Always look on the bright side of life....
28/09/00 | by Alex Walker for EMSoccer.com

Another 2 weeks and another example of Forest fans' fickle nature which means they can swing from one opinion to another quicker than a Tory leader with his eye on next year's election. Last time I was talking before the Wednesday game. After we had won that everyone was in a good mood, with the optimists pointing out our impressive league position, and even the biggest cynics could be pleased that we had finally found a team worse than us. But low and behold, 4 days after this confidence spawning win, we go up against the league leaders and lose. Quell Surprise, the critics were back to doing what they do best.... moaning.

Yes, we've had a fair lot to moan about recently, but I have to say I was very encouraged by the Fulham game. We gave them a good fight and were very unlucky to go away 3 down. It was hardly a call for dancing in the street, but I object very much to the negative nature shown by far too many Forest fans.

Two more examples of Forest fan fickleness come in the form of our front line against Grimsby last Saturday. Dougie Freedman last season was booed off and slammed for everything he did, despite being our top scorer for most of the year. My view was that he was a decent player but he fluffed too many chances to warrant a place except as a last resort. In the last few weeks, a number of fans have called for him to be brought back in the squad. Now he is our best loved striker and seems to have won a place from Stern John and loan-boy Robbie Blake. But I'll give you good odds that in two weeks he'll be a villain again. A more extreme example of this is Jack Lester, who's pre-season form was stunning. But when it came to proper games he failed to make an impact. After 3 games of the new season people were calling him names such as "useless" and "headless chicken". But a bit of a run in the first team, and two crucial goals against Wednesday and Grimsby have made him into a hero again.

Of course one issue that fans seem to be able to keep their opinions on very much, and not be moved either way no matter what you tell them, is what to do with/about Platt. In the last issue of this column, I stated that I was backing Platt. The reaction I got from this was mainly that I was completely mad. But I feel that as long as the majority of Forest fans show about as much originality in their opinions as Bob Monkhouse's Joke Book, then going with the crowd is just taking the easy route out of this problem. The last time we sacked our manager at the first sign of trouble we lost the man who is now taking Barnsley of all people to glory, and ended up with a fat waster who did nothing more than sell our best players and make jokes about the club's dire position rather than make an effort to sort it out. Unfortunately I can't think of a better argument for keeping him than that at the moment there are no better options. That's not to say that as soon as John Gregory becomes available (or even Stuart Pearce) I would have Platt out, as I really do want Platt to take us up. I admire him, both as a player and a person. He has had a hell of a lot of abuse to deal with in his 15 months at Forest, and has come through it better than most would. I know some feel exactly the opposite, but the nature that Forest (and maybe just football) fans are plagued with, that means in general they are only happy when moaning, leads me to think that Platt has had it bad. So far he has had to sort out a club in a mess, with little talent still in place, and limited funds, and he hasn't really made that much of a mess of it. Ok, last season was awful, but this season we are doing well all things considered. Certainly not bad enough for fans to be chanting 'Platt-out' from the stands at every opportunity.

I don't like to have a go at Forest fans and be putting them down, and I know it's only part of the group that do moan and grumble not stop, but, if you are one of the people who constantly moans, then try looking at the positive a bit more. The drink always tastes better when the glass is half full.