Will the play-offs pay-off? 22/03/03 | by Peter Collison (Issue 4)

As we near the end of the season and find Forest on course for a play-off spot, it’s getting me a bit worried. To be honest, I would have preferred automatic promotion or nothing at all than the lottery that is the play-offs!

I know that Forest have a team wholly capable of going up with Portsmouth and Leicester, and it's all very well having a good team, but you have to actually perform on the day.

I remember Forest championship-winning 97/98 side that needed the win against Reading to confirm that we went up as champions - as I was watching it live on TV, I noticed that throughout much of the game we were below par and it took only the genius of Chris Bart-Williams to break the deadlock and shoot us up the Premiership.

Nerves got to Forest on that day and I am worried that when the big occasion arrives, Forest might revert to what we saw against Grimsby and Brighton rather than what we’ve seen against Derby and Norwich. Saying that, when Forest last went up it was five years ago and the team have changed beyond all recognition since then.

I have heard many people say many things about Forest this season, a lot of them positive and point to Forest being possibly the most deserving team in the play-off zone to go up into the Premiership. I think that what they say is right and when you look at the other teams in the play-off picture, Forest are by far the most deserving of the lot.

First, there is Sheffield United - they have been impressive this season with their cup runs, but the team itself is arrogant and dislikeable, much like their manager, Neil Warnock.

After Sheffield United you’ve got Reading, a team that have only just come up to this division and as well as not being ready at all for a place in the Premiership, haven’t had to endure the bad times before the good (as Forest have) which they would only face if they were up there.

Finally there is Wolves. Bloody Wolverhampton Wanderers - a team that promises so much throughout the season but then goes and throws it all away time and time again They also have a manager who I’m not so keen on - Dave Jones. He was never that good at Southampton (only since Gordon Strachan took over have Southampton been any good) and while Wolves might believe they are a big club, compared to Forest's experience of the Premiership (and indeed Europe) in the '90s, they haven’t got a clue.

Which leads me to the Reds. After our rubbish season last term, we have used the revitalised Johnno, told Harewood how to score and pulled the masterstroke that is getting Darren Huckerby on loan for the rest of the season. Put that together with a team full of youngsters whose knowledge of the game seems way beyond their years and a manager who knows the meaning of hard work, as does any player who has played under Cloughie.

It also helps that Forest play stylish, classy football that outshines anything that the rest of the division can serve up and you have a football team that has experience, class, a stable environment and a thoroughly likeable manger that would fit well inside the Premiership.

Going back to the 1997/98 season and watching what went on in the play-offs also worries me, a lot. In that season, there were only three sides in it: Forest, Boro and Sunderland. After ourselves and Boro got promoted, we all expected Sunderland to join us. It looked to be going that way when they reached the play-off final against Charlton.

But it didn’t quite got to plan, Charlton giving as good as they got and pushing Sunderland as much as they could, the resulting penalty shoot-out (again, going up by chance) going Charlton’s way and showing that not always does the most deserving side get their way.

If you choose to look at it the other way, Charlton have made a damn fine job of staying in the Premiership and they are proof that Premiership stability can be achieved. But at the end of the day, I think of that day at Wembley and the face of Michael Gray when he missed the penalty and if that was to happen to Forest this year, I honestly don’t know what I would do.

I’m the first to admit that I’ve doubted Forest's chances in the play-offs, but that’s what the play-offs are all about. Every team has a chance of a place in the Premiership, whether they deserve it or not.