him leaving him wrong footed.  It was originally accredited as an own goal, before presumably Roman had a word with the BBC so it was re-accredited to his £30million plaything.

The second goal came direct from a freekick, Drogba smashing the ball into the top left corner of the goal; leaving Smith with little chance.  The final goal was disappointing, right on the stroke of half time, Smith made a save but Mikel was on hand to stab the ball home from close range.  So 3-0 down at half time, and frankly, we deserved it.  Forest looked in awe of their illustrious opponents, and Chelsea gave us a masterclass in running off the ball, creating space and first touch.  If the ground was to start to illustrate the gulf in class between us, the first half performance hammered it home.

Sammy Clingan replaced Grant Holt at half time - Grant had been operating as a left winger, but more often found himself in defence.  Sammy did add some calm to midfield and whilst never glittering, Forest did do better - highlights from our point of view were Agogo beating a man and almost laying on a chance for Perch - if only his foot were a few inches bigger!  Tyson almost broke through too, but lost out to a last ditch tackle - only for the ball to end up right at the other end of the pitch, where Shevchenko shaped up to shoot and put it out for the throw in!!

The final amusing bit of the game came when Jack Lester was on the pitch - as Nicky Southall laboured over challenging near the corner flag, Jack went flying in, won the ball and advanced on the penalty area before he unleashed the characteristic swan dive - amazingly the referee bought it, although the resulting freekick was rubbish as Southall chipped it to the unmarked Clingan on the edge of the box, when he really wanted it rolling to him to be able to fire an early shot.

Other than the game, the real story for us at least was the supporters - the Forest fans were in great voice, I had numerous texts from friends to say it was all they could hear on the BBC coverage - and the Chelsea fans were largely silent, vacuous and appeared disinterested in the game - many of them electing to leave early - many not arriving for the second half until well after it had started.

The fans opposite could be seen rising and clapping occasionally, what they were singing remains a mystery.  The fans to our left just stared, didn’t move, and left early - a few standing “giving it large” as though beating a division three side was some kind of achievement - definitely the poorest support I’ve witnessed given the circumstances.  It didn’t take long for the Reds fans to dominate the atmosphere again even after Chelsea had scored - they were that bad!

Ultimately, this was probably a pretty meaningless game against a small team to most Chelsea supporters - for us it was a chance to let off steam, and boy did we do it - the Forest fans did themselves and the club proud, and whilst the on-the-pitch showing was poor at best, the supporters showed themselves capable of operating at a higher level.  The only players who really had “good” games for me were Perch and Bennett, Clingan made a difference when he came on - it would have been interesting to see what Tyson could manage if he had any service at all.

Now back to the league…