Through the seasons before us..

Nottingham Forest - 3
Yeovil Town - 2

Cheltenham Town - 2
Doncaster Rovers - 1

How can I start to sum up today?  Particularly since I’m not staying long, I’m off to the pub for a well-earned pint or several.  

Firstly, my heartiest congratulations to Cheltenham Town who secured survival in League One as well as giving us the opportunity to nick second spot.  I’m genuinely thrilled for them, I reckon they rank officially as my second team now!  Commiserations to Doncaster and Carlisle who have been worthy challengers over the course of the season - we as Forest fans know what it’s like to have something nicked from you at the last minute, so I’d hope that you won’t find too much gloating around the place.

It was great to see so many Yeovil fans stick around to join our celebrations too, every encounter I’ve had with fans of the Glovers has been positive (even if the games haven’t been), so it was nice to see them entering into the spirit of the day and cheering along with us once the game was over, hats off to you - and to the team too, who contested the game as we started to come a bit unstuck in the second half.  It was a tense afternoon!

I will endeavour to pull a better match report out the bag tomorrow, because frankly I’m itching to get down the pub - but the final congratulations must go to Smoulds and the boys for maintaining their great end of season run, sure, it wasn’t always pretty - but they held their nerve and now can rightly celebrate avoiding the playoffs and have a well earned rest in preparation for next season.  It’s not been a classic season, but boy I’ve never felt like that at the City Ground in many a year.

The goals are about all I can think to sum up, the first was of course scored by fans player of the season, Julian Bennett (congratulations, Jules) - and frankly, whilst I poo-poo people generally when people compare him to Psycho, but this particular goal and build-up was worthy of the great man himself.  Bennett flattened Marvin Williams with a hard-but-fair challenge, before having the ball laid back to him by Tyson, which he proceeded to blast into the ‘net with the outside of his left foot.

Commons provided the second goal just five minutes later, the hard-working Ormerod picking him out perfectly with a weighted through-ball that put him clear of the defence and into a one-on-one chance with Steve Mildenhall, who was unable to prevent Commo slipping it through his legs and into the waiting goal.  At this point some bugger started a rumour that Cheltenham were winning, I seem to remember this happening last season too, and whoever it is, it’s really not funny!

Yeovil showed they had no intention of being pushed over, nicking a quick goal back as Peters made a great run through a half-asleep looking Forest defence; McGugan put in a challenge but it fell kindly for Stewart who played it back to Peters who gave Paul Smith no chance at all with a decent finish from close range.  Shortly after this news that Cheltenham really had scored filtered through, unleashing an elated roar from the Forest fans.

Shortly after this we regained our comfort zone, Cohen was fouled just outside the penalty area - I jokingly commented at the time we should let McGugan take it as Commons would spanner it into the wall, well fortunately McGugan did take it - and curled a beautiful and powerful strike into the top right hand corner giving Steve Mildenhall no hope in hell of keeping it out.  After this Forest piled on the pressure - Morgan was unlucky from two consecutive corners and Commons was putting in some fantastic crosses from the left (take note - that’s where he should play!!).

There was an arguable shout for a penalty when Wes was hauled to the deck by a couple of Yeovil defenders, and finally Yeovil showed they weren’t out of it when Williams was sent clear by Stewart who conspired to completely miss the target from around the penalty spot much to the relief of the home support who were convinced it was going to peg us back again.  And that was half time, realistically it could have been about 4 or 5 goals to Yeovils 1 (or 2, had Williams done better).

The other reassuring thing was that we were playing some nice one-touch football at times, in neat little triangles - putting in crosses and creating chances; it was with disbelief Forest fans contemplated the second half.  Cheltenham winning, Forest winning by a comfortableish margin and playing really well aside from a couple of defensive lapses - it all seemed a bit too perfect, a bit too alien to a group of fans so used to being the ones photographed crying at the end of the season.

The second half started as the first had ended, Forest dominated possession but seemed to struggle to have the cutting edge they’d found in the first half - and this let the visitors come back into the game.  Perch put in a fantastic block (having earlier made another superb tackle - his performance today is worthy of highlighting), but picked up a knock in the process - prompting Smoulds to throw Junior Agogo into the action - and odd move, considering their relative positions.

Agogo’s first action was to tee up a chance for Tyson, the pass was a very poor one but credit to Tyson who used his pace to get hold of it and around Mildenhall, but the shot from a tight angle was cleared from the line by Skiverton.  Seemingly all at the same time Doncaster equalised and then Yeovil scored again from a quickly taken corner - again the Forest defence was caught napping leaving Andy Kirk with the easy opportunity to head in from close range.  Of course, as results stood we were still in second, but it certainly set a few sphincters twitching.

From listening to the radio summary it transpires Doncaster were to throw the kitchen sink at Cheltenham - they even hit the post at one point, but at the time the first we knew of it was that Cheltenham had once again taken the lead.  The atmosphere, which had been excellent in the first half and more subdued in the second, lifted again - with the majority of the fans standing and singing (thank heavens for some reasonable stewarding today!) and it seemed to have an impact on the Reds players - particularly Tyson who characteristically worked his arse off.

Breckin replaced the injured Chambers, and immediately started to marshall the lads which was probably needed - Wilson switched to rightback, which didn’t fill me with comfort - but Yeovil had started to either tire or ease off.  Brett Ormerod was withdrawn for Arron Davies and received a deserved ovation as he left the field, as news filtered through to us that the Cheltenham game had finished with the home side winning.  It still felt tense awaiting the three minutes of stoppage time, but when that whistle went the ground literally erupted.

There was the inevitable pitch invasion, which can be frustrating when you’re in the upper tier, but after attempting to prevent it, the police and stewards gave up and allowed the pitch to fill with dancing Forest fans, who caught hold of numerous players including Junior Agogo and Chris Cohen.  After it had died down and everyone was off the team re-emerged for a deserved lap of honour, taking applause from all the Forest fans as well as the numerous Yeovil fans who had remained to take in the celebrations.

After attempting a hand-holding length-of-the-pitch run and Klinsmann-type dive, the excitement got the better of the fans again who encroached and almost collided with the players; but what a day, the like of which it seems so long since we’ve witnessed!  I found myself almost numb and disbelieving after the dancing and the singing had died down, I don’t think it’s going to sink in properly until some time in the middle of next week.  So I’ll write it down.  We finished second, we’re definitely promoted to the Championship, we don’t have to play in the playoffs, and we’re playing Derby next year!

My mission statement when I started this blog last season was that I hoped to be able to diarise the start of some kind of recovery for Forest; it’s come a year later than I’d hoped - but bloody hell it felt good despite the wait!  A huge well done to all the Forest coaching staff and players alike, you’ve really pulled this out the bag and we’re all so thrilled you probably wouldn’t believe it - even after the scenes you witnessed today.  I still can’t quite believe it’s real, but I’m going to go and sink a few pints now which will surely help confirm it!

This did actually turn into as comprehensive match report as I ever manage to garble together for you, so I probably won’t do another one - but I’m sure I’ll have more to say tomorrow once the hangover fades.  Thanks for those of you who’ve stuck with me this season through all my moodswings, and for Vassilis in particular, mate I’m going to try to take a leaf out of your optimistic book - because you were right all along, fella!

THE REDS ARE GOING UP!

Hartlepool United - 0
Nottingham Forest - 1

After the results all panned out today, it sees us just one point from that precious second spot, making the issue of automatic promotion something that will be decided next Saturday, the final day of the season.  Those of you who believe in fairy tales will appreciate our opponents that day are the side who of course crushed our promotion aspirations in quite spectacular style, whilst I’m still desperately suppressing my in-built negativity, it would be pretty sweet to win promotion by beating Yeovil Town!

So today as Forest were struggling to overcome a spirited Hartlepool side, Carlisle were thumped 3-0 away at Millwall, enabling the Reds to overtake the Cumbrians.  Doncaster, meanwhile, were registering a comfortable-looking 2-0 win over Luton Town to maintain the slender gap they have over us, so we jump up to third place, and Doncaster up to second, neatly setting up what promises to be a very tense showdown next week when we play Yeovil, and Doncaster travel to Cheltenham - who still have League One survival to play for.  Carlisle welcome Bournemouth next week, who are also playing for survival.

Before we get into the match then we should also offer congratulations to neighbours Notts County, a win over Wycombe today ensured they will remain a football league club this season.  Commiserations to Mansfield Town who are all but facing relegation to the Blue Square Premier after a defeat at Field Mill this afternoon.  I don’t profess particular fondness for either side, but I would always want Nottinghamshire to retain the three football league clubs it has had since I can remember.

A difficult surface and high winds caused difficulties for both sides, and despite a reasonably bright start chances were hard to come by.  The first fell to Perch who took advantage of a botched clearance from a Cohen corner, turning and shooting just wide of the goal.  Again a Cohen corner caused problems, heading close to being a shot on target and cleared off the line by a defender with the ‘keeper at sixes and sevens.

Around the half hour mark Perch played Tyson through who beat the defender for pace and almost beat Lee-Barrett who was just able to stop the shot with his legs.  The monkeyhangers had moments of danger too, with ‘Godfather of Soul’ James Brown causing both Luke Chambers and Kelvin Wilson significant difficulties, and the remainder of the half was really all about pressure from the home team.

At half time Kris Commons was introduced for Brett Ormerod who’d endured lengthy treatment during the first half, and it was Commons who created the first opportunity in the second half - beating two players and shooting on target and forcing a good save from the Hartlepool ‘keeper.  McCleary too was causing danger, finding Wilson with a cross who headed back toward Tyson whose header was wide.

One of those often-infuritating short corners worked out well after Commons did well to get a dangerous cross in to Tyson, who couldn’t find the target despite beating the ‘keeper.  Hartlepool had a great chance through the dangerous James Brown, but a combination of Morgan and Perch managed to block the chance almost at source to clear the danger.  It was around this time that it was apparent Carlisle were on course to lose, and it caused a certain amount of tension from the away fans who urged the Reds to attack.

Hartlepool continued to press, and a shot from Foley had Smith scrambling - eventually keeping hold of the ball after two attempts.  Smoulds then made a double substitution with 20 minutes left on the clock, McGugan replacing Perch, and Davies replacing Lockwood, obviously we know they turned out effective - or at least one of them did - so well done to Colin for changing when he did!

Tyson did well to create a chance for Commons, but the driven pass made it difficult for him to control, so t’was to be another chance to miss the target.  The home side came agonisingly close to a late winner with Mackay just unable to connect with a cross to the back stick.

The lead came for the travelling Reds with just four minutes remaining, Wes Morgan playing the ball to Garath McCleary who laid it off perfectly for Lewis McGugan who unleashed a left-footed curling shot from the edge of the area into the ‘net, much to the delirium of Forest fans, players and coaching team alike.  The icing on the cake was almost in place when Commons shot from the edge of the area, but had to be content with seeing his shot rebound from the bar.

The end of the game was predictably tense - six minutes or so of stoppage time was never going to help that - and Hartlepool did finish with attacking possession, but of course we were to hold out and register a hard-earned win, if not prettily earned.  A huge well done to the boys and the coaching team, we’ve set ourselves up for a very tense afternoon next week, but it’s incredibly exciting to suddenly have a very real prospect of automatic promotion again!

So our job is to fill the City Ground and get right behind the boys next week, of course, if Doncaster win then no result will be enough - but whatever is to happen, we need to play our part (as well as sending as much positive karma as humanly possible to Bournemouth and - particularly - Cheltenham.  There’s going to be some inflated ‘phone bills due to that day as we’ll be constantly checking the scores elsewhere!

Can fairy tales really come true?  Well no, probably not - the fact we’re playing Yeovil again is probably just a coincidence or a not-so-amusing joke by whoever puts together the Football League fixtures - either way, I’m prepared to try to believe just for a week! YOU REDS!

Nottingham Forest - 1
Luton Town - 0

Unusually Smoulds summed up the game this afternoon quite succinctly.  He said we didn’t create much of not in the first half, played well in short spells in the second half, and that ultimately the result was much more important than the performance.  Pretty good summary, really, it was a frustrating afternoon which was decided by the hardworking Nathan Tyson, who worked hard whilst receiving the kind of service that NTL customers are more accustomed to.

Chances in the first half were limited to a decent Commons curling shot which gave us a corner courtesy of Luton ‘keeper Dean Brill, an off-the-line clearance from Breckin after a corner.  Then after around a half hour pause of turgid and laboured football again Commons shot but weakly, before another corner brought a half chance that Cohen volleyed wide.  Hutchinson played a cunning game with Tyson, holding on to him just enough to get away with.

The talk of using wingers was obviously a media smokescreen by Smoulds, because we didn’t in the first half - however with Brett Ormerod being withdrawn due to illness for Garath McCleary, there promised to be more creativitiy in the second half - immediately hugging the right touchline and putting a decent cross in which evaded Tyson, waking up the crowd somewhat who were quiet, and not particularly numerous, despite a decent following from already-relegated Luton.

Other highlights of the second half largely featured Bennett, who made an excellent Cruyff turn and then a stepover (the latter for no apparent reason) when surging forward, before being poleaxed and losing the ball, Benno also put in an absolutely heroic block when former-Reds target Matthew Spring looked an absolute dead cert to score after the ball broke to him in the box after some rather shoddy defending on the part of the Reds.

We finally took the lead after excellent work by Commons took him past two Town defenders before crossing towards McCleary.  Reports I’ve read suggested he headed across goal aiming for Tyson, but I suspect it was just a poor intended goalbound header, either way, after several attempts the tenacious Tyson was eventually able to spanner the ball into the net much to the relief of the crowd - a well deserved goal for him after a tireless performance.

Luton wilted, playing merely for pride they basically stopped trying for a spell - Sammy Clingan had a good effort from range from a corner which was just wide, however, Forest too were starting to play lazily and letting the visitors back in it.  Spring unleashed a powerful shot which wasn’t hard for Smith to stop, but he couldn’t gather it, the ball ended up with Emanuel who also brought a save from the Reds ‘keeper.  At the other end Cohen had a shot deflected wide.

Commons was withdrawn with about five minutes left for Lewis McGugan, and immediately from a corner Wes Morgan was unlucky when Brill was able to tip his header over the bar.  He again had to make the save from Tyson after McCleary had done really well to find him with another cross, after which Tyson was withdrawn for a deserved ovation (tinged with celebrations in some pockets of the ground who’d discovered Southend had scored) for Thornhill, and that was pretty much it.

Of course, elsewhere Carlisle were busy losing and Doncaster were busy drawing - which puts us within just three points of automatic promotion with two games left.  Personally I think it’s too late to be thinking about that, but if you let yourself for a minute it is a tantalising prospect!  Certainly it will make checking results compulsory during next weekend’s trip to Hartlepool assuming of course that we can do the business in our own games.

I noticed early into the game a ‘Calderwood Out’ banner in Capital One corner - which seems a stupid thing to be unfurling in the run-up to a likely playoff campaign.  Clearly many fellow fans felt the same as it was roundly criticised by the fans around there until it was withdrawn.  That said, a fair number of those fans who rightly pointed out we should be backing the team no matter what at this stage of the season presumably were also the ones who booed the team off at half time.  Silly people.

All in all, an uninspiring performance but an invaluable three points potentially - to be honest, the only players who really stood out today were Bennett (not always for good things, but that’s just who he is!), Tyson who worked his arse off, McCleary offered us a different outlet and James Perch looked more comfortable than he has in a long time in the holding midfield role - so hats off to them, the rest of ‘em, must try harder in subsequent games!  You Reds!

A frankly bizarre piece in the Evening Post today from Smoulders, he’s decided he’s going to make use of our wingers - particularly Commons and McCleary, but also mentions Davies who should be fit within the next couple of weeks.  This does seem strange since usually our formations usually seem custom-built by our manager to create a widthless shape with our widemen forced inside (or resolutely played inside either in ‘the hole’ or as a striker).

It’s incredibly reassuring though, I don’t know how long I’ve been banging on about our lack of width, but frankly it’s already started to bore me silly - so it must be similar for any other readers; and it’s not like I’m the only Forest fan who sees the problem either, judging by the message boards and indeed even comment in the local media.  Maybe Smoulderwood has finally started to realise - and not before time, if he does play a sensible formation with wingers - preferably without this ’swap the wingers over’ nonsense, then it would do wonders for my attempts to stay positive during our final promotion push.

The idea of a conventional 4-4-2 formation with Kris Commons actually deployed on the left, and Garath McCleary on the right - both of them told to hug the touchline - is an incredibly appealing one indeed, it should open up the centre of midfield too preventing our games becoming a scrappy midfield battle that we’ve seen so often.  Oooh, I can honestly say that the prospect is genuinely exciting - let’s hope he’s not just talking a load of rubbish in the press!

Tranmere Rovers - 0
Nottingham Forest - 2

In an unusually ruthless performance, Forest made Tranmere pay by converting their two chances on target this afternoon to grab a win that the home side would have felt was a harsh result.  Goals either side of half time from Nathan Tyson and Wes Morgan were enough to give Forest the win.  It doesn’t quite confirm our place in the playoffs, but it does make the cursed circus at the end of the season seem all the more likely.

Smoulds made five changes to the starting lineup, Bennett returned in place of Lockwood at left back, Breckin came in for injured Wilson, Perch replaced McGugan in midfield, Tyson replaced injured Agogo and McCleary started over Commons.  The team lined up in the familiar widthless 4-3-3 arrangement, with Perch sitting just infront of the defence.  Predictably this lead to the home side enjoying plenty of possession early in the game.

Forest did look occasionally threatening on the break though, McCleary did well to win the ball in midfield and play a quick ball into Ormerod whose turn was good, but shot was off-target.  Former Reds striker Ian Moore had the first chance for the home side, doing well to escape the attentions of Sammy Clingan before firing a fairly tame side-footed shot straight at Paul Smith from around six yards out - a real let off.

The next chance fell to Shane Sherriff who, despite attentions from Luke Chambers, managed to get a shot away, but it was across the face of goal and didn’t trouble Smithy.  The home crowd thought their pressure had rewarded them with the lead after 20 minutes when a cross found Chris Greenacre unmarked to slot the ball into the net with ease, but fortunately for us the linesman’s flag was already up to disallow the effort for offside.

Tranmere continued to press, and an excellent cross by Shuker was met by Moore - but his headed effort was easily caught and held by Smith.  Shuker continued to prove a threat down the right had side of the the Rovers attack, and crafted an opportunity to shoot himself shortly after this, with Perchy being in the right place at the right time to deflect the effort using his head to keep Forest’s goal unbreached.

Against the run of play Forest took the lead, and it was pretty much our first decent attempt of the game barring Ormerod’s earlier miss.  Chris Cohen played a tantalising long-ball over the top for Tyson to run on to, seemingly strolling past Kay before rounding the keeper and stroking the ball into an empty net from four yards out much to the delirium of the travelling Forest fans.

The home side should have levelled it straight after - Ian Goodison having time and space to head the ball goalward, but only managing to hit the sidenetting, and so Forest were able to reach the half-time break with a one-nil lead despite creating very little, and defending resolutely, giving them the crucial lead that, had other results gone our way, could have confirmed our place in the playoffs.

The second half set itself up to be more of the same, Tranmere pushed forward and Sherriff crossed well to find Shuker on the back post, but again it was met with a tame header that was pretty much straight at Smith in the Forest goal.  At the other end, a short corner actually worked (!), McCleary playing it to Cohen whose cross found Morgan at the back post to head strongly into the top corner of the net to give Forest a very unlikely 2-0 lead.

McCleary was withdrawn for Commons as Tranmere also made a couple of changes, and Forest started to look more comfortable in the game - albeit playing very defensively.  Tyson had another chance on the break, but elected to shoot from the angle - narrowly missing - rather than setting up Ormerod or Commons who were up and supporting his run.  Tyson is to be credited with not responding to the absolute battering he picked up from the elbows of Goodison throughout the game - which the referee deigned to ignore completely.

Rovers had one more real chance in the game, a diving header from Moore that went wide after a Greenacre cross, after which they struggled to create a great deal - and Forest didn’t really look like they were wanting to create much.  Matt Thornhill came on for the hardworking Ormerod and Forest finished the game in a 4-5-1 formation, content to sit on the lead they’d somehow gained over the course of the game.

So all in all, a lucky win on balance of play - Wes Morgan was brilliant in particular - but it’s one of those wins, at this stage of the season, that makes you think back to results against teams like Bournemouth, Luton, Millwall, Bristol Rovers or Walsall where had we picked up points there, we would still be in the running for automatic promotion instead of making do with finishing in the playoffs.  Of course, mathematically speaking automatic promotion is still possible - just very unlikely.

It’s good to see a ruthless performance in terms of taking chances as they come, two shots on target and two goals is as good a return as you can hope for.  A very relaxed referee today too, who ignored countless elbows Tyson received from Goodison, then went and booked a Rovers player for taking a freekick too quickly!  It was good to see Tyson’s red mist was kept in check though, and he continued to work hard throughout the game despite unsavoury attentions from the centreback.

So we’re back up to fourth, agonisingly we’re just 3 points behind Doncaster and just 6 behind Carlisle (who lost today to a - shock horror - late Leeds winner), but with just three games remaining we’ve left any hope of catching those two far too late.  With the day approaching when Leeds should find out whether or not they are to be re-awarded any of their points back, there could be a twist in the automatic promotion tale, but not for us, I fear.

Nottingham Forest - 1
Bristol Rovers - 1

You could almost sense the moment when (contrary to a comment on the site earlier in the week) it occurred to Smoulds and the players that tonight was a chance to register three consecutive league wins this season - and it was then that we decided that we’d defend the hardly convincing looking 1-0 lead we’d amassed thanks to an excellent freekick from Lewis McGugan.  It’s infuriating.

When any modicum of pressure seems to be on, we wilt and make our opponents better, fill them with confidence until they inevitably triumph.  Or something.  That’s what it felt like tonight.  Tonight was a dangerous portent into the future - a sub 16,000 crowd, with a healthy away following for a tuesday night trek from the West Country, and scrapping for a point with a frankly poor opponent - who left the City Ground good value for a point.

The highlight of the evening was probably watching the knuckle-draggers from Bristol fighting with the police and stewards in the away end, as well as - of course - a rather special goal from Lewis.  The first half saw us with an unnecessarily tinkered-with formation, some kind of 4-3-3 widthless thing we’ve become accustomed to, despite looking decent in something approximating 4-4-2 in previous games.

In the first half we were relatively positive, our first chance fell to Chambers who connected without challenge to an excellent McGugan corner, with the Rovers ‘keeper equal to it to make the save.  Forest’s shaky defence gave Rovers their first chance, but it was simple for Smith to deal with - however, Rovers constantly exploited the left hand side of the pitch, with Chambers having a ‘mare defensively - looking, funnily enough, rather like a centreback playing at fullback.

Commons twice had decent efforts from range shortly after - the first from open play was well hit and curling, but not difficult for Phillips in the Rovers goal to save - and shortly after he had another go from a freekick after the once-again-lethargic Agogo was fouled - this was hit very well indeed and it was a cracking save by Phillips to concede a corner rather than a goal.

So when another freekick came up we felt we couldn’t expect another good strike - how wrong we were, as McGugan crashed the ball straight into the top corner from around 30 yards, silencing the knuckle-draggers below us who then proceeded to start squabbling with the police and stewards, which was somewhat distracting from the game.  The last chance of the half was an acrobatic volley by Commons after good work by McGugan, but it was never really on target - and was a difficult chance to take.

Half time came and Agogo - who had been limping slightly - was withdrawn for Garath McCleary, with Forest playing a kind of 4-5-1 formation, but still without wingers somehow.  Forest sat back, as is their wont, and we looked to have conceded the equaliser soon into the half, Chambers again was beaten by his man Haldane and after a scuffle Disley headed in, but from an offside position according to the linesman.

Rovers were starting to grow in confidence as Forest sat back and invited the pressure - although they struggled to create a great deal - Haldane could perhaps have done better with the next chance of the match which was a tame header straight at Smith.  The equaliser came just after the hour mark, a quickly taken freekick leaving Forest’s defence hopelessly unprepared as Elliott was on hand to loop a header into the goal.

They could’ve taken the lead soon after, Matt Lockwood gifting the ball to former Notts player David Pipe who teed up Andy Williams - who missed the target.  Forest did labour to get forward on occasions - particularly through McCleary who had a decent effort from range deflected wide, but looked pretty toothless going forward prompting chants of ‘Attack, attack, attack’ from the increasingly irate home crowd.

There were piecemeal chances for Ormerod, and Commons who did everything right ’til his shot in the closing moments, but Rovers held on against some pressure from the Reds in the closing stages to get a deserved points.  The home side had to content themselves to further boos from the home crowd and another missed chance to get an elusive three consecutive wins in the league.  Crowds of this magnitude probably won’t stand out as unusual next season if we fail to get promotion.

Unfortunately Smoulders didn’t deign to be available for interview before the radio stopped broadcasting sport for the evening, but it will be interesting to hear him explain what prompted his change in approach and personnel - with Commons available (and, to be fair, playing pretty well in spells) he could still have lined up in the same kind of formation that has worked for us in recent games, but alas, he has to piss about with it and change it.

Definitely a draw snatched from the jaws of victory, and it seemed to me that we had no idea how to go about correcting it - the game was pretty much summed up when, under no pressure at all, Kelvin Wilson - so often our Mr Consistent - couldn’t manage a 10 yard square pass to Matt Lockwood without conceding a throw-in.  All in all, a frustrating way to have spent an evening, which clearly a number of Reds fans could foresee and thus stayed away.

Nottingham Forest - 3
Cheltenham Town - 1

Hot on the heels of the win against Carlisle, Forest have equalled their best run of the season with two consecutive wins - with the opportunity to get to the magic three against Bristol Rovers. Despite going on a goal down due to slack defending, Forest eased to a comfortable win against a side that looked every bit the relegation-fodder their league standing could suggest.

The first moment of excitement came courtesy of Kelvin Wilson, who ambled forward in a characteristically casual manner without being closed down, before unleasing an absolute pile-driver from about 40 yards which the Cheltenham ‘keeper left late to tip over the bar. Forest struggled to break down the away side who defended in numbers, but eventually a combination of Agogo and McCleary teed up a chance for Ormerod which was well saved - McClearly getting a header on the rebound which was just over.

Forest were starting to look much more comfortable, without wishing to labour the point, the almost 4-4-2 formation gave us both balance and outlets to play the kind of football we’ve seldom seen from the Reds lately. Agogo again - still somewhat lacklustre in his demeanour (but a lot better than other recent games!) - came close with a shot from range that was just wide of the post.

Just as our defenders were taking a snooze from boredom, Cheltenham took a shock lead - basically it was a route one effort with the ball reaching Steven Gillespie who was able to stroll right down the middle of the penalty area between Wes and Kelvin, scuff his shot which then went in off the post, prompting some actual noise from the very quiet travelling Cheltenham fans - although even when behind, the feeling in the crowd wasn’t negative, and didn’t really get a chance to be…

Because it was only five minutes until we would get the equaliser - Morgan threw the ball quickly to Clingan after some sustained pressure, Clingan crossed excellently to the strangely-unmarked Agogo in the six yard box who expertly chested the ball down and swivelled to half volley the ball powerfully into the goal. Forest continued to press, and Clingan was unlucky not to score from 20 yards with a powerful volley which was saved by the out-of-position visiting goalkeeper.

Bennett was substituted for Commons after some lengthy treatment (although he did come back on and go sprinting after the ball after this!), with Cohen eventually slotting into the left back position and Commons into midfield. Increasingly we started to see McCleary switching position to get involved, so he would pop up on the left or the right as well as making moves into the middle, and as ever, Commons rarely stayed on the left either.

The lead was taken right before half time, a McGugan cross was well headed by McCleary but unfortunately for him, it rebounded from the crossbar and fell kindly to Luke Chambers who was able to shift his position well to crash the ball into pretty much an open goal with the ‘keeper prone from his attentions to McCleary’s initial effort. It’s the second time in a week Chambers has capped off a lucklastre performance with a goal!

Cheltenham started the second half reasonably brightly, their one real dangerous looking outlet was Gillespie, who was close from long range at the start of the half. Forest were to cash in, Agogo picked up the ball deep and beat his marker with a cheeky nutmeg before heading goalward, rather than pick out the pass to Commons he shot from 25 yards or so with his left foot, curling the ball beyond Higgs in the goal to give Forest the comfortable lead their performance merited.

Cheltenham did have other chances though, largely due to slack defending - a Gill cross from the right wasn’t closed down well by Cohen as a makeshift leftback, and in the box Vincent was able to win the header which it looked to me like Smith tipped onto the bar. As the game went on Forest were content to hog possession, and whilst there were a few other chances, they were fairly tame efforts.

With twenty minutes remaining McCleary was substituted to a deserved standing ovation from the City Ground crowd for another youngster Mark Byrne, a rather diminutive midfielder who could have had the perfect start to his debut. Chambers passed well to him, his first touch was to chest the ball down into the penalty area getting himself with a clear sight of goal, his second touch was to volley the ball just wide of the goal - he probably had more room for another touch than he realised!

Whilst we had one short bloke arrive on the pitch, former Forest loanee Alan ‘Mini-Me’ Wright was withdrawn to a round of applause from the Reds fans, which I thought was a nice touch. The final change was the ever-hard-working Ormerod who was replaced by Emile Sinclair. After the substitutions had settled, Agogo had the best chance he was likely to of completing his hattrick - heading excellently from a Commons cross, but Higgs got just enough of a hand on it to concede a corner.

Cheltenhams last chance fell again to Gillespie - Chambers headed back to Smith weakly, and Gillespie had anticipated this and ‘loitered’ to intercept, but as he bore down on goal from a tight angle he was only able to drag his shot wide of both Smith and the goal. The final source of amusement came from watching Mark Byrne - a pretty small fellow - shoulder-barge a Cheltenham player into the advertising boards.

So a good professional (aside from some defensive lapses) performance from the Reds, the stats start to speak for themselves - 69% possession, 10 shots on target, 10 off target - it’s just a shame that Carlisle rallied late to get a win, which all but mathematically probably secures them promotion. Can you believe Scott bloody Dobie got the winning goal in stoppage time, too? Typical or what?

I really hope that Smoulderwood has realised how much more adept and progressive our play is when we have wingers on the pitch, there were a few fluctuations of formation with Ormerod in particular frequently in winger-like positions, which I don’t really see the benefit of, but all in all, this was a massive improvement tactically from the manager. We must also remember that, with all due respect, Cheltenham did not prove to be particularly challenging opponents.

Certainly McCleary is looking like a real prospect, and has definitely earned serious consideration for starting in future games - his willingness to run at players is refreshing for us, and terrifying for defenders which face us. The home crowd today responded to this positive football with more noise than we’ve heard for a while now, which was great to hear and join in with - so well done lads, a cracking win, now let’s have some more!

Carlisle United - 0
Nottingham Forest - 2

On the face of it, this is a bloody excellent result.  Indeed, it is an excellent result, and credit is due to Smoulds and the boys for pulling it out the bag, ending Carlisles fantastic run of 14 wins on the bounce at Brunton Park and easing fears of falling from the playoffs.  This author at least is grateful for something to cheer about after a long trip to Cumbria also, as are I’m sure the other 601 Forest fans who gamely made the trip.

Having trained it up there, a friend was kind enough to offer a lift back - I manfully took on the mantle of keeping him entertained on the journey back, and promptly fell asleep - so apologies are due there as he grumpily sat driving back to the Midlands without my scintillating conversation and just a few CDs for company!  Ah well!

The result aside though, this shouldn’t gloss over some of the repeated inadequate factors in our recent performances, many of which were on show again tonight and but for a number of interventions from Smithy, some profligate wasting of chances and an element of luck, we wouldn’t have pulled the result out the bag tonight - however, we did - so we should be happy!

The match was contested in a swirling wind, although it mostly seemed to be blowing in our favour in the first half - meaning Smithy could kick much further, but his not always-accurate aiming was even further askew than usual.  Forest did have the first attack, Chambers coming close to connecting to a corner from close range but missing, ending up with Lewis shooting over.

After this the first half was largely Carlisles - they constantly broke down the left, and the frequently exposed Luke Chambers had a pretty haphazard time dealing with the pressure from the home sides attacks.  We had the bizarre situation of a referee change (there was a general panic in the away end that the game was being called off yet again!).

Agogo had a shot from range which was wide, and Graham had one at the other end.  The hard working Tyson, feeding from scraps in the first half, made a great break down the left and centred the ball but was unable to find the lacklustre looking Agogo, nor Ormerod - to compound this the striker rose with the characteristic feel to the hamstring we’ve become all too accustomed to.

Smithy made a great save after a cross was met from close range, and eventually the half drew to a close - the general mood in the away end was that it was a bit like Doncaster, but more incisive (which wouldn’t be difficult!), but it was a lot of hoofing it desperately from Forest.  Carlisle for their part passed and moved excellently, but didn’t quite have an end product for many of their moves.

Tyson had indeed picked up a knock, and was withdrawn at half time and replaced by Garath McCleary - and would you Adam’n'Eve it, we only looked a bit like a 4-4-2 formation for a while, and, guess what?  We looked better!  McCleary did pop up on the left once, but generally he stayed wide right, and Cohen - who I hadn’t mentioned but was excellent in the first half - started to cover the left more.

Agogo deigned to actually make a bit of an effort soon into the half, combining with the substitute to tee up McGugan whose shot was narrowly wide, after which Morgan was withdrawn having been taken ill for Ian Breckin.  This unsettled the back and we looked in real danger as Carlisle heaped pressure on to us, some heroics from Bennett prevented the increasingly-dangerous Cleveland Taylor from posing a threat to us.

Graham had an excellent shot from range which Smith did well to punch clear, with Bennett on hand to complete the clearance to safety.  McCleary started to look like an exciting prospect - attacking and creating a threat at one end of the pitch only to appear at the other making a decent tackle too, I was impressed with the new lad in his first really significant run in the team.

The lead came from a freekick - we’d had a couple of decent corners in the first half, but by and large our setpiece delivery was characteristically bad until McGugan (according to the official site - I thought it was Cohen at the time!) played an excellent ball into the box which Chambers was able to rise to unchallenged to powerfully head the ball into the back of the net.  Very unexpected, and a very welcome warmer-upper for the increasingly chilly fans in the away end.

It started to look worrying like Forest would adopt the classic Smoulderwood siege mentality having picked up the lead, and the home side certainly didn’t look like they wanted to give up their home record without a fight so were attacking hard.  Chambers and Breckin seemed to casually allow Graham to get on the end of a cross to head goalward, luckily for us straight at Smith leaving us to speculate whether maybe one of the defenders maybe headed it back to their ‘keeper after all.

McCleary again stood out when he won the ball and gave Agogo a great chance, the striker opted for ‘the glory strike’ which was on target, but he perhaps had more time to get closer and make sure of the finish - although, given his general workrate and level of interest in the game we should perhaps be grateful he hadn’t fallen asleep whilst ambling around the pitch!

Carlisle returned on the attack and a Marc Bridge-Wilkinson cross was headed by Danny Livesey against the bar, rebounding to Carlton who headed over - although it looked like an offside flag was up anyway, which has been glossed over elsewhere - I suppose the assistant referee could have been signalling for a goalkick with it being headed over by a Carlisle man - either way, a lucky escape!

As the home side were committing men forward Forest were able to capitalise and double their lead in stoppage time - Cohen did excellently well, squared the ball to Emile Sinclair (a late substitution for the disappointing Agogo) who shot, bringing a save from the ‘keeper, which fell fortuitously for McCleary who made not mistake from close range to score a well-deserved first goal for Forest - well done Garath!

All in all, I’m chuffed as hell as - as you may have noticed from previous comments - this wasn’t a game I was expecting anything from, so it makes it all the sweeter - and should hopefully be a real boost to the team’s confidence going into our next home game against Cheltenham.  However, in the first half we looked almost as shapeless and idealess as against Doncaster - I hope Smoulds has realised what a massive benefit some width in the side gives us.

Other scaries are Kelvin Wilson looked shaky at the back - particularly in the first half, and Chambers - aside from an excellent taken goal - is looking less and less capable of dealing with the right back role.  Having said that, both of our fullbacks have a hard time generally thanks to the complete absence of wingers in Smoulderwood’s typical gameplan.

I would like very much to see us using McCleary more on the right wing, assuming his match fitness is up to scratch, and encouraging Cohen to cover the left side too as we looked so much more effective when this was happening - and it also helped to nullify the threat that Carlisle had posted out on the flanks.  It really is a simple game that can be over-complicated by fools!

Still, I won’t end on a negative - a huge well done to the lads and the gaffer for a result none of us were expecting, also a big well done to the Reds fans who made the trip and were in great voice for most of the game.  It was nice to see the home fans applaud their team off despite a disappointing result, although I suppose having a home record like theirs it would be a bit harsh to do anything other than that!  I’m off to bed now in a much happier mood than I thought I would be!

I’m not going to start thinking about our chances of automatic promotion, frankly, we’ve left that too late barring a miracle in my opinion - however with Leeds beating Doncaster the three points are more than welcome to offer some security to our place within the playoffs.  Six points behind Doncaster with a game in hand, nine points off Carlisle after equal games - it feels like too much ground to make up in six games.  Go on Reds, prove me wrong again!

Doncaster Rovers - 1
Nottingham Forest - 0

The anguished and pain-ridden cry of a frustrated supporter gives me my headline, and it was taken up by a fair proportion of the travelling Reds fans as an apt anthem for the performance, and how this season is turning out to be.  Indeed, it should be a fitting epitaph to Smoulderwood’s last game at the helm of this once proud and now so bedraggled football club.

How silly those words of a target for 100% win ratio between now and the end of the season must feel to him now, as he shuns the media after leaving the field with his ears burning from a tirade of chants demanding his removal from the travelling Forest fans who have reached the end of a very long tether - and whilst Smoulds may be a very nice person, he is rapidly turning himself in to a figure to be pilloried.

With a sacking seemingly unlikely, I find myself like so many other desperate souls craving for him to do the decent thing and quit with what little dignity he has remaining intact.  I’m not irrational enough to say I hate him, to call him a wanker, or whatever other choice words I heard him described as today on a chilly night in Doncaster, but I can say I hate him being our manager - and I sincerely wish he wasn’t any more.

It’s a relatively short drive to Doncaster, but I bet there’s not one of the 3,000 fans who went there in reasonable spirits to support the team who felt that the performance on offer tonight was in any way worthwhile of the travel - yes, we can bang on about tactics and formations (argh!) but there wasn’t really a performance that stood out throughout the squad with much merit - perhaps aside from Smith who made a few decent saves, but equally had a scary night distribution-wise.

For the first ten minutes or so the fans were up for it, after Forest set the tone for what was to be a pathetic performance we were quelled - with a few pockets of backing well into the second half, but to travel to an away game and hear chants struggle to get off the ground, to have the majority of the fans voluntarily sitting rather than standing, and just the general malaise that has now infected our travelling support as well as our home support is deeply worrying.

Smoulderwood spoke still of going for automatic, well surely even he can concede that isn’t going to happen now - on current form we’ll be lucky to make the playoffs at all, Southend could overtake us at the weekend - and then of course we have an impossible-seeming trip to Carlisle to contend with.  You might have noticed I’ve not actually mentioned the match at all - because, frankly, it isn’t worth reporting on.

The only shot on target we had was blown up for a foul, and it was a Chambers header practically straight into the floor that never looked like going in anyway.  McGugan had a great opportunity after Thornhill fed the ball to him but conspired to miss the target (Thornhill too could have had a shot I thought), other than that, we created bugger all.  To compound matters Ormerod received lengthy treatment before going off with some kind of injury.

That really is about all there was to cheer about - and whilst I’m not a fan of berating the team or manager during play, I do confess and unshamefully that I joined in the chanting tonight.  We were dire - we were shapeless in formation throughout the game, we had no width, the strikers had no service and despite supposedly having 5 men in defence were completely overrun by the lively Doncaster side facing us.

As it stood their goal was a bit poxy, a soft freekick that appeared to be hit low but nestle in the far corner (it was at the other end so my visibility was poor), but they had plenty of chances that they should have done better with, most of which fell to Jason ‘Tina Turner’ Price who managed to miss in an array of spectacular and, were it not for our own shitness, hilarious attempts on goal.

I can’t seem to find the words to express the kind of mixture of despondant rage I’m feeling - the taunts of the Doncaster fans were water off a ducks back to us tonight, we’re so low now that we can’t be drawn any lower - all the hope, optimism and pride for this season has finally been extinguished leaving us feeling like empty shells, with insults and jibes bouncing off us, unfelt - because the team we support has beaten all feeling and passion out of us.

Like so many Forest fans this evening I will take to my bed desperately hoping that I wake up in the morning to Smoulderwood’s resignation.  Sad in many ways, because I have enjoyed constructing a character around him, but unfortunately the caricature of a clueless buffoon that he has cultivated for himself has become much more compelling than any bronzen womaniser I could try to poke fun at.  If you’re reading this, Colin, please do the decent thing.

Nottingham Forest - 0
Brighton and Hove Albion - 0

I was willing to stem my optimism that automatic promotion wasn’t out of reach if we won all our remaining games - but a gap of 11 points to Carlisle up in second place now looks insurmountable in eight games for the stuttering and inconsistent Reds.  All in all, a frustrating and disappointing afternoon against a dogged Brighton side who ultimately came to get a point - even when they had a three-on-one break in the second half!

That said, the Seagulls were certainly up for it in the first half - after four minutes a mix-up in defence with Wilson gifted Nicky Forster an open goal which he somehow (and luckily for us) conspired to put wide under pressure from Wes Morgan.  After the shaky start Forest started to gather some semblance of composure.

Commons had the chance of the half from our perspective, he did well to ride a challenge or two before eventually beating the last man and find himself through on goal - but his right-footed shot was at an easy height for Kuipers to deal with in the Brighton goal, at the cost of a corner to the Reds - it had looked easy for Kris to slip the ball under him.

Tyson did well to head a Bennett cross across the goal, but Thornhill could only strike the post at a tight angle rather than actually hitting the target.  Tyson was looking fast and dangerous but the Seagulls took advantage of a soft referee and basically took him out at will - eventually one such ‘challenge’ on the striker warranted a booking.

A header from Chambers was planted well, but unfortunately straight at Kuipers - the ball rebounding to Chris Cohen who also couldn’t defeat the big ‘keeper.  Again, Commons managed to wriggle free in the box after good work from Ormerod and Thornhill, but the goalkeeper was again equal to it and made the save to concede another corner.

Brighton finished the half with rare forays forward and could’ve taken a cheeky lead with a corner in the closing minutes of the half, an effort from Elphick (amusing referred to as Michael Elphick on Radio Nottingham on the way home - his name is Tommy!) which forced Smith into a rare save, tipping it onto the crossbar.

At half time I made the call without much argument from my neighbours that it was going to finish 0-0.  Forest had looked good in spells, but their end-product was atrocious and the weight of expectation would only make that worse as the game goes on.  Brighton were really only interested in defending and hitting us on the counter-attack, so didn’t appear to pose much threat going forward.

The second half again started with the Reds rolling out the red carpet for Brighton to attack, but quickly we picked up possession again and eventually forced a corner with which Commons found Bennett who flicked on to the back stick where Thornhill missed the gaping goal from four yards by volleying over the bar - the writing was pretty much on the wall from this point.

Morgan headed well from a Commons freekick, but again the Seagulls ‘keeper was alive to the threat and made a diving save to the right to give us another corner.  I suspect this was the ‘worst corner in the world’ moment, a terrible short corner from Clingan to Commons was eventually lost and cleared without so much as an attempted cross into the box.

Brighton continued with a series of playacting in order to falter our play, and eventually Clingan did play the ball out to the outrage of the home crowd, only for the player writhing on the floor in agony to hop up in a sprightly manner and carry on as though nothing was wrong - naturally Brighton returned the ball to us by hoofing it back to Smith.

Ormerod did everything right until the shot, making a great run before hitting a scuffed effort straight at Kuipers.  It was clear that we weren’t looking likely to break down a dogged and defensive Brighton side, so Smoulds made a double-substitution bringing on McGugan and McCleary for Thornhill and Chambers.

The ‘four four two’ formation of the first half (without anyone on the right wing, of course) was now a three-five-two with McCleary on the right - and to be honest, it looked just as disjointed as before with no real shape to the midfield at all, and the players seemingly uninterested in making play easy for each other by making space or even moving on occasions!

In a rare moment of brilliance in the half, Lewis McGugan did brilliantly to beat a man on the edge of the box and unleash a terrific shot that finally saw Kuipers beaten - unfortunately the woodwork denied him as the shot struck the inside of the post and headed across goal in agonising fashion before being cleared to safety.

The final throw of the dice from Smoulds was to bring on ‘couldn’t look less interested without not being there’ Junior Agogo for Cohen, at this point the Seagulls had practically everyone behind the ball and Forest had neither the guile nor effort to break them down.  Even on the break Brighton were more interested in taking the ball in the corner than trying to get a winner.

As the fulltime whistle went the away side celebrated their achievements whilst the home fans and players were probably forced to finally concede that there isn’t a hope in hell of us reaching Carlisle now, and the playoffs is about the best we can hope for.  A frustrating afternoon indeed for all concerned with Forest.